Mavs: Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, Ron Holland, Jaylin Williams

Thunder: Gaf, Naji, AJ Johnson

Pistons: PJ Washington

Right off the bat, I'm going to admit that I don't think this is the finished trade. I don't quite know how much the Pistons value Ron Holland, and if the Mavs would have to give up more or not, and with the Thunder they may only do this trade with switching Isiah Joe for JWill, not 100% of everyone's value in this trade.

Here's what I do know, the Thunder have a big money problem on their hands. They almost have no other choice but to not pick up the team options on Hartenstein and Dort's contracts, and even with that money off their books, their backs are right up against the second apron still. In which case, they need to shed money, with Alex Caruso looking like their worst contract, the Mavs take back that money, and give the Thunder a cheaper big man to replace IHart, while also getting a cheap stud in Naji Marshall. Naji is having a breakout year, and I think he could fit really well into the controlled chaos scheme the Thunder love to play.

The Pistons swapping Ron Holland for PJ is a bit of a prediction play for me. The prediction being we get to the playoffs, and they meet up with the Cavs or someone like that round two and end up losing, telling them that they were close but are still a level away. PJ is the type of role player that can be a big piece in fully taking you to that next level, see the Mavs finals run and how big PJ was. In this they still retain all draft assets in case they want to take another swing to add to this move. Ron Holland while having a very high upside, hasn't quite panned out on the offensive side of the ball just yet, and PJ can not only add 3 point shooting, but some pretty quality connective playmaking that could really help this, at times, stagnant Pistons offense.

For the Mavs perspective, I think this is a massive win. The Mavs are going to entering one of the weirdest stages a team can, rebuilding without control of your picks. This is the hardest act to pull off, because while your sole focus in building around Cooper Flagg, you have no reason to be bad, so you feel like you owe it to yourself to try to be good while attempting that. I think this trade does everything you need. You give up some pretty good talent, but lets break that down. You give up PJ, who would be a $20 million contract coming off your bench since Coop is clearly best at PF. You give up Gaf, who would by far be your most expensive center to ideally come off the bench. The one that hurts the most is losing Naji, where SF is a looking like a big hole for the Mavs after this Thunder trade, which is why the Pistons trade goes perfect with it. You pair Coop with another super young defensive stud, wing who can terrorize offenses for the next decade plus.

Hypothetical depth charts: Thunder: PG: SGA, Ajay Mitchell, Topic SG: Wallace, Mccain, AJ Johsnon SF: Naji Marshall, Isiah Joe, ? PF: JDub, Ken Williams, ? C: Chet, Gaf, Sorber

Pistons: PG: Cade, Jenkins (sign), Sasser SG: Duncan Robinson, Lavert, Chaz SF: Ausar, Huerter (resign cheap), Bobi PF: Pj, Tobias (resign cheap), ? C: Duran (resign), Beef Stew, BBall Paul

Mavs: PG: Kyrie, AC Fresh, (Draft a PG with top 10 pick) SG: Max, Klay, (either rookie with Thunder pick, or cheap FA) SF: Ron Holland, Aaron Wiggins, Caleb Martin PF: Coop, JWill, (either rookie with Thunder pick, or cheap FA) C: Dlive, Bagley (resign), Cisse (sign standard contract)