Detroit Pistons: 5 takeaways from the first 5 games

4. Don’t hold your breath for a Blake Griffin trade

One of the leading storylines coming into this season was the theory that a great season from Blake Griffin could lead to a trade that sends him to a contender and nets the Pistons some compensatory return. It’s good for Griffin because he deserves the chance to win something, it’s good for the Pistons because getting something is always nice, and assuming he can provide value to a good team, it’s good for the receiving organization.

The early returns haven’t been encouraging. He’s been played to virtual exhaustion in a desperate (and futile) effort to win games by head coach Dwane Casey, seeing 79 minutes of action in his first two games and only playing 17 minutes in the third game he played before coming out with a concussion.

Griffin has largely been consigned to a 3-point line to 3-point line role, which isn’t great on the defensive end. He’s shooting 43.5 percent from long range, but that’s largely thanks to an 8-of-9 stretch against the Cleveland Cavaliers in a double-overtime loss. Teams that may be interested in him won’t pull the trigger on a deal for anything of value if he can only provide league-average shooting with no defense, and there will be cheaper players to be found via trade or the buyout market as the season goes on.

At this point, it doesn’t look like Blake Griffin will be going anywhere.