Did the Pistons give up too much for Blake Griffin?

The 2018 NBA trade deadline isn’t even a week away yet, and basketball has been shattered, swept up, and put back into place after the Clippers traded Blake Griffin to the Pistons on Monday.

It’s pretty easy to tell that this is a sign of change for Los Angeles, which hasn’t made it past the second round in the playoffs since the Lob City era began when Chris Paul was traded to the Clippers. The Clips got a first-round pick and enough young talent (Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic) to flip into other future first-round picks, but their work is far from done.

But what is Stan Van Gundy going to do after trading two starters and a potential lottery pick for Griffin?

After starting the season 14-7, Detroit regressed. They lost seven straight then held up until Jackson went down with a Grade 3 right ankle sprain. The Pistons have since fallen to 22-26, four games below-.500 and 2.5 games behind the 76ers for the eighth seed in the East.

Factor in this useful tidbit of information: Van Gundy’s contract expires after next season, and as of right now, he doesn’t have much to show for his time in Detroit. His first draft pick was Spencer Dinwiddie, who is now thriving as a lead guard in Brooklyn. Since then, he’s drafted Stanley Johnson, Darrun Hilliard, Henry Ellenson, Michael Gbinije, and Luke Kennard. His draft history wouldn’t matter as much if the Pistons had made the playoffs more than once since he took over as head coach and president of basketball operations, but here we are: the Pistons have only made the playoffs once during his tenure.

The Pistons also are playing in the brand new Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and finally selling some tickets wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing. Griffin sells those tickets.

At 28 years old, Griffin is in his prime. He’s averaging a career second-best 22.6 points, a career-best 5.4 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game. He’s shooting the best clip of his life from three-point range and the foul line, and he hasn’t lost all of his athleticism just yet. Griffin still has a few more good years, and should be well worth the five-year, $173 million contract he signed over the summer, at least through the 2020-21 season when he turns 31.

But Detroit’s roster is bare bones after Griffin and Andre Drummond. Drummond is a talent unto himself, averaging 15 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, and 1.4 blocks. For all intents and purposes, he’s DeAndre Jordan 2.0 in D-Town.

The Pistons traded away two starters for Griffin, and Reggie Jackson’s injury means the only remaining point guards are Ish Smith, Langston Galloway, and Dwight Buycks. The remaining players on their roster? Luke Kennard, Stanley Johnson, John Leuer, Reggie Bullock, Kay Felder, Henry Ellenson, Anthony Tolliver, Willie Reed, Brice Johnson, Eric Moreland, and Reggie Hearn.

The Pistons’ roster problems are probably the last thing Griffin wants to hear, see, feel, or smell after he gets off his flight from the sunny skies of Los Angeles to the ice cold temps of Detroit.

In order for Griffin and Drummond to form Lob City 2.0 there is still some work to do. They need a pass-first floor general who can also create a shot for himself. Jackson’s injury timetable was six-to-eight weeks from his Dec. 26 injury and as of Jan. 27, he was out of his walking boot, on course to return to basketball in two to three weeks. That would mean Detroit’s starting guard could return to action right after the all-star break, jumpstarting the Pistons’ offense upon his return.

Detroit is only a couple of wins out of the East playoff picture, and pairing Griffin and Drummond could be a recipe for success. But remember: Griffin and Jordan didn’t start winning in Los Angeles until Paul arrived.

These Pistons won’t have Paul. And in an Eastern Conference much tougher than many anticipated, they also don’t have much time.