Darko... Cato... Darko... Cato... ?

Oh, if only I had written a blog entry about the rumored Darko trade yesterday, instead of slipping it in the comments yesterday. (Great discussion, though.)

As Big Al said, it's probably more pertinent to discuss scenarios that could actually happen and could impact this year's team, rather than drive yourself crazy over "what ifs." So here we go: Would you trade Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo to Orlando for Kelvin Cato and a first-round pick in this year's draft?

My first thought was, "Absolutely not!" How does that make the Pistons better? In fact, it weakens the team because, as Big Al also mentioned, they'd be short a back-up point guard. They already have Cato on their roster. His name's Dale Davis. And if you wouldn't trade Arroyo for Cato straight up, or Darko for a first-round pick, why would you make this deal? Orlando gets the better players. It looks even worse when you consider that the selection would be "lottery protected," meaning if it was among the top five or seven picks, the Magic would keep it.

And that's not even addressing the fact that you'd be giving up on the second overall pick in the 2003 draft over only three seasons.

Then it was pointed out to me that I was missing the true reason for the deal. No, it doesn't help this year's team. But it could help down the line by creating space under the Pistons' salary cap. $8.5 million of space, to be exact, in the form of Cato's expiring contract. And that money would help Detroit re-sign free agent to-be Ben Wallace, as well as help pick up more free agent help next season.

So is the deal worth making under that context? I'm no salary cap expert, so I don't know if Detroit will already have enough salary cap room to re-sign Wallace. I believe they would, based on what I found. But that depends on whether or not Ben wants a "max" contract. (And there are rumors Chicago might be willing to give him that kind of deal.) Then the Pistons have to ask themselves if Wallace is worth that kind of money. (That argument is a whole other blog entry.)

I still say it's not a good trade. Detroit's giving up assets and receiving none in return. If Joe D has other trades worked out to supplement this deal, then it looks better. (Anyone giving up a point guard? How about you, Toronto? Would you trade Mike James, even though he's your best player right now?) And I think it's now become clear that there are enough questions about this season that they have to be addressed before the Pistons can look at next season and beyond. Of course, that could be why I'm typing this instead of working as a NBA GM.

Nine days and counting until the NBA trade deadline...

▪▪ Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything in the Orlando newspapers about this deal. They're more curious about Steve Francis possibly getting traded.