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The Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic have completed the first big trade prior to the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline. The Pistons have acquired forward Tobias Harris from the Magic in exchange for guard Brandon Jennings and forward Ersan Ilyasova.
Pistons trade Brandon Jennings & Ersan Ilyasova to Magic for Tobias Harris. (via @Chris_Broussard & multiple rpts) pic.twitter.com/gSevZq9Mpj
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 16, 2016
With Jennings and Ilyasova heading to Orlando, the Magic will gain two starting caliber players, but it’ll be interesting to see if there’s another deal in the works. The Magic now have Jennings, Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo who can all play point guard. The ideal situation would be to have one come off the bench as a sixth-man, but Oladipo and Jennings have attempted that before and have struggled in that role.
As for the Pistons, Harris will likely slot in at the starting power forward spot vacated by Ilyasova. He’s definitely an upgrade, but I’m not sure he’s enough of a difference to make the Pistons serious threats in the Eastern Conference. They still have major depth issues and desperately lack shooters. Possibly, Stan Van Gundy has more trades up his sleeve, but as it stands, this trade didn’t move the needle for the Pistons.
After signing a four-year $64 million extension in the offseason, it seemed like the Magic were ready to build around Harris and their young core. Instead, Harris’ name had been floated around the rumor mills in recent weeks and now the 23-year-old who is averaging 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds will be moving on to join Van Gundy and the Pistons.
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