Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin for Russell Westbrook is a bad trade that must happen

The Detroit Pistons and the Houston Rockets have similar problems and trading Blake Griffin for Russell Westbrook might be a bad idea that can fix both.

There are bad ideas that should never be considered as a course of action, and there are bad ideas that are so bad you absolutely have to pursue them just to see what happens. This is a case of the latter scenario, the outlandish concept of a trade between the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets of Blake Griffin for Russell Westbrook.

There are some prerequisites before such a thing can even be considered. For starters, the financials, and indeed a straight-up swap of Griffin for Westbrook would work.

Next season Blake Griffin will make $36.5 million while Westbrook will make $41.3 million. As things stand, the Pistons have plenty of cap space so the extra expense can be easily absorbed for 2020-21. Pistons owner Tom Gores has been aching for a reason to spend money on this team in the hopes they can push for the playoffs and maybe even win a game or two once they get there.

As for the Rockets, saving $4.8 million would be music to the ears of cheapskate owner Tillman Fertitta, a man who has been financially out of his depth since buying them. They’re into the luxury tax for next season already, and the financial realities of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic combined with the fact that Fertitta couldn’t afford this team in the first place means some drastic cost-cutting is on the horizon.

The Rockets are a team that was just mercilessly trounced from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers, and chances are slim that Fertitta will continue to spend money he doesn’t have and can’t easily recoup on a team that underachieved relative to his own expectations. Griffin’s contract will also come off the books one year earlier than Westbrook’s.

With the financial realities out of the way, let’s take a look at how each player would fit on their prospective new team.