Does this trade make sense for the Detroit Pistons?
At this point in their rebuild, the Detroit Pistons need to begin finding ways to surround their core group with key, contributing talents. Josh Jackson has been a steady bench talent on the offensive end of the floor, but his upside with the Pistons is limited moving forward.
They could opt to keep him around for a few more years as one of their better bench scorers, but it makes a lot more sense for Detroit to move Jackson now in order to add more young players/draft compensation.
While they would not be getting a young player from the LA Clippers in this trade, the Pistons would be getting a second-round draft pick in 2022 that they could utilize in one or two different ways. Not only would they be able to add another prospect to their system via the draft with said pick, but the Pistons could potentially package this draft pick with others to maybe move up in the 2022 NBA Draft to select someone they had their eyes on.
It is too early to dive into draft speculation and what the Detroit Pistons will be looking for exactly, but this team just needs more talent around guys like Cade Cunningham, Jerami Grant, and Saddiq Bey. Detroit currently ranks 28th in the league in offensive rating and 22nd in defensive rating, so they are not really an impressive team right now.
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With the playoffs likely out of reach this season and moving forward, finding ways to continue building for the future should be the only priority of the Pistons right now, which is why moving Josh Jackson for future draft compensation does indeed make sense.
