Detroit Pistons reportedly interested in trading for Mavericks superstar

The Detroit Pistons have been among the league’s best this season with such a young roster, but they may be one superstar away from title contention this season.

Through the early portion of the regular season, the Pistons lead the eastern conference with a 13-2 record. As good as they’ve been in the regular season, most of their young talent haven’t had a chance to make a real playoff run. Without a star who’s been there, it’s hard to believe they could make a run this season.

According to analyst Kendrick Perkins, the Detroit Pistons currently have a lot of interest in bringing in a superstar with plenty of playoff experience, Anthony Davis.

After the Dallas Mavericks fired general manager Nico Harrison, who brought Davis in with a blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers, the organization has made it clear they want to follow a timeline that makes sense for star rookie Cooper Flagg’s development.

“This franchise is moving away from Nico Harrison’s three-to-four year championship window and toward trying to find sustained success and sustained growth around Cooper Flagg and youth,” Insider Shams Charania said. “And to that end, sources have told ESPN that the Mavericks will be listening to trade calls for Anthony Davis and seeing and exploring his value.”

According to ESPN, the New York Knicks are also contenders to try and land Davis.

While Davis has been solid with the Mavericks, injuries have limited him consistently. In Dallas, he’s only been able to play 14 career games. When he does play though, he averages around 20 points per game.

If he’s able to get healthy and stay healthy, he’d be a major asset for any team to have.

A team like the Pistons would make a lot of sense for this kind of deal. They are a young and talented team with plenty of assets, and could benefit from a dominant defensive big who can also contribute heavily on the offensive side of the ball.

He would seemingly pair well with Cade Cunningham, and would be a clear upgrade over Tobias Harris, who has been dealing with injury this season anyways.

He’d be able to bring Cunningham some extra firepower to keep pressure off him, while allowing Jalen Duren to continue developing and Jaden Ivey to come back from injury. A team with those four, plus an improving Ausar Thompson, feels like they’d be contenders for the next few seasons.

The NBA trade deadline is still months away, so the Pistons should have time still to evaluate just how close to title contenders they really are. It’s never too early to see what Dallas would want though, otherwise Detroit could risk missing out on a franchise changing move.