Dallas Mavericks: How they can acquire Andre Drummond this season

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Potential deal

Pistons receive: Dwight Powell, Courtney Lee, Justin Jackson, 2 second round picks

Mavericks receive: Andre Drummond

Why Pistons move Drummond

The Pistons currently sit at 11-19 which puts them 11th in the Eastern Conference. They’re still trying to make it work with Drummond and Blake Griffin. Detroit brought in Derrick Rose and Tony Snell in the offseason to try and add some perimeter play, but it continues to produce little for the Pistons.

Drummond’s huge season will likely lead him to opt-out of the last year of his deal, worth just under $29 million and become a free agent this summer.

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The Pistons can give Drummond a max contract and stay under the cap. They will have two enormous deals on the books, though.

Doing so would simply force them into the same cycle of trying to improve the team with mid-level exception signings and making salary-dump acquisitions just as they did in trading for Tony Snell. If they are teetering on barely making the playoffs as it is, they will only get worse as the roster ages.

Dwight Powell is on a far cheaper contract. He presents value as a young and still improving big man for Detroit. Courtney Lee is in the trade to match salaries, and Justin Jackson could help give the Pistons as they are starving for wing depth.

Both of these young assets are why Dallas can make the deal while sending the team two second round picks instead of a first rounder. The Mavs can’t trade any of their number one picks until 2025 due to the NBA Stepien Rule, which prevents teams from trading first round picks in back-to-back years.

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