3:42pm: The Celtics, Mavericks, and Raptors have also registered interest in Drummond, tweets Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. Goodwill notes that Drummond has relationships with Dallas big man Kristaps Porzingis and Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry, while Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports adds (via Twitter) that the big man is close with Hawks star Trae Young.
2:05pm: The Pistons and Hawks have engaged in talks on a possible trade involving center Andre Drummond, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, nothing is imminent, but Detroit is discussing Drummond with multiple teams and there’s an increasing belief that the big man will be moved before next month’s trade deadline.
Drummond, 26, is enjoying perhaps the best season of his NBA career so far, with career highs in PPG (17.6), BPG (1.8), and SPG (2.0) to go along with a league-leading 15.8 RPG. Despite his strong play though, the Pistons are out of the playoff picture — their 12-23 record places them 11th in the Eastern Conference.
Facing a potential lottery finish and a contract year for Drummond, who will likely decline his $28.75MM option for 2020/21, it makes sense that the Pistons would consider their options. Securing a strong return for their starting center would be a more favorable outcome than losing him for nothing in the summer or overpaying to lock him up to a long-term contract.
As we relayed earlier today, Pistons owner Tom Gores admitted that his struggling team may need to consider taking a step back rather than remaining in win-now mode, and the Hawks are in the market for a veteran center. The two teams could be a good match, especially since Atlanta has extra draft picks available and a handful of expiring contracts that could be used for salary-matching purposes. Chandler Parsons‘s expiring $25.1MM deal would be the most logical trade chip to match Drummond’s $27.09MM cap hit.
According to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (via Twitter), a package of one or more expiring contracts and a protected 2020 first-round pick is one option being discussed. It’s not clear if the Hawks would be willing to make such an offer or if the Pistons would accept it.
If the Hawks were to acquire Drummond during the season, they’d be in position to re-sign him in July using his Bird rights. The club has plenty of cap flexibility going forward, so there would be no risk of going into tax territory even with a lucrative new deal for Drummond. Atlanta would then be in position to build around a frontcourt of Drummond and John Collins, with Trae Young running the show.
Of course, as Woj notes, the Hawks aren’t the only team talking to Detroit about a potential trade involving Drummond, so the Pistons are unlikely to rush a deal unless they get an offer they really like. The club still has nearly five weeks until the February 6 trade deadline arrives.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Miami should jump in and offer a couple picks, Justice Winslow, Derrick Jones Jr and James Johnson for Drummond and a salary filler… Drummond, Adebayo, Butler frontcourt would be a deadly.
Lol a lot of garbage players you are proposing to send out….also, where are those picks coming from? OKC has their 2021 and 2023 1st rounders
Wouldn’t mind Winslow and expiring contracts but the Heat don’t have expiring contracts, they don’t have picks and in fairness they don’t need a centre.
Bam Adebayo is playing really well he’s your centre, plus off the bench you have Leonard and Okynyk.
Not to mention the heat are currently 3rd in the east with a 25-9 record, why trade heaps of players on a winning team for 1 player on an expiring deal.
no spacing with Bam and Drummond. Dallas i think can offer the best package.
Luka and Drummond in pick and roll would be super fun to watch
Apparently the coach doesn’t want to trade for a big that’ll clog the lane, which makes sense. And again with that team playing so well at 22-12, maybe it’s better to keep what you have
yeah i saw Carlisle comments on postup players arnt very effective. but im a mavs fan and i watch all the games. poweel if you watch him all he does is occasionally shoot a 3. and other bigs let him shoot it. he sets picks and roll. which is what drummond would do. powell also isnt a great defender or rebounder. drummond would be a major upgrade. offensive rebounding and defense/ shot blocking.
Besides picks, what do the Mavs even have to offer? Their only significant expiring contract is Courtney Lee’s $12m. And they don’t really have any player (besides Luka and KP) that could be considered appealing to a rebuilding team. Mavs have a solid team filled with a bunch of solid role players that fit well around their two stars. And its tough to gauge what their ceiling will be until we figure out if this is the post-injury KP or if he’s still “recovering” and getting back into game shape after almost 2 years without playing.
Would be Powell and a pick
Mavs can’t send a first round pick til 2025 (2021 and 2023 first rounders are tied to the Knicks). A 2025 first rounder, Powell, and Lee (for salary matching purposes) sounds extremely light for Drummond.
I think KP still has improvement to make and I think he showed what he can do when luka was out. gotta remember he’s not just coming back from injury with essentially 2 years out, he’s also doing it in a new offensive system and with a whole new team
Exactly. If I’m Dallas I’m a little hesitant to make a big deal because they’re playing so well with KP less than 100%. Give this core a year to see how they do as opposed to making a big move now. Adding in a big name like Drummond will slow KP’s return a bit as the ball will be out of his hands a bit more.
Need to start looking at these things from other angles besides complete optimism. What if KP is already at 95% and he’s not really going to progress further than this? Why give up this year’s possibility of the ultimate prize for the sake of KP’s hypothetical progress?
And let’s look at this from the Xs and Os. Drummond has attempted 86 3’s in his career; he’s not going to be behind the arc much, meaning he’s going to pull defenders away from KP and Luka, which will open up opportunities. And let’s not forget that Drummond steals and swats like nobody the Mavs have had in forever…
And what is it going to cost you? A center you wouldn’t start if you were able to get someone better in free agency and a draft pick we all know you won’t hit on. The upside is that you’d get a center more likely to help you succeed in the playoffs and if he likes it enough, he can opt-in to next season, a free agency class in which you’re not interested in the big fish and you get to keep your books ready for an attempt at Giannis. But if the team is what you hope it would be, would you need the Greek Freak with Luka, KP, and Drummond?
Knicks will find a way to mess this one up
The hawks would be good if you can get back Chandler Parsons, Cam Reddish and a couple of seconds. It’s hard to gauge what a good price is for Drummond. He’s likely to opt out and want 30 mil, so if you traded for him there’s no guarantee that even if you have the money he stays.
As for the Pistons surely this would mean starting a rebuild…
If they plan to rebuild I’d be looking to trade Blake Griffin for next to anything in return. Would try the Knicks for Randle and Portis, would try the Bulls for Otto Porter and Coby White, would try the Heat for Dragic and Winslow….
I’d you were to get Parsons and Reddish for Drummond then I’d say for Griffin the best return would be Randle and Portis.
You’d finish the year off with Kennard Reddish and Randle as your young core, heading into free agency you let Jackson (20m) and Parsons (25m) walk and try your best getting Brandon Ingram. Ingram (22) would be your new centre piece, has played with Randle at the Lakers, and with Kennard at Duke so that’s a good advantage.
would the hawks really trade reddish with no gurantee that drummond stays in ATL?
Reddish is garbage. Couldn’t shoot in college, still can’t shoot. I’d trade him for Mookie Blaylock.
yeah because FG% is everything in basketball right? There are tons of elite players out there that cant shoot for s–t
Reddish has been hot garbage this year.
He shots 32% from the floor and 26% from deep.
In college he shot 36% and 33%, so he’s only gotten worse. Yes there is loads of potential but for the last 2 years he’s stuck
Finally
yeah i saw Carlisle comments on postup players arnt very effective. but im a mavs fan and i watch all the games. poweel if you watch him all he does is occasionally shoot a 3. and other bigs let him shoot it. he sets picks and roll. which is what drummond would do. powell also isnt a great defender or rebounder. drummond would be a major upgrade. offensive rebounding and defense/ shot blocking.
all dallas can really offer is 3hardworking players in Powell, justin jackson and brunson. and Lee for salary matching purposes. (i dont see dallas trading finney smith, Maxi or THJ.) we could also use the rest of the Trade exception from the harrison barnes trade and take on Snell who has a player option for next season at 11m. that might be of interest of pistons to move off his awful contract
But why would the pistons want to take back 4 below average players for 1 player that’s actually good. That would mean releasing players they already have all just to make the Mavs better and themselves worse
That would be a terrible trade for the Pistons. Brunson and Jackson are potentially intriguing role players but neither seem like a potential building block for a rebuilding team. Powell is a solid role player but he’s not a headliner either and his 3 remaining years are a lot less appealing than Snell’s player option year. Mavs also don’t have a first round pick to offer since their 2021 and 2023 picks are being sent to the Knicks.
There just really isn’t much reason for the Pistons to accept that type of swap. Any picks they get would be either a bunch of second rounders or future first rounders that wouldn’t change hands for at least 5 years. They wouldn’t even see much in the way of cap savings as they’ll be on the hook for the roughly $16m owed Powell and Jackson (plus Brunson’s team option if they picked it up).
I agree i dont see pistons doing a deal with Dallas. Dallas doesnt have nice assets.
Im not really trying to jutisfy my offer of brunson and powell but they were terrific down the stretch last season. They are less efficent this year because of Luka taking his game to an extra level and THJ and Porzingis are back playing healthy (which is funny since they are both hurt currently) also powell cant get traded for another 3 days.
You have to also think teams will low ball offers as they have no guranttee from drummond that he will stay.
Dallas could get away and trade for a cheaper center and one that can shoot 3s and rebound. Example aaron baynes.
I would say the Celtics should be all over Drummond, but matching salaries would be their issue. The easiest salary match would probably be Hayward-Drummond swap with some picks and/or young players going to Detroit and some additional salary/roster fillers going back to Boston. If Detroit has no interest in Hayward, Boston would have to construct some sort of deal around Marcus Smart and Kanter/Theis (to get close to matching salaries) plus picks and young players.
This would be great for Detroit. And I think move Boston into Championship contention.
So they see him as a max player.
CLIPPERS need to be all over this!
Toronto and Dallas can both offer good packages.
Toronto would trade Gasol along with a pick. Gasol will want a buyout, and Toronto has all their picks IIRC.
Dallas would probably send back Powell along with Courtney Lee. Powell is a great contract and a solid rotation piece, so he’s an asset Detroit can flip later. But I’m not sure Dallas wants to lose Powell, especially if they think they could get Favors or Dedmon or someone like that without giving up Powell.
Atlanta might be willing to attach a young player to Parsons, but it would have to be Fernando. Any other young player would put Detroit into the tax.
My guess is that Toronto gets him.
That trade would make a lot of sense for the Raptors. Gasol’s offensive output has diminished significantly and he’s never been a great rebounder. Defensively he is probably smarter and more versatile than Drummond, but the Raptors have shown they could fare pretty well without him. Drummond would definitely be a big upgrade for a team that already looks like a contender.
Parsons and Reddish = 29 Mil
Drummond is on 27 Mil
Trade works via ESPN Trade Machine
Plus as for Toronto bet they think twice about trading for a player who is getting close to Free Agency. Giving up a pick could mean, Drummond could turn them down cause he doesn’t want to live in Toronto and leave at the end of the year leaving Toronto with nothing.
Plus what would the pistons want more, a Toronto first round pick expected to fall to 20-25 or Cam Reddish and a second rounder, Cam is a former top 10 pick and a hawks second rounder is almost a first anyways
Indeed, assuming both Raptors and Hawks are interested, it’s a matter of which package Detroit finds more appealing. But as you just said “Reddish has been hot garbage” this year and not much better the year before, so there’s no warrant it entices them that much.
We’ll, Kawhi left at the end of the year and I’m sure they don’t regret having traded for him. The key is whether Ujiri thinks acquiring Drummond gives them a shot at another ring. And Toronto have all their future first round picks, so giving one away may be an acceptable risk. (Instead of Gasol they could also use Ibaka, as both are expiring and in the right salary range).
Obviously they don’t regret it because it won them their first ever Ring. But Drummond isn’t getting them a ring.
Drummond gets killed every time he plays Embid it’s hilarious, the raptors are better off keeping Gasol at centre if they want to win. Embid struggled against him
They could use Ibaka and keep Gasol instead. For sure Drummond by himself does not get anyone a ring. But it would address one of the biggest weaknesses (rebounding) of a team that is not that far from the top of the East. If I were the Raptors I would at least think about it (and it seems this is precisely what they’re doing).
There’s no way Detroit makes a trade that increases salary. If they ship out Thon Maker with Drummond, they could make a Reddish + Parsons deal with Atlanta. But that seems like too much, considering what the other teams might offer. Reddish is a rookie. I doubt Atlanta is willing to give up on him this fast.
It will be Toronto unless Dallas gets aggressive.
Powell and Lee for Drummond would be a robbery for Dallas. And the earliest first round pick Dallas could send would be in 2025 (since the Knicks own their 2021 and a top 10 protected first round from 2023-2025). Powell is a very useful player and would probably hold a rotation spot on every other team as well, but he doesn’t offer any exceptional skill. Barring a dramatic production upswing by Powell, the offers for Drummond now would likely top any sort of haul the Pistons would probably get for Powell, on his own, within the next 3 and a half years.
Getting a first round pick and/or a medium-to-high upside player on their rookie deal should be the goal for Detroit.
Tell me what these guys have in common: Mitchell Robinson, Monte Morris, Malcolm Brogdon, Ivica Zubac, Montrezl Harrell, Josh Richardson, Nikola Jokic, Dwight Powell, Jerami Grant
They’re all top 10 in Win Shares in their draft class and they’re all second round picks. In fact, you have to go back to the 2013 draft class to find a top 10 WinShares without a 2nd rounder, but 2012 has Draymond Green, Khris Middleton, and Jae Crowder to make up for it.
So what’s the point of this? An early 2nd round pick is just as good as a really late 1st rounder, and Dallas has the Warriors 2020 2nd round pick, currently slated for pick 32 overall. If teams aren’t willing to give up a 1st round pick or medium-to-high upside player on a rookie deal, then should Detroit just play the year out without getting anything? Seems like a waste; take what you can get, and Dwight Powell and pick 32 seems a lot better than you want to give it credit for.
Lee and 2nd rounders for Favors would be a good trade. Favors can play some D and has a jumpshot
Drummond+Galloway+Snell for Fernando+Parsons+Turner+2 firsts might get it done.
would be a good fit on atl,Boston, or Raptors. dont really see the fit for the mavs though. pairing him with KP doesnt seem like a good idea in today’s nba
Everyone doesnt think about on the defensive side of the ball. When KP goes out, dallas has no shot blocker. Also you can keep Detroit in the game as an offensive focal point when luka and kp are on bench
He’s overrated. He has filled a stat sheet his whole career but the dude never affects the game as a winner or make other people better. I wouldn’t give up any core players for him.
Let’s get serious
The only team mentioned that has the cap room and desire is Hawks
Don’t have to explain why if you understand why