John Wall trade rumors: 5 potential destinations for Wizards guard

3. Detroit Pistons

In comparing this trade to the Rockets trade, Blake Griffin is not a better or healthier player than Westbrook. But the Detroit Pistons still hold the leverage of not having multiple reports surface about their star being unhappy and wanting out. That matters in negotiations like this, as does the fact that Griffin would be a much fit in D.C. than a commandeering presence like Russ. Add in how Blake’s contract can be off the books a year sooner than Russ’ and Wall’s, and it’s more obvious why the Pistons squeeze an extra pick out of this exchange.

For the Wizards, Griffin — like Russ and Wall — is damaged goods as a former superstar who’s had a difficult time staying healthy. He only played in 18 games last year due to knee surgeries and was awful in those games. But he’s also only a season removed from one of the finest years of his career, in which he carried the Pistons back to semi-relevance with a career-high 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game on 36.2 percent shooting from deep.

A player like that would have a place in Washington, and if he could just stay healthy in his age-31 season, the Wizards would be back in the playoff picture. Sure, it’d cost a future first-rounder to get him, but Wizards fans need to come to terms with the likelihood of sacrificing a pick just to dump Wall’s contract.

As for the Pistons, the writing was pretty clearly on the wall for unrestricted free agent Christian Wood, and it’s even clearer for the aging Griffin. After Detroit drafted Isaiah Stewart and then added Mason Plumlee, Jahlil Okafor and especially Jerami Grant in free agency, the remaining two years and $75.8 million on Griffin’s contract have no place in Troy Weaver’s new, bizarro regime.

Griffin will have a trade market, and perhaps Weaver can find a better return. But Wall would at least be a good mentor for Detroit’s No. 7 overall pick, guard Killian Hayes, without stealing too many of his minutes. Plus, a future first-rounder is never a bad thing to have as a franchise that spent its offseason cleaning house and is preparing to build for the future.