As February inches closer, we are increasingly seeing fake trades involving the Detroit Pistons, and many of them include Jaden Ivey, which ignores the fact that he currently doesn’t have much trade value.
We see fans do this all of the time, piling together players that they don’t want in exchange for ones that they do, but the reality of the situation is much different.
We’ve seen trade proposals including Ivey for just about everyone from Giannis Antetokounmpo to Lauri Markkanen to Trey Murphy III to Michael Porter Jr., but if Pistons fans are being honest with themselves, they have to ask if any of these teams would want this current iteration of Jaden Ivey.
Jaden Ivey has to play better or he’s not going anywhere
For fans of Ivey, the best-case scenario is easy: He plays well, the Pistons re-sign him, and we all live happily ever after.
But as I wrote about earlier, this is more complicated than it seems, especially while Ivey is still on restrictions and has not yet shown much since returning.
He’s been fine and certainly deserves some patience as he tries to return from a devastating injury, but do you really think another team is looking at Ivey right now and saying, “he’s the guy I want to trade my star to get?” Me either.
Teams trading stars are looking for very young players with super-high ceilings or guys in their early 20’s who have already shown signs of stardom. Ivey doesn’t really fit into either of those categories, as he was set back by Monty Williams’ coaching malpractice and only played 30 games last season.
He’s far from a sure bet, which is why it’s tough to see teams wanting to make him the centerpiece of a big trade. We know how it works in the NBA, as players who have never stepped on the floor often have more value than those who have.
It’s like the Schrodinger’s Cat of basketball prospects, as you might have a superstar in the box, and you might not. This allows players to be “nothing” and a “superstar” at the same time. As soon as you open the box, and that player is not an instant superstar, then teams simply move on to the next box. How’s that for some theoretical quantum physics?
The Pistons have opened the box, and what they have is a player that no one knows much about, including them, so unless Ivey starts playing well consistently and looks like a star, it’s hard to see him having much trade value at the deadline.