Detroit’s inactive off-season

[JSD]

After their 3rd straight loss in the Eastern conference finals the crap had apparently hit the fan for the Detriot Pistons and G.M. Joe Dumars.

"Make no mistake, everyone's in play right now," Dumars said.

Yet, here we are on July 23 and aside from players added from the draft,  the roster from last season remains in tact. The only move to date has been the removal of Head coach Flip Saunders.

A couple of rumblings took place involving Carmelo Anthony (a player Joe Dumars will never live down passing up on in the 2003 draft.) but those rumors were laid to rest when the Nuggets held a meeting and announced they had no intentions of trading their young star. So what now?

The Pistons hold four veteran stars with pretty decent contracts. With the playoff experience that each of the Pistons starters possess, wouldn't you think a team looking for that missing piece would be take a chance on one of these guys?

The least appealing paperwork belongs to 32 year old Chauncey Billups who has 3 seasons remaining at an average of 12 million a season. This is economical for a team looking for an all-star point guard who is a proven winner and Finals MVP. Hamilton and Prince both have 2 years remaining at around 10 and 11 million respectively and Wallace is in the final year of his deal worth almost 14 million.

So what gives? What happened to an off-season of shaking things up? Are they overvaluing their chips? Is Dumars just holding on until the end?

In this thread I’d like you to share your thoughts on the Pistons off-season thus far as well as hear your ideas on how to shake things up.

[Jeff]

yeah, but they've had some really fun rumors!  (Melo, McGrady, Artest, etc.)

[Bankshot]

Don't they have until the February trade deadline to make a trade?  They have plenty of time to work on their roster.

Cleveland really hasn't done anything to improve their roster either, except to re-sign Gibson and probably Delonte.

[JSD]

yeah, but they've had some really fun rumors!  (Melo, McGrady, Artest, etc.)

Fun Rumors but nothing has come out of them. Are they asking for a bit much maybe? 

[Soy Reek]

For the sake of team chemistry, the Pistons need to make a trade in the off season or early into the regular season.  If they wait too long, the could end up like the Mavs (they get a great PG, Kidd, but didn't have enough time to get into a flow because the trade restructured the landscape of their team late in the season).  With Stuckey, Billups appears to be the most expendable.  Chauncey is clutch and a silent assassin, but they have to trade somebody.  Stuckey can run the team (Rondo did it for the C's).  I don't know how plausible it is, but maybe they get A.I. (Nuggets appear to be shedding cap space)?  Iverson is a gamer, even though he doesn't like practice.  Maybe he could buy into a team system, because he wants to win.  Al Harrington could be got, but I don't know what hole he fills.  The Pistons better keep Rasheed.  His versatility is very valuable, even though he brings a lot of baggage.  

[Jeff]

probably, they might be overvaluing their players a bit

I've always thought of that team as being greater than the sum of its parts - when you break apart the parts, they don't shine so bright

[kw10]

If I were Dumars, there are 3 players I would not move:
-Tayshaun Prince~ I see him as the backbone of the Pistons, more so than Billups or Rip, because a player like Prince cannot be replaced (all his intangibles)
-Rodney Stuckey~ that's their future right there
-Jason Maxiel~ the lesser of the 3 IMO but nearly just as important

I don't think the Pistons are a quality wingplayer away from winning or being amongst the top (not melo, not tmac, not ronron), but rather a big man away. I like Rasheed at the 4, not 5(only occasionally) so they need a big here, Camby would have done nicely obviously (providing Big Ben type play althoguh Big Ben probably has more intangibles/leadership).
I would chase after a good big if I were the Pistons.

With that said I find it interesting there are Ron Artest-to-Detroit-rumours with what happened with Malace at the Palace:

http://slamonline.com/online/2008/07/head-exploding-rumor-ron-artest-to-detroit/

[wdleehi]

They did replace the head coach, so I wouldn't call them inactive. 


They are still in the fishing phase. 

[I am... a brain doctor]

Inactive? Hey, didn't they just sign old friend Will Bynum to a two year contract? I'd say that makes them the favorites in the east.

[JSD]

For the sake of team chemistry, the Pistons need to make a trade in the off season or early into the regular season.  If they wait too long, the could end up like the Mavs (they get a great PG, Kidd, but didn't have enough time to get into a flow because the trade restructured the landscape of their team late in the season).  With Stuckey, Billups appears to be the most expendable.  Chauncey is clutch and a silent assassin, but they have to trade somebody.  Stuckey can run the team (Rondo did it for the C's).  I don't know how plausible it is, but maybe they get A.I. (Nuggets appear to be shedding cap space)?  Iverson is a gamer, even though he doesn't like practice.  Maybe he could buy into a team system, because he wants to win.  Al Harrington could be got, but I don't know what hole he fills.  The Pistons better keep Rasheed.  His versatility is very valuable, even though he brings a lot of baggage. 

Rasheed is 34 years old with an expiring contract, if you ask me he's the first to go. Iverson has an expiring contract this season worth 21 million so I'm not sure they could find a better situation then that.

[zerophase]

After their 3rd straight loss in the Eastern conference finals the crap had apparently hit the fan for the Detriot Pistons and G.M. Joe Dumars.

"Make no mistake, everyone's in play right now," Dumars said.

Yet, here we are on July 23 and aside from players added from the draft,  the roster from last season remains in tact. The only move to date has been the removal of Head coach Flip Saunders.

A couple of rumblings took place involving Carmelo Anthony (a player Joe Dumars will never live down passing up on in the 2003 draft.) but those rumors were laid to rest when the Nuggets held a meeting and announced they had no intentions of trading their young star. So what now?

The Pistons hold four veteran stars with pretty decent contracts. With the playoff experience that each of the Pistons starters possess, wouldn't you think a team looking for that missing piece would be take a chance on one of these guys?

The least appealing paperwork belongs to 32 year old Chauncey Billups who has 3 seasons remaining at an average of 12 million a season. This is economical for a team looking for an all-star point guard who is a proven winner and Finals MVP. Hamilton and Prince both have 2 years remaining at around 10 and 11 million respectively and Wallace is in the final year of his deal worth almost 14 million.

So what gives? What happened to an off-season of shaking things up? Are they overvaluing their chips? Is Dumars just holding on until the end?

In this thread I’d like you to share your thoughts on the Pistons off-season thus far as well as hear your ideas on how to shake things up.

garnett trade didn't go down till july 31st last year.

[Who]

Nobody is available. There's no top players who are clearly on the market. There's nobody the Pistons can acquire. Joe D has already said he's only interested in other team's best players, he's not looking for parts, he's looking for All-Pro level talent. It's simply not available.

Pistons have solid trade assets but not great trade assets. So they're not going to bring some team out of hiding. Their players are also more valuable to them than most other sides.

[guava_wrench]

garnett trade didn't go down till july 31st last year.

Yeah, but the whole world knew we were trying hard for him and that he was being shopped before the draft.

[zerophase]

garnett trade didn't go down till july 31st last year.

Yeah, but the whole world knew we were trying hard for him and that he was being shopped before the draft.

we all know bout tmac too. maybe that trade will go down? we're not hardcore detroit fans so its not like we keep up with all the rumors.