Former KU guard/forward Svi Mykhailiuk traded by Detroit Pistons to OKC Thunder
The NBA’s Detroit Pistons have traded former Kansas basketball guard/forward Svi Mykhailiuk and a second-round 2027 draft pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Hamidou Diallo, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday.
Mykhailiuk, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound native of Cherkesy, Ukraine, averages 6.9 points and 1.6 assists per game in 36 games. The 23-year-old Mykhailiuk, who is in his third year in the NBA, has made 37.7% of his shots and 33.3% of his threes.
Mykhailiuk’s contract pays him $1.663,861 for the 2020-21 campaign. He will be a restricted free agent at season’s end. Diallo, a 6-5, 22-year-old guard, averages a career-best 11.9 points and 5.2 rebounds a game for the Thunder.
The Los Angeles Lakers in 2019 traded Mykhailiuk and a second-round draft pick to Detroit for Reggie Bullock. He was a second-round pick of the Lakers in the 2018 NBA Draft.
This year’s trade deadline in the NBA is March 25.
According to the Free Press, “Mykhailiuk showed flashes as an all-around offensive player this season, reaching a career-high eight assists on Thursday against the Charlotte Hornets. But he struggled with consistency, and his once-trusty shooting stroke eluded him for most of the season. Mykhailiuk drifted up-and-down Dwane Casey’s rotation this year.”
“Where Mykhailiuk actually lands as a shooter is still something of a mystery,” writes Sam Quinn of cbssports.com. “He’s probably slightly better than this season’s 33.3% mark would suggest, but slightly worse than last season’s 40.4% indicated. If he settles in as an above-average shooter with some secondary playmaking value, he’ll be able to stick as a rotation player at the very least. Even if Diallo winds up being better, which is no certainty, his weakness as a shooter made his long-term fit alongside (Luguentz) Dort and (Darius) Bazley untenable.
“The Thunder simply weren’t going to retain him this offseason, so flipping him for a better fit was a sound decision. Oklahoma City now has two months to determine if Mykhailiuk is part of its future, and if he isn’t? They essentially collect a second-round pick for Diallo rather than losing him for nothing in free agency.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2021 at 8:33 AM.
