Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are currently the No. 8 seed in the Eastern conference, which is great and all, but will they still be in the playoff picture when March rolls around? Not with their bench they won’t.
The Pistons have the fourth least scoring bench in the NBA, with their second unit only putting up 30.9 points per game. Russell Westbrook averages more points per game than the Pistons’ bench, which is either a testament to how good Westbrook is or how bad Detroit’s bench is. For the sake of our argument, we’ll assume it’s the latter.
Leading Detroit’s bench is 6-foot-10, 228 pound forward Jon Leuer, the only player outside of the Pistons’ starting five averaging at least 10 points per game. The frontcourt has been a bright spot for the Pistons this season and is probably the only reason they’re still in playoff contention. In fact, four of the Pistons’ six leading scorers log most of their minutes at the four or five. The backup guards, on the other hand, have left much to be desired.
Detroit’s backup guards, Ish Smith and Ben Udrih, combine for 14.1 points and 7.8 assists per game. Not terrible, but also not great. A little scoring off the bench could help this team a ton, especially if they’re planning on holding the Cavs off in the first round of the playoffs like they nearly did last season.
In this trade, the Lakers would send Lou Williams, Tarik Black and Denver’s 2018 second round pick for Stanley Johnson, Aron Baynes.
The Pistons could rest their starting backcourt, Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, while Smith and Williams ran the second unit. Williams could also play in smaller lineups alongside Jackson where KCP would play small forward. The result could be Detroit’s own version of the death lineup.
The Lakers would get Johnson, a native to Los Angeles with the potential to be a dominant two-way force in the NBA. At just 20 years old, his athleticism and defensive intensity are unlike anything on the Lakers’ roster, at least in the backcourt. He would be a defensive upgrade over Lou Williams, to say the least. His jumper is still a work in progress, but if that comes along sooner than later, we’re talking about a real special talent.
Black and Baynes are two capable backup centers with very similar contracts, however, the Pistons see Baynes as a flight risk in free agency and Black has a team option on his contract next season.