

How’s his defense?

Hard for me to say. Even when you watch guys a ton it is hard to say stuff about defense. The general consensus is that Svi is pretty poor though. Hypothetically he’s got the size that he has some versatility, and as stated before he isn’t a total bum of an athlete. One worry is that he is currently pretty skinny and would stand little chance against bigger wings of the world.

But, it’s much harder to find cilps/videos of a guys defense than of offense. So I just don’t know for sure. For now, assume he’s pretty bad though.

How does he fit with this team?

He will largely do the same stuff as Reggie Bullock, at least hypothetically. Like Bullock he has the length to guard guys but lacks the strength and probably toughness to really go toe to toe with good scorers. He’s also a pure shooter who can at least occasionally put the ball on the floor. He will spend a lot of time spotting up and running around off of screens and getting dribble-handoffs from Drummond and Griffin.

Upshot for the rest of the roster?

Not totally clear where he will be slotted in, but I would think that Kennard will go into the starting lineup for now at least. Although we know Casey will be hesitant to put such a small wing combination on the floor as Kennard and Brown, but for now that is probably the best option.

After that, the big question is whether the Pistons think Svi is more of a shooting guard or small forward. In theory, Svi could step into Bullock’s role, play most of his minutes at small forward, and everything else is the same. Svi is 6’8 after all. If they are not ready to give him major minutes at the 3, then it may mean that one of him, Galloway, or Khyri Thomas are out of the rotation. That would either push Stanley Johnson into more minutes or put Glenn Robinson back into the rotation.

My guess is, once again, Kennard and Brown will start and Svi will get ~15 minutes off the bench at small forward. They will likely adjust things from there but that is probably where they will start.

Best case scenario:

Svi really is the next Klay Thompson, upon arrival he finds his shot and is better on defense than we were led to believe. He wins the starting spot before the season is over and is actually better than Reggie Bullock. The Pistons have a starting wing who’s super-cheap for the next few seasons while Reggie Bullock ends up getting paid (by someone) more than the Pistons had any hope to give anyways. They also nail that second round pick when it comes around.

Worst case scenario:

Svi has shot bad so far because he just isn’t good enough to do it in the NBA. They try to give him minutes this season but he is very bad and they cannot find anyone who can fill the void that Bullock leaves and it effectively kills what momentum the squad had built. Clinging to Svi they set him up for major minutes next season, believing he will break out, but it doesn’t happen. Svi is not an NBA player and the Pistons never find suitable wing players for the next few years which keeps them from ever being even remotely good.

For good measure, Reggie Bullock’s market this Summer ends up being cool and the Pistons probably could’ve just kept him on long-term after he helps LeBron and the Lakers win a chip.

The Verdict:

As stated above, I can’t help but feel like this is a pretty pitiful haul. The sort that I honestly would’ve rather just rode out the season with him and see if you can finagle your way into retaining him this Summer. That said, there is reason for hope here.

This front office has made two second round draft picks and both appear to be good ones as of now. Svi is a guy that many smart basketball people think really has great potential so I’m assuming that the pisotns are one of the groups who thinks he has good upside. As such, if Svi ends up being good then this is a good trade and the right move, it simply puts a lot of pressure on a totally unproven guy.

So, lets see what Svi can do in Detroit. Maybe he will show up and be very good, in which case his tiny contract (that goes through 2021) will make him a great asset for the Pistons, and they will eventually get a second round pick to either trade or use as well.

My larger understanding is also that the Pistons, internally, had pretty much decided they have no chance to retain Bullock after this season. Time will tell if that was a correct call, but it was the call they made. Svi is a decent prospect, but there is real risk here. My overall verdict is that I think they maybe took less value than they should’ve, but if they really like/believe in Svi then they made the right move. So lets put a pin in it and come back at the end of the season.

So it’s time to tank now right?

I doubt it. Being sellers does not equal tanking, especially when the Pistons had internally decided they had no shot to retain Bullock, and once again there are real scouts who think that Svi may be better than Bullock outright. I think those scouts are probably crazy, but they are out there. Basically, Svi is a real prospect.

The one thing that worries me is that I’ve heard that they are not likely to trade Ish because they want to keep him. That on it’s own isn’t a big deal, Ish is good and a guy I’d be fine bringing back. I’m not sure how I feel about potentially making Ish a higher priority than Bullock. Because Bullock is better than Ish. But that’s kind of speculation and once again, Bullock will likely be more expensive so maybe it isn’t “We really want Ish but don’t care about Bullock” but “We will probably actually be able to pay Ish but have no chance for Bullock.”

So yeah, getting some value for a guy who’s leaving anyways doesn’t mean tank or full fire sale. That could still happen I suppose, just this isn’t it.





















































































