There has been endless talk about the possibility of the Detroit Pistons trading for Lauri Markkanen, but the only way they can do it is if it’s a clear win for Detroit and they don’t have to give up a piece of their core.
The speculation is coming entirely from the national media, most of whom seem to know nothing about the Pistons, as they come up with fake trades Detroit would never do or completely misevaluate how they view their own roster.
I’ve seen pundits say, “The Pistons would never trade Jaden Ivey,” only to turn around and say, “They could include Ausar Thompson in the deal.” Huh?
Thompson is close to untouchable and personally, I wouldn’t trade him straight up for Markkanen.
The idea of Markkanen might be better than the reality. I understand the infatuation with having a floor-spreading power forward, especially one with his offensive talents.
But then you have his down last season, his massive contract, his injury history and his shoddy defense and suddenly you are wondering why you’re giving up so much for a guy whose trade value has been inflated by reputation and ignorance more than reality.
Markkanen has never played 70 games in a season (something Tobias Harris has done in nine of the last 10 seasons btw) or appeared in a playoff game, but this is the guy who is going to push the Pistons over the top? I can’t see it, especially if they have to give up three players to get him.
There is really only one way that Markkanen is an option for the Pistons and it’s one the Jazz aren’t going to like.
The Pistons can’t give up too much depth for Markkanen
Most of the fake trades you see for Markkanen include Tobias Harris, Jaden Ivey, Bobi Klintman and a slew of picks, which seems somewhat fair until you think about all of the things I mentioned above.
If the Pistons can swing a deal for Markkanen that does not include a member of the young core, then it would be more palatable and make a whole lot more sense. You could say that the Pistons don't see Ivey as part of the core, and if that's true, this is a different story, but as of right now, he is. We will revisit that in February.
If the Pistons could make it Harris and another bench player (Caris LeVert) to go along with some picks, then maybe, but otherwise, I’d rather have the depth, especially when Markkanen has never proven he can stay healthy.
The Ainge’s are going to try and squeeze every drop of value out of Markkanen, and who knows, maybe someone will bite, but it shouldn’t be the Pistons unless they can get him for expiring contracts and picks without giving up one of their top young players.
It’s likely a deal Utah would laugh at right now, but as a tanking team that could possibly lose its draft pick next season (to freaking OKC no less), the Jazz should be eager to add all of the draft picks they can and may find out that the rest of the league doesn’t have the same rosy view of Markkanen, a flawed star with too many red flags to gut the roster to get.