If the Detroit Pistons want to continue their rise in the Eastern Conference, could they trade for Lauri Markkanen and transform their offense?
The Pistons took a massive leap up the standings last season. Driven by Cade Cunningham's superstar transformation and a veteran roster built around the young core, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff led the Pistons to respectability and a competitive first-round playoff series.
This season, the East is wide open for the taking. The New York Knicks have flaws, the Cleveland Cavaliers haven't exerted their dominance, the Orlando Magic are unproven and the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers are taking a year off after painful Achilles injuries.
If the Pistons want to push in their chips and attack, they have the ammunition to do so. Is now the right time? If so, what player reasonably available on the trade market could serve as the finishing piece to propel them up the ladder?
The Pistons could trade for Lauri Markkanen
Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz stands out, a sharpshooting offensive weapon who stands seven feet tall and sticks out like a sore thumb on a tanking Jazz team. He is a win-now veteran in the prime of his career, and while he reportedly loves it in Utah, basketball players like to win.
The Pistons could engage the Jazz in trade talks for the Finnish forward -- currently demolishing the competition at EuroBasket playing for his country -- to add a co-star for Cunningham and be aggressive heading into next season.
One version of such a trade was built by Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz and includes the Pistons' second-year lottery pick, Ron Holland. Here is the deal in full:
The fit of Markkanen in Detroit is phenomenal. He can fill the shooting void left by Malik Beasley as a high-volume sniper but also fill in as a shooter all around the court, stretching defenses out to the 3-point line and in space in the midrange. Anywhere he catches the ball he is dangerous to pull the trigger.
With Cunningham as the central hub, Markkanen is the largest movement shooter in the league, and his gravity will open up space for Jalen Duren rolling to the rim or Ausar Thompson attacking the paint. Whether it's on-ball actions driving to the hoop or off-ball cutters sprinting through open space, Markkanen opens up opportunities for his teammates.
He also has exceptional size at seven feet tall; while he is not an elite defender, he is solid and his size matters. When you pair that with Cunningham and Ausar Thompson you have some massive human beings in the starting lineup, covering up in part the issue of Duren being a mediocre paint protector at center.
The question here is the price. Giving up Tobias Harris means moving on from a solid veteran, but he is their best matching salary in such a deal. Ron Holland is a much tougher ask; the Jazz will certainly ask for a key young player, but the Pistons just took Holland fifth overall last season and value him quite highly.
On the other hand, he showed merely flashes as a rookie, and his entire rookie class appears devoid of stars. Flipping Holland for Markkanen is probably not a move they would regret.
Things get dicey when you add in two first-round picks on top of the two players. Now the Pistons would be scraping out much of their future for a player who is coming off of a down season and is on a max contract. Offensively his fit is sublime, but he is not a can't-miss superstar, perennially All-NBA type player. He is a fringe All-Star.
The Pistons have the young pieces rising into their roles who would all benefit from Lauri Markkanen, and there is real opportunity in the Eastern Conference this year. On the other hand, the age of Detroit's core makes their runway quite long, and they likely aren't ready to be pushing in chips to win now, weak East or no.
In the best-case scenario, this trade makes them an NBA Finals contender. The cost doesn't match the upside, however, so this is probably one that they should pass on.