This may come as a surprise to some in the basketball world, but keep in mind Randolph played his college ball at Michigan State so coming back to Detroit would basically be coming back home and being a fan favorite. Not only does he have potential to be a fan favorite in Detroit, he has potential to be a franchise savior.
It’s no secret Detroit has struggled on the court this season and the number one reason for their struggles is the lack of depth in the front court. Actually… it’s a lack of a front court all together. All 205 pounds of Austin Daye’s 6’11 frame is starting at power forward, while 574 year old Ben Wallace is starting at center. Charlie V comes off the bench for Detroit, but doesn’t really play defense and doesn’t rebound which are two things that are pretty important for a forward. And Jason Maxiell has played all of 2 minutes in Detroit’s lat 4 games.
So with that being said it’s pretty clear that Zach Randolph would be a big lift for the Pistons. One possible deal that would work well for what both teams are trying to accomplish would be sending Tayshaun Prince and Jason Maxiell to Memphis for Zach Randolph.
This gives Detroit what they need which is any kind of inside scoring (and being a local product he’ll sell some tickets too) and Memphis gets a solid all around swing man in Tayshaun Prince, a hustle player in Maxiell, and cap relief. Both Tayshaun and Maxiell’s contracts expire after this season.
This would give Detroit a starting 5 of Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, Austin Daye, Zach Randolph, and Ben Wallace. The second unit would then be Will Bynum, Tracy McGrady, Charlie V, and Greg Monroe. That’s a solid 9 man rotation.
Another possible deal, though a little more complicated, would be to send Tayshaun, Rip Hamilton, and Maxiell for Randolph, Hasheem Thabeet, and Sam Young.
This would ideal for Detroit shedding Rip Hamilton’s bad contract (2 yrs $25 million after this season), and getting value for Tayshaun’s expiring contract. If Detroit could pull that off it would free up about $20 million in cap space this summer to sign Randolph to an extension (4 years $60-$70 million range) and sign another veteran big.
None of this is guaranteed to happen at all, but it’s a possibility and it acquiring Zach Randolph would help Detroit get back to the playoffs.
