The 2018 NBA trade deadline started off with certainly the blockbuster trade of the year. Not even a year after the Clippers’ front office created a replica of Blake Griffin’s life and a 5 year, $171-million-dollar contract to make him stay, they shipped him off to the Motor City. In all the Pistons got Blake Griffin, Brice Johnson, and Willie Reed. The Piston had to give up Tennessee basketball great Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic, and some draft picks.

What does this mean for the Clippers?

The Clippers are certainly going to blow it all up now. It is hard to not question the FO of the Clippers on why they made the trade now. They currently sit one game behind the Nuggets for the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They have been the talk of the town this January as Doc Rivers has got his team which consists of players picked up off of the local YMCA court playing Warriorsesque basketball. Coming into the season, everyone thought that the Clippers would be a high lottery team in the 2018 draft. It looks like they will be a lottery team after this trade.

Why did the Clippers acquire Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris? Tobias has 2 years, 30 million left on his contract and Bradley is in the last year of his contract. Is this apart of something bigger? Mastermind consultant Jerry West could be up to something magnificent here. With Bradley not exactly fitting into their rebuilding plans, he could get shipped off to a team in desperate need of defense, the Cavaliers.

The Cavs are currently in the bottom five in defensive efficiency with Isaiah Thomas back at PG. With Tristan Thompson not exactly himself since he got hit with the Kardashian curse, the Cavs could need a defensive Center and a wing defender. Lo and behold Avery Bradley and DeAndre Jordan. This trade makes perfect sense for both parties as the Clippers need to get rid of Jordan’s and Bradley’s expiring contracts. The Clippers would demand the coveted Nets’ pick which the Cavs have which is deserving of giving up the pick for the Cavs. With this, the Clippers are certainly ready for the rebuild. They could potentially have two lottery picks in a star-studded 2018 draft.

What does this mean for the Pistons?

This may look like the Pistons got hijacked, but if you dig in deeper it is smart for them. With the acquisition of Griffin, they have a monstrous front court in Drummond and Griffin. Detroit is not exactly the free agent destination that Miami, San Francisco or the Lakers are, so they have to acquire stars to attract them. With Griffin and Drummond locked up until at least 2020-21, they are an elite guard away from competing in the east.

For now, they will not probably have a good guard until 2018 offseason or make another trade as the lead guards in the 2018 FA pool is quite bleak. Reggie Jackson is a liability now due him being injured 24/7. He has not played more than 52 games in the past four seasons. Young guards Luke Kennard and Stanley Johnson will get a great increase in playing time with Bradley and Harris being traded. It will be a good learning experience for them, especially Stanley Johnson which has been quite lackluster in his time in Detroit.

This could possibly be a rare win-win trade down the road as both sides got set up for the future. For now, we have to wait and wonder what it could possibly be.