NBA trade rumors: How the Detroit Pistons can land Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi Leonard reportedly wants out with the San Antonio Spurs. Do the Detroit Pistons have what it takes to make a pitch for one of the NBA’s top stars?

Kawhi Leonard, the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and former Finals MVP who is notoriously camera-shy, found himself at the center of the basketball world’s attention on Friday.

Several media outlets have reported that Leonard has asked the San Antonio Spurs to trade him, setting off a flurry of hypothetical pitches and proposals sending Leonard everywhere from Boston to New York to Portland to Philadelphia.

Is there a realistic scenario in which Leonard could wind up with the Detroit Pistons?

For once, mediocrity may work in favor of the Pistons.

An additional layer to the Leonard stories reported on Friday is that Leonard has expressed his desire to go to the Los Angeles Lakers.

San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard has Los Angeles — preferably the Lakers — at the center of his preferences for a trade destination, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 15, 2018

However, it has also been believed in league circles for a long time that Spurs management — most notably head coach Gregg Popovich — will not send a good player to a Western Conference rival, or to any team that could become better than the Spurs, which would presumably take teams like the Lakers, Celtics and 76ers out of the picture.

As Mark Heisler of the Orange County Register wrote back in April:

"“It’s one of Popovich’s cardinal rules not to help Western Conference rivals, much less one with the tradition and resources of the Lakers.“Popovich almost never says a bad word about another team, but he went bonkers in 2008 when Memphis traded Pau Gasol to the post-Shaquille O’Neal Lakers, setting them up for three consecutive Finals runs and two titles.”"

This opens the door for a team like the Pistons, a seemingly harmless lottery team in the East that finished last season with a 39-43 record. Any team in the league would stand to improve by adding Leonard, but the likelihood of meeting the Pistons in the NBA Finals is probably not as much of a concern for Popovich as dealing with a new-look Lakers in the West, or making existing contenders like Boston or Philly even better.

But do the Pistons have enough attractive assets to pique the Spurs’ interest? Enough for San Antonio to part ways with a man who has twice finished in the top-three in league MVP voting?

The best package Detroit could realistically offer would likely feature starting point guard Reggie Jackson, wing Stanley Johnson, and a future first round draft pick or two (or three).

What’s in it for the Spurs?

Jackson, 28, can be one of the league’s most dazzling scoring point guards when he’s healthy. Last season he was limited to 45 games due to ankle injuries, and the season before that he played only 52 games following knee and thumb surgery. But in Jackson’s last full season, he averaged 18.8 points and 6.2 assists per game and helped lead the Pistons to the 2016 NBA Playoffs.

At some point, the Spurs have to deal with the end of the Tony Parker era; the 36-year-old future Hall of Fame point guard is a free agent this summer and was replaced in the starting lineup last season by 21-year-old Dejounte Murray. But Murray’s calling card is his defense. Jackson can provide some-needed offensive punch for San Antonio.

Johnson, 22, is cut from the same cloth as Andre Iguodala: great athlete, great defender and he can play shooting guard or small forward. Johnson isn’t much of a scorer, though; he’s averaged just 7.0 points per game in three seasons as a pro.