The Detroit Pistons have traded Jodie Meeks to the Orlando Magic, opening up more spending money as free agency nears.
The Detroit Pistons have made another move under Stan Van Gundy’s leadership as head coach and president of basketball operations. It’s the second deal the Pistons have made with the Orlando Magic over the past five months.
The first deal allowed the Pistons to acquire forward Tobias Harris, which was a key to their postseason success. Orlando received Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova in return for Harris.
The Magic sent Ilyasova as a part of a package in a deal to receive Serge Ibaka from the Oklahoma City Thunder on draft night.
Detroit made out well on that deal, but will they have the same success with the Meeks deal?
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In exchange for sending Meeks to Orlando, the Pistons receive a 2019 second-round pick in return. The best part of the deal for the Pistons is dumping Meeks’ $6.5 million salary on the Magic for a future, non-guaranteed contract.
This allows for the Pistons to develop young guards Darrun Hilliard and rookie Michael Gbinije without having a logjam at shooting guard and major competition for minutes. It also gives the Pistons the freedom to go after a point guard or power forward of their liking in free agency.
Though the power forward position shouldn’t be the top priority. The Pistons helped take care of that by drafting Henry Ellenson, who should provide an offensive spark due to his good range.
He fits Van Gundy’s system as a player that can be a successful roll man or pop man in the pick-and-roll.
Ellenson will need to make great strides on the defensive end. He isn’t known for his athleticism or quickness, but he can learn to get good positioning and use his 6-foot-11 frame to his advantage. He should become better on the defensive end in due time.
For now, it allows the Pistons to pursue a backup point guard to Reggie Jackson. With the NBA’s salary cap increasing to $94 million, it means players will get paid more than they were originally worth under last season’s salary cap.
Thus, the Pistons need to clear Meeks’ contract from their books in order to make a run at a capable backup point guard.
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When considering players to add to the roster, one of the most important things is finding a playmaker or a scorer at the point guard position.
The Pistons bench ranked last in the NBA in points per game, which can’t happen if they’re going to step up and become contenders in the Eastern Conference.
A couple of players headline a list of point guards that the Pistons should seriously consider. The first being Jeremy Lin. He averaged 11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game last season with the Charlotte Hornets.
He came off the bench in 65 of his 78 games played last season, so it would be a seamless transition.
Lin also played alongside point guard Kemba Walker at times last season, which could also give Van Gundy the versatility to pair him with Jackson to give Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a breather.
He is capable of putting on some dominant performances, even going back to his days with the New York Knicks.
Another player that has been tied to the Pistons is Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explains on The Lowe Post Podcast with Zach Lowe. Dellavedova is known for his gritty, hard-nosed defense, but he improved offensively last season.
Dellavedova assist rate went up from 21.1 percent during the 2014-15 season to 26.2 last season. One area where Delly could shine in Detroit is with his three-point shooting.
He shot 41.0 percent from three-point range last season, which is an area that he has improved as his career has gone on.
Other backup point guards that the Pistons could consider are D.J. Augustin, Randy Foye, Raymond Felton or even bringing Jennings back.
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Meeks’ Pistons career ended with an injury that kept him from missing all but three games of the 2015-16 NBA season. Detroit clearly could use the $6.5 million in free agency or in a potential trade to upgrade other positions with a log-jam at shooting guard.
In short, the Pistons received financial flexibility that is needed to improve the roster this offseason.