The Detroit Pistons are headed into Thursday’s trade deadline with $14 million in cap space and a lot of different ways to use it.
It seemed like the writing was on the wall for a salary dump, as the Pistons need draft assets and aren’t quite in the position to go all-in for a star player to complement Cade Cunningham, though that will change soon.
It may have already, as the Luka Doncic trade that rocked the NBA has front offices around the league thinking anything is possible, and if Luka went for that garbage package (worst trade in NBA history), then surely our team can land a star for the same.
The Pistons are on the fringes of being good, a .500 team in February, which is a great story, but leaves them in limbo. If they were worse, it would be salary dump city. If they were better, they could go for a bigger trade, but they are in the middle ground, so it’s a tough call and Trajan Langdon may be reluctant to part with core pieces at this stage.
The New Orleans Pelicans have a roster that could lend itself to nearly any type of trade for the Pistons, from salary dump to star and given Langdon’s relationship with NOLA, it’s possible we’ll see one of these three trades.
Trade #1: Pistons take a salary dump to get the Pelicans below the tax
Unless something unexpected happens between now and Thursday, this is a move I expect the Pistons to make.
The Pels are around $2 million over the luxury tax and don’t want to pay it for team that is 12-38, so I can definitely see them attaching a second-round pick to a player like Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Javonte Green or Daniel Thies who are all on expiring deals. This would get them out from under the luxury tax, with the Pistons taking a modest asset to make it happen.
I could also see a similar trade happening with a team like Milwaukee.
It would be interesting to see if the Pistons could pry Jose Alvarado from New Orleans instead, as he’s a guy who could help Detroit. Alvarado has had injury issues, but he’s cheap, a great on-the-ball defender and would immediately be a fan-favorite in Detroit.
He’s also upped his 3-point shooting to over 40 percent, can handle the ball, create and is on a lowball contract that only has one more guaranteed year.
Alvarado obviously has connections to Langdon as well as shooting coach Fred Vinson, who was a big part of Alvarado’s 3-point improvement.
If I had to bet, I’d say Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and a second are coming Detroit’s way.
Trade #2: Pistons trade for CJ McCollum
Brandon Ingram has gotten all of the press, but given his injury and contract situation, the Pistons should keep far away from any BI deal.
If they wanted to trade for an impact guy who is on the Tobias Harris timeline, then McCollum is the better choice.
He’s still a bucket who can win you games and take some of the pressure off Cade Cunningham. He’s an immediate upgrade from Ivey (who is going to miss the whole season, let’s be honest here) and only has one more year on his deal after this one, so doesn't mess with the long-term plans.
He’s a great pro, team leader and would add to the culture the Pistons are building.
Essentially, you could turn Tim Hardaway Jr., Simone Fontecchio and a 1st (or even a few seconds) into McCollum, chase the playoffs this year and next, and then have two huge expiring contracts to work with in trades.
CJ is a defensive liability at this point, but so was Jaden Ivey, so the Pistons would really just gain a high-volume 3-point shooter who would thrive off the ball with Cade Cunningham.
I see this trade as unlikely, but possible, as Langdon surely has respect for CJ and knows what he brings to a locker room other than just scoring.
Trade #3: Pistons lowball the Pelicans for Zion Williamson
Looking at what Luka Doncic just went for, it got me wondering what another “fat” player would command on the market, one that has had infinitely more conditioning and injury problems than Luka.
Could the Pistons outright steal Zion Williamson from the Pelicans? As someone who covered the Pels for three years at the beginning of the Zion era, I can tell you that their fanbase has had enough and I don’t think the front office is far behind.
Williamson has missed so many games at this point that it’s easy to forget that he’s even in the league.
The counterargument is that he is 24-years-old and when he’s healthy, he’s a top-15 player and you just don’t get too many chances to land a guy like that. If he didn’t have red flags, he wouldn’t be available.
Zion has only played more than 60 games twice in his career, once last year when he played 70, and if you could get that out of him, it might be worth it. But that’s the biggest “if” in the NBA, as Zion has missed more games than he’s played.
Williamson has three years left at $39, 42 and 44 million, but it is not all guaranteed and there are clauses about his conditioning and weight.
It would be the riskiest of risky moves and Trajan Langdon is well aware of all of the issues of building a team around Zion, but maybe in the right situation..... NO! I am not talking myself into Zion Williamson.....unless.... they can get him for practically nothing, and by that, I mean not even an unprotected first-round pick to go with whatever contracts (THJ, Tek) they’d have to send....and even then....NO! I’m not doing it!
But...