Laughably lopsided trade idea would be a steal for the Pistons

Laughably lopsided trade with Pelicans would be a steal for the Pistons

I know some of you are queuing up your hilarious fat jokes or googling how many games Zion Williamson has played as an argument for why the Pistons wouldn’t or shouldn’t make this trade.

Please.

When healthy, Zion is a top-10 player in the NBA, the type of player that is very difficult for Detroit to land outside of the draft. Yes, he’s been injury prone, and yes, there are some issues with his approach (which is the only reason he would ever be traded) but when it comes to talent, he’s got it.

When rumors first started circulating that the Pelicans might trade Zion Williamson, my thought was that the Pistons should be on the phone finding out what it would take. Approaching the draft, we came up with a few trade ideas for Zion and all of them involved the Pistons giving up WAY more than this.

A 34-year-old Bogdanovic on an expiring deal, two draft busts on expiring deals and two picks? Zion’s trade value may be low right now, but not that low. The Pelicans think they are a team on the cusp of being a contender, so if they were to trade Zion, they’d have to get back a package that could help them win now and still give them future assets.

Bogdanovic could be plugged right into any lineup and would be a nice fit on the Pelicans, but the other two? It’s likely they wouldn’t see the floor, as New Orleans has better players. So they’d be allocating nearly $40 million in cap space next season for three players, two of whom would be bench players at best, the other who is in his mid-30’s and going to be a free agent.

As for the Pistons, if you could get a player of Zion’s caliber without giving up Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren or Ausar Thompson, you do it in a heartbeat every single time. Imagine this starting five

• Cade Cunningham
• Jaden Ivey
• Ausar Thompson
• Zion Williamson
• Jalen Duren

Inject that into my veins! Unfortunately, imagining is all we’ll be able to do, as the Pelicans wouldn’t do this deal in a million years.

I appreciate Bleacher Report showing the Pistons some generosity, but New Orleans would hang up the phone and delete Troy Weaver’s number if he offered this for Zion.