Big no on an even worse Blake Griffin trade for the Pistons

Detroit Pistons fans remember two things about the Blake Griffin era in Detroit. 

They remember Blake dragging a mediocre team to the playoffs, with some monster games along the way. You could never fault Blake’s effort and he had an All-NBA season for the Pistons. It was the last time the Pistons made the playoffs or had anyone selected for an All-NBA team. 

But Blake was never the same after, so the second thing fans remember is him sitting on the bench in street clothes, his huge wad of dead money and how the trade ultimately set the Pistons back for some modest short-term gains. 

Even with the Pistons rolling and playing their best basketball since Blake Griffin was in town, there are some who want the Pistons to make the same mistake again, only worse. 

Detroit Pistons: Trading for Bradley Beal 

With several big names trending on the rumor mill, the Pistons are getting thrown into just about every trade as the only team with cap space to go along with a decent sized expiring contract. 

Most of these trades have been delusional, with the Pistons acting as financier for teams exchanging stars and getting little in return. Not going to happen. 

This culminated with a slew of people writing about the possibility of the Pistons taking on Bradley Beal to help facilitate a trade of Jimmy Butler to the Suns. 

In this hypothetical, the Pistons are giving up Tim Hardaway Jr. and Tobias Harris, taking on Bradley Beal and potentially getting a first-round pick in 2031 for their troubles.

On paper, Beal slots into the Jaden Ivey spot and the Pistons don’t miss a beat offensively, though Beal is a poor defender and his shoot-first style doesn’t fit into the ethos the Pistons are trying to build on offense.

Beal gets 18 a game on good shooting splits, including nearly 40 percent from long range. 

Beal is a big name, so for people not paying attention, I get the appeal, but when you barely scratch the surface, it’s an easy pass for the Pistons. 

Beal is owed the bulk of $50 million this season, with 53 and 57 coming to him the two years after that. He’s basically averaging the same number of points per game as Jaden Ivey, but at seven times the cost. I’d rather just wait for Ivey. 

Those numbers look even more daunting when you consider Beal has played 60 games just once in the last five seasons and missed 30+ games in the rest. He’s a walking injury and that’s not likely to improve even as his salary escalates. 

The Pistons could use guard depth but they need players who defend the position well to take pressure off Cade Cunningham and save him the wear of defending the other team’s best perimeter player. Beal doesn’t help that cause, he makes it worse. 

THJ and Tobias Harris haven’t been spectacular this season, but they’ve been solid veteran leaders who have hit big shots, stepped up when the team needed them and are a big part of the chemistry they are building. 

Why disrupt that for a guy who barely averages more points than Harris? It’s not like this is prime Beal we are talking about. Even if Beal stayed healthy and did give the Pistons a boost into the playoffs, they’d be stuck with that albatross contract for two more seasons and there is a solid argument the Pistons are headed in that direction anyway. 

Detroit is 9-3 over the last month, .500 for the first time since Blake and guys are buying into their roles. There is no reason to disrupt that for the slight chance of moderate gains in the standings. 

There’s also the issue of Beal’s no-trade clause, one of the few in existence in the NBA. He might veto a trade to Detroit, and even if he didn’t, that clause would hamper Detroit in future moves. 

I’m not against adding talent at the deadline for a playoff run, but not at the expense of the cap sheet for a guy who is always injured, as we’ve been down that road before. 

Ironically, Tobias Harris was part of the last deal the Pistons made for a past-his-prime star on his last legs, a mistake the Pistons aren’t going to make again.