Would a 3-for-1 deal with Spurs be ideal for Pistons?

The San Antonio Spurs have a lot of role players and need a star, while the Detroit Pistons have a star and need to upgrade the players around him. The Spurs have three first-round picks in the NBA Draft. Would a trade with Detroit help both sides?

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is 73-years-old, so a long rebuild is really not something San Antonio is looking for. They made the Play-in tournament this past season, beating the Los Angeles Lakers out for 10th place in the Western Conference.

The Spurs have the Nos. 9, 20 and 25th picks in this year’s draft. It is not projected to be very deep, unlike the past two, which means San Antonio probably won’t get a player who will make an immediate impact on its fortunes.

San Antonio has one standout, guard DeJounte Murray, a bunch of role players and some young players (like Josh Primo) with potential. What will San Antonio get out of all those draft picks? Probably another player with potential and a couple of role players. Nothing that would move the needle toward title contention.

The Pistons have some good young players and a solid core to build around in Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart. They also (as of now) have a player who has averaged 20 points a game for them in Jerami Grant.

However, the surrounding cast needs a major injection of talent. Detroit did OK when at full strength. However, they stumbled badly when they had to dip into their bench for major minutes.

Bottom line is, a 23-59 record means you simply need more good players.

Since Detroit needs depth and the Spurs need someone to help lift them out of mediocrity _ quickly _ it might be a good match.

In a mailbag on Pistons.com, writer Keith Langlois was pitched this trade:

Langlois thought general manager Troy Weaver would go for it, if the Spurs really did make an offer of three No. 1s for the No. 5 overall pick. However, Langlois thought San Antonio would be more likely to offer just two of the picks, Nos. 9 and either 20 or 25.

Of course, we do not know if San Antonio has actually offered up multiple ones to move up from No. 9 to 5.

This is a very fluid draft. Outside of the ‘Big 3’ of Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero and Jabari Smith Jr., there are a whole bunch of players in the next tier: Jaden Ivey, Shaedon Sharpe, AJ Griffin, Jalen Duren, to name a few.

Is there someone available at No. 5 who will be much better than who the Spurs can take at No. 9? They might think so, and, if they do, they might be ready to deal with Detroit.

What is Detroit Pistons incentive to trade No. 5 to San Antonio?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (I did not invent this phrase) . If general manager Troy Weaver think he can get the same level of player at No. 9 as he would at 5, he would probably grab an extra first-rounder (or two).

But if there is someone who Detroit really likes that drops to fifth, then Weaver hangs up the phone on the Spurs and uses the pick,

This will most likely be not only a draft day decision, but something that most likely occurred during the draft _ if it happens at all.

If there is a trad to be made involving the No. 5 pick, San Antonio would seem to be an excellent partner.