In the simplest terms, the Detroit Pistons have a massive problem: their 24-year-old superstar, Cade Cunningham, has no help whatsoever. There’s really nothing reliable next to him, hence why the Pistons are down 3-2 to the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic. How can they solve that over the summer? Make a franchise-altering trade with the LA Clippers for Kawhi Leonard.
Cunningham would be loving life as a Piston if a guy who is coming off an All-Star, and likely All-NBA, season with averages of 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, on absurd shooting splits(50.5/38.7/89.2) was there next to him fighting for a championship.
Sure, Detroit would be forced to pay a haul, but if it makes Cunningham happy and eases the pressure on his body, isn’t it worth it?
Kawhi Leonard is the dream solution for the Detroit Pistons
In the playoffs, the Detroit Pistons’ second-best player has been Tobias Harris. Not Jalen Duren, who is looking for a max contract over the summer after making the first All-Star team of his career, not Ausar Thompson, who was drafted with the fifth pick in 2023, but Harris, a nearly-34-year-old veteran role player.
That’s not going to get the Pistons anywhere with the season up in the air, and they’re seeing it for themselves against a flawed Orlando Magic squad.
So, if Detroit makes an offseason splash and pulls off a blockbuster deal for Kawhi Leonard, all of their problems are solved.
Leonard is a superstar in the regular season and even better in the playoffs, which is exactly what the Pistons need to have rostered next to their premier face of the franchise.
They could also look to extend him right after making the acquisition, ensuring the duo of Cunningham and Leonard is there to stay for the long term.
As for what the Clippers will ask for from Detroit? That remains to be determined. However, it will certainly be a mix of high-quality picks, salary fillers, and a youngster like Ron Holland.
This fills the Clippers’ holes in draft stock and lands a player with breakout potential in the coming years in Holland, who is coming off a solid second year in the league.
That said, Leonard to Detroit makes sense all around. He is clearly still capable of dominating at the highest of levels, and for the right price, the Clippers may not even hesitate in moving on.
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