Three reasons the Pistons will trade for All-Star forward

The Ringer's Zach Lowe named the Pistons as his favorite destination for the 28-year-old Markkanen, who has four years and $196M left on his contract. If the Jazz, who seem to have no interest in winning games this season, decide to deal their star forward, here are three reasons why the Pistons are the most likely destination. 

1. Markkanen slots in perfectly with the Pistons

The Pistons have a 23-year-old All-Star in Cade Cunningham (26.1 points, 9.1 assists last season) who is signed through the 2029-30 season. What they don't have is a second star to complement Cunningham — or anyone blocking Markkanen at the power forward position.

Detroit has a promising collection of young wings in Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland II, who were all No. 5 overall picks in recent drafts. But the seven-foot Markkanen provides height and three-point shooting that other Pistons forwards don't have, with a career three-point percentage of 37.1.

Cunningham has shown he can find open three-point shooters, with former Pistons Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. combining for 6.1 threes per game last season. Markkanen is an ideal target for Cunningham's dimes — especially since he can also get to the rim (200 threes and 111 dunks in 2022-23).

2. Detroit has the trade pieces Utah wants

The center of a Markkanen-to-Detroit trade would likely be veteran forward Tobias Harris, playing on the final year of his contract for $26.6M next season. Harris happens to play the same position as Markkanen, and his expiring salary would let the Jazz take a huge amount off their future payroll. It goes a long way to matching Markkanen's $46.4M salary.

The Pistons have all their own first-round picks going forward, plus two extra seconds in 2027 and 2028 to sweeten the deal. They also have either Thompson or Holland, who may not be able to play together, since they're both athletic small forwards who can't (yet) shoot from the outside. Given Thompson's excellence on defense, he'd likely be the Pistons' priority going forward.

Holland is only 20 years old and would give the Jazz the high-upside talent they haven't been able to draft in recent years. Plus, losing Markkanen would help the Jazz in their primary goal this season: to be as bad as possible to get the highest-possible draft pick.

3. The Eastern Conference is wide open

While the Pistons want to be patient with their young roster, they have a unique window open for them this season in the East. Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard all suffered devastating injuries in the playoffs, leaving their old teams short-handed.

Would adding Markkanen make them a title contender? No, but it could go a long way to helping them win their first playoff series since 2008. With Markkanen in his prime at age 28 — and showing All-Star talent at this year's EuroBasket — adding the Finnish star isn't just a short-term move for the Pistons, but it could pay off in a big way this season.