I still haven’t wrapped my head around the trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers, but you know I am always going to bring it around to how it affects the Detroit Pistons, the team I love and care about.
Like the rest of the league, I am sure the Pistons were stunned when they heard the news, largely because it was kept in secret, a strategy that makes absolutely no sense AT ALL. I’ve had people online trying to sell this idea that the Mavs did a “smart” thing, but shopping him would have 100% yielded a better haul in a trade, that is a fact. What Nico Harrison did was so inexplicable, the other parties involved thought they were being pranked.
And the fact that he did this behind his own team's back with his best buddy Rob Pelinka makes this malpractice and borderline suspcious.
If I owned the Mavs and he came to me with this, he would have been fired before he left the room.
Anyway, the trade will have a ripple effect on the entire league, but here are some specific ways it affects the Pistons at the trade deadline and beyond.
Anything now seems possible
If I had to make a list of untouchable players before the season, Luka Doncic would have been on the top. He’s a top-5 player who is 25-years-old and we’ve just never seen a guy like that traded.
But now that the seal is broken, is there anyone in the league that is truly off limits? If I’m a GM, I’m putting in calls on everyone and we’ve already seen that happening.
I predicted the four superstars that will be traded next and we’re already hearing rumblings about Kevin Durant and Devin Booker’s future in Phoenix.
In some ways, Nico Harrison’s business malpractice made anything seem possible, as trading Luka was unthinkable and it just happened. Dare to dream big, NBA GM’s!
As long as there is an arrogant fool who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, there will always be teams to fleece. Thanks for the hope, Nico!
Keeping up with the Lakers and Spurs
Now that the Lakers have the next face of their franchise (puke emoji), they are going to be a team to reckon with now and into the future as they transition to building their team around Luka.
LA already has a built-in advantage when it comes to free agents, being a place a lot of people want to live (I’d rather live on the moon), but that just grew now that they got Luka, as everyone is going to want to play there.
Well, not everyone, as the Spurs just landed De’Aaron Fox (I actually hate this move for them tbh), a guy who desperately wanted to play with Victor Wembanyama and you can’t blame him.
Given their assets and young talent, we are looking at a potential dynasty in San Antonio around a generational superstar.
Throw in OKC and the long-term future for older teams in the Western Conference looks grim. If you run a team like the Warriors or Clippers, you may be more inclined to go for it now, before these three teams are fully formed.
How does this affect the Pistons? As the only team with cap space, the Pistons are in a great position to take advantage of any desperate team looking to make a win-now move that they can’t afford.
This puts the Detroit Pistons in the driver’s seat
The Pistons were already in a good spot heading into the trade deadline as the only team with cap space, but now there may be even more desperation that they can cash in on.
You also have a team in the Lakers that suddenly has a huge hole where Anthony Davis used to be, one Detroit could help them with if they are handsomely rewarded.
Pistons should see the value of keeping Cade Cunningham forever
I actually feel sorry for Mavs fans, who were completely sold out by their team, as loyalty is a one-way street in the NBA. We demand it of players, but not the greasy executives (who no one pays to see or cares about) or the billionaire owners who view players as mere commodities to be bought and sold.
That’s not true of the fans, and the ones in Dallas have already completely and totally turned on Nico Harrison, who will never be able to dine out in Dallas again without getting booed.
I’ve already heard talk of protests and boycotts, so this could get ugly in Texas.
I hope the Pistons are watching, as there is huge value, financial and otherwise, in having a guy who is the true face of the franchise. Even if the Mavs were to win a title with AD and Kyrie (they won’t), it won’t matter nearly as much to fans, who wanted to do it with THEIR guy.
Cade Cunningham is that guy for the Pistons, and though he’s not as good as Luka yet, the Pistons’ brass should take a good look at what happens when you sell out your fans.
It’s one thing to trade a guy in his 30’s, when signing max deals is very risky, but to trade a guy not even in his prime is malpractice that a fanbase will not forgive for several generations.
Take note, Pistons.