Ti’s Four-Point Play: The Biggest Winners And Losers From The NBA Trade Deadline
By Ti Windisch
Winner: Detroit Pistons
If the Suns did a good job at the deadline, the Detroit Pistons absolutely nailed it. Detroit managed to add talent at both forward positions as well as at shooting guard, and it didn’t cost the Pistons much to do it.
First off, Detroit added Tobias Harris in a deal with the Orlando Magic. Somehow, Stan Van Gundy managed to acquire Harris for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova. Jennings and Ilyasova are quality players, but Jennings’ contract is up after this season and Ilyasova may cost Orlando some $8.4 million next season (the last year of his deal is non-guaranteed).
Harris can split time at both forward spots, and will help shore up what was formerly Detroit’s weakest roster spots. He won’t be alone in doing that though, as the Pistons also added Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton in a deal with the Houston Rockets — provided the deal goes through, of course.
#Pistons have asked for 24-hour extension of 72-hour trade window to further evaluate @DonatasMot back condition, SVG says
— Keith Langlois (@Keith_Langlois) February 21, 2016
Detroit had to cough up their 2016 first round pick and Joel Anthony to make this deal work, but that’s a small price to pay for Motiejunas. He can play both at power forward and center for Detroit, and Anthony was made expendable when the Pistons signed Aron Baynes.
Thornton was also a nice addition. He’s liable to hot streaks off of the bench, and will likely add a scoring punch the Pistons were sorely lacking from their second unit.
Detroit was a fringe playoff team in the first half of the season, but should easily get themselves a postseason berth after beefing up their roster at the NBA trade deadline. If I had an Executive of the Year vote, it would definitely go to Stan Van Gundy.
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