Houston continues to offer the 14th and 23rd picks in the draft to move into the top 10, and could have a willing partner with the Detroit Pistons at No. 8. The Pistons have told teams they won’t trade down until they see who drops to them on draft night, sources said. In what could be an interesting window into the Pistons’ preferences, San Diego State forward Kawhi Leonard worked out for Detroit on Monday, and shortly thereafter cancelled his Wednesday workout with the Milwaukee Bucks, who have the 10th pick. Several executives believe Leonard may have left Auburn Hills with a guarantee. …

Wojnarowksi is a terrific reporter so I can totally believe that the Pistons and the Rockets have discussed the above trade but I can’t believe that the Pistons would have given a guarantee to Leonard already. Not when they still have the most important rookie workout of the draft process — featuring Bismack Biyombo, Tristan Thompson and Markieff Morris — scheduled for today.

So in analyzing the supposed trade, you have to ask yourself who are they giving up a shot at and who are they gaining a shot at with the later pick. Apparently the speculation is that the Rockets want to trade up to draft Leonard so you obviously lose a shot at him. You’re missing your shot (however slim) at drafting Kemba Walker and probably Jonas Valanciunas. After that the common names I’m seeing from 8- 13 include Jimmer Fredette, Alec Burks and Klay Thompson, offensive-minded players who don’t really appeal to Detroit.

And that means that the Pistons could get many of the players they are interested in at No. 8 at No. 14. You’d have to believe at least one player of the Tristan Thompson, Bismack Biyombo, Markieff Morris triumvirate will be there. And they could grab an international big man with big upside such as Nikola Vucevic while not worrying about fan reaction because of the second first round pick at  No. 23. I’m wondering exactly how keen they are on the extra pick considering that they turned down an offer from the Dallas Mavericks to take their first rounder in exchange for renting Tayshaun Prince for the rest of the season. But for the sake of argument let’s see who would be available in that range — rebounding specialist Kenneth Faried, Michigan point guard Darius Morris or Boston College point guard Reggie Jackson. There are options there that would greatly help the Pistons in their rebuilding effort. Stay tuned.

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.