The Detroit Pistons have jumped into the NBA trade rumor mill headfirst with declaration that "no one is untouchable."
No less than Stan Van Gundy, team president and head coach has declared that in an interview last January. M Live had his full quotes:
"Look, these discussions happen all the time, and this idea when teams say somebody's off limits ... see, I won't lie to my guys," Van Gundy said."There's no one in this league that's off limits.
He made a rather extreme hypothetical analogy. "LeBron? What if the Warriors offered Kevin Durant and Steph Curry? They wouldn't consider that, the Cavaliers? They wouldn't consider that? There's no deal? Come on, man. Everybody is available."
His point is clear, though. No one is untouchable if the right offer comes along. But the context of his comments was when he scoffed at a rumored deal involving Reggie Jackson. Now, Jackson is actually on the verge of a trade, if rumors hold true.
A post from SB Nation team blog Detroit Bad Boys had several versions of trades being explored, all centering on Reggie Jackson. There was Marc Stein of ESPN whose version had Jackson going to the Orlando Magic with marginal returns.
The Detroit Pistons have jumped into the NBA trade rumor mill headfirst with declaration that "no one is untouchable."
But there were a series of tweets from Bruce Tennen, a "Michigan-based stock trader" who surprisingly has inside info on the team (as he claimed). His version is a three-way trade with Mario Hezonja and Lou Williams of the Lakers involved.
The Pistons will get Mario Hezonja, Lou Williams and Elfrid Payton. Williams will replace Jackson's scoring. Hezonja could flourish under a new environment and Payton takes over at the point. At this point, this is still speculative but the logic is there. It might actually take place in the next few days.