Pistons Trade for Bucks’ Ilysolva

Pistons Get: Ersan Ilyasova F

Bucks Get: Caron Butler F, Shawne Williams F

Pistons – A+

Well that just made the Pistons offseason a hell of a lot easier, now didn’t it? The Finals aren’t even over yet and the Pistons have a replacement in hand for free agent to be, Greg Monroe. Seems they didn’t have too much interest, or confidence, in resigning him.

The 28-year old Ilysolva is the perfect stretch four in Van Gundy’s offense. He is a career 37% from 3PT and pulls down 9 rebounds per 36 minutes. This brings Stan Van one step closer to surrounding Andre Drummond with four shooters on the court. By plugging in Ilyasolva, the current starting lineup would look something like this.

Of course, the Pistons still own the the 8th pick in the draft. This could easily be an impact player. The two best shooters that could be available are Mario Hezonja and Devin Booker. Let’s assume the former falls to them.

There is also the conundrum of having two ball handling point guards in Jackson and Jennings. They traded for Jackson and seem primed to give him a substantial contract this offseason. That means Jennings would be the odd man out. He is talented and only has one year remaining on his contract at $8.3 million.

The Kings are in the market for an up-tempo point guard, and seem to be zeroing in on Cauley-Stein with the #6 pick. A trade of Jennings for McLemore may work. The Kings spent a high draft pick on Stauskus last year and could plug him in as their primary shooter. In return they get a starting point guard. On the flip side, the Pistons pick up yet another shooter.

That gives them a solid starting lineup with Caldwell-Pope, Meeks and Tolliver as shooters off the bench. The makeup of this team is very similar to the 2009 Magic squad that Van Gundy took to the Finals. After Howard (at 23  years old), their best players were Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. That’s some coaching job. I’d say rinse and repeating that strategy may lead to success.

Clearly Van Gundy is building around Drummond, trying to bring in pieces that complement him. This trade is a great first step toward spreading the floor around the 21-year old center. The sharp shooting stretch four comes at a bargain. The Pistons only had to give up expiring contracts to pick up Ilyasolva and his $7.9 million next year. Great move by Stan Van.

Bucks – B+

At first glance, this trade doesn’t make much sense from the Bucks perspective. They are giving up their best perimeter shooter in Ilyasolva, at an affordable $7.9 million, for what amounts to cap space.

But then the early May reports of the Buck’s interest in Brook Lopez started to resurface. At a projected cap of $67.1 million, the Bucks will have about $20 million in cap space. That means they can pursue a maximum free agent this offseason.

For Bucks fans concerned how that might impact their ability to retain rising youngster Khris Middleton? It wouldn’t (as long as the Bucks’ owners are willing to pay over the cap). Since Middleton was acquired as part of the Brandon Knight trade back in 2013, this would be his third consecutive year without being a free agent. That means he now qualifies for Bird Rights, which allows the Bucks to go over the cap to match any offer sheet for Middleton.

A move that seemed like the dump of a valuable contributor, is actually cap savvy. The Bucks can keep their young core of Antetokounmpo, Parker, Carter-Williams, Middleton and Henson together, while still pursuing a maximum player this offseason. It makes the use of the stretch provision on Larry Sanders look premeditated in hindsight. That move saved them $6 million in cap space this year. Without that savings, the Bucks don’t have enough to pursue a maximum contract.

The Bucks maybe able to snag Brook Lopez for several reasons.

1) Jason Kidd is close with Lopez from his time with the Nets
2) Lopez’s injury history could lead him to seek the security of a maximum contract
3) He would fill a huge need on a team with serious potential

If they could convince him to join forces, their lineup would look like this.

That would be adding Parker, who missed 57 games last year, and Lopez to a team that made the playoffs this past year. Adding a premier center is worth the gamble for the Milwaukee Bucks. They could be a top-4 team in the East with this roster.