The Detroit Pistons came into this season with the hopes that they would be a playoff team, and through a little less than half of the season, they are seriously in the hunt as their 21-18 record has them as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference right now. With the trade deadline approaching, it would behoove the Pistons to try and make a deal that gives them the best chance to make some noise come playoff time, and they are expected to make a run at trading for Ryan Anderson, according to Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops.
Anderson is currently in the final year of his contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, and they are not expected to pay him the amount of money he will likely be looking for in free agency, so trading him makes sense. The Pelicans have maintained that they don't want to trade Anderson, but they are at the bottom of the Western Conference, and it would be wise for them to get something for him while they still can.
From the Pistons side, most of the trade talks involving them have had to do with them trading away players, not receiving players. Brandon Jennings is reportedly on the trading block, but head coach Stan Van Gundy said that he doesn't plan to trade him because he feels he will be helpful to the team as the backup point guard. Regardless of what Van Gundy says, there are people out there who believe that Jennings will ultimately be traded.
As for the idea of trading for Anderson, it makes a whole lot of sense for the Pistons because Anderson is one of the best stretch-fours in the NBA. The Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe experiment didn't work out last season because they both occupied the same space down low, so the Pistons decided that they needed a stretch-four to let Drummond thrive. Right now, that guy is Ersan Ilyasova, and while he has had the desired effect of letting Drummond have space down-low, he has played just OK himself.
Anderson would certainly represent an upgrade over Ilyasova, and moving Ilyasova to the bench would just increase the depth on the Pistons roster. It is unclear what the Pistons would have to give up in order to acquire Anderson, but at this point, nothing is close to happening in terms of a trade. The report suggests that the Pistons will "make a run" at Anderson, so with the deadline approaching fast, expect the talks to heat up pretty soon.
