The Houston Rockets’ championship aspirations have taken a blow after it was reported that team leader Fred VanVleet suffered a possibly season-ending injury. It’s unfortunate and something you never want to see and may force the Rockets into making additional moves to try and replace him. With no money or flexibility, Houston may have to deal Tari Eason, and if they do, the Pistons should be all over it.
Eason should have been on the Pistons’ radar already, as the Rockets have a plethora of players at his position after adding Kevin Durant this offseason and may not be able to squeeze Eason into their future financial plans, especially after committing to Jabari Smith Jr.
The Pistons are thin at power forward already and Tobias Harris is on an expiring deal, so they’ll have one eye on the future of the position and Eason would be a great fit. He’s a 6-foot-8 forward who shoots a decent clip from 3-point range, rebounds the ball and is a great defender who can guard multiple spots.
Eason averaged 2.6 stocks last season and has the defensive mentality the Pistons are building their culture around, so he’d fit right in.
The question is whether the Pistons have any realistic path to trading for him.
Detroit Pistons trade with Rockets would likely require another team
The Pistons have financial flexibility that would give them an advantage if the Rockets do decide to trade Eason to land a point guard.
The problem is that the Pistons don’t really have a point guard to send Houston, as the money doesn’t work with Jaden Ivey and I highly doubt Houston would see Marcus Sasser as a solution even if the Pistons were to kick in a pick or two.
Detroit would likely need a third team that had an excess point guard good enough to tempt Houston but not have the financial flexibility to make a move without help.
That’s a tall order, which makes this a long shot, but with an open roster spot and a big trade exception, the Pistons could try to position themselves to get involved if the Rockets make a move.
A recent article in Bleacher Report suggested the Kings may be able to trade Keon Ellis and a second-round pick for Eason, which seems an insanely low price.
The easiest way for the Pistons to get involved would be to take a bad contract as part of the compensation for Eason, but the problem is the Rockets don’t really have one, so there are challenges everywhere.
Tari Eason would be an ideal solution to the Pistons’ biggest long-term question mark, but they’ll need some help to orchestrate a trade.