Did the Detroit Pistons blow it with the Saddiq Bey trade?

Did the Detroit Pistons blow it with the Saddiq Bey trade?

Now that we see the “haul” the Hawks got for John Collins, it’s pretty clear the Detroit Pistons could have had him for the cost of Saddiq Bey.

Had they just waited until the end of the season to trade him, Bey could have netted them Collins straight up. Trading for James Wiseman never made sense, as his skills overlap with Marvin Bagley’s and give Detroit a logjam at center.

Troy Weaver’s idea of playing two centers who can’t shoot at the same time is not a good one in the modern game, and it was a disaster on both ends when they tried it for short runs this past season.

Collins is a much better fit with what the Pistons have as a guy who has hit near or over 40 percent from 3-point range multiple times in his career. He’s a better and more versatile defender, and would have slotted in nicely into the power forward spot and can even play some small ball center, a valuable weapon in today’s game.

It’s also very possible that Collins was just in the worst possible situation in Atlanta, where he was a complete afterthought and was never really used properly, so Detroit could have taken a flyer on a guy who still has some upside even though he is 25-years-old.

If he scores 18 a game next season while getting back to his old shooting stats, his remaining contract could end up being a bargain for Utah, who had to give up practically nothing to attain him.

So the Pistons could have had a nice player who was a better fit and already locked into a contract that covers three seasons of his prime.

But that doesn’t mean they got it wrong.