An unlikely trade candidate that could benefit the Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are heading into their rebuild and are in desperate need of a shakeup. Are there any unlikely trade pieces out there?

Now that the Detroit Pistons have officially accepted the direction of a rebuild, there’s undoubtedly some need for some new faces.

With the departures of Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, and Markieff Morris, it’s invited some new pieces to the team like Brandon Knight, John Henson, Donta Hall, and Derrick Walton Jr.

While that’s all well and good, the odds are that most of them, if not all of them, won’t be on the opening night roster to kick off the 2020-2021 season. The exception could be Henson, and possibly Knight as well.

The Pistons will presumably be looking to add depth at the point guard position in this upcoming draft, as well as free agency.

The one position where Detroit has had almost too much depth is at shooting guard. They’ve frequently had a surplus of guards, but luckily most of them are capable of playing multiple positions.

So with that in mind, it may sound peculiar that the Pistons would ever target a shooting guard via trade, but that’s exactly what they should do in this particular instance.

Get Collin Sexton in a Pistons uniform.

While Sexton has often been the subject of criticism in Cleveland, and has been pretty divisive in his short tenure, he’s been growing as a play maker and has been on a remarkable scoring stretch recently.

Since the All-Star break, which was also when former coach John Beilein and the Cavaliers mutually agreed to part ways, Sexton has been on fire.

Scoring 22.8 points per game on 50 percent shooting, including 52.9 percent from three-point range, he’s been a catalyst in whatever form of success the Cavs do find.

He’s generally most effective with the ball in his hands, as a majority of his points come off of drives to the basket on pick and rolls. He’s seldom used off the ball, but when he is he’s slowly becoming a great cutter.

Sexton is in the midst of establishing himself as a potential cornerstone piece of the Cavs rebuild, largely due to his recent play. Because of this, in all likelihood the asking price in any potential trade may be too high for the Pistons to actually show interest.

Any potential deal would likely be centered on draft capital, something that Detroit wouldn’t be too keen on parting ways with considering they themselves are also trying to rebuild.

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If they’re able to ship out one of their many shooting guards in the process, then adding Sexton would immediately bolster the Pistons depth. Detroit doesn’t have a ton of future draft picks, so the possibility of a deal materializing could be slim.

However it’s certainly worth doing your due diligence. If the Pistons front office finds themselves underwhelmed by a particular draft class and think that they’d be better off selling their pick, Sexton isn’t such a bad consolation.

He certainly has plenty of room to improve, as he’s often been inefficient, careless with the basketball, and lacks court vision, but he still has time to grow.

Many have speculated that he may just need a fresh start, and that sharing a backcourt with Darius Garland, a fellow ball dominant guard, may not be the best for either of them.

Sexton is also on his third coach in just two years, and will likely be on his fourth by the time next season starts. If this is going to be the case, it’d be beneficial for him to be under the wing of Dwane Casey, who has often been praised for his developmental skills.

Sexton would add a necessary scoring punch to the Pistons rotation and his ever improving defensive capabilities would become a huge impact on day one.

For someone who plays at the rim as much as he does, it would also be beneficial for him to play alongside Derrick Rose. This way he could become more efficient with his finishes.

There may not be a reality in which Cleveland parts ways with one of their youngest talents, but with some familiarity between the front offices following the Drummond trade, Detroit could be on the short list.

There most certainly is a reality in which Sexton helps return the Pistons to their contending form.