The Detroit Pistons won’t be in the lottery of the 2026 Draft, but it could have a massive effect on their offseason.
After trying to have their cake and eat it too, the Pacers’ plan blew up in their faces, and the protected pick they sent to the Clippers for Zubac conveyed as the #5 pick in a loaded draft. That now looks like a severe overpay for the Pacers, but it’s one that could send the Clippers and Pistons in a different direction.
Kawhi Leonard is entering the final year of his deal, and it’s pretty clear the Clippers aren’t going anywhere as constructed, so we could see them do a soft rebuild around Darius Garland, Bennedict Mathurin and whoever they take with the 5th pick.
Realistically, I felt Leonard was a bit of a pipe dream for the Pistons but beat reporter Omari Sankofa II said that the Pistons were “likely” to be involved if Leonard became available, which was somewhat surprising.
I talked about the Pistons possibly going with a stopgap option, and Kawhi Leonard has been successful in that role in the past, but it’s not 2019 anymore, and he still comes with the same red flags.
Kawhi Leonard would be ideal or a disaster
The appealing part of Leonard is that he is still one of the best players in the world when healthy, a guy who would solve the Pistons’ second scorer issue while also making them even better defensively.
Also, given his expiring contract, his trade value is down. The Pistons will have cap space and may be able to land Leonard for expiring contracts and a first-round pick.
But we all know Kawhi is always a second away from being injured, so the Pistons would have to get him at a steep discount for the risk to be worth it. They would also have to protect him for most of the regular season to have a chance for him to be healthy for the playoffs.
Even though Kawhi has been a successful mercenary before, he has made it abundantly clear that he only wants to play on the west coast and would prefer to stay in LA. The Pistons can’t afford to trade for a moody, unhappy Leonard, as that could quickly destroy their team chemistry, so Detroit would have to be certain Kawhi had any interest in playing in Detroit and would be happy there. Good luck with that.
The fit is there, and the Clippers may be in line for a reboot, so a Leonard to Detroit trade does make some sense, but there are also a ton of red flags for the Pistons to navigate before they could even consider it.
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