Last week a rumor popped up that the Pistons were considering making a blockbuster trade of sending their starting point guard, Reggie Jackson, to Minnesota for their starting point guard, Ricky Rubio. The deal didn't make much sense, especially given the kinds of assets that the Pistons gave up in order to get Jackson from OKC, and the fact that Rubio doesn't really help the issues that the Pistons have offensively.

Still, it was an interesting idea. But on Saturday, Pistons coach and President of Basketball Operations Stan Van Gundy told reporters flat-out that it's not happening.

"I texted Reggie and just said, 'This is crazy season and we're not trading you for Ricky Rubio.' That was it. I don't normally address it, but the fact that it was out there and it concerned his agent enough to call, I addressed it."

Source: Stan Van Gundy tells Reggie Jackson: 'I'm not trading you for Ricky Rubio' | MLive.com.

Van Gundy went on to talk about trade season and the fact that so many deals are discussed, with so few of them ever actually turning into anything serious, much less an actual trade. He also said that it's ridiculous to make note that any player would be "available" in talks because literally no player is untouchable, they just have higher prices than others. It's a reasonable and refreshingly honest take on the trade drama that always comes around this time of year.

As for SVG's public support of Jackson, that's notable as well. The Pistons have underperformed this season, and there are questions about the leadership of both Jackson and Andre Drummond. Those two are among the worst on the team in terms of on vs. off court net point differential, meaning that the Pistons get beat by significantly more when they're on the floor, and that's a bad sign for your star players. But Jackson is young, still recovering from a preseason injury, and the team is still finding itself. They did get a big win against Washington Saturday and more importantly, they're still very much in the playoff hunt, which is all that matters.

The Pistons are going to be looking for deals to improve their team and get them off this bad start, but it doesn't look like Jackson's going to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Rubio, on the other hand ...