The Detroit Pistons have emerged as a popular potential trade destination for any superstar who could become available. Detroit has continued to rise from the ashes, becoming the best team in the Eastern Conference at the time of writing with a 21-5 record, and considering how wide-open the Eastern Conference is, there is a strong chance that the Pistons end up being the conference's representative in the NBA Finals.
Of course, whether the Pistons win it all or not is an entirely different story. The Western Conference is a different animal with as many as five legitimate championship contenders in the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Los Angeles Lakers. Even the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors cannot be counted out.
This is why the Pistons have become a trendy pick to become the next team to pull off a blockbuster trade for a piece that could hypothetically take them over the hump. The question now is whether or not Anthony Davis is that kind of player and if the Pistons view him as such.
The Dallas Mavericks have been playing better basketball as of late, with Cooper Flagg becoming better and better with each passing day. But it's clear that their contending timeline was pushed so far back by the Luka Doncic trade. Davis has been good when healthy, but at 32 years of age, he's only becoming more and more of an injury risk and he could end up being available if the Mavs decide to go all-in on the youth movement.
To that end, the Pistons might decide to trade for Davis. And for what it's worth, they're rumored to have taken interest in trading for him already. What would a package from Detroit for AD look like?
Pistons' trade package for Anthony Davis
Pistons acquire: Anthony Davis, Max Christie
Mavericks acquire: Jaden Ivey, Tobias Harris, Ron Holland II, 2027 DET first-round pick, 2029 DET first-round pick (both unprotected)
Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) takes a free throw late in the game against the Houston Rockets at American Airlines Center.
© Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images
There are some Davis trade packages floating around on the internet that are not going to net the Mavericks multiple first-round picks. They may as well not trade Davis at that point. As everyone should remember, the Mavs traded Doncic, a perennial All-NBA First Teamer, for a package headlined by Davis. Even though Nico Harrison is gone from his perch as the GM, the franchise remains high on the 32-year-old big man and are not going to give him up for cheap.
The good news is that the Pistons have the luxury of putting together a legitimate package for Davis that won't even require the involvement of a third team. They can always build a package around Tobias Harris and Jaden Ivey and figure out the rest of the trade structure later on.
Harris has been a huge part of the Pistons over the past one and a half seasons, instilling a level of professionalism and leadership that this young team badly needed. For all the flak that he's caught over the years for underperforming as the third banana in Philadelphia, he's been perfect for the Pistons as a fill-in-the-gaps sort of secondary scorer who can attack closeouts and gives a baseline level of production every single night.
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But Harris has to be expendable in any Davis trade regardless of the intangibles he provides and the on-court fit his game possesses alongside the Pistons' core trio of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Ausar Thompson. For starters, his contract is expiring at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, and he could be a valuable asset in a trade that nets a long-term star for the Pistons to expedite their timeline of contention.
Ivey is someone the Pistons would not want to lose. The fifth overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, Ivey possesses the skillset to be a dangerous secondary scorer alongside Cunningham, and someone who can commandeer the offense for when Cunningham needs a breather. But Ivey is yet to get into the swing of things in the 2025-26 season, and at this point, he may as well be best utilized by the Pistons as a trade chip.
He's only 23 years of age, however, so the Mavericks should be interested in him as the centerpiece of a trade. Alas, given his underperformance this season as well as his recent long-term injury, he's not going to be enough as a main piece of any Davis trade to the point that the Pistons would not have to add more to the package.
Adding two first-round picks should be the minimum the Mavericks would want in any Davis trade. He's still a nightly 20-10 threat after all and remains one of the best defensive big men in the league — making him a perfect fit in the Pistons' gritty identity. Moreover, he doesn't have to play center, as the Pistons have Duren and Isaiah Stewart to spare him from that responsibility.
The Pistons are set up to contend for the next few years anyway, so giving up a first-round pick in 2027 and 2029 should not be too prohibitive of a cost.
But considering that the Mavericks aren't going to sell low on Davis, they would want another piece from the Pistons. And the inclusion of Holland may be where Detroit draws the line.
A top-five pick in 2024, Holland is a monster on defense and is an enforcer who provides so much energy off the bench. He's just 20 years of age and giving up on him may not be too enticing of an idea for a Pistons team that wants its young core to grow alongside one another.
Thus, the Mavericks are going to be making it more worth the Pistons' while by adding Christie, another piece they brought in via the Doncic trade. Christie is more playoff-viable than Holland at present, if only due to his ability to make threes.
Christie may not be as physically-imposing as Holland, but in a playoff setting, that spacing is going to matter so much more to the Pistons especially when non-proficient three-point shooters, such as Davis, Duren, and Ausar Thompson, are going to feature so prominently in their rotation.