Detroit Pistons trade: Blake Griffin to Miami Heat a possibility

A lot of different trade scenarios have the Detroit Pistons moving Blake Griffin during the off-season. One site thinks the Miami Heat would be a good destination for Griffin to help them make another title run next year.

The Detroit Pistons have one big name on their roster in Blake Griffin. and he also commands a big salary.

With what is expected to be a weak free agent class plus no franchise movers in the NBA Draft, teams looking to improve quickly should be busy on the phones to other team executives seeking trades for impact players.

Detroit general manager Troy Weaver certainly will have his line buzzing. After all, how many teams have a six-time all-star available for the right price?

With the Pistons building for the future, the 31-year-old Griffin could help in that effort on the court … but what he could bring in a trade might help the Pistons even more.

The 6-9 forward is coming off a down year. He only played 18 games due to knee issues and averaged a career-low 15.5 points. But Griffin is also just one year removed from scoring a career-high 24.5 points a game, so it is not like he is on some long-term downward trend.

With next season most likely not starting until January according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Griffin has even more time than normal to get his knee healthy.

One proposed trade recently came from the NBA Analysis.Network. It involves Griffin moving to the Miami Heat, as they seek to remain an NBA title contender.

This is the trade:

The trade presumes Olynyk exercises his $13.2 million option, which in a cap-strapped landscape of the current NBA would probably be a good idea.

Griffin received a max contract deal from the Clippers before being traded to Detroit. Whoever is paying him will be on the hook for $36,595,996 next season and $38,957,028 in 2021-22.

With many NBA teams either near the cap or wanting to hoard money for what is expected to be a big free agent class (i.e. Giannis) that could limit the market for Griffin’s considerable talents.

In looking at the proposed trade two things stand out:

1. Would the Heat give up a promising young center in Bam Adebayo, who just made his first all-star team, for a couple of years of Griffin? Adebayo is also still on his rookie contract for another year.
2. Andre Iguodala just sat out most of the season until traded to Miami because he did not want to play for Memphis. When the Grizzlies were better than expected and kind of hinted they would like his help, Iguodala still refused t play, so it is hard to imagine him actually putting on a Pistons uniform.

If the trade did go through, the question would be how much of a fuss would team president Ed Stefanski and GM Troy Weaver make about Iguodala showing up. It certainly could become a distraction.

Adebayo would certainly solidify the center position for the Pistons for years to come. If anything, he is only going to get better. Olynyk is a solid veteran who can snipe from outside.

If Miami GM Pat Riley actually called Detroit and offered this deal, the Pistons would probably be very agreeable to it. There would be the headache with Iguodala to contend with, and the loss of its only true marquee player in Griffin but, for a team looking long-term, the Pistons would go for it.

Whether this specific deal comes about or not, be prepared for Blake Griffin’s name to be brought up a lot as a possible target for many NBA teams.