Bankrolling McCollum's $30.7 million salary in 2025-26 shouldn't faze the Pistons like it will other teams. It is only $4 million more than they have guaranteed to Harris, who has played substantially worse than McCollum over the past month-and-a-half or so.

Forking over two second-rounders (and taking on JRE's minimum salary) should be enough to adequately incentivize the Pelicans when looking at the rest of this deal. Detroit is using about $10.2 million of its $14 million in cap space and may need another forward ahead of the stretch run. Neither offshoot should be a deal-breaker. The Pistons are better after this trade, without having to compromise their short- or long-term cap sheet or give up any of their own picks or prospects.