There is one unassailable truth when it comes to NBA trades: You can’t separate the player from the contract.
To wit: A year ago at this time, if you’d have asked the average Pistons fan which player on the roster held the least trade value, the answer most likely would have come back as Jon Leuer.
Leuer, after all, had missed huge chunks of the previous two seasons with ankle and knee injuries. His last good season was in 2016-17 when he averaged 26 minutes a game. And he was making a healthy sum, on the books for $9.