Should the Detroit Pistons look into an upgrade at point guard?
By Nathan Bower
With the best teams in the league featuring elite point guards, should the Detroit Pistons follow suit? Should the team look at trading point guard Reggie Jackson during this offseason? Maybe.
Under contract until the 2019-2020 season with the Detroit Pistons, Reggie Jackson is their number one option at point guard. But what if they could do better? According to basketball-reference.com, Jackson averaged 14.6 points and 5.3 assists per game for the Pistons this year. But is he the point guard of the future?
With new management coming in, Detroit could look to move Jackson during the off-season. Often on the bench due to injuries, Jackson has a hard time making an impact in games. His numbers are fine, but an upgrade in the back court could lead the Pistons into the playoffs next season.
Potential Upgrade for Detroit Pistons
Kemba Walker is a player who has been connected to the Pistons for some time. Many thought that the he would have been in a motor city uniform before the deadline last season. No deal was made and instead the team traded for All-Star forward Blake Griffin. The Pistons traded a lot of assets to swing this deal, but there could still be a chance.
Bleacher Report wrote an article outlining what a deal for Walker to Detroit could look like.
Detroit would send Jackson, Stanley Johnson, a 2018 second-round pick, and a 2020 first-round pick.
In return the Hornets would send over Walker and guard/forward Jeremy Lamb.
This deal would give the Detroit Pistons a solid upgrade to take over the ball handling responsibilities.
Basketball-reference.com shows that Walker averaged 22.1 points and 5.6 assists per game this season.While Walker would be an upgrade at guard, Lamb could also fill the need for a small forward.
Johnson started most of this season and trading him would leave a hole in the starting unit.
Potentially, Lamb could fill that role. With this trade the team would most likely start Walker, Reggie Bullock (or Luke Kennard), Lamb, Griffin, and Andre Drummond.
Walker and Drummond could combine into one of the elite pick and roll combinations in the league. Johnson was one of the worst three point shooters this season (28.6%).
Lamb could help out with the perimeter shooting in the starting lineup (37 %).
The Detroit Pistons have been linked to Walker for awhile now, should they finally pull the trigger on another blockbuster trade?
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