Tale of two B/R trades for the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons: Trade with the Chicago Bulls
In a recent article in Bleacher Report, Andy Bailey proposed a trade for every team in the NBA and the Detroit Pistons came up twice.
Here is the first idea:
In this trade, the Pistons ship out veteran shooting guard Alec Burks in exchange for Coby White and Javonte Green.
Burks, White and Green are all on expiring contracts (Burks’ is a team option), so there wouldn’t be any long-term commitments for either team.
This makes sense for the Bulls, as they have an aging roster and their chance to win is right now, as DeMar DeRozan isn’t going to keep playing at this level forever. Burks is better than White now and gives them a better chance to win right away.
This also makes sense for the Pistons, as they get to take a flyer on a 22-year-old scorer in White who just hit 38.5 percent of his 3-point shots last season, a skillset they desperately need. They could have a one-year tryout for White to see if he fits.
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If he does, great, you can probably lock up a player who has not yet reached his prime for a reasonable deal, giving the Pistons an “instant offense” guy off the bench and bolstering their shooting.
If it doesn’t work out, the Pistons won’t have lost much, as Burks isn’t part of the future anyway and they’d at least reap some extra cap space for 2023 free agents. White is a guy the Pistons could target in free agency anyway, so this would give them the inside track to signing him.
This is the type of trade Detroit should be looking for, as it allows them to cash in a veteran for a young, high-ceiling player whose best days are still in front of him and will be on a reasonable deal.