Granted, this is closer to baseless speculation than informed speculation, but putting two and two together, the Pistons could conceivably be working on a trade with the Bobcats.

The first bit of evidence comes from 97.1 FM’s recent interview with GM Joe Dumars. Courtesy of Piston Powered:

Joe Dumars spoke with Matt Dery of 97.1 The Ticket last night and indicated a trade might be coming. Dumars said he was five minutes late to the interview because he was on the phone with another team.

Two conversations I had with teams today, and they say, “You know what? Uh, that might work for us, but, you know, got to go and talk to the owner, got to go and talk to my head coach, and I’ll get back to you. So, you know, am I close? I hope so. I hope so.

So why the Bobcats? Intuitively it makes sense, and I’m sure I’m grasping at the thinnest of straws here, but ESPN’s Chad Ford, always someone with a close line to the Pistons inner-workings, chatted today and said this:

Pistons have been close on a few things with Rip, almost landed Tyson Chandler this summer … but he’s not helping himself right now. I think Charlotte is one of the few teams out there with genuine interest.

That the Bobcats could be dance partners with Detroit shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as the Cats are struggling, and are coached by Larry Brown, who won a championship with the Pistons in ’04 and who would probably value Pistons vets Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton more than most.

Hopefully such a trade could be as successful as the last time these two teams hooked up: the lopsided traded that netted Detroit significant salary relief by shipping Nazr Mohammed, who the Bobcats are still paying, and in return got two funky, foreign white guys: the giant-handed, headband-wearing, Fabio-like Walter Hermmann and the awkward, gangly Primoz Brezec.

What a possible trade might look like is not an easy question to answer. Might the Bobcats be willing to unload Gerald Wallace? Doubtful unless the Pistons throw in sweeteners (Austin Daye, Jonas Jerebko). If, like last time, the Bobcats are looking to improve and the Pistons are looking for salary relief, what about a Richard Hamilton, Jason Maxiell for the two more funky, foreign guys: the expiring deal of Boris Diaw and the corpse of Desagana Diop?

If that trade were made, the Pistons would have nearly $20 million coming off their books after the season in Prince and Diaw and would surely net themselves the high lottery pick they seem likely to nab already. It relieves the logjam at SG, and gives the Pistons a defensive-minded back-up center, granted one whose offensive game makes Ben Wallace look like Kevin Durant.

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but whoever said that probably didn’t know that Michael Jordan would someday be the general manager of an NBA franchise.