Will breakdown the bigger NBA deals here.
Orlando Magic trade: Tobias Harris
Detroit Pistons trade: Brandon Jennings, Ersan Ilyasova
Reaction: The instant reaction was: “What the hell is Orlando doing.” The team just signed Harris to a deal in the off-season, seemingly making him a part of the core moving forward. Plus, it’s hard to imagine no other teams could offer expiring deals and a draft pick. Zach Lowe reported some teams didn’t even get called about interest in Harris. He has his flaws, he’s a poor defender and is caught between positions and is not a good or willing passer, but he can fill it up from inside and out and is a good rebounder and is still very young. The Bucks hated dealing him in an ownership-mandated move and that includes now Raptors assistant general manager Jeff Weltman. It seems like selling low for Orlando, a team clearly looking to open up cap space (as the rumoured follow-up dumping of Channing Frye for an expiring deal indicates).
That’s fine thinking, but can Orlando really nab a better talent than Harris with that cap space? Orlando’s history is more like Toronto’s as a free agent destination than a Los Angeles. Shaq and Penny didn’t stay long-term and even T-Mac found his way to Houston eventually. It’s been a long time since Orlando was a draw, despite two massive advantages in the weather and the tax situation.
It opens the door for Aaron Gordon to get more playing time and that means the team will be much better defensively, but with a reasonable contract, Harris still could have been a dynamic sixth man of the year-type who would power the Magic bench for years to come.
Grade for Magic: D+ (this will change if I’m wrong and a better talent signs there this summer).
For the Pistons, it was a no-brainer. The team was unlikely to be able to sign a more talented player in the off-season, so cashes in Jennings, who was replaced by Reggie Jackson and Ilyasova, who is decent, but inconsistent for another decent building block.
Grade: A
