Pistons turned the Jaden Ivey crisis into a long-term opportunity

The Detroit Pistons were compelled to trade Jaden Ivey when his value was the lowest, but they managed to make the most of what could have been a disaster. 

In retrospect, getting anything for Ivey was a win, as he flamed out quickly for the Bulls and isn’t currently employed. Every time I write about anything Ivey related, I get a lot of hate mail, so I want to be clear that this is not about him, but the players they got for trading him. 

I wish Ivey well in his future endeavors, but this is about the present and future for the Pistons. 

Kevin Huerter could be the wild card in the Ivey trade 

I was somewhat surprised the Pistons brought back Kevin Huerter, but it was a value play, as he was pretty good for them last season and they are hoping his 3-point shooting will return. 

If the Pistons eventually trade Duncan Robinson, Huerter (and Isaiah Joe) could be valuable insurance against the loss of his shooting.

We could also see Huerter’s salary aggregated in a bigger deal, so he’s a big wild card in the Ivey trade who could pay off in a number of ways. If his salary or minutes eventually become important, we’ll look at his part of the trade differently than we did last season.

Ebuka Okorie could end up being the player the Pistons wanted in Ivey 

Okorie is a super-quick guard who looks to score, and if that description sounds familiar, it’s because it was similar to Ivey when he was drafted. 

The two have some similarities, but are still very different players, as Okorie was more efficient and took better care of the ball in his one year of college than Ivey ever did in his two years at Purdue. 

But Okorie hopes to fill a similar role as a second creator and scorer who can handle the ball. It might be tough for him to crack the rotation consistently right away, but Okorie will get his chance to fill that role at some point in the future.

The context of the trade wasn’t great for the Pistons, but there are still a lot of moving parts here, as Huerter could turn out to be valuable one way or another, and Okorie could end up being the type of player the Pistons hoped Ivey to be. 

Of course, there is also a world where neither of these players leave the bench next season, which will force us to revisit this once again, but for right now, it appears the Pistons made the best of a situation that was far from ideal. 

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