Proposed trade with Bulls has huge risk/reward for Pistons

Proposed trade with Bulls has huge risk/reward for the Pistons

One way the Pistons could get their hands on a first-round pick would be to take on an onerous contract and relieve a team of some dead cap space.

That’s exactly what happens in this trade proposal from Bleacher Report, which would be a big risk for the Pistons, but one that could pay off big time if everything panned out.

In this trade, the Bulls send the injured Lonzo Ball to the Pistons in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic, a one-to-one trade that would work financially. Because of Ball’s situation, the Bulls are going to have to tack on a lightly-protected first-round pick.

The Bulls do have an extra pick eventually coming from Portland, but it’s heavily protected and won’t be in the lottery.

Before we get to the Pistons, I see little reason why the Bulls would do this unless they are just desperate to get off of Ball’s contract. He only has a player option left on his deal after this season, but the window for this Bulls’ team to win anything is closing rapidly.

Is Bogdanovic really going to change that? The Bulls were 40-42 last season without Ball, so may hope that another scoring threat could at least get them a winning record and into the playoffs, but it would potentially be a steep price to pay to chase the play-in again.

What about the Detroit Pistons? Would this be a risk worth taking?