Pistons acquire Tobias Harris in trade with Magic

The two teams are finalizing a deal that would send Tobias Harris to Detroit and the Magic will be getting back Brandon Jennings and Ersan llyasova, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. His three-point accuracy is down to 31 percent after he was at a career-high 36 a season ago. The Pistons will now have the option of playing either Harris or Marcus Morris at the power forward spot. Hairston is in his second year in the league and averaging 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds this season. When he has it working in the block, he can punish small forwards by using his size and strength to back them down.

How will Tobias Harris fit with the Pistons? Before Harris signed it, I wondered if perhaps the Magic would let him walk after drafting the talented Mario Hezonja. “Though this is not the easiest time it’s part of life and part of the business of being a professional”. Next year’s starting lineup could conceivably be Reggie Jackson/Kentavious Caldwell-Pope/Johnson/Harris/Drummond.

So, who is available and will the Pistons go after them?

However, the feeling among National Basketball Association executives is that if Atlanta makes a deal involving either Teague or Al Horford they’d want young players or draft picks.

Ilyasova, however, is a hard player to replace, especially on the defensive end. The Magic can give Ilyasova a tryout for the rest of the season and re-evaluate.

It’s interesting to note that Skiles was also coach of the Bucks when Milwaukee shipped Harris away. Jennings and Ilyasova fill a shooting need for the team and do help complement several players already on the roster, but neither are as good as Tobias Harris was individually.

To keep tabs on who has officially moved teams, check in with the NBA’s transaction tracker, which can be found here. He’s also played for Milwaukee and Toronto. Either way, the departure of Harris should boost Gordon’s fantasy value due to a slight increase in expected minutes, while Ilyasova’s value may not fluctuate much.

Steve Blake manned the backup spot when Jennings was still recovering from his Achilles injury early in the year and the results were not pretty.

With the projected rise to the cap now estimated at upwards of $92 million (by ESPN’s Zach Lowe), this is a deal looking toward this summer.

BOWER: All players involved in the trade can not participate until they all clear. But who will that max player be?

Trading Harris, 23, will bring significant ripple effects. Harris offers contract certainty. “If we weren’t able to accomplish our objectives, we wouldn’t have done the deal”.