The Pistons made an exploratory call to the Wizards in recent weeks to ask about the possibility of a trade involving Blake Griffin and John Wall, sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.
However, Detroit’s level of interest in that sort of deal is unclear, according to Lowe, who says that conversations didn’t go anywhere.
Lowe speculates that the Pistons likely would’ve wanted extra assets in any swap involving the two former All-Stars, since the team values Griffin. Plus, Wall has an extra year left on his slightly-pricier contract. He’s due about $133MM over the next three years, while Griffin “only” has about $75.8MM left over two years.
While a deal between the two teams would be an interesting one, it doesn’t appear to have any momentum, and the Wizards don’t seem to be actively exploring the market for Wall. A report last week indicated that former No. 1 overall pick had made it clear he wants to be traded out of Washington, but general manager Tommy Sheppard denied on Monday that Wall had asked him for a trade, and said the team has no plans to move its starting point guard.
Fred Katz of The Athletic wonders if the Wizards will take a similar approach to Wall that the Thunder did last year with Chris Paul. Oklahoma City would’ve had a tough time getting any positive value for Paul in 2019, but after he rebuilt his value with a strong ’19/20 performance, teams were more willing to roll the dice on him, particularly with just two years left on his oversized contract. If Wall comes back strong in ’20/21, it may increase the odds of an eventual deal.
For what it’s worth, Wall was asked at a community event on Tuesday if he had requested a trade and replied, “No comment” (Twitter link via Ava Wallace of The Washington Post).
Two of a kind: both have bad contracts, knees and can’t shoot the J. Both franchises stink.
I would say the three championships the Pistons have won in the last 32 years make them a better franchise than Washington (and obviously better than indiana)
I think he was referring to their current state which happens to be one of the worst run organizations in all of sports.
Taking on Blake Griffins salary was bad enough, but they’ve added weird fringe-starters around him ever since.
Although I do think they’re at least trending towards a full rebuild after this season, trading Christian Wood is pretty absurd.
Reggie Jackson may have been a worse burden than anything else their GM has done.
Although not moving Drummond the absolute second they acquired Blake set them back massively as well.
I assume that you know that this GM is new this season. So he has no track record with the roster. Blake was acquired by the last GM and Reggie Jackson was acquired by the GM before him. Jackson would have been great but he had a career altering injury. And the Griffin acquisition only failed because the rest of the team wasn’t ready to compete.
When someone talks about a franchise rather than a team I assume that they are speaking of lasting history. And as far as all time goes there are only five or six franchises (maybe fewer) that belong in front of Detroit.
At the time, Griffin’s perimeter work was expanding and being hailed, with talk of being a point forward. But there should always be doubt about a big man dribbling unnecessarily.
1:1, this would be a bad trade for Detroit. Let’s get out of the injured max player game, not request an encore, eh?
They just drafted Killian Hayes.
Wall is the ONE player I would not dump Blake for.
If John wall leaves the wizards he will end up just like Westbrook, Maybe even worse.
What, average a triple double and win an MVP
Hey, you want John Wall?
No way, you want Blake Griffin?
Nope.
This
The only thing that would probably be on the table in a Blake Griffin trade would be a change of scenery deal for someone like a Kevin Love or maybe a swap with NY for Randle
Pistons need to keep Griffin
Wizards can make playoffs if trade Wall and 2 Firsts for Westbrook
Looks like Zach’s writing has now become Insider-only. Grr on ESPN.
yeah i saw that too
love his columns but honestly if u listen to his pods the columns mostly reiterate what he says there (or vice versa)
I can’t stand that on ESPN. Three-quarters of the interesting headlines are the pay links ESPN Plus. Totally sucks. I already spend too much time watching & Reading basketball and baseball and I’m not going to pay money for wasting time on top of it. LOL.
Griffin & Rose for Westbrick???
Clippers need D Rose more though, it’s there only option to improve the point guard position. Maybe the suns terminate the team option for Cameron Payne, but he played well in the bubble so that may be unlikely…
Honestly don’t think this is a bad idea.
Pistons have plenty of big men now and could shore up the guard position, maybe even opening up a trade for d-rose. Killian hayes could backup wall and play alongside him in todays’s game.
Wizards could use some scoring punch and playmaking in the frontcourt. He could be a good tandem with bertans stretching at the 4. And he could play alongside bryant, as Griffin is an underrated passer.
I believe the pistons are trying to make their best attempt to get out of blake contract. Plus John Wall can play aside killlain Hayes and mentor him. although trading for Russel Westbrook
Might be better.
Just empty talk. I don’t see how anyone trades for Wall. Without seeing him play. No GM should trade for injured player, especially big injury. Until you see how he comes back from it. The same with Oladipo. So glad Knicks didn’t make a move. Even though media saying they should. Wall has to play.
Agreed, and its not like these talks cant pick up super quick once we see him play- Sure you might pay a little more but you at least make sure the car can drive down the road straight