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Brandon Jennings Trade Rumors: 5 Deals That Help Pistons

By Aaron Ferguson

Jan 2, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Jennings (7) gestures after a basket during the third quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Detroit Pistons won 97-81. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Brandon Jennings (7) gestures after a basket during the third quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Detroit Pistons won 97-81. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 8, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas (20) brings the ball up the court during the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

This deal makes more sense than it looks on paper, for both teams. Motiejunas is a potential offseason target by the Pistons, according to Zach Lowe on The Lowe Post podcast.

“They want a 4 in free agency this summer, the Pistons, really badly,” Lowe said. “I’ve heard they’re hot on Motiejunas from Houston who’s always hurt. So, who knows how hot they actually are?”

In his healthiest season, Motiejunas played 71 games during his 2014-15 campaign. He started 62 of those games and showed good potential as a stretch-4, but he has been hurt a lot. He’s only played 14 games this season and has yet to play in 2016.

Despite being bit by the injury bug, Motiejunas would be a good fit if he can stay healthy. His 2014-15 season will provide the best comp in a starting role with the Pistons. During that season he connected on 50.1 percent of his shots and 36.8 percent of his three-pointers. He averaged 12.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and had a PER of 14.4.

He was also good defensively with 2.3 defensive win shares. He had a DBPM of 0.5, too. Motiejunas averaged 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks per game.

Patrick Beverley would be a good backup point guard to Reggie Jackson. He’s averaging 25.6 minutes per game and has made 24 starts in 36 games. He’s averaging 8.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

He is more of an offensive player with a 55.3 true shooting percentage. Beverley has a 16.0 usage rate and has assists 15.7 percent of the time. He also has 1.0 offensive win shares and a 0.7 Offensive Box Plus/Minus (OBPM).

The Rockets will likely be interested in Jennings during the offseason, so clearing Beverley’s four-year deal off the books may be beneficial to them. Extending Jennings would be the key, however. It’s a low-risk, high-reward deal for the Pistons to land a healthy Motiejunas and snag a backup point guard at the same time.

ESPN’s Trade Machine projects that the Pistons would improve by one win, according to his projections.

Next: Trade No. 4

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