Pistons fans are still reeling from seeing Isaiah Stewart traded away, but zooming out just a little bit adds even more insult to injury. Stewart netted 3 second-round picks in a return package from the Grizzlies, but the Pistons had just traded 3 second-rounders to the Grizzlies so they could move up from draft spot 21 to 17 the night before. It's hard not to look at the transactions together and wonder if Stewart was really just traded to move up 4 spots in the draft, an utterly embarrassing return for such an important player.
The Pistons needed to get more for Stewart
It's hard to overstate Stewart's impact on the Pistons' turnaround and astonishing regular-season success this year. He was a vocal leader of the team and a lockdown defender off the bench. If he had played enough games and minutes, he could have easily found himself on the First Team All-Defense. But unfortunately the Pistons got atrocious value out of trading him.
Only getting three picks for Stewart is bad enough on its own, but trading away such a valuable bench piece to move up 4 draft spots is even worse. Sure Emuka Okorie, who the Pistons eventually picked at 17, could be the missing piece in the Pistons' offensive vision. But the Pistons needed to find a way to get him without wasting such a valuable trade chip as Stewart.
Giving up three future picks to move up 4 spots was also a questionable move on its own. It's quite possible that Okorie would have still been available at 21, considering that none of the 4 players selected right after him plays remotely the same style.
Detroit's asset management has been very questionable
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the Pistons have left us scratching our heads with trades recently. Their return for trading Jaden Ivey was also subpar, and didn't end up making any difference in the playoffs. At the pivotal time that trade happened, the Pistons already knew they had high playoff hopes and obvious weaknesses which could have been addressed with a player better than Kevin Huerter.
In other transactions, the Pistons have also been very loose with their second-round draft picks. Detroit has grown fond of tossing in second-rounders just to make marginal upgrades, which has a double negative effect of both depleting the asset pool and not making enough of a difference to get over the hump.
As the Pistons enter a new stage of contention, it'll be more important than ever that they make trades carefully and extract maximum value in every transaction. The draft trades with the Grizzlies, both acquiring Okorie and trading away Stewart, were the exact opposite.
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