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The newest drama in the NBA is concerning Zion Williamson and his current team, the New Orleans Pelicans. After his All-Star year last season, the former Duke forward is yet to feature this year. The team has been very mysterious around his injuries and absence. Additionally, he did not reach out to the newest Pelican CJ McCollum, prompting former teammate JJ Redick to call him out. As the drama gains traction, the Pelicans could be urged to trade him away before he causes more damage to the franchise. One team that might benefit from that situation is the Detroit Pistons. Here are two reasons why the Pistons must trade for Zion Williamson this offseason.
Pistons Zion Williamson Trade Breakdown
Financial flexibility
The sort of financial flexibility the Pistons have is really unmatched in the NBA, possibly only by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Currently, they only have $83 million on the books for next year, against the projected $121 million cap. Of course, they will likely fill that out by resigning Marvin Bagley III, who they just acquired at the trade deadline. Yet, due to his poor play this year, he will not get a ton of money and a lot of the cap space will still remain. Thus, the Pistons could have a variety of options come summer.
Right now, Detroit cannot expect to sign huge names. They play in a relatively small market, do not have a ton of great players to build around and there are better options with cap space around. However, if they use some of their young talents and future picks to get Zion Williamson, the situation changes. Due to their poor season, they will likely have one of the first three picks in the 2022 NBA Draft, which means they will get a quality player and pay him around $8-10 million per year for at least the next four seasons.
With a few contracts to match salaries in a hypothetical trade, the Pistons could set themselves up to have an amazing young core and one that they do not have to think about financially for the foreseeable future. For instance, their best young player right now, Cade Cunningham, has three more years, provided the Pistons take the team options on his third and fourth year in the league. They have two more discounted years of Saddiq Bey, just like Isaiah Stewart, and one more of Frank Jackson. All of the mentioned players, except Cunningham, are going to be paid under $6 million for the next one or two years.
In addition to that, the Pistons also would be adding a Zion Williamson who still has one more year of his rookie-scale deal. As the first pick, he will get around $13 million, similar to Cunningham, in his fourth year, the 2022-23 season. Of course, wherever he is, he will get an extension for maximum money, but that does not kick in until the 2023-24 season, when the Pistons, who are hypothetically adding Williamson in this scenario, already have their core team together. In other terms, the Pistons have all the financial leverage in the world to build around their young trio of Williamson, Cunningham, and the presumed top-3 pick in the upcoming draft.
Possibility to have a great trade package and still have an amazing core together
One good thing about rebuilding is the stockpiling of talent. When it comes to the Pistons, it is not ideal, as the only player that really worked out wonders for them is Cade Cunningham, and possibly Saddiq Bey. Yet, they still have some solid pieces that they can combine with some future picks to sweeten the deal for the Pelicans to accept. Guys like Kylian Hayes, Frank Jackson, Isaiah Stewart, Jerami Grant, Hamidou Diallo could all be pieces in the possible Williamson deal.
Yet, even if they lose two or three of these players, it is absolutely worth it for the Pistons. Just the core of Cunningham and Williamson, even without their pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, would be a sight to be feared, both right now and in the future. That is especially true if the Pistons can combine them with some sort of huge splash in free agency. This duo, complemented by 3&D wings and potent bench guys, could be one of the most devastating duos in the NBA. There is a very simple reason why.
Cunningham is a scoring guard, but he does not shy away from passing the ball. He is averaging 16 points and 5 assists this year, on poor shooting splits, but he is playing for the lowly Pistons. In another setting, where the Pistons are competitive on the NBA level, he could play so much better, especially with a pick and roll partner in Zion Williamson. While Cunningham can control the pace of the game, Williamson could be the guy who runs the floor and finishes up Cunningham's passes in the paint.
While not many analysts will give the Pistons a fighting chance in the possible Zion Williamson sweepstakes, that is an underestimation. Not many other teams can give out picks in the future, young guys, and still have a great core ready and waiting for Williamson to arrive, with huge possibilities in the free-agent market. Thus, the Pistons should definitely take a swing at trading for the forward, should he become available.
