The Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves scrapped on the court this season and it may carry over into an offseason fight for players.
The Pistons have already been connected to Naz Reid, and there has been some speculation around Nickeil Alexander-Walker (mostly from me) who has ties to Trajan Langdon and is a free agent this summer.
Bleacher Report recently named the Pistons as a possible “landing spot” for Julius Randle, who has a player option for $30 million next season and has been involved in swirling rumors after the ‘Wolves (who are a 2nd tax apron team) got knocked out of the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season.
Detroit could hypothetically flip Tobias Harris for Randle, which would give Minnesota some cap relief and give the Pistons an upgrade.
Randle is a good player, but the Pistons would essentially just be trading one problem for another.
Detroit Pistons trade rumors: Julius Randle is a short-term upgrade, but what then?
Randle has not yet exercised his player option, and who knows, he might not, though it’s hard to imagine him passing up $30 million guaranteed when he might not find that kind of annual salary in free agency with so few teams with cap space.
Tobias Harris is also on an expiring deal that is only $5 million less than Randle’s, so it wouldn’t really help Minnesota that much financially unless they attached another contract they wanted to get rid of, Mike Conley comes to mind.
Randle is an upgrade from Tobias Harris, but he’ll cost the Pistons more and doesn’t offer any more long-term certainty than Harris. The Pistons might have to sacrifice depth elsewhere and I’m not sure that upgrade is worth it for one season.
And beyond that, is Randle a guy you want to offer a lucrative long-term deal to? Me either. I like him, and he showed in the playoffs that he can be very valuable, but he’s a questionable fit with Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson.
Randle is a good enough passer and playmaker to lessen some of the concerns about spacing, but he’s still not a clear fit, even though he and Harris put up similar numbers from 3-point range.
If you view Randle as a cheap (in terms of trade assets), one-season upgrade from Harris than it’s easy to talk yourself into it, but anything other than that and it’s a problematic trade.
I also doubt Minnesota would want to take that downgrade for a measly $5 million in savings, so they can probably find a home for Randle that nets them more financial relief or assets than the Pistons would want to offer.
It’s an interesting idea but ultimately doesn’t answer the Pistons’ biggest long-term question.