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Pistons Trading Blake Griffin To Suns, Andre Drummond To Hawks?

Pistons Trading Blake Griffin To Suns, Andre Drummond To Hawks?

Pistons Trading Blake Griffin To Suns, Andre Drummond To Hawks?

Are the Pistons trading Blake Griffin to the Suns, Andre Drummond to the Hawks?

While one of those two deals is far likelier than the other, both are legitimately possible at this stage.

According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Detroit is “escalating” conversations with multiple teams regarding Drummond.

Atlanta has reportedly proposed a deal that would include a 2020 first round pick from the Brooklyn and salary cap relief for the talented big man.

Drummond, 26, is expected decline his $29 million player option for the 2020-21 season.

So far this year Drummond is averaging 17.6 points and a league-best 15.8 rebounds per game.

Given the season he has been having and the lack of free agent centers of his caliber available, he expects to command a large sum from another organization.

“Pistons owner Tom Gores has long been a strong advocate of Drummond’s, but there’s an increased movement in the organization to use Drummond as a trade asset to begin creating some salary-cap flexibility for the future,” Wojnarowski noted.

While moving Drummond in some capacity should not be difficult for Detroit, Griffin’s large contract makes things more complicated.

The Pistons owe Griffin $76 million in the last two years of his contract, despite his production clearly waning amidst injuries this year.

Any deal for him would likely have to involve significant salary cap relief from the other team.

Recently, Fansided.com published a piece suggesting a deal could be made between the Pistons and Suns for Griffin’s services.

“Seeing Blake Griffin in the purple and orange would be a lot of fun – it would be even more fun seeing him back in the Pacific Division regularly playing against the Los Angeles Clippers,” the article noted.

“If healthy, Griffin is still a 20 points and 7 rebounds per game star, and while his stats have dropped off considerably this season on a bad Detroit team, he averaged a career-high 24.5 points per game just last year.

“The key though is that the Phoenix Suns would not need  him to average 24 points per game. They’ve got Booker to do that, and hopefully within the next year, Ayton as well.”

If a deal for either of these players happens, it will be before the NBA trade deadline comes and goes in February.

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Jennifer Withers Hoey

Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.

One Comment

  1. Geez. Some unknowing doop writes a fantasy about suns trading for Blake and another doop acts like that is some sort of fact. What is this publication in the first place?

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