All it takes is one big domino to fall to get the trade activity going crazy right before the trade deadline. Did the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic knock down that domino on Tuesday, two days before the deadline hits the NBA?
CBS Sports' Ken Berger confirmed that the Magic have traded Tobias Harris to the Pistons in exchange for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova. The Magic announced the move Tuesday afternoon in a press release:
The Orlando Magic have acquired guard Brandon Jennings and forward Ersan Ilyasova (ER-san eel-ya-SO-va) from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for forward Tobias Harris, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today.
"Brandon (Jennings) and Ersan (Ilyasova) are two veterans that will help balance our roster and provide valuable experience to our team," said Hennigan. "Both players bring scoring, competitiveness and added depth to our roster. We want to thank Tobias (Harris) for his contributions, both on and off the court."
This gives the Pistons a very good stretch-4 option next to Andre Drummond, while the Magic get deeper and talented at both the point guard and power forward positions.
This is an interesting move for the Magic, who just re-signed Harris during the offseason to a four-year, $64 million contract. Just a few months later, they've opted to send him to Stan Van Gundy in exchange for a bit more depth. For the Pistons, Harris becoming the 3-point threat he was last season in a much more spread-out offense is extremely enticing. Ilyasova has been a solid stretch-4 option for the Pistons this season, but they've seen better production and defense out of the Marcus Morris-Anthony Tolliver pairing at the 3 and 4 than we've seen with Ilyasova.
For the Magic, they get some much-needed point guard depth with Jennings, who has been a positive force for the Pistons' bench since returning from his ACL injury. This also might allow the Magic to experiment more with Aaron Gordon in the lineup as he switches between the 3 and 4, and maybe that paves the way for rookie Mario Hezonja to get some more minutes. Ilyasova is shooting over 36 percent from 3-point range this season, which is his career percentage.
