Tale of two B/R trades for the Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are a young team with some valuable veteran assets, so it makes sense that they are going to get mentioned in a lot of trade rumors.

Recently, we’ve seen Russell Westbrook trades floating around, though this seems unlikely, as it would be risky for the Pistons from a player development (or financial) standpoint.

There’s also the question of whether a distant first round pick is really worth another season of guaranteed losing. Detroit is trying to take incremental steps towards contention and a move like this might be viewed as a step in the wrong direction.

But when you have future cap space and are looking to add young players and draft assets, you’re going to be mentioned in fake trades, some of which looking lopsided for Detroit, and others that don’t make much sense.

What are the Detroit Pistons looking for in a trade?

There is a good possibility that the Pistons will move on from some of their veterans at some point this season, especially if they get off to a slow start and are out of contention by the trade deadline.

Guys like Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, Kelly Olynyk, Cory Joseph and Kemba Walker are not likely part of the long-term plans in Detroit and are on expiring contracts or have team options for next season, so trading them makes sense for a team trying to gather assets for the future.

The Pistons will be looking for draft assets and young talent to put around their promising core, and can hopefully use some of these veterans to do it.

There were two trades proposed recently that fit into this category, one that makes sense and one that really doesn’t.