The LA Lakers have repeatedly been mentioned as a possible trade partner for the Detroit Pistons, as LA needs a center and reportedly called about Jalen Duren at the deadline.
The Pistons are happy with their young center and not shopping him, but they have also been attached to various stretch bigs in rumors, including Myles Turner, Bobby Portis Naz Reid and Santi Aldama.
The Pistons are desperate for shooting, as they didn’t have enough this season and two of their key 3-point shooters are free agents who may or may not be back.
Even if the Pistons retain Beasley, they will need more shooting and spacing on the wing, as well as a guy who can create his own shot.
They land one of those in a recent trade proposal from Bleacher Report, which has the Pistons trading Jalen Duren to the Lakers for Austin Reaves:
I have a feeling this trade was made more though the eyes of the Lakers, who get the rim running big man they want to catch lobs from Luka Doncic.
The Pistons get another 20+ ppg scorer in Reaves, who would be a nice complement to Cade Cunningham, but the trade ignores the rest of the Pistons' roster.
If the Pistons trade Jalen Duren, now what?
Isaiah Stewart is a backup center who averaged fewer than 20 minutes per game last season and got hurt in the playoffs, so he’s not a starting center. Stewart played in just 96 games total in the two seasons before this one and was only able to stay healthy because coach Bickerstaff didn’t overexpose him.
If the Pistons trade Jalen Duren, they have to have a backup plan in mind, as they were small even with Duren and would be left without a starting center. The Pistons couldn’t make that trade unless they knew for sure another center was coming and who is that going to be exactly? Reid, Portis and Aldama aren’t centers, so who is this stretch five that’s going to replace Duren?
I don’t see it.
What about Jaden Ivey?
Where does Jaden Ivey end up in all of this? He and Austin Reaves can’t play together, so is Ivey headed to the bench? To another team in a trade?
There are far too many moving parts for this to make sense for the Pistons, who would be left with a guard-heavy roster with little size and/or rebounding and big hole at starting center.