Stanley Johnson never quite found his way with the Detroit Pistons. After showing in the playoffs during his rookie season that not even LeBron James scared him, it looked like the Pistons had a made a good choice with their eighth pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Now, just about four years later, Johnson is heading out of Detroit and hoping for one more chance with arguably the best team in the NBA.
The Detroit Pistons have decided to trade Johnson straight up to the Milwaukee Bucks for another forgotten lottery pick in Thon Maker.
Following comes from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Detroit Pistons have agreed to trade forward Stanley Johnson to the Milwaukee Bucks for center Thon Maker, league sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
The deal involving two former lottery picks is a chance for both young players to accelerate their careers in fresh environments.
ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth spoke to Maker’s former teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo before the Bucks Wednesday night national TV game against the Washington Wizards.
“Thon is like my little brother, this one hurts more than any trade that happened that I’ve been a part of but this is the business we work in.” –@Giannis_An34 reaction to deal agreed in principle that will send Thon Maker to Detroit for Stanley Johnson (per @wojespn)
— Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) February 6, 2019
“I talked to thon…But I didn’t try to talk to him a lot cause I know I would get emotional cause he’s technically my little brother, been with him 3 years…you know it’s tough but he’s a tough guy and this opportunity is going to be good for him.” — @Giannis_An34
— Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) February 6, 2019
For Thon Maker, the 10th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, this presents an opportunity to potentially showcase his skills on a Pistons team in need of talented depth. Earlier on Wednesday morning, Detroit made a deal to send wingman Reggie Bullock to the Los Angeles Lakers for some young assets. So the Pistons are once again looking to take a swing on a young talent while not giving up too much. The team reportedly wasn’t going to offer an extension to Johnson this summer anyway so why not take a chance on a highly touted prospect? Detroit will get another two years to analyze another lottery pick and see if he’s a long-term piece for the squad.
Johnson almost immediately could be expected to play some reserve wing minutes behind Khris Middleton and Tony Snell but it won’t be easy. Pat Connaughton, Malcolm Brogdon and Sterling Brown are all right there with him battling for minutes so it will be interesting to see if he can crack the rotation ahead of a potential deep playoff run.
