Over the past two seasons, Michael Porter Jr. has been one of the names most often tossed into Detroit Pistons trade chatter. That makes sense on the surface: he’s a big forward who can really shoot it, and players with that kind of profile don’t stay out of rumor season for long.
The buzz picked up again after Nets reporter Erick Slater speculated that Porter Jr. wouldn’t still be with Brooklyn after the trade deadline. With an expiring contract and the Nets’ rebuild timeline, that idea isn’t exactly shocking. Still, it was enough to get the MPJ-to-Detroit conversation rolling once more.
And yes, Porter Jr. looks like a clean fit in theory. At his size, there aren’t many players who can stretch the floor the way he does. But the Pistons have plenty of reasons to pump the brakes.
The biggest one is already on the roster: John Collins.
Detroit already has what the article calls “Temu MPJ” in Collins, a player who is close to the same size and brings a lot of the same value. The Pistons need their power forward to live in the corner and hit 3s, and Collins does that job well. Paying 2.5 times as much for a similar role doesn’t make much sense.
Collins is set to make $17 million next season. Porter Jr. is due nearly $41 million.
Porter is the better player, but the gap isn’t nearly wide enough to justify that kind of price jump. Last season’s numbers also need some context, since Porter was doing that with the Nets, where he was the only good player and had the ball in his hands far more often.
That’s why the fit feels questionable for Detroit. The Pistons would be paying 40 mil for a third banana, who also happens to be a complete moron, no offense to morons.
Collins would give Detroit at least half of Porter Jr.’s production for less than half the money, and without the baggage. If Porter were a true creator, that would be one thing. But in Detroit, he’d be used as a spot-up shooter, just like he was in Denver, and that doesn’t really justify max money.
There’s also the contract issue. Porter Jr. is heading into the season on an expiring deal, which means any team trading for him is really just getting a short-term rental unless there’s some kind of wink-wink extension understanding in place.
The money matters less than what it forces a team to give up. To make a trade work, the Pistons would have to send out multiple players, and likely a few rotation pieces, just to match salary.
And if you’re talking about moving two or three players for Porter Jr., the price starts to look even worse. As one example, Collins, Duncan Robinson and Kevin Huerter would get to $40 million, but would Porter Jr. be better than that group combined? That’s far from obvious.
It’s the slow part of the calendar, so it’s easy to latch onto any rumor that comes along. But this one doesn’t carry nearly the same logic once Collins and the cost of acquiring Porter Jr. are both in the picture.
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