Detroit Pistons: 3 teams that might want to trade for Josh Jackson
Josh Jackson had the best season of his career for the Detroit Pistons and is on a team-friendly contract, which might make him trade bait.
There are definitely some pros and cons to trading Jackson this offseason, but the Pistons don’t have to do anything, as he isn’t making much and was a contributor off the bench.
Jackson is set to make just over $5 million next season, so it is not like he is eating up much cap space, but he is also entering the final year of his deal, so if he plays out his contract he could walk into free agency with the Pistons getting nothing in return.
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The Pistons could just wait until next season’s trade deadline, when Jackson might have more value as an expiring contract, but that carries some risk as well, as he could regress or get injured.
The worst thing a rebuilding team can do is to hold onto its own players for too long and miss the chance to turn them into assets.
There is also the issue of Hamidou Diallo, who the Pistons will almost certainly try to re-sign, which could make Jackson redundant as they have similar skills.
If the Detroit Pistons decide to trade Josh Jackson this offseason, here are three teams that would be interested.
Detroit Pistons: Trading Josh Jackson to the Portland Trail Blazers
Why they would want him: To improve their woeful defense
What might they give up in a trade? 2022 1st-round pick (top 20 protected)
The Trail Blazers are one of the teams everyone will be discussing this offseason, as they flamed out in the first round again and seem to have hit their ceiling with the Damian Lillard/CJ McCollum pairing.
Lillard is an icon in Portland and I can’t see them trading him, so they will try to add more guys around him and should have some cap space to do so.
The Blazers had the second-worst defense in the league and adding a lengthy, athletic defender who can guard multiple positions is something they would love to do, especially since he is making so little.
Jackson would be an upgrade from Derrick Jones Jr., who they could then trade.
Would they give up a first round pick for Jackson? Probably not unless it was heavily protected, and they would probably want an early 2nd-round pick in return to offset their loss.