The Pistons have needed help at the point guard position, and with a small move hours before the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline, they addressed their need. Detroit traded for veteran point guard Jameer Nelson, according to The Vertical’s Shams Charania, sending energetic big man Willie Reed to Chicago in exchange. The Bulls and Pistons will also swap second-round picks in 2022, according to Charania.
Bulls trade Jameer Nelson to Pistons in deal involving Willie Reed
Stan Van Gundy reunites with Nelson in a familiar scenario.
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Reed is serving a six-game suspension as the result of a domestic violence incident.
The trade is a reunion. Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy coached Jameer Nelson in Orlando from 2007-12 during the Dwight Howard era. Nelson averaged a career-high 16.7 points on borderline 50-40-90 club numbers (50 percent shooting from the field, 45 percent from three, and 88.7 percent from the foul line) in the 2008-09 season as a pick-and-roll ball-handler adept at finding Howard with pinpoint lob passes.
He projects to play a similar role in Detroit, and the Pistons have a present-day Howard. Andre Drummond is an All-Star center with similar athleticism and rim-protecting prowess as Howard in his prime. The Pistons also traded for Blake Griffin and are 5-0 since acquiring him.
Nelson helps stabilize a Detroit back court that also includes Ish Smith and Langston Galloway. The Pistons will also see Reggie Jackson return from a severely sprained ankle in late February or early March.
Nelson began the season with the Pelicans but was traded to the Bulls in the deal for Nikola Mirotic. The 35-year-old guard averaged five points and 3.6 assists in 20 minutes per game in Denver and did not play a game in Chicago.
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