As happens almost every year, NBA execs have identified one player, post NCAA season, to target and subsequently send his draft stock skyrocketing. This year, that recipient is Uconn’s Donovan Clingan. I published an article over a month ago making the case for Clingan for the Detroit Pistons, and if nothing else, his stock has only gone up since then.
The 20 year old, 7-foot-2 back-to-back national champ averaged 13 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.5 blocks last season, and has been mocked to go anywhere from 3rd overall to 6th. It was reported on ESPN (subscription) that four teams are aggressively pursuing a trade up to grab the big man. Detroit, at five, is sitting pretty if a team were interested in trading up for him.
So let’s go through a potential trade for each of the rumored teams to swap with Detroit to grab Clingan.
Detroit Pistons draft trade with the Chicago Bulls
Chicago currently sits just outside the top 10, at 11th overall. It’s almost guaranteed that Clingan will be long gone by 11, meaning the Bulls would need to trade up for a chance at him. With that being said, Chicago could offer Detroit something along the lines of Patrick Williams and the 11th overall for 5th overall and a second. Patrick Williams is slated to become a restricted free agent this offseason, and it’s looking more and more likely that Chicago will lose him for nothing here shortly.
In this scenario, Chicago gets the chance to move up and grab Clingan. Detroit gets a floor spacing forward to add to their core. Williams has had his ups and downs, but would fit very well in the Motor City with his 41 perent three point shooting. He's only 22, and if he stays healthy, has upside as a two-way wing.
Is this too optimistic for Detroit? Maybe a deal surrounding a first round pick swap, and aging Zach LaVine (and his enormous contract) is more accurate. A man can dream though.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder will more or less dictate the next few drafts based on their upcoming draft capital. In 2025 alone, they have five first round draft picks. They literally cannot roster all of these potential players, so their offer to Detroit to move up from 12 to five would likely be centered around rebuilding the Pistons draft capital pantry.
To move up seven spots for a player with as much recent buzz as Donovan Clingan would probably start around one of their extra 1st round draft picks next year. OKC owns Houston's first round next season, which has quite a few contingencies surrounding it, but this would be fairly straightforward. The Thunder gets Donovan Clingan, and Detroit gets an extra 1st next year, and a second in 2026.
This would also potentially allow the Pistons to get involved in bigger future trades, as they'd have a draft pick they could move in 2025.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies have been tied to Donovan Clingan for quite some time at this point. The issue with them is a lack of available trade ammunition. Detroit could take a look at their roster and, since the prized possessions such as GG Jackson likely won’t be available, build out a trade surrounding former Piston Luke Kennard. Detroit could desperately use Kennard’s three point shooting after finishing last year shooting 45 perent from deep. Kennard has a team option, so Memphis would have to opt-in to his final year first at $14.7 million.
Would a pick swap get Luke to Detroit? Maybe a second round pick would need to be included, I could honestly see both sides claiming they need one to make this work. To balance out the possible optimism from the last mock trade, let’s say Memphis would require a 2nd from Detroit to get this done.
There is also an argument that the oft-injured Kennard at $15 million is not enough payoff to move back this much, though four spots shouldn't make too much difference in this draft.
Utah Jazz
It was somewhat of a surprise to see that Utah was included in the teams that are actively trying to get Donovan Clingan. They currently have two 7-foot big men on the roster in Walker Kessler and Lauri Markkanen so adding Clingan seems like overkill. With that being said, there is a chance they will be moving on from one of the two and look to replace them with Donovan. If the Jazz really wanted to move up from 10 to 5 to grab the Uconn shot blocker, with the new wave of forwards, they might be willing to part with John Collins.
We’ve touched on John Collins to Detroit quite a bit back at the trade deadline, but the 26 year old would fill a hole for Detroit at the three, where he plays best. 15 points per game on 37 percent three point shooting would be a nice piece for Trajan to work with. A few second round picks may be required to get this done, but it’s worth asking.
Could the Pistons get the Jazz to part with Taylor Hendricks? It's definitely worth exploring if they want to move up.