6 Players who check boxes on the Detroit Pistons' trade wishlist
By Tyler Dutton
Rui Hachimura, PF Los Angeles Lakers, 25
Rui is now in his second season with LA, his first full one with the Lakers, and was a major factor when LA won the championship a few years ago. His offense provided a spark for the Lakers exactly how they had expected when they acquired him at the deadline. This season, Rui is mostly coming off the bench, averaging 24 minutes. Per night, Hachimura is putting up 11.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and .9 stocks. His 36 percent from deep is aligned with what Detroit needs, but his three point attempts could be higher.
Rui has an offensive rating of 119.6, and defensive rating of 101.1. His Player Impact, which measures a player's overall statistical contribution against the total statistics in games they play in, is 10.4. For reference, generational players such as Luka, Giannis, and Embiid currently have PIE ratings of 20. A PIE rating of 10 puts Rui in the top 50 forwards today. Detroit could use Rui’s top 10 defense, along with the offensive spark he provided to LA. He knows how to win, and that in itself could help the Pistons.
Patrick Williams, PF Chicago Bulls, 22
Patrick Williams has had somewhat of an inconsistent start to his young career. After a great rookie year, Williams was limited to just 17 games in his sophomore campaign. Upon returning, Williams struggled to connect from anywhere on the floor, and it looked as though Chicago might ship him out for whatever value he had remaining. Cut to this season, and Williams seems to have figured it out. Through his first 38 games this season, Williams is shooting 41 percent from deep, and averaging 9.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.7 stocks.
Williams’ offensive and defensive ratings, 112.7 and 114.9, are not top tier, but they aren’t terrible. His PIE is currently at 7, but the key with Williams would be his age and three-point abilities. Since he would be slightly undersized for a PF, his shooting from deep would need to be well above average. At just 22, his age aligns really well with the Pistons’ timeline, but it’s not clear what his price would be. For what it’s worth, last year at this time, I heard multiple cases of Killian Hayes for Patrick Williams straight up… my how the times have changed.