3 Dream trade deadline targets for Pistons (and what they'd cost)

Lauri Markkanen

Cost: 4 1st-round picks plus a young player with upside

There has been some buzz around Markkanen, but the Jazz have no reason to trade him and have said the cost will be sky-high if they do.

They've set their sights on another Gobert-like return and have little motivation to move Markkanen unless they get it, as he putting up huge numbers again this season.

This is another case where the Pistons would have to wait until draft day to make a play, as the number one pick will still have value, even in a weak draft. I'm not sure two picks and Ivey/Ausar are enough to move the Jazz even if one of the picks is at the top of the draft.

This shows what a conundrum the Pistons have when it comes to making a trade for an impact player. With nothing but expiring contracts and unproven young players, Detroit simply doesn't have the assets to offer, leaving us not much but deferred dreams.

As Langston Hughes wrote in his poem "Harlem,"

What happens to a dream deferred?

      Does it dry up

      like a raisin in the sun?

      Or fester like a sore—

      And then run?

      Does it stink like rotten meat?

      Or crust and sugar over—

      like a syrupy sweet?

      Maybe it just sags

      like a heavy load.

      Or does it explode?