Pistons Trade Rumors Roundup: Reggie Jackson on the Radar, DSJ to Detroit and more
The Detroit Pistons have been counted amongst the teams that are actively on the lookout to add to their rosters before the trade deadline. According to a report from RealGM,
The New Orleans Pelicans, Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings are three of the most active buyers on the trade market. Tom Gores(Pistons Owner) wants the Pistons to return to the playoffs and they own their first round pick.
Except for Griffin (who is having a phenomenal individual season), no Piston is averaging more than even 17 points per game so far this year, as the team has now lost seven of their last ten games.
The Pistons are going to end up out of the lottery apparently, making the value of that first round pick much less valuable. They are currently hosting a disappointing 19-24(0.442) win-loss record for the season, and might not even clinch a playoff berth if they keep at it.
The absence of any first-round draft pick last year saw Detroit finding solace in a couple of second round picks, but that's now how you build a resilient core, let alone a championship team.
Let's head to Detroit for a while and try and make sense of what's buzzing in their front-office as February 8 approaches.
#1 Dennis Smith Jr. to Detroit might still be on the cards before time runs out
Owing to a franchise-changing Slovenian invasion, Dennis has seen the spotlight drift away from him gradually, also in part because of his unimpressive numbers.
DSJ is averaging just 12.6 points per game this year when he was expected to take a leap up from his decent-but-still-improvable 15.2 scoring average last season. With no significant decline in minutes, he has played himself into an abyss which reportedly resulted in the following,
The Dallas Mavericks are escalating talks to trade guard Dennis Smith Jr., pushing to end a partnership that has run its course for both the franchise and former first-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.
And to put the Pistons into the perspective of the above,
But there were reports of Smith not wanting a trade out of Dallas, despite the shopping that has been going on for weeks on his behalf. The chaos can be attributed to an uncomfortable relationship between Coach Carlisle and Smith, that is yet to balloon to a point when the sophomore will show significant interest in moving on.
For now, any barter might cost the Pistons Andre Drummond in a Jordan exchange along with an add-on in Dennis Smith Jr. but that might take some recuperation from Detroit's part.