The Detroit Pistons have been included in myriad trade rumors for stretch power forwards including Lauri Markkanen and Michael Porter Jr.
That talk has only intensified since the Pistons started slowly offensively and Markkanen has already had some monster games, but I’ve laid out the challenges of trading for a guy in his salary range, and that’s before you even get to his injury history and shoddy defense.
That’s why a recent suggestion from Bleacher Report caught my attention. They named Michael Porter Jr. as a “realistic” trade target for the Pistons and Lauri Markkanen as their “dream” target, but I’m not sure those shouldn’t be reversed when you look at the details.
Detroit Pistons trade rumors: Michael Porter Jr. would be a better option than Lauri Markkanen
The Pistons are going to shoot better than they did against the Cavaliers, but there are still valid concerns about their shooting, as they were in the bottom half of the league last season and lost their two best shooters.
Either MPJ or Markkanen would be an upgrade in floor spacing over Tobias Harris, but if I had to trade for one of them, MPJ is the better choice for several reasons.
The first and most obvious is the cost. The Jazz are going to hold out for a ransom for Markkanen, and there would be several teams bidding for his services, so he’d not only cost the Pistons at least three rotation players but also a slew of picks.
MPJ could likely be had for far less, with the main part of the deal being Tobias Harris' expiring, possibly some developmental players like Marcus Sasser and Bobi Klintman and draft assets that will not be nearly as rich as what the Jazz are going to get for Markkanen if they trade him.
MPJ is not only making nearly $10 million less per season than Markkanen, but he’s under contract only through next season, so he wouldn’t be a long-term commitment, something Trajan Langdon has shown he prefers when it comes to role players.
Both players have injury histories, but MPJ has been solid over the last three seasons, logging 62, 81 and 77 games, while Markkanen has played 66, 55 and 47 over his last three. Markkanen is the bigger injury risk and has two more expensive years on his contract than MPJ.
Both players are fits from a talent perspective, but MPJ is the better 3-point shooter, defender and also has something that Markkanen doesn’t have, which is playoff experience.
MPJ made several deep playoff runs with the Nuggets, including winning a title, while Markkanen has yet to even appear in the playoffs, so give me the guy who has been there and won, not the one putting up big numbers on a terrible team.
Given the cost and injury risk, Markkanen is a dream target that could quickly turn into a nightmare for the Pistons, while MPJ represents the type of moderate upgrade they could make without giving up a ton of assets or committing long-term to an injury-riddled player.