Yes (characters)
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Itâd be interesting to see if he can buy in on defense. Offensively, heâll fit next to Cade.
And what do you think the Pistons can offer that Utah might be willing to accept?
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they could offer the fifth pick and I wouldnât be opposed to it. If Pistons get Donovan Mitchell, keep Grant, acquire a good player through free agency (ayton but not likely), you get a decent team that can maybe even push for the playoffs and still have room to grow. Iâm usually in favor of tanking but Iâm not sure of how much tanking the Pistons are comfortable with.
Cade
Mitchell
Bey
Grant
Ayton
Thatâs not a bad team. Dunno if itâs possible, I donât know anything about caps
I think the larger question is âwhat can they offer that will make Mitchell want to be there?â.
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One way to get Donovan Mitchell on your roster is to not draft Luke Kennard one pick earlier than Mitchell 
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Would that really be an issue in this case? Detroit isnât a free agent destination, but heâs in Utah and LA, Miami, GS, Boston, etc, arenât viable options. A choice between a Utah team that probably peaked and clearly has internal issues, or an up and coming Detroit team might not be that bad of a move.
I lived in Utah for awhile. Itâs a nice place with beautiful weather and scenery. Up and coming with a lot of West Coast people relocating there, but itâs not a free agent destination either.
I doubt they would have Cade if that was the case though.
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I mean, Iâll just say âyes, I think it will be an issueâ.
When we were discussing no major players wanting to come to Detroit even in a trade, you said something along the lines of âDoesnât matter. Itâs a trade.â Why the different stance now? Iâve always maintained that the stars of the league have a little more say in where they go, even in a trade, but you said otherwise. So why does it matter whether Donovan Mitchell would want to play in Detroit?
Donovan Mitchell doesnât have that level of cache to choose his trade destination
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I think swinging the trade in 2+ years when the Pistons have assembled a competent core that a quality player may be ok with joining and now arenât the same.
Hypothetically if they signed Ayton, I think a Cade + Ayton pairing would be a top 5 duo to want to play with for any young star thatâs a non-PG in the league. Theyâre both very good and very young and theyâre also not too good at this stage that you would feel like youâre not the primary option.
You guys are way higher on Ayton than I am
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I agree with that. I think Mitchell doesnât quite reach that superstar level where he would have say in a trade. He falls just below the cutoff point.
My opinions of the two aside, I think that the Pistons likely donât have sufficient assets to acquire both Ayton and Mitchell.
Iâd rather have Mitchell, but thatâs me.
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If you do a sign and trade of Jerami Grant for Ayton (at the mini max.) You could probably let Bagley go which saves you 7mil. I have no idea if that affects their cap room or not.
Cap-wise I donât know if itâs a big deal, as it will take more than Grant to do it (I think Grant, first rounder, Stewart is a starting point).
Not sure Suns would be in the position to demand that. I think the Pistons can just sign him with cap space. So they would have to let him walk. Sign him for the same or more. Or take whatever the Pistons are willing to part with.
This is something I have struggled with for a while. What leverage does a team w/ RFA they are not willing to sign have in order to ask for a trade back from the signing team? I assume the pinch point is salary cap, but buyer can seek cap relief from any team in the league. Is there something special that makes the RFA source a better trade partner to deliver that cap relief than the leagueâs other 28 teams?
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