Detroit Pistons stock exchange: Who is trending to start the second half?
Detroit Pistons stock exchange: Troy Weaver is trending up
You have to hand it to Troy Weaver, he is not afraid to put his fingerprints on a roster. Weaver traded Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-round pick for Hamidou Diallo of the OKC Thunder.
On paper this is not a move that is going to shake the foundations of the league, but it was another smart gamble on Weaver’s part and one I would bet will pay off.
Mykhailiuk was not having a good season, is due to be a restricted free agent and is not one of Weaver’s guys, so the writing was probably on the wall for Svi.
Weaver clearly has a vision for what he wants his roster to look like, which is a team full of long, athletic and versatile defenders, a mold that Mykhailiuk certainly does not fit.
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Diallo is an ascending player who has gotten better every year he’s been in the league (unlike Mykhailiuk who took a big step back this season) and has plenty of more room to grow.
If the Detroit Pistons end up extending him in the offseason, they will have another long, athletic defender to build around. I love this strategy, as guys like Mykhailiuk can be found in the second round of the draft.
Weaver is making calculated moves, grabbing another guy at the end of a rookie deal that the Detroit Pistons can probably extend for cheap, getting most of his prime years at a discount.
I loved this trade and can’t wait to see what Weaver does next.
Pistons stock exchange: Isaiah Stewart is getting more consistent
After another solid week, Beef Stew continues to climb the rookie leaderboards in rebounds and blocks.
Stewart is now tied for second among rookies in both rebounds and blocks, getting 5.9 and 1.0 per game, respectively.
He is also top-20 in steals, so Stewart is making himself felt on the defensive end, while only playing around 20 minutes per game.
As he continues to develop his offensive game, Stewart will see more minutes and is looking more and more like one of the steals of the 2020 NBA Draft.