Trade No. 1 – Detroit Pistons
Los Angeles Clippers Receive: F Blake Griffin, G Derrick Rose
Detroit Pistons Receive: G Patrick Beverely, G Lou Williams, F Marcus Morris, C Ivica Zubac, F/C Mfiondu Kabengele, LAC 2022 2nd Round Pick
The biggest thing about this blockbuster trade between the Pistons and Clippers is that it would have to be a multi-team deal since the Pistons could not possibly acquire five players for the price of two. Not to mention, it would be in their best financial interest to not take on all five of these contracts.
Whether or not the Pistons would be willing to trade Blake Griffin remains a major question mark, but the package they would receive for him from L.A. is not entirely terrible. The Pistons did everything they could to set themselves up for future success this past offseason and trading Griffin to the Clippers could help them reach that success sooner than imagined.
Griffin is owed $36.5 million this upcoming season and in order for the Clippers to have three max contracts on their roster, they would need to trade their three biggest contracts outside of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
Patrick Beverley is one of the better defensive point guards in the league and could be an excellent mentor to some of the young guards in Detroit. The same goes for Lou Williams in being a mentor, except he is an offensive juggernaut off the bench. The three-time Sixth Man of the Year averaged 18.2 points, 5.6 assists, and shot 41.8% from the floor last year for the Clippers and could provide immediate scoring for the Pistons.
Marcus Morris Sr. played with the Pistons from 2015-2017 and was a great scorer for them then. Acquiring these three guys could contribute to a lot of winning for the Pistons this season and potentially make them a team that is in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference late in the year.
While it does not seem like the Pistons are getting fair value for Griffin and Rose in this trade, they are getting a lot of options on how to build their team moving forward. All three veteran guys that they would be getting in exchange for Griffin have value on the trade market and could all be flipped to acquire picks over the years.
While he is not the player he once was, Rose can still contribute at a high-level and could make a difference for the Clippers. Scoring from both guard positions has been hard to come by for the Clippers over the years and while Lou Williams provides a nice spark off the bench, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George need a reliable and proven ball-handler who can also take on part of the scoring load.
Derrick Rose knows what it takes to win and play at the highest level, which is why the Clippers should make a push to bring him in as soon as possible. With the addition of Derrick Rose, they would not only get another scoring threat who is often underplayed by opponents but someone who can be a great third option next to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Bringing back Blake Griffin could help this team in more ways than it would hurt them and he could absolutely take a lesser role and be the third scoring option for this team. At this point in his career, Griffin wants to win and he has never really been a selfish player over the course of his career.
Taking a lesser role with his former team and being the leader on the court when Paul George or Kawhi Leonard is out is what the Clippers would look to get out of Griffin, not to mention he would help them tremendously on the glass. Harrell was tied for second on the team in rebounds per game last year and as a whole, the Clippers ranked third in the league in rebounding.
Adding Griffin to this roster would fill the void that Harrell left behind when he decided to sign with the Lakers and Griffin gives the Clippers more scoring. This team desperately needs a third scoring option and if they want to have a chance to win their first championship in franchise history, then they need to see if they can bring back Blake Griffin in this massive trade.
