Grade the trade: Pistons send 2 young players to Knicks in wild proposed deal

Proposed trade between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons 

The star of free agency so far has been the “apron” which has forced teams to make moves, stifled the market somewhat and led teams to making desperate trades to cut salary. 

The Pistons are one of the only teams left with any cap space, so are in a position to offer financial relief for a price. This proposed trade, which comes from James Edwards III of The Athletic (Subscription) gets Langdon some assets to work with, but at a steep cost: 

In this trade, the Pistons send two young players to the Knicks in exchange for a veteran center, a backup point guard and their own 2025 1st-round pick back. 

It’s hard to imagine the Knicks saying no to this, though they would lose some of their depth and be left very thin at center. But it would potentially put them under the apron and open up other ways to spend money including the mid-level exception. 

The two players would hurt more than giving up the pick, as it’s one that may never convey the way the Pistons are going. It’s still heavily protected in ways that make it unlikely to go to the Knicks after next season and maybe even the next depending on how quickly Detroit improves. 

But what about the Pistons? Would they really ship out these two players for such a paltry return?