Proposed draft trade to shake up the Detroit Pistons' core

The Detroit Pistons and Mikal Bridges

Putting Bridges next to Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson immediately gives the Pistons more size on the perimeter and a formidable defense.

Bridges may not be the all-world defender he once was, but he's miles better than Ivey will ever be and he and Ausar would provide elite versatility. It would also give them a starting five where every player is at least 6-foot-6, eliminating some of the problems they have now, as the Pistons have two undersized guards making it difficult to stagger Cunningham and Ivey.

Bridges is also on a great contract (part of the reason the Nets are reluctant to trade him) that would still leave the Pistons plenty of money to sign an impact free agent or fill out their roster with quality role players.

Bridges is a 38 percent 3-point shooter for his career, so he also helps the spacing and shooting as well as the defense. He's the right age and gives the Pistons a better mixture of youth and experience in the starting five, something they desperately need.

I've had a lot of people tell me Bridges has taken a step back this season, but he's currently being asked to be the number one guy when he slots in better as a number two next to a player like Cade Cunningham. And he's still averaging over 20 per game in a "step back" season.

Bridges' 3-point percentage is down slightly to 36.5 percent this season, but he is launching more than seven per game, the highest of his career, so that's not a bad percentage considering the volume. Ivey is shooting under five per game and only hitting 32 percent of them on the season.

Bridges also shoots 38 percent on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, five percent better than Ivey.

The Pistons can't run this team back and expect different results, so trading one of their "core" along with their pick might be the best way to get the impact player they need while better balancing the roster with some age and experience that is not well past its prime.