The Detroit Pistons are off to a 6-1 start, and there are early signs that the team is more playoff ready than they were last season.
They are shooting and making more 3-point shots, getting more creation outside of Cade Cunningham and have shown impressive depth while suffering several early injuries.
But there are still lingering questions about whether the Pistons have enough offense for the playoffs, especially since they didn’t add another creator in the offseason and instead focused on shooting.
Until the Pistons are more successful in the playoffs, these questions will remain, which means we’ll see them in every fake trade leading up to the deadline.
A recent proposal from Bleacher Report would go against everything Trajan Langdon has done so far but is the type of big swing that could vault the Pistons into true title contention.
The Pistons trading for Kyrie Irving and Nickeil Alexander-Walker
We’ve seen Irving’s name connected to the Pistons of late, as he is reportedly a guy they like to fill that second creator role. And why not? Irving has thrived in that situation before, he’s still an excellent shooter off the ball and would give the Pistons a legit second option, no offense to Duncan Robinson.
NAW would be the even bigger swing, as last year’s MIP is off to another hot start and has evolved into one of the best two-way wings in the league, especially when you factor in his team-friendly contract. He’s not only an excellent 3-and-D guy but has enough creation chops to also help in that department.
Sounds great!
That is, until you see what it would take to pull it off:
Dallas Mavericks Get: Ron Holland II, Kevin Huerter, Jock Landale, Isaiah Joe, 2029 first-round swap (via DET), 2031 first-round swap (via DET)
Atlanta Hawks Get: John Collins; Duncan Robinson; unprotected first-round picks in 2028, 2030 and 2032 (via DET); 2032 second-round pick (via ATL)
Detroit Pistons Get: Kyrie Irving, Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Woah.
This trade would give the Pistons the best starting five in the Eastern Conference and would answer all of their creation questions while also making their defense better.
But it comes at the cost of five players, three unprotected first-round picks and two swaps, which is pretty much the entirety of the Pistons’ depth and trade assets.
While I love the idea of the two players coming to Detroit, it would leave the Pistons without a power forward, as they’d be giving up both Collins and Holland, leaving Ausar Thompson for that role, which is not ideal.
It would also decimate the Pistons’ guard depth, leaving them with only nine real rotation players (one of which is a rookie), so if someone got hurt, they’d be doomed.
Trajan Langdon has been ultra patient so far, so it’s hard to imagine him doing all of this at once, especially when it would leave him with such a thin roster, but either one of these guys would be great and Detroit can certainly afford to go after one of them.
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