The Detroit Pistons didn’t expect the Jaden Ivey trade to pay off immediately, and last season it mostly didn’t. But the pieces they got back are finally starting to look like actual rotation options, and that changes the way the deal is viewed.
Trajan Langdon deserves credit for extracting value from a player who, as the source notes, never looked right last season. Detroit kept Ivey’s “eccentricities” quiet and still managed to turn him into two players who might help this season. That alone makes it a strong outcome for the Pistons, especially given that Ivey is no longer in the league.
One of those returns is Ebuka Okorie, whose path to Detroit came through the pick swap the Pistons used to draft him. They had to trade up to land him, but the swap is what made the move possible in the first place.
Okorie may not be an immediate regular in the rotation, but he has already made a solid first impression. JB Bickerstaff has praised his poise, and Okorie backed that up in his preseason debut by repeatedly getting to the rim and even knocking down the game winner.
He also shared the floor with Daniss Jenkins, which could matter when the season starts. Jenkins is not someone Okorie is likely to pass on the depth chart right away, but the two could be used together in short stretches.
There are some obvious similarities between Okorie and Ivey: both are fast guards with explosive first steps, at least before Ivey’s injury. The difference is that Okorie already plays with more patience and composure, and he looks more advanced as a ball handler and finisher around the basket. That gives him a real chance to become the creator and playmaker Detroit has been searching for.
The other piece in the deal, Kevin Huerter, has been easy to overlook. He initially looked like a salary-matching add-on, but there is more to him than that. Huerter had flashes last season before a nagging injury kept him from staying on the floor, and it eventually led to offseason surgery.
Now healthy, he stood out as one of the first players off the bench in Detroit’s first preseason game. Huerter brings a little shot creation and passing, which could help him carve out a role on a bench that already has plenty of one-note shooters and defensive specialists who don’t offer much offensively.
If Huerter gives the Pistons a useful season, it could even make a Duncan Robinson trade easier to stomach. At minimum, it would give Detroit a more versatile offensive option and deepen the bench in a meaningful way.
A year after getting almost nothing from Ivey or the trade itself, the Pistons have a chance to come out of it looking sharp. If Okorie and Huerter hold up, Langdon will have turned a player who isn’t in the NBA into real assets.
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Isaiah Stewarts Rough Memphis Start Says A Lot About Detroits Decision
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The early setback in Memphis only sharpens the reason the Pistons were willing to move on. Detroit had concerns about whether Stewarts approach could survive the grind of a deep postseason push, and the new chapter opened with another reminder that durability is part of the evaluation. For a player whose edge has always been tied to his strength and activity, the bigger question now is whether that same identity can stay on the floor when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]
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Pistons Face A Ron Holland Decision That Could Change His Value
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The choice also has a clear ripple effect on how Holland is valued around the league. Exercising the option would make him a more appealing trade piece because of the certainty it provides, while declining it would give Detroit more flexibility later even if it means heading toward a more complicated negotiation down the road. [Read more 🡒]