The trade deadline is just a couple of days away, so let the wheeling and dealing begin. It seems as though we have our first big trade in the works, and it is between the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons. The two teams are finalizing a deal that would send Tobias Harris to Detroit, and the Magic will be getting back Brandon Jennings and Ersan llyasova, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
The Pistons have been active on the trade market looking for an upgrade at power forward, and it seems as though they will be getting it. Previously they had interest in Ryan Anderson but decided they would wait until the offseason to pursue him instead of giving up assets. Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops was the first to report that talks were going on regarding this trade, and it seems as though things progressed quickly. As for what else might be involved in the trade, it seems as though there are no picks or other players in the proposed deal, according to Sam Amick of USA Today Sports.
This is a big time trade for the Pistons, as Ilyasova was having a fine season, but they felt they could improve at that spot. The Pistons didn't want a traditional power forward, though, they wanted a stretch four to put next to Andre Drummond, and that's what they got in Harris. Harris is a natural small forward, but he did play some power forward earlier in the year, although he admittedly had a hard time adjusting. The Pistons will now have the option of playing either Harris or Marcus Morris at the power forward spot.
Harris will not only help the Pistons this year in their playoff push, but he will also be a huge help for the future. He is still just 23 years old and he just signed a four year $64 million deal this past offseason, so he is under the teams control for the next three seasons. Harris' numbers have dipped this year, but he has a lot of potential and should be able to thrive alongside Drummond.
As for the Magic's end of this proposed deal, they said that they would be willing to trade some young talent to get more experience, and that's exactly what they did. Jennings and Ilyasova are both veterans who have been in the league for a while, and they are certainly not scrubs. The Magic have struggled a little bit at the point guard position, so Jennings should help there and Ilyasova could help replace Harris.
