Former Piston Wilcox out indefinitely with heart issue

Sad news for a former Detroit Piston that many fans were hoping would be back this season. Chris Wilcox, currently a reserve power forward for the Boston Celtics, is out indefinitely with a heart issue, according to the Boston Globe.

The Celtics previously lost forward Jeff Green for the entire year after it was discovered he needed surgery to repair repair an aortic aneurysm.

Wilcox is averaging 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in just over 17 minutes per game this season for the Celtics.

The issue was discovered during a regularly scheduled exam, and the team says that Wilcox will undergo further tests to find out more about the potential abnormality.

Head coach Doc Rivers tried to keep things in perspective:

"I always try to look at the human part of it, the fact that if something is wrong, I'd rather find it than not,'' he said. "So we're lucky, that's what I told our team, that we're very lucky that this happened. Not unlucky. And that's the way I think you have to look at it.''

Bringing it back around to the Pistons, it is obviously sad whenever a former player has a health issue that could compromise his career. Wilcox was sneakily effective for the Pistons, especially as a running mate with then-rookie Greg Monroe.

Looking forward, I'm not sure exactly what the Celtics are looking for as the trade deadline approaches. They could either be massive sellers, shipping out Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to usher in a youth movement. Or they could be buyers and look to shore up lineup deficiencies to make another push toward a title.

Either way, the Pistons have assets the Celtics could use. Mike Payne looked at the issue and determined that they Celtics would most covet Ben Gordon and Brandon Knight, as the Celtics primarily lack scoring punch. With the Wilcox injury you could easily add Jason Maxiell to the list, who would pair very nicely with Garnett.

You could go small and just shed the future salary commitments of Maxiell and Will Bynum for some expirings and a pick, or you could go big and start playing around with sending out a bad contract (Gordon), Maxiell, Knight and a pick for Rajon Rondo and scraps.