The Deal
Pistons get: Conditional 2019 second-round pick
Magic get: Guard Jodie Meeks
Detroit Pistons: B
When Meeks was sidelined by a broken bone in his right foot during the season's first week, it looked like a major blow to the Pistons' bench. Alas, Detroit was able to fill in the gap with rookie Stanley Johnson playing some at shooting guard and competent minutes from deeper reserves such as Reggie Bullock and rookie Darrun Hilliard.
Although it wasn't entirely clear how healthy Meeks was after his foot healed -- he also dealt with shoulder soreness -- he didn't return to the court until he played 26 minutes in the Pistons' season finale and saw no action in the playoffs.
As a result, finding a new home for the final year of Meeks' contract made sense for both sides. Detroit probably isn't getting much out of the pick -- the Orlando Sentinel reported that it's conditional, and it might prove a top-55 protected phantom pick -- but the Pistons benefit financially either way.
Moving Meeks' salary allows Detroit to realistically clear $21 million in cap space while retaining the Early Bird rights to forward Anthony Tolliver and full Bird rights on restricted free agent Andre Drummond. The Pistons might not need all of that, and if they do re-sign Drummond and Tolliver, all that space might start to pose some luxury-tax concerns. Nonetheless, it's better to have the flexibility than not, and Detroit is unlikely to miss Meeks.
Orlando Magic: B-
Assuming the Magic didn't give up anything of real value, Meeks is a reasonable use of part of their $40-plus million in cap space. After dealing for Serge Ibaka, Orlando could no longer afford to max out two players while retaining Evan Fournier and was unlikely to get two such free agents. As such, the Magic probably would have been looking at using the money to fill out the bench anyway.
Given the thin market for shooting guards, I think it's possible that similar free agents such as Alan Anderson -- coming off his own season lost to injury -- could get as much money as Meeks along with multi-year commitments.
There's even some chance that Meeks could bounce back and prove a real value. He signed this contract two summers ago, when $6 million a year was still a lot for a reserve and earned it by shooting 40 percent from 3-point range as a member of the L.A. Lakers. Meeks hasn't been able to sustain that kind of accuracy -- his 3-point percentage dipped to 35 percent in 2014-15 -- but when he does, he's a quality backup or fringe starter.
Nonetheless, my big picture takeaway here remains how little value Orlando got in dealing Tobias Harris to the Pistons before the trade deadline. The Magic got only expiring contracts in return, while players with equivalent trade value, such as Thaddeus Young, have fetched first-round picks in the past week.
The idea of dealing Harris was to create more cap space, but Orlando has now used more than a third of that room on a journeyman shooting guard. So much for the dream of signing two max free agents.