Unexplored Trade Options: The Detroit Pistons
So we’ve all seen the trades floating around Twitter as of late. There are the people saying that Boston should trade Jaylen Brown, the ideas about giving up on Marcus Smart, and the slew of folks willing to throw away Gordon Hayward for a bag of chips. I’ve seen trades with Indiana, Golden State, and even New York, but the reality is that Danny Ainge most likely won’t pull the trigger on any of these ideas.
Most trades end up coming out of nowhere, and while they do get reported on Twitter a day or two beforehand, there’s no real way to know what GMs have going on in their head. Ainge could have something brewing without any of us knowing. I wanted to scour the league for potential trades that make sense, help the Celtics, and haven’t been thrown around the rumor mill.
Similar to my colleague Tim Sheils, I’m going to be giving you guys a trade from every team (if I can get that far) that the Celtics could potentially pull off. Some will be extreme, some will be minor, and most will be unlikely. Let’s start with Detroit.
Celtics Trade: Carsen Edwards, 2020 1st Round Pick (via MIL), 2020 2nd Round Pick (via BKN)
Pistons Trade: Bruce Brown, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
As my friend Sam LaFrance likes to say - “I hate trades.” They’re an unfortunate part of the business that is basketball, and I hate giving up players that I like. Edwards just finished up his first year in the league, and though many see it as a disappointment, the reality is that he’s still oozing with potential. He’s an amazing scorer and proved that during his final run at Purdue. A team like the Pistons can afford to take a chance on him with the current state of their team.
Detroit is in full rebuild mode, and the main thing they should be looking for is youth. They have one of the league’s worst contracts in Blake Griffin, an aging Derrick Rose, and they just traded their franchise player for basically nothing. Throw them a cheap, young prospect and a couple of draft picks, and they’ll at least listen to the deal you’re offering.
The C’s already have Tremont Waters, who I personally like a little bit more than Edwards at this point due to his playmaking and defense. There’s no need for two, or three if you count Kemba Walker, sub-6 foot guards on the roster. As much as it pains me to admit it, Edwards is probably one of the more expendable guys on the team.
A lot of people believe that the C’s need a better big man, but the main priority this offseason should be bolstering the bench. The lack of depth really killed them all throughout the playoffs this season, and Brown and Mykhailiuk would strengthen the bottom of the lineup.
Bringing Brown to Boston would be bringing home a local guy who can play defense and shoot the ball pretty well. The Celtics’ defense has always been near the top of the league, and adding Brown would only improve that fact. He’s going into his third year in the league, and his shooting went up by nearly 10% between year one and year two. He’s only 24 years old and fits on the timeline of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. A great addition to a bench that desperately needs depth.
As for Mykhailiuk, he just brings some amazing shooting to the Celtics’ bench. As we all saw in the Conference Finals, the C’s could use some extra shooting around. He shot over 40% from behind the arc this season, and while his defense isn’t amazing, sometimes a team just needs a specialist. He’s still only 23 years old, but I see him as being a potential Joe Harris or Duncan Robinson for this Celtics team.
Comment down below what team you want me to explore a trade with next!
