Did the Detroit Pistons get it wrong when they flipped Saddiq Bey for James Wiseman? I don’t know. It’s too soon to say. Thanks to hindsight however, we can look back and see the times when the Pistons did get it wrong.
Every franchise has trades they wish they could undo, so here are the 10 worst in franchise history for the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit Pistons: 10 worst trades in franchise history
#10 Acquired second-round draft choice from Denver in exchange for Arron Afflalo, Walter Sharpe and cash considerations
Aaron Afflalo turned out to be a good player. The Detroit Pistons peddled him off far too soon. In many cases, I’m all about acquiring draft picks, but not in every case. Why we gave up on Afflalo, I’ll never know. At the time it was questionable at best, and history hasn’t been kind as this decision has aged. Afflalo spent 12 seasons in the NBA all-told and averaged a career-high 18.2 points per game at his peak. Detroit should have kept him.
#9 Acquired Billy Owens for Lindsey Hunter
Lindsey Hunter was drafted to replace Isiah Thomas, an impossible task that was unfair for every party involved, including the fanbase. Pistons fans had unrealistic expectations for Hunter, the 10th overall pick of the 1993 NBA Draft. Of course, Hunter couldn’t live up to them and as the team fell on hard times, he was somewhat scapegoated. Luckily, he was brought back to the franchise in time to help it win a championship in 2004. However, it’s a shame that Hunter didn’t spend his whole career here as he remains somewhat unheralded to this day.
Detroit Pistons: 10 worst trades in franchise history
#8 Acquired Derrick Coleman and Amal McCaskill from Philadelphia in exchange for Corliss Williamson
If you don’t remember this deal, you’re better off. One ESPN headline read: Sixers unload Coleman on Detroit. That headline says it all. The Detroit Pistons wanted cap space, but things never seemed to pan out for Joe Dumars when acquiring cap space was his chief motive. Coleman, a born Detroiter, was a big deal for much of his career, but at this point he was washed whereas Corliss Williamson was an important contributor to our championship.
#7 Acquired Marvin Bagley in exchange for Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles, and pick swaps
Bagley looked like a nice fit at the end of the 2021-22 season, although many felt he was re-signed for too much money in the offseason. The fit doesn’t seem so great anymore a mere year later. Since that time, Troy Weaver has brought both Jalen Duren and James Wiseman into the fold, which is to say nothing of Isaiah Stewart. Bagley has had trouble staying healthy this season, but he has also become a non-priority. Moving him will now require giving up another asset and keeping him will just be a constant reminder of the mistake in bringing him here in the first place. A strong case can be made that both Josh Jackson, although a somewhat redundant player with Hamidou Diallo aboard, and Trey Lyles are better fits for this roster.
#6 Acquired Kevin Porter from Washington Bullets in exchange for Dave Bing and a 1st round pick in 1977
Dave Bing was the face of the franchise. Whenever the hometown team trades away the face of the franchise, it’s a gut punch. His best days were behind him, sure. This would be the first of two stints in Detroit for Kevin Porter, and he was a good contributor in both instances – but he wasn’t Dave Bing. The draft pick would ultimately end up in the hands of the Atlanta Hawks and they used it on big man Tree Rollins. In a roundabout way, we deprived ourselves of Tree Rollins, who somehow managed to play NBA basketball until he was 39 years old.
Detroit Pistons: 10 worst trades in franchise history
# 5 Acquired guard Brandon Jennings from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for guard Brandon Knight, forward Khris Middleton and center Viacheslav Kravtsov
This is arguably the moment the Detroit Pistons lost themselves – and nearly ten years later they’re still lost.
Brandon Jennings was a splashy player, capable of scoring points in bunches. The Milwaukee Bucks selected him with the 10th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, and he answered the bell with a strong rookie season. That year, he scored scored over 15 points a game and added nearly six assists while shooting 37 percent from long range. He finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Tyreke Evans and one Stephen Curry.
Jennings had his share of highlights in four seasons with the Bucks, including the seventh game of his NBA career when he lit up Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors for 55 points. Ultimately, team success failed to follow, and Milwaukee chose to move on from the electric backcourt gunner. When he was dealt to Detroit, his was the biggest name in the headlines. That has since changed.
Khris Middleton was a mere 2nd-round pick in the 2012 draft, never mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Curry or even Jennings. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t even held in as high a regard as Brandon Knight, who was also sent to Milwaukee as a part of that trade. But Middleton, now ten years later, remains a stalwart of the Bucks organization, and is an NBA champion to boot.
Detroit Pistons: 10 worst trades in franchise history
# 4 Acquired Corey Maggette in exchange for Ben Gordon and a 1st round pick in 2012
We know that the Ben Gordon free-agent signing is symbolic of the death of the Goin’ to Work Pistons. The squad that won the 2004 NBA championship was pretty much history by the time Gordon arrived alongside the off-season’s other big free agent signing, Charlie Villanueva. Gordon was unable to live up to the expectations that coincided with the $55 million contract he inked his name on in 2009. By the time he was shipped to Charlotte, most Pistons fans were beyond ready to see him go.
Getting rid of Gordon isn’t the issue, and it’s all well and good that the Pistons got out from under $14 million of wasted money thanks to that swap. While $14 million is no small hunk of change, it’s not worth giving up a Top-10 pick. Every season we see teams tank hoping to improve their chances in the draft lottery and get the highest pick possible. No, #9 is not #1, but lottery picks are exactly what they should have been looking to acquire at that time. Gordon’s departure didn’t open the door to the signing of a star, or the reconfiguring of a contender on the fly. His trade, just like his signing, was a bad decision.
A short list of players that Detroit could have selected includes Nikola Jokic, Zach LaVine, Jusuf Nurkic, Clint Capela, and even eventual-Piston Jerami Grant. Why pass up on such talent all to save money smack dab in the middle of a six-year stretch during which the team played sub.-500 ball?
The Ben Gordon signing was a mistake. The Ben Gordon trade was even worse.
Detroit Pistons: 10 worst trades in franchise history
#3 Acquired Blake Griffin, Brice Johnson, and Willie Reed in exchange for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic, a 1st round pick in 2018 (top 4 protected), and a 2nd round pick in 2019
The one I flopped around on the most flopped all the way up to #3.
On the one hand, we were privy to Blake Griffin’s most complete season as a professional basketball player and it was something beautiful to behold. Blake essentially ran the offense as a point forward, did an adequate job of shooting from long range, and essentially carried the franchise – for one year – with the same magnificence of say, a Grant Hill. Sapped of most of his athleticism and saddled with a subpar supporting cast (his best teammate was Andre Drummond), he willed his team into the playoffs and into the crosshairs of the Milwaukee Bucks. First round annihilation was inevitable. But it was nevertheless one of the most enjoyable season for Pistons fans in the last 15 years or so.
And still, his acquisition was a mistake. It was a last desperate hail mary, thrown by Stan Van Gundy in an attempt to save his job and make something meaningful come of his stretch with the team. It didn’t work. This was the high water mark, and the organization simply sunk from there. The Detroit Pistons chased a superstar and the best they could do was bring a 30-year-old athletic marvel whose athleticism was rapidly deteriorating. It would have been better to blow things up, to acquire picks instead of ship them out, to bring in a younger player rather than an aging vet in exchange for Tobias Harris, who at the time, was in demand, not entirely unlike Jerami Grant or Bojan Bogdanovic have been in recent years. Which is to say nothing of Boban Marjanovic, who was so much fun to watch for the few meaningless minutes he took the court.
Detroit Pistons: 10 worst trades in franchise history
#2 Acquired Walt Bellamy and Howard Komives from New York in exchange for Dave DeBusschere
Another one from way back. Seeing as how this one popped off in 1968, it’s unlikely to be something well-remembered. Yet, the most passionate Pistons fans will recognize Dave DeBusschere’s place among the franchise greats. At the time of this deal, the 28-year-old power forward was in the prime of his career. His numbers wouldn’t jump off the page, especially in today’s age, but DeBusschere was among the first Pistons to make his bones on defense, helping to set the tone for the Detroit Basketball for years to come. Despite giving four years to professional baseball, and breaking his leg during his second season with the Pistons, he cemented himself as the face of the franchise by earning his way onto the All-Rookie Team, multiple All-Defensive First Teams, and even becoming a player-coach making him the youngest coach in NBA history. Trading him away was the nuclear option, and team owner Fred Zollner blew the Detroit Pistons up when he sent DeBusschere packing.
Detroit Pistons: 10 worst trades in franchise history
#1 Acquired Allen Iverson in exchange for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb
This trade is the equivalent of watching an aging vet – today, the best example that comes to mind is, locally, is Miguel Cabrera – flounder around years after their prime. For those who don’t know, Cabrera is a surefire Hall-of-Famer who has spent the last 15 years playing baseball for the Detroit Tigers. Unfortunately, it’s been five years since he’s been any good.
Iverson scored 17 points a night for the Pistons in his 54 games with the team but the most meaningful numbers he racked up while in Detroit were at the casino. His heart didn’t seem like it was in it, and it just didn’t work. He was 33-years-old at the time so it’s not fair to go too hard at him. His mere acquisition did have it’s element of excitement. But it was fool’s gold.
Plot twist, the aging veteran analogy has nothing to do with A.I.
Then President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars had been trying to reel in a big fish for years, whether Iverson himself or the one and only Kobe Bryant. While Dumars is celebrated for being the architect of a superstar-less championship basketball team, he had long-coveted a superstar to build around. The irony.
Near the end of his tenure, it was clear that Dumars was burnt out. After winning championships on the court, and in the front office, and racking up personal achievements like having the league’s sportsmanship award named after him, the man who had represented the Pistons for over 20 years – and did it better than anyone else ever has – finally departed the organization.
The postscript is Chauncey Billups. No, he didn’t do anything especially spectacular after being traded away, but he did continue to play well and excel as a leader for the Denver Nuggets and then briefly for both the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.
When he was traded, his presence was missed immeasurably by both the fans and his teammates. Ben Wallace may have been the backbone of that superstar-less Pistons team, but Billups was the lynchpin. He held everyone accountable, and together. His loss was so profound that it was symbolic. Most fans won’t even remember that Billups returned to play his final 19 games in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons in the 2013-14 season, but trading him away marked the end of an era and the beginning of the one we are currently mired in.