The 2018 30-team NBA mega-trade that solves nothing and makes everyone mad
By Ian Levy
Detroit Pistons
Sending out: Stanley Johnson (OKC), Henry Ellenson (HOU)
Bringing in: Emmanuel Mudiay (DEN), 2020 second-round pick (CHI)
The Detroit Pistons already made their big trade deadline deal, sending out Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris and parts to land Blake Griffin. They would know appear to be locked into that very expensive big man core for the foreseeable future, so it’s time for some tinkering around the margins. The Pistons are not a contender as constructed and with so little cap room it’s going to take some luck and risk to add the additional pieces.
The Pistons have seen Stanley Johnson enough to feel comfortable with his defensive positives and his enormous offensive negatives. He’s not going to be the star wing they were hoping for. Ellenson has played just 287 minutes across his two seasons and even if they were still intrigued by his potential, he’s much less valuable with Griffin now on the team.
In exchange for those two, Detroit gets to take a flyer on Emmanuel Mudiay who has fallen completely out of the rotation in Denver. Scoring efficiently is still the primary concern for Mudiay, but he did raise his 3-point percentage to 37.3 this season. Detroit is likely going to continue looking for a way to shed Reggie Jackson and experimenting with Mudiay is a low-risk move that could yield a big reward.