Could Detroit Pair Wesley Matthews With Blake Griffin & Andre Drummond?

With Blake Griffin headed to Detroit and the Pistons going all in, could they call Dallas for the availability of Wesley Matthews?

So much for the quiet trade deadline right?

On Monday afternoon, Adrian Wojnarowski caught the NBA by surprise when he dropped his first trade bomb of the season by announcing the news of Blake Griffin heading to Detroit.

For the Clippers, this is the ultimate sell high for a player they had just convinced to re-sign with them this past summer. Swapping Griffin out for Harris, Marjanovic, the expiring Bradley and two picks is looking better by the hour as Griffin will be making roughly $39 million four years from now.

But for the Pistons, this is the ultimate win-now move.

Sitting with a record of 22-26 and the current 9th seed in the Eastern Conference, it was time to push all the chips to the middle of the table. Pairing Blake Griffin with Andre Drummond is a risky move, but a move that the Pistons were willing to make in order to get better now.

As currently constructed, this leaves the Pistons with some holes on the wing.

Luke Kennard is still adjusting to his rookie season and the opinions of Stanley Johnson are all over the place. Outside of them, they could be looking at Galloway and Bullock on the wing while still having Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith at point.

I would assume the Pistons are not done dealing, but could they look Dallas’ way?

Detroit

They need an Avery Bradley replacement and what better of a guy than Wesley Matthews?

Matthews could play either the two or the three and help form a starting four of him, Jackson, Griffin and Drummond that could be a tough out in the first round if they make it into the playoffs. They would still hold on to Luke Kennard and their first round picks in the deal.

Taking on Matthews would add around $2 million in cap space next summer assuming Matthews picks up his $18.6 million player option.

Dallas

It is not a first round pick, but you would be getting two players drafted inside the top 20 over the past three years.

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Stanley Johnson has underperformed in Detroit, but is the former 8th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He is a 6’7″ wing that would give the Mavericks some depth behind Harrison Barnes and is still just 21 years old.

Ellenson is a 6’11” stretch big that was the 18th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. He has yet to crack the rotation in Detroit and could be used as a project for the Mavericks.

Leuer is currently out for the season due to ankle surgery and is slated to make roughly $10 million a season for two more years after this year. Even though this deal does not give Dallas a first round pick for Matthews like Marc Stein reported Dallas would seek, taking a swing at Stanley Johnson could be worth it.

If Dallas was set on obtaining a first round pick in the deal, the Pistons couldn’t trade their 2019 first rounder, but could trade their 2020 first if needed. For Dallas to obtain that, they could have to take on more salary in the deal.

Next: 4 Wesley Matthews Trade Possibilities

This would all hinge on Dallas’ willingness to trade Wesley Matthews, but for a team looking to win-now in the Pistons, they could go shopping before the deadline.