Oklahoma City Thunder will trade Hamidou Diallo for the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Svi Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-round pick originally owned by the Houston Rockets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Both Mykahiliuk and Diallo will be restricted free agents in this off-season and, apparently, none of their teams planned to hire them. By changing them, each will be able to test their new youth ward for a few months before deciding whether a long-term commitment is worthwhile.
Mykhailiuk hit more than 40 percent on 3 points last season, but has regressed to 33.3 percent this season. Mykhailiuk is not strictly a shooter outside the ball. He showed his ball-handling skills collegially in Kansas and internationally, but in the NBA, the pitch is where most of his value will come from. This decline probably made it expendable to the Pistons.
Diallo has the best career average of 11.9 points per game this season. Unlike Mykhailiuk, he was never an effective sniper, but he makes up for it with his incredible athletic build. This gives him a lot more advantage as a defender, and Diallo even posted an astonishing 2.4 assists per game this season as well. He’s still a little raw, but the Pistons are betting that they can help his development like they did with another former Thunder striker: Jerami Grant.
The NBA’s negotiation deadline is still two weeks, but the Thunder and Pistons must be active as sellers. Both are at the bottom of the standings at their respective conferences, but given the accumulation of choices in the draft and young talent, neither is particularly far from returning to respectability. This deal may not improve the raw talent of either team much, but it does give both teams a chance to see if the other team’s young wing could potentially be part of their future. See how the two teams rank in the business:
Thunder: B +
Oklahoma City desperately needs snipers, but, more urgently, they need young snipers. Thunder is in fifth place in the NBA in attempts at 3 points, but in 28th place in the percentage of 3 points. Two of the five players in their squad who have scored at least 50 points from 3 points this season are Al Horford, who is 34 and not part of the team’s long-term vision, and Mike Muscala, a minimum wage player who offers little more on the floor. Darius Bazley caught fire in the Orlando bubble, but has dropped to 29 percent from 3 this season, and Lu Dort has been extremely troubled. After starting the season by shooting above 43 percent in his first 14 games, he dropped to 17 percent in his next 10 before climbing back up to 34 percent in his last 12 games. Eventually, Thunder will have to start shooting.
Where Mykhailiuk really falls as a sniper is still a mystery. He’s probably slightly better than this season’s 33.3 percent mark suggests, but slightly worse than last season’s 40.4 percent. If he establishes himself as an above average shooter with some secondary game-making value, he will be able to keep himself at a minimum as a rotation player. Even though Diallo turns out to be better, which is not certain, his weakness as a sniper made his long-term adaptation alongside Dort and Bazley unsustainable. The Thunder simply wouldn’t keep it up this offseason, so launching it for a better fit was a wise decision. Oklahoma City now has two months to determine whether Mykhailiuk is part of its future, and whether it is not? Basically, they win a second round choice for Diallo, instead of losing it for nothing at the free agency.
Pistons: B
Pistons don’t exactly have a shot surplus. They came in at 25th place in the 3-point percentage, and the 2020 lottery draw, Killian Hayes, fell to seventh place largely because of their questionable shot. Diallo will not help in this matter, but the Pistons do not have the luxury of being as demanding as the Thunder. Oklahoma City can afford to throw away lottery tickets because of its huge draft surplus in the coming seasons. Pistons, with no guaranteed All-Stars future, need to take stock where they present themselves.
That’s what Diallo is for Detroit: a chance for a nuclear athlete who is still becoming the player he will one day be. Thunder tends to be very good at identifying such players, and the Pistons have already managed to move one of them. Three seasons ago, Grant was a 29 percent 3-point shooter who made his living in defense with Thunder. Now he is a borderline All-Star. If Detroit believes it can guide Diallo in similar growth, this is a worthwhile gamble.
Even though Diallo has already peaked, it is not as if Mykhailiuk is irreplaceable. Detroit will have something close to two maximum wages in the summer of 2022, assuming there are no more commitments between now and then. Detroit can use this space to add footage if necessary, and keeping Diallo is not going to hurt him much. Mykahiliuk is the best fit at this point, but the Pistons need not think about this moment. They are planning ahead. Mykahiliuk’s skill set is replaceable. Diallo’s talent may not be. In their eyes, this makes their long-term investment wiser.