The Detroit Pistons traded two second-round picks to the OKC Thunder for sharpshooter Isaiah Joe, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
Joe is a legit high-volume 3-point shooter who hit 42.3 percent of his six attempts per game and nearly 41 percent for his career. He's a durable player who played at least 71 games in the last four seasons and he's got championship experience.
Joe ticks a lot of boxes for shooting-starved Detroit, and he's on a team-friendly deal for two more seasons. I wrote about him as a possibility for the Pistons after the Thunder made it clear they would trade some of their guard depth for second-round picks. This is a home run move for Detroit, who had second round picks to spare and newly cleared cap space after dealing Isaiah Stewart.
This is more of a complementary move, but it could be a sign of bigger things to come.
Duncan Robinson is now expendable in a big deal
The Pistons need shooting, so trading away their only good 3-point shooter after acquiring another one would seem to be a lateral move.
But if the Pistons want to make a big swing in a trade, especially for someone like Jaylen Brown, which is an unexpected rumor being circulated by Jake Fischer (more on that below), they are going to need every contract they can get to match the salary, and that would include Duncan Robinson.
In an ideal world, I am sure the Pistons would love to keep Robinson, but if they can use his contract to get a true difference maker, then they just got his replacement who is younger and makes less money.
It would have been far more difficult to deal Robinson if they didn't have another shooter in place, so the Joe trade does set up bigger deals.
Is Jaylen Brown a possibility?
Here is what Fischer had to say about Jaylen Brown:
"There’s also a potential backstop emerging for Boston’s Jaylen Brown trade discussions. Detroit is very much weighing the prospect of signing-and-trading restricted free agent Jalen Duren for Brown, sources say, among other conceptual outcomes, if that option remains available for the Pistons once free agency opens on Tuesday early evening."
My first response was WOAH. But then I started to try and work it out and it seems like a pipe dream for several reasons. The first is that I have doubt Boston would trade Brown for a package centered around Jalen Duren.
Even if that were a possibility, I don't see how the Pistons get there salary-wise, as Duren only counts for $19 million in incoming salary, so even if they stacked Robinson, LeVert and Holland they still come up short to the $57 million Brown will make next season.
I am no cap expert, so I am sure the Pistons could find a way to make it work, or even get other teams involved.
The idea of Brown is tempting, as he's a true two-way star who provides the second scorer and would give the Pistons the best perimeter defense in the NBA.
But it would also leave them with Paul Reed and Tolu Smith as their center duo, so any trade for Brown would truly re-define the Pistons.
Does Trajan Langdon really want to break up his core after they just won 60 games? Buckle up, we're about to find out.
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