Langston Galloway is currently having his best season for the Detroit Pistons. What does that mean for his trade value?
What a season Langston Galloway has had for the Detroit Pistons this year. Going into the season, Galloway was potentially going to be the one cut in order to keep Joe Johnson on the roster, but things have changed.
At the time of writing this article, before Friday night’s game against the Celtics, the Pistons lead the league in three-point shooting percentage, and Langston is the second most successful shooter on the team. Galloway’s season stat line is 11.9 points per game, 2.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and his three-point shooting stats are 2.6 three-pointers made on 5.7 attempts per game resulting in an incredible 42.9% three-point percentage.
If that wasn’t enticing enough for other teams, he’s on a $7.3 million expiring deal which makes his trade value the highest it’s ever been. As pointed out by two of the Pistons beat writers – James Edwards III and Vincent Ellis in their recent articles on trade value, Galloway could be on the move, and has some of the highest value on the roster.
Last year the Pistons and Ed Stefanski showed that they are smart and willing to sell and buy at a deadline. Langston is in a similar situation as ex-Piston Reggie Bullock was, having a career shooting year and was on an expiring deal. The Pistons were able to get a young player and a pick, similarly, to last season, the Pistons will most likely look for a young player or a late first to early second round pick.
There are many teams out there that could be in need of Galloway’s famous shoe game, but more importantly, his shooting. I put together some potential trades in the spirit of the December 15th holiday where almost all trade restrictions are lifted, making ESPN’s trade machine go into overdrive.
Under the radar deals
The first trade that I have made up is a trade sending Langston Galloway to Central Division rivals, the Indiana Pacers. The deal would send Galloway to Indiana in return for Justin Holiday, JaKarr Sampson, and two second round picks (2021, 2023).
The Pacers are starting to remind me of the Spurs in some fashion where their roster keeps taking hits and they are still in the playoff race every season. While losing their all-star guard Victor Oladipo hurt the Pacers, I’d argue their biggest loss was Bojan Bogdanovic and his lethal distance shooting.
Coach McMillan and the rest of the Pacers organization have been able to get the best out of all the talent that’s came into their doors from Paul George to Oladipo to Myles Turner to Domantas Sabonis to Bogdanovic and now Malcolm Brogdon is blossoming on the potential he showed in Milwaukee.
Brogdon has been able to fill in the shoes of Oladipo well, but the Pacers are in desperate need of a shooter like Galloway as Doug McDermott shouldn’t be the best shooter on any playoff team, with all due respect.
The next trade that I have created is with the Timberwolves, who are on the edge of the playoffs. This trade is similar to the Pacers trade where Galloway is dealt for Jake Layman, Noah Vonleh, and two second round picks.
The Wolves are 28th in the league as a team shooting the three ball, so they need all the help they can get. Karl-Anthony Towns is the leading three-point shooter in all categories, attempts per game (8.5), makes a game (3.6), and percentage (41.8 percent). In addition to KAT, the Wolves other main shooters are Robert Covington and Andrew Wiggins.
The Wolves would be interested in Langston as he is a suitable replacement for the likely-to-be traded Covington. This trade would have Minnesota get a good knockdown shooter for the price of two second rounders and two role players, where they will likely get a young player and a first for Covington, a small price to pay.
The Pistons would get wings Holiday and Sampson or Vonleh and Layman in return for Galloway who would give Pistons some quality depth if needed for another push for the playoffs. The second-round picks have really become assets in the past few drafts as Bruce Brown has been a Pistons starter for two seasons now as a second-round pick.
While this isn’t a great deal, the contracts don’t match-up incredibly well with Langston’s $7.3 million, and the Pacers seem to win nearly every trade they are involved in, so two second round picks aren’t a horrible return if it comes to it.
Langston’s homecoming
My third trade scenario sends Galloway back to his alma mater and the city of Brotherly Love. The Sixers would give up Zhaire Smith, and Trey Burke for Galloway.
The Sixers are one of those teams who are always active in the buyout market always looking for more shooters. Galloway would be a great fit to knockdown threes for the Sixers who are surprisingly 24th in made three pointers a game making only 10.6 a game. Galloway is a much more natural shooter opposed to Al Horford and Joel Embiid’s non-traditional shots and would allow them to help get more rebounds. Sixers fans might not be excited about giving up Smith Smith, but Galloway is worth it.
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The Pistons would get two very intriguing pieces in return for Galloway in Burke and Smith. Obviously, Michigan fans remember Trey Burke and his stellar career at the University of Michigan, but unfortunately his NBA career hasn’t gone the same way.
Burke has had stints with Utah, Washington, Dallas, New York, and now with Philadelphia in his seventh season. In his limited games, Burke has a career average of 10.8 points, 3.6 assists, and 40.8 percent from the field.
As sentimental as the Burke trade would be, Smith would be the center of this trade. Smith was a very athletic player coming out of the draft, and was like so many other Sixer draft picks, injured. Smith broke his foot in the summer league and has managed to only play six games in his career.
Smith was a 3-star recruit who quickly blossomed into an NBA level talent while in Lubbock. Zhaire was on the Texas Tech team that lost to Villanova in the Elite Eight and showed real promise. Now Smith has lost almost all the buzz around him so it’s time to buy his stock.
It never hurts to have another athletic wing on your roster, and with Coach Casey’s knack for developing talent, Smith could blossom into an O.G. Anunoby-type player possibly.
The risky move
The final, and most aggressive trade is a package of Markieff Morris, Langston Galloway, and Tony Snell for Kent Bazemore, Anfernee Simons, and a 2020 first round pick from the Portland Trailblazers.
While I know it looks as the Pistons are giving up a lot, I see this as a great rebuild starter with the Pistons getting two very valuable assets in return for three really solid shooters. The Trail blazers are in the middle of the pack in nearly three-point shooting stat, and the Pistons shooters would really help up those stats.
Fans across the league expect the Blazers to go after a stretch big in Kevin Love but the Blazers have a bigger hole to fill in my opinion. One of the most under the radar “Woj Bombs” in the past few weeks was the tweet announcing that Rodney Hood tore his left Achilles. Hood has been quietly having a career renaissance in Portland after his terrible time in Cleveland.
Carmelo Anthony’s solid play has resulted in the need for Kevin Love to fall, meaning that Markieff Morris could be a very suitable alternative, and for much cheaper. While dealing away three of the Pistons’ best shooters will hurt, it would open up more minutes for Svi, Thomas, and incoming Bazemore and Simons.
Simons is a stud out west and is really becoming a solid guard in this league. At only 20 years old, he’s averaging 10.2 points this season and has a career high of 37. A combo guard who entered the draft right out of high school, Simons is a stellar piece to start a rebuild with. While the main purpose of Kent Bazemore is to match salary in this deal, he’s really not that bad of a player.
The Blazers fighting for a playoff spot means that the Pistons could snag another lottery pick potentially.