With a few days left to reorganize their roster, the Detroit Pistons could be in the market for a premier three-point shooter
Half a week remains until the NBA Trade Deadline arrives on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 3 pm this year, and the Detroit Pistons currently hold all the cards necessary to make a splash for a secondary scorer or perimeter shooter to push the squad into unbeatable territory.
So far, the Pistons have ascended to first place in the Eastern Conference through a hearty diet of interior scoring and physical, turnover-prevalent defense, but Detroit is still one move away from checking in as a fully balanced squad. The Pistons currently rank in the bottom half of the NBA for three-point shooting, and on nights when Duncan Robinson’s perimeter shot isn’t falling, Detroit needs another option to turn to for an outside threat.
That’s where Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. enters the mix.
With Brooklyn not-so-secretly tanking, the Nets are focused on building a squad that can compete in the future, several years from now. The Nets’ rebuild is slated to be a lengthy endeavor, so the Brooklyn front office has quite an incentive to move their remaining trade assets, like Michael Porter Jr., in exchange for a combination of young players and draft capital.
Fortunately for Pistons President of Player Operations Trajan Langdon, the Detroit war chest is currently stocked full with each of those assets. The Pistons own all of their first round picks for the next several years, and a trade landing Porter Jr. would likely require at least one first-rounder in addition to Tobias Harris and one other player to make the salary exchange work. Right now, Porter Jr. makes $38 million dollars per season, but Detroit has the levers necessary to pull off the deal.
From a fit perspective, Porter Jr. is the exact profile that Detroit needs– a stretch four who can make it rain from beyond the arc that can also put up a casual 25-point performance on a nightly basis, thereby taking the scoring pressure off of Cade Cunningham in the process. Though Jalen Duren has served admirably as a secondary scoring option with occasional 20-plus-point efforts, Porter Jr. is a more prolific scorer with a long-range shot that the Pistons have been searching for.
This season, Porter Jr. is averaging north of 25 points per game while grabbing seven rebounds per night with a near-40% rate from three-point range, so MPJ checks in as the type of elite perimeter scorer that the Pistons would benefit from if he can stay healthy– but that’s easier said than done.
Now in his seventh year in the NBA, Porter Jr. has suffered from major back injuries that have sidelined him for significant portions of his career. This year, the Nets’ shooter has started 38 games for Brooklyn while avoiding further damage to his back, though he’s worked through a sprained MCL over the past several weeks.
When the Nets visited Detroit last night for a 53-point shellacking at the hands of the Pistons, Porter Jr. was inactive once again, but this time for personal reasons as opposed to health issues. On one hand, the Pistons missed out on a golden opportunity to evaluate MPJ in his current form during meaningful gametime, but from another perspective the veteran sniper had more time to rest any lingering soreness from his recent knee issue.
The Pistons have several days to work out a potential trade for Porter Jr., but expect for Detroit to field a fair degree of competition for MPJ with several other squads lurking as buyers at the deadline.
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