There has been a lot noise about the Detroit Pistons trading away the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Most of it is just that _ noise. But there are some deals out there, if offered, the Pistons would most likely go for.
No one likes a vacuum, so between June 22, the night of the NBA Draft Lottery, and July 29, the night of the draft, there is going to be lots of discussions about who is going where in the draft.
Since, for the first time since the early days of the Nixon administration, the Detroit Pistons have the No. 1 pick, all draft talk starts with them. It is hard to know how things will fall, until you see who is going first.
On the record, Pistons general manager Troy Weaver has been clear since Detroit got No. 1: They will look at five players, evaluate them, and trades are an option. (Sorry, Cade Cunningham fans)
That Weaver said he is open to trades (it does not mean he WILL trade, only that it is an option), opened up a hornets nest of speculation. Just about every fan of a downtrodden team, or one maybe a piece away from contention, have concocted some type of trade with Detroit.
The cockamamie trades are usually along the lines of:
"Team A – Overpaid players who are garbage + couple of almost worthless late first-round picks = Detroit’s No. 1."
Now, Weaver did not just fall off the turnip truck and, even if he did, he still would not go for these one-sided deals.
However, there are some trade possibilities, that a smart GM would go for.
All would involve remaining in the top three, as one never know when a team will get this high in the draft again (it had been 51 years since they last were No.1 after all). Most experts project four players with star potential in the draft: Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Jalen Green and Jalen Suggs.
What trades would make Detroit Pistons give up No.1 in draft?
We are going to discount the Pistons being interested in Suggs. Not that he is not going to be a great player. But Suggs is a slick point guard who is not great shooting from outside. Detroit just drafted a similar player in Killian Hayes last year. No need to trade down for Hayes 2.0.
The Houston Rockets have the No. 2 pick in the draft, with the Cleveland Cavaliers at third. This will be important in any trade consideration.
Now, we are not saying these trades are going to happen, or even under consideration (the Pistons certainly are not talking). But these are the type of trades in which Detroit would give up the No. 1 selection in the draft.
Her are three sensible trades for No. 1 which the Pistons would agree to:
Will Cleveland make an offer that rocks Detroit Pistons?
Simply put, the Cleveland Cavaliers are a dead franchise. They have been since LeBron James left (first and second times). Despite being the anti-Pistons on lottery night (hitting No. 1 regularly) they simply have been lousy.
The Cavaliers are coming off yet another bad season (22-50). Desperate for relevancy, they traded with the Pistons for Andre Drummond (who lasted a mere 33 games before paying him off to go away).
The Cavs are like those lab mice in cages, stuck simply spinning wheels going nowhere.
Cleveland needs to shake things up. They need a new superstar to lead the way, or at least inject some excitement into a moribund franchise. Give fans some reason to buy tickets.
#Cavs are looking into the possibility of moving up to No. 1 in the draft. What would it cost? Would it be worth it? https://t.co/4dXf5x9CBS
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) July 8, 2021
Cade Cunningham might not be LeBron, but he is about as close as they will get. He is the guy with the hype this year, and the Cavs need a hyped-up player.
So Cleveland GM Koby Altman sends his counterpart Troy Weaver this offer, and Detroit says yes (h/t Nicolas Henkel and Blake Stackpoole)
Weaver joked at the trading deadline that he never says anyone is untradeable ‘because you never know when you’ll get offered four first-rounders’. Well, Hello Cleveland!
Besides four first-round selections (which, based on the Cavs tradition of incompetence, should all be high picks), the Pistons get Collin Sexton, a 6-foot-1 electric guard who averaged 24 points a game last year and is only 22-years-old.
The sputtering Pistons offense then gets an immediate boost. In end of the game situations, they no longer have one play: throw it to Jerami Grant and hope. Sexton and Killian Hayes would be a fun backcourt to watch.
And Detroit still picks third, so, whoever is left after Houston selects between Jalen Green or Evan Mobley, the Pistons still get a big-time prospect.
Cleveland gets a player they hope leads them out of the wilderness and the Pistons get … a lot.
Isn’t he good, Christian Wood? The Prodigal Son returns to Detroit Pistons
You can feel for the Houston Rockets. They were hoping for a run to the NBA finals last year and the team completely fell apart once James Harden asked to be traded. They had the worst record in the NBA at 17-55. The Pistons leap-frogged them, as the Rockets pick second.
In the wreckage, Houston has some good players: John Wall, ex-Piston Christian Wood, Kevin Porter Jr., Jae’Sean Tate and Eric Gordon. They were actually a .500 team team until ripped by injuries.
But the Rockets need more help than that to be a decent team. Houston owner Tilman Ferttita is not interested in a long rebuild. His businesses got hit hard by the pandemic, and he needs people to fill the Toyota Center right now.
What player would instantly create interest in the Rockets and get the phones ringing in the tickets office? Did we mention Cade Cunningham is from Texas? (Dallas area but close enough).
So, under pressure from the owner, Houston GM Rafael Stone sends Troy Weaver this proposal, which is so overwhelming, the Pistons accept.
Remember, the Pistons are only moving back One Spot. If Weaver has evaluated that Evan Mobley and/or Jalen Green are on the same level as Cunningham, this deal is a no-brainer.
Weaver would normally ask for Porter Jr. (son of a former Pistons player), an athletic 20-year-old who can score and has lots of potential. However, with his emphasis on character, Weaver likes Boy Scouts. So far, Porter has not been one.
Instead, Jae’Sean Tate, a 25-year-old hard-working, high character player who made All-Rookie, is in the trade.
Christian Wood proved his late season performance for Detroit in the 2019-20 season was no fluke. He averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds for Houston in an injury-plagued season. At 6-11 and slender, Wood and Isaiah ‘Beef Stew’ Stewart would make a fun center-power forward combo.
Importantly, Detroit gets it own first-round pick back, lost to Houston in the Saddiq Bey trade. You know that is big to Weaver.
Is Houston giving up a ton to go from No. 2 to No. 1? Yes, but if you want Cade Cunningham, you will overpay.
Cade Cunningham goes home
As has been mentioned, Cade Cunningham is from Arlington, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. If you think Pistons fans are super-stoked about getting Cunningham, can you imagine the hysteria in DFW if Cunningham came there.
Its local NBA team, the Mavericks, disappointed this season. They ended it with a first-round loss in the playoffs, despite having one of the top young stars in the league in Luka Doncic.
The team is in turmoil, as long-time general manager Donnie Nelson and coach Rick Carlisle left shortly after the season ended. There is also a weird little story that a professional gambler named Haralabos “Bob” Voulgaris has become the main influence in personnel decisions.
Dallas owner Mark Cuban is used to having the edge on everyone. A co-host of the TV show ‘Shark Tank’ , Cuban is a self-made multi-billionaire who is very involved with the club.
Cuban is undoubtedly looking for a way to turn around the club’s fortunes. Getting Cade Cunningham would certainly accomplish that.
However, as anyone who saw Dallas in the playoffs knows, they have little talent besides Doncic. They also have absolutely no draft picks this year, not even second rounders.
Of course, being creative is what Cuban does. If he can rope in a desperate Cleveland Cavaliers team looking for a way to relevancy, a three-way trade is possible.
The Pistons move back two spots, so they will still get Jalen Green or Evan Mobley, either of whom would have gone No. 1 in most drafts.
So here is a trade that would make The Smoking Cuban quite happy:
A sign-and-trade involving Hardaway Jr. will have to be accomplished to make it work, but that is a low hurdle for Cuban.
Detroit gets a budding star in the 22-year-old Sexton, who averaged 24 points last season, as well as pocket two future first rounders. And the Pistons still get either Green or Mobley, so they add two talented young players to the roster,
Cleveland finally gets to unload Love and his onerous contract. Porzingus makes almost as much, but he is just 25 and they can get out of his contract in a couple of years. Hardaway Jr. and Brunson are solid players who will definitely give a boost to a team that went 22-50 last year.
As for Dallas? Mark Cuban gets what he wants, as he usually does. Can you imagine a backcourt of Cade Cunningham and Luka Doncic? Reunion Arena would be packed every game.
The Detroit Pistons are in the Catbird seat. They can do absolutely nothing and get a great player. But there are 29 other teams that would like a great player as well. GM Troy Weaver will make any team pay, dearly, for No. 1.
One thing is definite: Troy Weaver’s cell phone bill must be astronomical.