Absurd trade proposal has Pistons paying dearly for Kings' biggest problem

The playoffs haven’t even started yet, but that hasn’t stopped some from dreaming about what the Detroit Pistons might do this summer to bolster their roster. 

With as many as nine players coming off the books next season, the Pistons could dramatically reshape their roster and hopefully add another scorer who can take some of the burden off Cade Cunningham. 

Bleacher Report has come up with a bunch of fake trades, ranging from smaller depth moves to the type of all-in deal that could land them a fringe All-Star. 

None of these options are ideal and see the Pistons giving up too much to get players who are not legit #2s on good teams. 

But this doozy might be the worst, as it has the Pistons taking on another team’s problem and paying dearly for it: 

I don’t even know where to start with this one except to say that the Pistons cannot make a trade that ships out three rotation players unless they are getting a superstar back and Sabonis does not qualify, but there are other reasons why this is a complete nonstarter. 

The Pistons can't eat the Kings' problem

Sabonis has barely played this season and only averaged just over 15 points per game when he has, and the Pistons have to trade this much to get him? No. 

The Kings just spent the trade deadline looking for anyone to take Sabonis off their hands, as he’s a terrible defender who is owed nearly $100 million over the next two seasons. 

The Kings couldn’t find any takers, which should tell you what the market is for Sabonis. As good as he is offensively, it’s untenable to have a frontcourt player who can’t defend. The Pistons would certainly dominate the boards with Sabonis and Jalen Duren, but he wouldn’t do much for their already poor spacing, as he’s just going to clog the lane even more. 

The Pistons would be paying a premium for a guy whose value has slipped and would watch their interior defense take a massive hit, as they’d be trading two of their three best defenders, including their best rim protector, for a guy who plays no defense. 

The Pistons have built their roster around defense, and yes, they do need more scoring, but not in a tweener center who doesn’t play defense or shoot enough 3-point shots to make up for it. 

There is a reason the Kings are where they are right now, which is a complete dumpster fire, and it’s mostly because they have bloated contracts for guys who cannot defend, and that includes Sabonis. 

The Pistons would be doing them a HUGE favor here, one that would kill their defense and chemistry, so let’s just be real and say there is no chance something like this happens.