The Detroit Pistons will have to wait until Saturday to get their first shot at the playoffs in six years, so until then they’ll have one eye on the play-in tournament.
There is ample drama surrounding these games and the fallout from them could be huge this summer as more stars hit the trade market after their teams crash out and decide to go in another direction.
We already have Kevin Durant, who many think will be traded in the offseason, which has also led to speculation about his teammates Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, especially after the team didn’t even make the play-in and coach Mike Budenholzer was fired.
The buzz around Zion Williamson is certain to increase now that David Griffin has been replaced by Pistons’ legend Joe Dumars.
The vultures are already circling around Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the noise will increase if they don’t make it out of the first round, though that may be more wishful thinking than anything else.
There is instability in Denver for the first time, and everyone from Jamal Murray to Michael Porter Jr. may be on the table if they flame out.
Cam Johnson is another interesting name already being floated, so there was ample trade drama before the playoffs even started.
There will be more after the play-in games, as there are several teams who could make drastic moves if their teams exit early.
Trae Young
The first name that comes to mind is Trae Young, as the Hawks are now on the verge of being eliminated after getting smoked by the Magic last night. Young didn’t have a great performance, shooting just 8-of-21 and eventually getting tossed for arguing calls after some unsuccessful foul baiting.
It’s already led to speculation that the Hawks could part ways with the polarizing guard, who is very talented but a tricky player to build around. It will be interesting to see if there’s much interest, as he’s not the easiest guy to add to a roster in terms of cap hit and on-the-court talent.
Young is not a guy the Pistons would likely be interested in, as they already have two young lead guards and have far greater needs.
Ja Morant
The Grizzlies are also on the verge of elimination and may have similar thoughts about Morant as the Hawks do about Young, especially given all of his off-the-court nonsense.
Morant has similar limitations as Young and Memphis might find a market just as tepid.
Both Young and Morant are popular players who sell tickets so some team will take a chance on them if they do end up traded, but the market for small, shoot-first guards is not what it used to be.
There was some speculation that the Pistons could trade for Morant, but that makes absolutely no sense given they have Jaden Ivey, who gives you a good chunk of Morant’s production at a fraction of the cost.
Kyrie Irving
Speaking of shoot-first guards, Kyrie Irving has a player option left on his contract next season that he has until the end of June to accept.
He may see the writing on the wall with the Mavs and flee for greener pastures, or he could re-sign to a longer deal and try to win a title with Anthony Davis.
Things are complicated by his injury, as he just had surgery on his torn ACL a few weeks ago, so his future status is up in the air. Mavericks fans have not had an easy go of it this season and it doesn’t look to be getting any better.
The Sacramento Kings
Anything is on the table for the Kings even if they don’t get bounced from the play-in tourney tonight.
They’ve underperformed this season, fired their coach, made some iffy trades and there is no easy fix to a roster that just doesn’t add up, which is why I expect everyone from Domantas Sabonis, to DeMar DeRozan, to Zach LaVine and even someone like Keegan Murray to be on the table this summer.
The Kings are a mess again after a brief run of hope.
Keegan Murray would be an interesting name for the Pistons even though he has had a down season overall. They need a long-term solution at the four behind Tobias Harris, so he’s a name to watch if the Kings do blow it up.