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Pistons trade grades: Expert blasts Tim Hardaway Jr.-Quentin Grimes swap with Mavs

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Pistons trade grades: Expert blasts Tim Hardaway Jr.-Quentin Grimes swap with Mavs

The Detroit Pistons shook things up Friday with a trade to pick up future draft capital.

The Pistons shipped out guard Quentin Grimes, who only appeared in six games with the club because of a knee injury after arriving from New York at the trade deadline, in exchange for Dallas Mavericks guard (and former Michigan basketball standout) Tim Hardaway Jr. and three second-round picks.

The Pistons are taking on approximately $12 million in salary while gaining extra draft capital to work with down the line. Hardaway shot 35.3% from 3-point range this past season on 7.6 attempts per game and is a career 36% shooter from 3. The Pistons still have around $50 million in available cap space to facilitate more trades to eat salary for draft capital or bring in players through free agency.

Hardaway, 32, was the third-leading scorer for the Mavericks in 2023-24, averaging 14.4 points per game, but ended up on the outside of Dallas’ playoff rotation in the final two rounds, sitting out four games entirely. Still, the former Wolverine provides a level of shooting that was absent from the Pistons’ roster in exchange for Grimes, a two-way guard who was limited by a knee injury during his brief stint here.

Here are two instant reviews from NBA writers on the Pistons’ side of the deal.

Kevin Pelton, ESPN: C-

Pelton, a longtime ESPN NBA expert, was not a fan of the trade for the Pistons, arguing it was a disappointing return for the Pistons’ main trade deadline return in Grimes and the new front office may not have valued him.

“Including Grimes made sense as a carrot if Detroit could induce Dallas to give up a valuable first-round pick in 2031, the only year the Mavericks can currently trade one,” Pelton wrote. “Instead, the Pistons settled for second-round picks of more modest value. Given Grimes was the key return when Detroit sent Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks to the New York Knicks at the trade deadline, that’s something of a disappointment. Taking on Hardaway’s contract alone should have been worth at least one second-round pick.”

Noh had a more benevolent grading and appreciated Detroit president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon’s seemingly patient and sound approach compared to former GM Troy Weaver, noting the value, picks-wise, to eat Hardaway’s deal.

“The Pistons instead wisely used that cap space to take on a bad deal in Hardaway that the Mavericks were eager to get rid of,” Noh wrote. “The price for their help — three second-round picks — was a good one. Hardaway will be off their books in a year.”

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