PistonPowered
Fansided

Detroit Pistons trade: Blake Griffin for Gordon Hayward

By Stuart London

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 13: Blake Griffin #23 of the Detroit Pistons drives to the basket past Gordon Hayward #20 of the Boston Celtics (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 13: Blake Griffin #23 of the Detroit Pistons drives to the basket past Gordon Hayward #20 of the Boston Celtics (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
Detroit Pistons
Feb 13, 2019; Boston, MA, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin (23) throws a pass while being defended by Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward (20). Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /

Why a Blake Griffin for Gordon Hayward trade makes sense

The Detroit Pistons finally cleared out a lot of big money contracts to create salary cap space for this year. Of course, no contract is bigger than Blake Griffin’s.

He is owed $75 million over the next two seasons. For a guy coming off a serious knee injury, it is a major roll of the dice for the Pistons that Griffin will rebound to his previous level of play.

Hayward’s contract is a couple million less this year than Griffin’s, and expires after the season.

For 2021-22, Hayward is off the books, giving the Pistons a ton more cap space to play with. If Griffin stays, Detroit will shell out almost $40 million for what will be a 33-year-old at that time.

The trade for Griffin was engineered by the Stan Van Gundy regime. Current general manager Troy Weaver and coach Dwane Casey have no personal stake in Griffin, since they were not involved in getting him.

It might be smart to deal Griffin now, if you are going to trade him. If he goes down with another injury, the team is stuck with him and his huge contract. Also, if he plays like he did right before he was shut down last season, his value would also plummet.

Right now, Griffin is healthy and last year can be ignored as an outlier due to an injury that lingered from the 2019 playoffs. In a couple of months, they may not be possible.

Next. CBS Sports predicts the Detroit Pistons will trade up to number one. dark

There are certainly good points for pulling the trigger on a Griffin for Hayward trade, and just as many to pass on it and keep Griffin.

It really depends on what vision of the future Weaver, Casey and senior advisor Ed Stefanski have in mind.

Hayward’s contract ending a year earlier than Griffin opens up salary cap space for 2021-22. It also gives the Pistons some options in a couple of years, when the free agent market is expected to be strong.

But Blake Griffin is seen as the face of the franchise. You can look to the future but you also need a reason now for fans to watch on TV and buy tickets (when allowed). Weaver has stated he will quit the day he is not trying to make this team competitive.

With the transaction suspension soon ending, the answer to trade or not trade may be coming quite soon.