Pistons Trade Deadline (pt.2): The Remainders
Despite officially entering the rebuilding phase and being possibly the most talked-about sellers at the trade deadline, the Detroit Pistons pulled the trigger on only one transaction. Granted, it was the most important one for the future of the organization. Moving Andre Drummond during his eighth season in Detroit symbolizes the end of a very underwhelming era in Pistons history. That being said, it was mildly surprising to see them stand pat on all of the other players who garnered reported interest around the league. What can we make of all this, and how does it change the outlook of this team moving forward? Let’s go down the line, player-by-player, and try to make sense of it all.
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Derrick Rose
Besides Drummond, Rose was the most discussed trade piece the Pistons had to offer, and it’s easy to see why. He is signed through 2020-21 for the paltry sum of $7.7 million and is playing at a fringe all-star level. Unlike Drummond, who was targeted by bottom-feeders (including Cleveland, his eventual landing spot), Rose was coveted by contenders who viewed him as the final piece to a championship puzzle. He was not a guy that could have been plucked away from the Pistons for cheap, as made evident by the lottery-pick price tag Detroit reportedly placed on him.
If this lottery-pick requirement is accurate, it functionally eliminated their potential trade partners from the discussion. The Lakers, 76ers, Jazz, and Clippers were the teams most interested in acquiring Rose, but they all currently hold top-ten records in the NBA. They won’t be lottery teams any time soon, barring catastrophic injury a la Golden State. To be honest, though, there are many more ways to put together a meaningful trade scenario than just saying “we want a lottery pick”. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the Pistons put Rose on the market as a formality, just in case a team dropped off a treasure chest of assets at their front door in exchange for his services.
By all accounts, this front office loves them some Derrick Rose, and have no qualms with him playing out the entirety of his team-friendly deal in Detroit. Head Coach Dwane Casey called him a “Godsend” in a recent postgame interview, and Senior Advisor (pseudo-GM) Ed Stefanski said that Rose is “perfect” to have as a veteran presence to aid in the development of the Pistons’ young core.
The most important piece of that young core is rookie Sekou Doumbouya, who has been the definition of a roller-coaster this season. At present moment, he is going through a lull, struggling, pressing, pretty much any cliche in the book referring to a young player going through growing pains. Casey put the young man on blast in a recent post-game presser. From The Detroit News:
“I’m very concerned with Sekou and the fact that he’s a young kid, his outlook, his demeanor…That’s the thing that bothers me. The intensity, the effort has got to come from our young guys and he’s one of the young guys…I haven’t seen that in the last couple of weeks…You’re going to make mistakes in this league as a young player, but lack of intensity shouldn’t be one of them. Lack of passion”.
Yikes. File that one in the tough love section. This is why it was so critical to ship out Drummond, and why it is important to have players like Rose for Sekou to learn from. Drummond’s tenure in Detroit was ripe with concerns about his intensity, effort, and “compete level” (Dwane Casey drinking game, anyone?). If the Pistons are sensing the same issues with Sekou, this needs to be a high-priority concern. Rose isn’t a flawless player, but you can never question his intensity or passion. That stuff is infectious, and if Sekou is on the court with Rose, he will be forced to keep up or get left in the dust.
It also is hugely beneficial to have a player like Rose publicly stating how much he loves being in Detroit and how he didn’t want to be traded. This is a meaningful counter to the Drummonds of the world who throw shade at the organization after leaving, (delusionally) insinuating that they aren’t loyal to their players. I guess 7+ years and $130+ million doesn’t count as loyalty these days. For a city that isn’t exactly a sexy free agent destination, the Pistons don’t need any added ammunition out there warning players not to sign with Detroit.
From a purely transactional standpoint, the Pistons will still have the option to trade Rose this offseason or next year’s deadline, if they so choose. A healthy Rose on a cheap contract should be able to net a valuable return in the future if his production holds, or even slightly dips. That being said, if Rose suffers a significant injury sometime between now and next year’s deadline (always the concern with Rose), this will turn out to be a missed opportunity for the Pistons, and a failure for the front office.
Luke Kennard
Kennard’s name popped up late in the trade season, reportedly being linked to the Suns. I thoroughly broke down this rumor last week and came away with the opinion that it would actually be a nice little haul for the Pistons if they were to pull it off. While Kennard is developing into a solid young player, his timeline doesn’t exactly line up perfectly for the Pistons’ rebuilding outlook. He will be due his first significant payday following next season, at which point the Pistons will be tasked with a difficult decision of whether or not to lock him up long-term. Flipping him for a (potential) top-5 pick, as well as two low-level prospects, sounded like a golden opportunity for the Pistons.
Alas, the discussions fell through because the two sides couldn’t agree on protections surrounding the first-round pick. It is smart on Phoenix’s end to protect the pick, just in case the lottery gods work their magic and the selection lands near the top of the draft. It is unfortunate for the Pistons though, considering some with greater knowledge of the Phoenix side doubted whether the Suns would protect the pick at all (which would have been lunacy). If Phoenix wanted the pick protected from the top-ten (or higher), I can see the Pistons considering it a dealbreaker. Anything less than that and I still would have pulled the trigger if I were Detroit.
Much like Rose, the Pistons move forward with a very good player who is thoroughly out-performing his pay grade. That is typically good for business, as long as it comes with either A) winning basketball games or B) flipping said player into future assets. The ship has sailed on the former (for this season, at least), so the Pistons will have an opportunity to move Kennard at next year’s deadline if they are unwilling to lock him down long-term. Kennard’s health, next year’s deadline, and his next contract will all determine whether the Pistons should have settled for Phoenix’s best offer.
Reggie Jackson
I debated whether to even give Jackson his own section to begin with. But seeing as how he has put together some nice performances since returning from a 42-game absence, coupled with the rumors that he may be bought-out and latch on to a contender for the stretch run, he has won himself his very own heading in this post. Too bad that is about all the winning he has done in his 5-year stint in Detroit (ba dum bum).
Jackson, much like Drummond, has had his perceived value dragged through the mud over his Detroit tenure. While much less of a financial burden than his buddy Dre, Jackson certainly didn’t play to the level of his 5 yr/$80 million contract. Combined with his extensive injury history, he simply wasn’t a player coveted by other teams, and rightfully so. The Pistons reportedly would have accepted a second-round pick for Jackson, seeing as how he is entering his final stretch of games in a Detroit uniform. But such a deal didn’t come to fruition. No shock there.
I will give him credit for his play since returning from injury, which is why it was even in the realm of fathomability that he could have been moved. Despite a few abominations mixed in (TOR, @MEM, CHA) he has scored 20+ points in 6 of 12 games since returning and is handing out 5.1 assists vs. just 1.6 turnovers per game this season (best AST:TO ratio of his career). Perhaps with a bigger sample this season he could have played his way into another teams’ post-season plans.
That being said, Jackson is still a lock for the all-“bad body language” team and is extremely difficult to root for. His interviews reek of misery, rarely breaking to show the human being underneath…unless of course, he thinks of a clever way to throw shade at the fans:
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Remember those abomination games I mentioned? Jackson went 2-12 in 30 minutes in the above game but still left a major footprint by sprinkling in 1 rebound and 2 assists. Sure, criticize the fans for not supporting that. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Delusion at it’s finest. I take back the nice things I said. Get directly out of my life. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Buy him out and put him, and all of us, out of our misery. Someone can put his 27.2 minutes per game to good use.
Svi Mykhailiuk
This is a guy who was NOT actively being shopped but garnered interest anyway due to his 2019-20 breakout campaign. Mykhailiuk has come a long way since his days as a low-level prospect with the Lakers – the 47th pick in the 2018 draft. The Pistons absolutely stole him and a second-round pick from L.A. for the price of an expiring Reggie Bullock at last year’s deadline. That certainly wasn’t the narrative at the time. Take a look at this headline from CBSSports describing the deal:
Let this serve as a cautionary tale when grading trades or offering instant judgment on a deal that involves an established player being dealt for future assets and/or prospects. You might have to wait until those draft picks are made or those prospects develop before your grade means anything.
“But…but…D+!!!! I must grade all transactions, and I must grade them immediately!!!!” – @jackmaloneycbs
If you don’t care at all about rational thinking or quality analysis, by all means, carry on. Just beware that every point you make might be spectacularly wrong, given that you are only working with a fraction of the relevant information. Maloney gave the Lakers an “A” and the Pistons a “D+” (how specific) for this deal, with this pearl of wisdom attached…
“While they (DET) get a pick to sweeten the deal, this trade definitely hurts them in the short term, and there’s a good chance it never helps them in the long run.”
Maloney? More like ba-loney! Am I right? This guy gets it.
Do you know who missed the playoffs last year? The Lakers. Do you know who made the playoffs? The Pistons. Do you know who doesn’t exist in a Lakers uniform anymore? Reggie Bullock (Bonus points if you knew he was a Knickerbocker). Do you know who is a top-ten 3PT shooter in the league this season and is under team control for two more years for the price of refurbished IPOD Shuffle? Svi Mykhailiuk.
Jack Maloney gets a D- for his trade analysis.
As far as the trade deadline rumors are concerned, Detroit was reportedly on the receiving end of calls for Svi, and likely were humoring other teams by picking up the phone in the first place. There simply wasn’t a realistic scenario where the Pistons would trade a young, cheap, ascending player who they just recently traded for and fits the rebuilding timeline, without a receiving a king’s ransom in return. 42% 3PT shooters don’t grow on trees. That would be a strange-looking tree, with very droopy branches.
That’s enough for one day
If this exercise has taught me anything, it’s that damn near every Piston not named Khyri Thomas had some sort of trade rumor surrounding him this deadline. Stay tuned for part 3, where we discuss a couple of potential missed opportunities with Langston Galloway and Markeiff Morris, as well as a rejected offer from Boston involving my boo, Christian Wood.
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