Raj Mehta/USA TODAY Sports Images
4:18pm: The Pistons have announced via press release that the trade is official.
2:25pm: The second-rounder headed to Detroit in the proposed deal will be a 2019 pick, according to Charania.
1:00pm: Within his full report on the proposed deal, Charania writes that the Magic would simply absorb Meeks into their cap room without sending out another player in return. The Pistons would receive a conditional second-round pick, and would also gain a trade exception worth Meeks’ salary — the exact amount of that exception would depend on whether the deal is finalized in June or July.
Of course, if Detroit’s total team salary – including cap holds and exceptions – slips below the salary-cap threshold in the new league year, the club would lose that trade exception.
12:50pm: The Pistons are nearing an agreement on a trade that would send veteran guard Jodie Meeks to the Magic, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). It’s not clear yet what Detroit will receive in return for Meeks.
We heard around the time of the draft that the Pistons were shopping Meeks in the hopes of finding him a new home. Given how available he was, the return for Meeks likely won’t be significant, but we’ll have to wait to see whether Orlando is sending back salary in return, or whether the Pistons will simply shed some salary while picking up a draft pick or the rights to an overseas player.
Signing Meeks was one of Stan Van Gundy’s first moves as the Pistons’ president of basketball operations during the 2014 offseason, but the move hasn’t worked out, due in large part to Meeks’ health issues. The Kentucky product has missed 101 regular season games due to various injuries since arriving in Detroit.
In 63 total games over the last two years, including just three in 2015/16, Meeks averaged 10.9 points and 0.9 steals per game while shooting 35.3% from three-point range. The 28-year-old has one season and $6.54MM left on his contract — if he’s healthy in 2016/17, that’s a decent price for a veteran shooter, considering the sort of big-money deals we expect to see handed out in free agency this summer.
What are the conditions on the pick? If hey aren’t to unrealistic it would be nice to replenish our stock of second rounders, I wouldn’t want it to be a top 55 protected
Seems like another questionable move for the magic. 2nd round conditional pick will probably never get to the pistons but to tie a roster spot up to a injury prone player that was average at best before the injury and likely much worse today than when Detroit overpayed him. Adding 6.43 mil to the books is not the type of move that makes sense if chasing the free agents they have been linked to.
If he is healthy, the money isn’t that bad. It’s close to the new mid level. A bunch of teams, includong orlando, could use his shooting. That being said, I would agree with the rest of your comment. If they don’t sign certain guys, that Tobias Harris trade somehow gets even worse. The whole point of the deal was to open space. Then they follow that up in trading for ibaka, who is a great fit, but they gave up their best player. So essentially, its Tobias harris, Victor oldaipo, and 2016 11th pick (sabonis) for 1 year of ibaka and cap space. That has a good chance of looking terrible. At this point, I have to assume they’re going to pay Fornier too, so I’m not sure how much they can do to still add afterward. They must be pretty high on Hezonja.
Agreed, i am high on Fournier and Hez. Shooting is obviously a premium in this league but pistons needed shooting as well and were more than happy to get rid of meeks. Would have liked to see the magic kick the tires on Courtney Lee or someone more of a prototypical 3-D player, they are going to miss Oladipo’s defense. Meeks is undersized and a one way player. I am not a fan of either team but the timing is questionable to not wait and see how the FA market plays out. That trade would have been there anytime.
Can’t argue with anything there. Oladipo was also their best defender at multiple positions. I’ve heard that they think Hezonja can be a very good defender. Maybe they’re relying on Vogel to develop that. They do also still have payton, gordon, and now ibaka though, so it seems like they’re sacrificing some defense. Perhaps they think it would cost a good amount more (maybe 8-11 million?) to grab a 3 and D type, like Lee as you suggested, and that would be debilitating towards whatever else they want to do?
The Magic needed a shooter And they got one in Jodie Meeks specially with Víctor gone. Meeks would fit in better with Payton in The backcourt since he’s more of just a shooter.
Moving Oladipo did open up more responsibility for Payton and especially Aaron Gordon. I think that has to be the current strategy, as they added some shooting around them with ibaka and Meeks, while also getting the rim protector they’ve needed in Ibaka. Plus, they’ve mostly been connected to shooters
The Magic still have a trade exception from the Frye trade that allows them to complete this trade even now, if they so wish.
Hmm, that’s a good point. Taking a closer look at that, I wonder if the Magic might’ve lost that trade exception after the Ibaka deal. Probably doesn’t ultimately matter too much, since they’ll almost definitely be a cap-room team in July either way.
You’re right on there. The difference between salaries in the Ibaka trade (less than $1MM) put the team just a few hundred thousand beneath the $70 cap, so they did lose it then.
As a side note, this also makes me think the Heat can move McRoberts without taking back money, when it becomes necessary in a few days