It’s no secret that the Bucks plan to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo and that the Miami Heat are one of the frontrunners to attain him. There has also been ample speculation that the Detroit Pistons could get involved.
Myself and many others have been talking about the possibility of the Pistons landing Tyler Herro as a third team in the Giannis trade.
That speculation was bolstered by reports that the Bucks were already sniffing out Miami’s draft slot and were moving like a team that planned to have multiple first-round picks to work with.
Insider Marc Stein (subscription) confirmed some of this in a recent report, saying “A trade scenario I hadn't previously heard was relayed to me Thursday:
The Pistons, I'm told, should be monitored as a potential third-team facilitator in a Giannis Antetokounmpo-to-Miami trade ... with Tyler Herro ultimately landing in Detroit.”
Well, Mr. Stein obviously isn't a reader of PistonPowered (shocker!), as it's something myself and many other writers and fans have been kicking around for weeks.
But I’m not in the room (or even in the country), so Stein’s reporting does lend some credibility to the speculation.
It’s a trade that seems pretty obvious for everyone involved.
The Pistons can take a swing without giving up as much
One thing I love about the potential of a Herro trade is that he will likely cost less to acquire than a guy like Trey Murphy III or Kyrie Irving, which Stein also mentioned in his report.
If the Pistons are an extra team in the Giannis deal, they may be able to land Herro for the cost of a first-round pick and some filler contracts, as the bulk of the players involved would be coming from Miami.
Herro will be on an expiring deal and was injured for most of the season, factors that would make him far cheaper than TMIII, who is on a team-friendly deal that extends several seasons.
The Bucks would add more picks to whatever stockpile Miami sends their way, and the Heat would have to come up with less to get the deal done. Herro doesn’t seem too happy with Miami at the moment anyway, so they can clear an expensive contract off their books.
Herro is a bad defender, but he’d help plenty in the ball handling and shooting departments and leave the Pistons enough wiggle room in terms of salary and assets to add more players around him.
If Detroit could send a future pick instead of this year’s, it would make the deal even sweeter, as they’d still be able to add a young talent in a deep draft.
A lot of this makes sense for Detroit, but we’ll see whether these reports are just more speculation or if there is really something to it when the draft comes next week.
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