Milwaukee Bucks: 6 low-cost centers to target at the trade deadline

Willie Reed

This is something of a wildcard considering the events of recent days, but it may be worth further exploration.

Reed was traded to Detroit as a part of the deal that sent Blake Griffin to the Clippers, and from the outside it would appear as if his involvement in the deal may have been for little more than salary purposes.

The Pistons did lose a center in that deal in the form of Boban Marjanovic, but the giant Serbian was only averaging nine minutes per game in 19 games to begin with.

Detroit has their starting center spot locked down with Andre Drummond, may experiment with playing Griffin there in bursts when Drummond goes to the bench, and have also got frontcourt depth in the form of Eric Moreland, Jon Leuer and the other member of that recent trade, Brice Johnson. If the Pistons view Reed as non-essential, he’s certainly a player worth making a call about.

Reed is on a one-year minimum contract and will be a free agent in the summer. For his three-year NBA career to date, the 27-year-old has shown great effectiveness in limited minutes coming off the bench, averaging 5.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in just 12.6 minutes per game.

One complication to a potential deal for Reed is that he wouldn’t be able to be included as part of a larger deal, and would essentially have to be dealt in a straight swap.

Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ outlines the circumstance that would prevent a player like Reed being traded again this season:

"“For two months after receiving the player in trade, if the trade aggregates the player’s salary with the salaries of other players. However, the team is free to trade the player immediately, either by himself or without aggregating his salary with other salaries. This restriction applies only to players who were acquired using an exception (and not cap room).”"

That certainly doesn’t present too much of a challenge considering Reed’s limited salary. Maybe Stan Van Gundy is still high on Rashad Vaughn…