A Jerami Grant for John Collins trade is interesting but confusing

The cost and long-term fit could scare the Pistons away

If the Atlanta Hawks wanted to trade for Jerami Grant straight up I think the Pistons would jump at it for all of the reasons I mentioned previously.

It seems like a no-brainer for Detroit but it would come with some amount of risk. First off, I have no idea if Atlanta is really keen to move John Collins and if they do, it could be a part of a bigger deal for someone like Ben Simmons, and I think they’d want more than just Grant.

So the Pistons would almost certainly be attaching other assets in this deal. They’d also be slotting Collins into one of their max salary spots in Cade Cunningham’s first or second season, which means you are making him a long-term piece.

Realistically, the Pistons will only have three max players at a time and you’ve now identified two of them. You have to be pretty certain that John Collins is a player you want to have around Cade Cunningham because you just attached the two for the foreseeable future.

For a team that has to draft or trade to get most of its talent, this would be one way to get a guy, but you have to make sure it’s the right guy. If Collins flopped in Detroit they’d be stuck with him  taking up a max salary slot before Cade has even sniffed his prime.

The counter argument is that he’d mostly be on the books while Cade is still on his rookie deal, so he doesn’t hurt your long-term flexibility or affect Cunningham’s next contract, so why not? He’s a high-ceiling talent who could find another level with a bigger role as the second option next to Cade.

It’s an interesting idea, but there are a lot of question marks for both of these teams around any possible trade, though it seems to make a lot more sense for the Pistons.