# How Would You Fix the Pistons?



## RollWithEm

Is Lawrence Frank the right man to guide this franchise?

Who would you consider the Pistons' core players at this time?

How would you reinstill a winning culture in Detroit?

What would you do with the 9th, 39th, and 44th picks?

What trades would you make?

Would you consider using your amnesty on Tayshaun Prince or Ben Gordon?

Jason Maxiell has until the end of June to opt in for $5 mil this season. Do you want him to?

How would you approach free agency?

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/detroit.htm


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## Floods

*Is Lawrence Frank the right man to guide this franchise?*

Sure.

*Who would you consider the Pistons' core players at this time?*

Monroe and Knight.

*How would you reinstill a winning culture in Detroit?*

Warp back to summer 2009, and establish mind control over the Pistons owner. When Joe Dumars comes to me seeking my approval to use the cap space we traded Billups for to sign Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to five year deals, I void the contracts and immediately fire him as general manager. I also un-retire his number.

*What would you do with the 9th, 39th, and 44th picks?*

At 9 I'm torn between Arnett Moultrie, or a shooter (Rivers, Lamb). BPA with the other two.

*What trades would you make?*

Villanueva's useless until his expiring year but Ben Gordon should gather interest from good teams. Also try to unload Stuckey for whatever I can get.

*Would you consider using your amnesty on Tayshaun Prince or Ben Gordon?*

No, hold onto it. Both these guys are trade-able and would be a big help for a contender. Gordon moreso than Prince, the latter's contract is a little dicey.

*Jason Maxiell has until the end of June to opt in for $5 mil this season. Do you want him to?*

No. Dirty work guys are always nice but not at that price.

*How would you approach free agency?*

See my response to the 'how would you instill a winning culture' question.


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## BlakeJesus

At 9 I would be looking at John Henson, he seems like a nice fit next to a guy like Greg Monroe. Good value, good compliment to a core piece, and a 6'10 shotblocker with a huge wingspan who seems to have a good motor is sort of cliche for a bust but if they even marginally hit it's a success in the mid lotto range.

Anyways, I would be impartial on the Maxiell option. If he leaves, that's fine. If he stays, that's fine. 5 million is not an outrageous price to pay for a rotation big man. Obviously might not be ideal, but it's not exactly a cap burden either. 

I would make a point to move Prince and Gordon, and depending on how he is as a personality in the locker room Rodney Stuckey. I really like Stuckey, and I think he can be a huge asset as a PG/SG off the bench. If Stuckey thinks he's an alpha dog I let him do his thing until the trade deadline (I mean really green light him), and pawn him off to the highest bidder. I would rather keep him as that spark plug combo guard off the bench.

Frank will do for now, nobody is really clamoring to come coach the Pistons, so being consistent at least is a positive.


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## Bogg

Move Gordon, he doesn't make sense on the roster anymore and you need to free up his cap figure. The Clippers, Wolves, Wizards(if they don't draft Beal), and Jazz all need a shooting guard who can come in and contribute right away, so work out some sort of trade this summer. Honestly, I'd give the Wolves the chance to fill both swingman slots with Prince and Gordon for filler contracts, and both their picks this year (18 and 58).


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## RollWithEm

Bogg said:


> Move Gordon, he doesn't make sense on the roster anymore and you need to free up his cap figure. The Clippers, Wolves, Wizards(if they don't draft Beal), and Jazz all need a shooting guard who can come in and contribute right away, so work out some sort of trade this summer. Honestly, I'd give the Wolves the chance to fill both swingman slots with Prince and Gordon for filler contracts, and both their picks this year (18 and 58).


That sounds good in theory, but I can't seem to find a trade that makes any sense between Detroit and Minnesota. What did you have in mind specifically?


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## Bogg

RollWithEm said:


> That sounds good in theory, but I can't seem to find a trade that makes any sense between Detroit and Minnesota. What did you have in mind specifically?


Assuming that you're resigning yourself to the fact that this is just going to be a massive salary dump, Minnesota could pick up Martell Webster's option, package him with Darko and Wes Johnson, and I think the numbers would work. After thinking it over a bit more, Detroit should probably try to get either Memphis' or Minnesota's 2013 first round picks instead of the 58 this year. Even though they're getting rid of bad contracts, Minnesota desperately needs competent swingmen and only a single first-round pick plus dead-weight expirings isn't much to show for Prince and Gordon. I wouldn't make it a deal-breaker, but I'd make it look like it was up until the final minute.

EDIT: In fact, if Portland isn't in love with Drummond, I'd turn around and package the 9 and 18 to try to get up to 6. Detroit already has a bit too much youth, and if Drummond even kind of pans out he's the perfect compliment to Monroe. A three-way deal sending Gordon and Prince to Minnesota, expirings and the 6 to Detroit, and the 9, 18, and a second-rounder from somewhere to Portland just might be crazy enough to work, assuming Portland doesn't want another raw young center to break.


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## Tom

I know they won't do it but I think Perry Davis would be a nice pickup...he gives them some versatility and some bounce...they need to look alive.


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## RollWithEm

Tom said:


> I know they won't do it but I think Perry Davis would be a nice pickup...he gives them some versatility and some bounce...they need to look alive.


I'm not trolling, but I don't know who Perry Davis is.


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## Bogg

I assumed he means Perry Jones. I do that with Oscar Robertson all the time, calling him Oscar Robinson in posts without realizing it and having to go back and fix it.


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## RollWithEm

If Perry Jones falls to the 9th pick, he would be a steal for them.


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## RollWithEm

Bogg said:


> Assuming that you're resigning yourself to the fact that this is just going to be a massive salary dump, Minnesota could pick up Martell Webster's option, package him with Darko and Wes Johnson, and I think the numbers would work. After thinking it over a bit more, Detroit should probably try to get either Memphis' or Minnesota's 2013 first round picks instead of the 58 this year. Even though they're getting rid of bad contracts, Minnesota desperately needs competent swingmen and only a single first-round pick plus dead-weight expirings isn't much to show for Prince and Gordon. I wouldn't make it a deal-breaker, but I'd make it look like it was up until the final minute.
> 
> EDIT: In fact, if Portland isn't in love with Drummond, I'd turn around and package the 9 and 18 to try to get up to 6. Detroit already has a bit too much youth, and if Drummond even kind of pans out he's the perfect compliment to Monroe. A three-way deal sending Gordon and Prince to Minnesota, expirings and the 6 to Detroit, and the 9, 18, and a second-rounder from somewhere to Portland just might be crazy enough to work, assuming Portland doesn't want another raw young center to break.


This is now moot. I don't think Minny would take back Maggette rather than Gordon. Plus, they already have Budinger in the fold.


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## Bogg

RollWithEm said:


> This is now moot. I don't think Minny would take back Maggette rather than Gordon. Plus, they already have Budinger in the fold.


Well, yea, throw all that out the window. Gordon and the eighteenth pick both got traded, Minny patched one of their holes on the wing. You could still dump Prince's contract on Minnesota; but they're not giving up a first for just him, and there isn't really another workable deal there unless Dumars wants to take back Wes Johnson, Brooklyn's second next year, and try to turn Wes into a passable player. Worst case scenario they could decline the option for the last year on Wes' contract after this year. I don't know if that move is worth it for Detroit, though. Probably not.


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## RollWithEm

So someone had to take the *Andre Drummond* plunge, and it happened to be the Pistons. His skillset, on paper, compliments Greg Monroe's game very nicely. It remains to be seen if he's interested in putting in the necessary work to actually make it in the league, though. I'm mildly intrigued by this landing spot for him.


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## Porn Player

Good spot roster wise, potential bad spot character wise. 

I'm also intrigued to see how this one unfolds.


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## Luke

Could be really awesome, will probably be really disappointing.

At least Monroe looks like he's put it together.


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## Bogg

Porn Player said:


> Good spot roster wise, potential bad spot character wise.


Drummond's not a bad guy, just doesn't play all that hard. Good coaching can fix that, and if he sort of pans out he'll be really good for Detroit. I didn't like him in the top 5, but at 9 when the other real option is John Henson? Sure.


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## Porn Player

Drummond seems like a fantastic kid from what I've seen. The character issues were directed at the Detroit locker room, and I would hate for them to hinder Andre's development.


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## tr1986

time to move tayshaun prince. the pistons seem very confident in the drummond-monroe-knight-jerebko movement and there's no need to drag prince through a rebuild when i'm sure he'd rather be playing for a contender. the clippers would have been a potential location before the odom trade, but we don't need mo williams, we need an interior scorer to take the load off of monroe, jerebko, and villanueva. 

i don't anticipate any amnesty deal in our future, and i do see maggette expiring on the pistons, unlike, for example, jeff green when he was traded.

it'll be interesting to see what happens with stuckey. in my view, he'd be the third scoring option on this team by the end of his contract, if we don't sign a free agent who can score with maggette's expiring contract. he might be dealt to a good team in his contract year, i think.


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## Bogg

Detroit could probably unload Prince on the Lakers using Odom's first trade exception and maybe get a second rounder. Other than that, maybe you could move him to Utah for Devin Harris' expiring contract now that they have Mo Williams.


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## ChrisWoj

Alright, with the draft gone by here is how I would fix the Pistons...

*BIG MEN*
Probably the easiest fix. To fix our situation with the bigs we simply need to successfully develop Andre Drummond. Easier said than done - but by all accounts he is a nice kid and a hard worker. The simple question seems to be whether he is mentally capable of handling being a basketball player and not just a big athlete. I'm not sure about the European big they picked up, but size is no longer an issue at least. Personally I'd hire Ben Wallace to a role as a coach, give him free reign to be on the court with the players in practice. Oh, and all things considered - maybe he can turn Andre Drummond into a 40% free throw shooter. :X Jonas Jerebko also works into the rotation as a smaller big man that can play outside with the bigger guys holding down the fort down low. Oh, and they have Charlie V. For whatever that's worth. Maybe something coming off of the bench, but from what I've heard he's in awful shape right now.

*SWINGS*
At the swing positions.. well.. this is the real cluster****, isn't it? Tayshaun Prince wanted a point guard that can work as more of a distributor and didn't get his wish. Hopefully he's willing to play ball - but he's been a cancer in the past. Kyle Singler is unproven. Austin Daye has proven to be damn near useless. Khris Middleton, prior to his knee injury, was a Wooden Award watchlist guy. If he can come back at full strength he could be a starting caliber NBA player. He has decent size and can move between the swing spots if he retained his quickness. If he didn't, he won't make it through training camp. Kim English is likely to be a part of the roster - he's got a sweet shooting stroke. He'll provide some offense off of the bench. If I were the Pistons right now I'd be looking to amnesty Tayshaun Prince. Prince is a bad contract and part of a massive logjam. Charlie V is a better candidate by the numbers, but we're less of a cluster**** at the big spots than we are at the swing spots.

*POINT MEN*
I should throw the word point in quotation marks up there. The Pistons have a bunch of combo-guards. Rodney Stuckey is the only one that is not completely undersized for the role. Brandon Knight saw a consistent increase in his assists and a decrease in his turnovers night by night as his rookie season went on, though. He appears to be embracing the role of distributing point guard, but it isn't coming naturally to him. I wouldn't be shocked if that played a large role in his shooting woes. If he can relax and slide into that point guard spot a little more comfortably this year his shooting will improve and he'll start to look legit. Will Bynum is an undersized spark plug. Lots of game, a bulldog. An absolute fan favorite. But his size limits him, big time, as a combo-guard. He is fun to have around as a 4th guard but making him your first guard off of the bench? Not good. Right now overall I'd stand pat on this rotation of guys. Stuckey can easily be spelled by English or even Middleton if they go big, and he can slide over to the point for one of those guys when Knight needs a breather.

Obviously there are lots of dream moves I'd love to see them make, but realistically - the above is going to push them in the right direction... three simple moves: Ben Wallace as a big man coach developing Andre Drummond correctly. Amnestying Tayshaun Prince, letting him go to a more immediate contender as he wants. Stand pat on the small guys and use Bynum less. It is all about developing these guys now. Last year they went 4-20, followed by 21-21. This year? A lot of new rotation pieces means a slow start. But maybe they can come out of the gates close to 10-14, and then play .500 ball or slightly better and get the team to the upper 30s in wins. A modest goal - but definite progress.


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## Bogg

If Portland matches Minnesota's offer to Batum I could see them being talked into taking Prince to play small forward, especially in light of Kevin Love's recent comments. If you could get Luke Ridnour in return, and send Stuckey elsewhere, that'd be a coup.


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## sandylewis90

What do you guys think about a new arena having an impact on the team? Maybe it's backwards thinking but the Palace is way out of town and though a nice place still, if the team moved downtown, maybe it could attract some positive interest. More interest is more fans, more players that might be willing to come here. It's not dire to have a new arena by any means but would almost represent a fresh start. With the Lions now downtown, does it really make sense to still have the Pistons playing that far away from the city of Detroit?


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## ChrisWoj

Long term - the Pistons will be back in the city. This is a foregone conclusion. Gores has already said it - he's going to bring the team back to Metro Detroit. However - he's also made it very clear that that is not happening any time soon. The Palace is still a beautiful modern facility. On top of that keep in mind that the Pistons/Gores OWN the Palace. They aren't paying rent to anybody to use that place. Gores has basically stated that once he determines that the facility is no longer up to NBA standards, then and only then will he look into building something in Metro Detroit. He's also stated that he'd use a good portion of his own fortune on that project, because he prefers owning a facility over renting it from the city (frankly, a plus in my books). I doubt he is interested in spending that sort of money when, at the moment he has a very good facility in the Palace.


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## ChrisWoj

Double post.


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## ChrisWoj

Bogg said:


> If Portland matches Minnesota's offer to Batum I could see them being talked into taking Prince to play small forward, especially in light of Kevin Love's recent comments. If you could get Luke Ridnour in return, and send Stuckey elsewhere, that'd be a coup.


Dislike the Stuckey statement. He's really started to emerge as a player over the past two seasons. This past year he actually showed more skill distributing the ball than he did the year before, despite his lower assist rate. The ball moved around the court through him much better this year than it has in past years. He's finally figured out who he is as a player and has begun to use his size to force the issue and draw and-1s, whereas when he was younger he wanted to be a slasher and a finisher. I wanted to sell high on him before this past season, but now I want him on the team.


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## RollWithEm

I think Greg Monroe's unselfishness has already started to permeate the roster. If Drummond can actually develop into a back-to-the-basket scorer, Stuckey would be a good fit with the two big men because of his versatility.


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## Bogg

RollWithEm said:


> I think Greg Monroe's unselfishness has already started to permeate the roster. If Drummond can actually develop into a back-to-the-basket scorer, Stuckey would be a good fit with the two big men because of his versatility.


He doesn't need to be a go-to post-up guy, and frankly I don't think he has the skill for it. He just needs a few basic post moves to take advantage of his size, hit the glass _hard_, and become a very good defender/shot-blocker. Monroe's 22; Drummond's still 18, I think; Knight's 20 - the team has a bright future, they just need to pick up a star swingman in his early twenties and they can position themselves nicely for when Miami starts to drop off in a few years. 



ChrisWoj said:


> Dislike the Stuckey statement. He's really started to emerge as a player over the past two seasons. This past year he actually showed more skill distributing the ball than he did the year before, despite his lower assist rate. The ball moved around the court through him much better this year than it has in past years. He's finally figured out who he is as a player and has begun to use his size to force the issue and draw and-1s, whereas when he was younger he wanted to be a slasher and a finisher. I wanted to sell high on him before this past season, but now I want him on the team.


I still don't think that Stuckey's the long-tern answer at point guard, but I also didn't realize his contract lined up nicely with Charlie V's. Probably best to keep him around and see if he figures it out while looking hard for a taker for Prince. I know this isn't the direction the franchise _wants_ to go in, but it's probably in their best interest to dump Prince for any expiring, be bad one more year, get one last high draft pick, and use the cap space they're likely to have in 2013 and 2014 to finish off the roster. Be the fun, young, scrappy team in 2013-2014 and look to 2014-2015 to really make a leap into relevance in the conference.


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## LA68

You have Drummond, Monroe, Stuckey, Knight. You have Daye and/or Jerebko to play the 3. You can build around that. 

Problem is your coaches don't seem to understand positions. I remember that other coach (we have him now. when Brown gets fired, he'll finish the season) starting Daye at PF ? Stuckey isn't and never will be a PG. Put Stuckey at the SG where he belongs and Knight in the back court with him. And leave it alone.

Sometimes you just gotta let players play together for a while. Then they get good together.


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## RIP CITY

First before I get into what my plan for the Pistons would be, let me just say I love the Drummond Pick. From everything I've read and seen about him so far I think the questions about his work ethic, character and energy level are extremely overblown. I don't think it's any of those things, I think he's just raw and because of his size and athletic ability people put too high of expectations on him, and instead of realizing he's just young and raw, they said it was about his motor. From what I've seen, he's a great listener, wants to learn and is a hard worker. 

*How would I fix the Pistons:*

There are alot of different scenario's I could go with, post potential trades, signings, etc. But my main outline would be athleticism, size/length, versatility and defense. Obviously these are things all teams would like but those would be things I would stress very vigorously. 

Center: I want two guys, 6'11'' or taller, athletic for their position who can defend PF/C.
Power Forward: I want two guys that are 6'10'', athletic for their position who can defend PF/C.
Small Forward: I want a starter that's 6'7'' or better, athletic and can defend can defend SG/SF.
Shooting Guard: I want a starter that's 6'6'' or better, athletic and can defend SG/SF.
Point Guard: I want someone over 6'1'', athletic, that is a good mix of scoring and playmaking/facilitating, can defend his position.

Bench wise, I'd like to have a good 4 big rotation, but as long as the 3rd big is capable of being productive enough off the bench that there isn't a huge drop off from the starters, I can live with that. I want a quick, athletic front court that can protect the paint. I would like to see a backup wing that is capable of playing two positions, whether it be SG/SF (Preferably) or PG/SG. And a solid backup PG or SF, depending on which of the positions is left over from the previous bench player I mentioned. PG mostly facilitator/defender, SF mostly length/defense/good finisher. I think you need at least a good 8 man rotation to win in today's NBA.

Obviously, this is what most teams would probably prefer. But I think it's almost a must in today's NBA. I'd prefer the team trend more towards a half-court style of basketball, because I think that's more successful in the Playoffs than an uptempo team. Obviously, I'd like to be able to get out on fastbreaks too, but if you can't preform well in the half-court as a team, your chances of winning a Championship reduce significantly in my opinion. I'm more for defense creating offense in the fastbreak category, rather than being like the Suns or Mavs of the 2000's where you just force the run and are constantly uptempo.

*As for a breakdown the current Pistons roster:* 

My core would be Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond, Brandon Knight and Jonas Jerebko. Anyone else is expendable for the right price. Austin Daye, Jason Maxiell and Will Bynum are Free Agents after this season. I would not re-sign any of them unless Maxiell was willing to sign for 2M a year or less. I like Kyle Singler and Kim English as backups, I'd like to keep them unless they are needed to make a fairly significant trade work. Slava Kravstov, from the little I've seen, fits the bill as pretty athletic for his position so I would probably keep him, hopefully as the future 4th or 5th big man in the rotation.

Drummond obviously fits the bill as an athletic big who can defend, hopefully he develops into a very good offense player too. But I definitely think he'll be a force defensively at some point, if not immediately, he's much further along defensively than offensively.

Greg Monroe isn't super athletic but I definitely think he's athletic enough for his position, he runs the floor really well, he just doesn't have explosive leaping ability like a Drummond/Amare/Garnett. I love his offensive game and it's improving. Defensively he needs to improve but he's already probably slightly above average. With Drummond next to him, they could be a force in the paint defensively.

Tayshaun, as much as I love what he's done for the Pistons, needs to go. This is a young team, they need to find his replacement soon.

Stuckey is not the answer as the starting SG to me. He shoots terrible percentages, is an average defender and he's undersized for what I want out of the SG position. He'd be perfect for the 6th Man role, and if he would buy into it I would definitely keep him around. As the starting SG of the future, no thanks, I'd probably trade him. Starting SG needs to shoot better percentages than 40-43%, needs to be able to guard his own position and hopefully SF as well, also needs to be more of an outside shooting threat than he is. I prefer my starting SG to be at least 6'6'' as well, specifically the starter, mainly for versatility/defensive reasons, just my preference. (Unless I can get an undersized one that's just an elite player, like D-Wade, but that's D-Wade, no brainer).

Brandon Knight needs to work on his PG skills and facilitating but I think he can be a good scoring guard, I like his game. I think he'll be able to guard PG's in the League when he develops. Don't think he'll be a perennial All-Star or anything but I think he can and will become a well above average PG. 

Jerebko is the perfect bench player to me. Can play SF/PF, hustle player, good defender, solid rebounder, can stretch the floor alittle bit with his outside shooting and isn't afraid to bang in the paint. JoeMars really nailed it getting him in the 2nd Round, he's a great glue guy to have.

I mentioned the guys I'd let walk or trade, anyone else can go too, no guaranteed spots for any of them. That's basically the whole roster there anyway minus Khris Middleton and potentially if he returns, Ben Wallace. Don't think I'm forgetting anyone else.

*Quick example of a 2013-2014 roster based on my plan, trying to keep it as realistic as possible:*

I'll use players that were FA's this offseason and will be next offseason. We had the full MLE this offseason and we will have roughly 25 Million to spend next offseason (35M to get back to 10M over the soft cap, but that would include an extension for Monroe).

Drummond/Kravstov
Monroe/*Marresse Speights*/*Earl Clark*
*Josh Smith*/Jerebko/Singler
*DeMar DeRozan*/English
Knight/*Earl Watson*

Plus, probably another Lottery Pick after this season. I tried not to use Josh Smith, because I think he's probably unlikely to sign with us even though I think he will be our #1 target next offseason. But, there just weren't alot of SF's that fit what I'm looking for that would actually hit the market (team/player/early termination options) so I went with him. More realistic would be Wes Johnson at SF, he can defend and rebound but is pretty terrible offensively, would be a potential based signing, hoping to get him to breakout under a different staff. Plus side, he'd be cheaper, lol.

Speights with MLE this year would have been realistic (I realize we used some of the MLE on Kravstov, there are other salary exceptions we could have used to get his 1.5M in). Smith at 15M, DeRozan at 8-10, that's 25, extension for Monroe which would take them to around 32-35M over the soft cap, Watson and Clark at minimum contracts. Taking a flier on Clark wouldn't hurt as a 5th big. You'd have to trade Stuckey and/or Prince to make it work under the cap, probably both. Maybe try Prince and/or Stuckey and/or Daye and/or Maggette (expiring) and a Pick to Memphis for Rudy Gay (which would take the place of Josh Smith in this scenario, obviously can't do both). Unlikely but Memphis is up against the cap if I recall and there have been murmurs he could be on the move sooner or later.

Probably not a Championship contender but definitely a Playoff team, with a core of Smith/Monroe/Knight/Drummond/DeRozan/Lottery Pick (probably 10-13 range), two good bench players in Jerebko and Speights. I'd say that would fix the Pistons, might never become a Championship team without Drummond turning into at least an All-Star type Center but they'd be pretty good. Would be a pretty athletic and fun team to watch. Works for me.

Anyway, that's the type of team I'd be trying to build and how I'd try to fix the Pistons.


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## RIP CITY

LOL, that's a long ass post, didn't mean for it to be all that, no one will read all that, lol. Oh well. Skim through it, haha.


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## ChrisWoj

If they somehow SOMEHOW *did* get Josh Smith, though... and if Drummond developed... they'd be ****ing great to watch. Don't know what their ceiling would be, that always varies on things beyond control or expectation. But I gotta imagine they'd be a fun team to watch. Better than anything since... 07-08.


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## RIP CITY

Yeah, I do think it's unlikely that the Pistons could land Smith, but, I don't think it's impossible like the other Top FA's would be (Dwight/Bynum/Paul would never come here). Smith to me, based on what I know about his personality, screams "I'll take the biggest contract regardless of where it comes from". Now, that is assuming the Pistons could even make the best offer, which would take other teams offering him less than us. That's unlikely as well. Based on spending in FA this offseason, he's likely to get a Max offer from Atlanta and Dallas, even if the Pistons matched that offer (well ATL can offer more but if we gave our Max too), he's not picking Detroit over Atlanta or Dallas. It would take Atlanta or Dallas offering like 12-15 Million per and Detroit offering Max (15-17 to start I believe). So, it's very unlikely. I do think he will be the Pistons #1 target in Free Agency though.

DeRozan is more possible, but there is still a hang up there too. He's a Restricted FA, Toronto can match any offer and the Pistons would have to offer something ridiculous to steal him most likely. I mean, if they're willing to pay Landry Fields 6 Million per, they'd probably pay almost twice that to keep DeRozan and that's getting into territory he's not worth even though I'd love to see him added to the Pistons.

The FA next offseason that scares me is Kevin Martin. He's a JoeMars type of guy, quiet, high character, fundamental player... with a lack of elite talent and athletic ability, lol. And, considering he's already making 12 Million per, he'd probably be looking for a deal in that range and I want nothing to with him at 12M per, he's not worth that to me. That screams Ben Gordon/Charlie Villanueva all over again to me, which is what scares me because based on what we know about Joe, it seems like it's almost inevitable. I'm not a big Stuckey guy, and I think Martin is probably alittle bit better player but I'd rather keep Stuckey at 8M per than pay Martin 12M. 

Next offseason is going to be very critical. I don't think the Pistons will make the Playoffs this year so I expect another Lottery Pick and the Pistons will have alot of cap space for FA. Need to come away with some talent out of those two avenues to really get this back on track. I like Drummond, Monroe, Knight and Jerebko but after that they're going to need quite a bit more.


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## RollWithEm

Assuming Drummond isn't ready to start and Knight is, I guess their line-up looks like this going into the season...

*PG Brandon Knight*/Will Bynum
*SG Rodney Stuckey*/Corey Maggette/Kyle Singler
*SF Tayshaun Prince*/Austin Daye/Terrence Williams
*PF Jonas Jerebko*/Jason Maxiell/Charlie Villanueva
*C Greg Monroe*/Andre Drummond

That's a team I will be looking forward to watching on league pass... even though 35 wins seems like their ceiling.


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## R-Star

Any chance of them ever starting Monroe and Drummond as their front court?


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## BlakeJesus

RollWithEm said:


> Assuming Drummond isn't ready to start and Knight is, I guess their line-up looks like this going into the season...
> 
> *PG Brandon Knight*/Will Bynum
> *SG Rodney Stuckey*/Corey Maggette/Kyle Singler
> *SF Tayshaun Prince*/Austin Daye/Terrence Williams
> *PF Jonas Jerebko*/Jason Maxiell/Charlie Villanueva
> *C Greg Monroe*/Andre Drummond
> 
> That's a team I will be looking forward to watching on league pass... even though 35 wins seems like their ceiling.


They need to move Prince for some type of value, just make it happen without taking on major salary long term (unless you get a youngin' but I doubt that happens).

What are the chances T-Will builds on last season? Certainly not a perfect season, but he played pretty well for stretches. He could be a great fit with Knight/Stuckey I think, because neither of those guys can really run an offense so having a wing who can pass like T-Will seems like a great fit on paper. I would enjoy seeing him play 20+ minutes for this squad, but I don't know if that happens with all the mediocre clutter they have at the 2/3 spots.


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## R-Star

I would think the only team with any interest at all in Prince would be a contender with a hole at the 3.


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## BlakeJesus

I certainly wouldn't be expecting a hefty return for him, it would literally just to be to get him off the team. Open up minutes for guys who are bigger picture for the franchise, weather that's T-Will, Daye, Singler, whoever...Prince is just a guy at this point there's no reason he should be playing for the Pistons.


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## R-Star

BlakeJesus said:


> I certainly wouldn't be expecting a hefty return for him, it would literally just to be to get him off the team. Open up minutes for guys who are bigger picture for the franchise, weather that's T-Will, Daye, Singler, whoever...Prince is just a guy at this point there's no reason he should be playing for the Pistons.


Depends. If he really wants to be there, you owe it to him. He's been there since the beginning, was a huge part of those championship runs, and hasn't sat around complaining when the team started to fade.

If you talk him into wanting to go somewhere, I agree, dump him for whatever you can get. Detroit is rebuilding, and he's taking a starting spot.


Unless you could convince him to come off the bench and stay on as the elder statesman/leader role. He's not a bad guy to have around teaching the kids. And with a guy like Drummond there, you need a strong locker room guy as far as I'm concerned.


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## Bogg

R-Star said:


> Any chance of them ever starting Monroe and Drummond as their front court?


I have to assume that's their long-term plan, because even if Drummond essentially becomes a bigger/stronger DeAndre Jordan that'd be one of, if not the, best frontcourt(s) in the East. Monroe's ability to both score and find the open man should get Drummond plenty of easy looks around the basket, Drummond should protect the rim as well as most anyone in the league, and the two of them should be able to control the glass on both sides of the court. All this is assuming Drummond pans out, obviously, but I think the Pistons are an elite scorer on the wing away from putting together a team that can challenge in the East when this version of the Heat ages.


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## Porn Player

BlakeJesus said:


> I certainly wouldn't be expecting a hefty return for him, it would literally just to be to get him off the team. Open up minutes for guys who are bigger picture for the franchise, weather that's T-Will, Daye, Singler, whoever...Prince is just a guy at this point there's no reason he should be playing for the Pistons.


T-Will got cut by the Pistons. 

He didn't play very well in the couple of Piston pre-season games I caught, so no shock here.


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## R-Star

Bogg said:


> I have to assume that's their long-term plan, because even if Drummond essentially becomes a bigger/stronger DeAndre Jordan that'd be one of, if not the, best frontcourt(s) in the East. Monroe's ability to both score and find the open man should get Drummond plenty of easy looks around the basket, Drummond should protect the rim as well as most anyone in the league, and the two of them should be able to control the glass on both sides of the court. All this is assuming Drummond pans out, obviously, but I think the Pistons are an elite scorer on the wing away from putting together a team that can challenge in the East when this version of the Heat ages.


I hope so. I love star quality big man duo's.


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## ChrisWoj

Obviously you can only read so much into the preseason - but based off of Drummond's preseason play, that is very very likely to happen pretty soon. Remember after the draft, once people were done complaining about how raw Drummond was last year, you heard nothing but superlatives about his attitude and the way he wants to learn and improve. He's already multiple steps ahead of where he was early this summer. If he continues to improve - with his size and athleticism the sky is the limit. His biggest limitation is going to be his intellect - can he LEARN to be a basketball player. If so? He's going to be a monster.


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## RollWithEm

Regardless of whether or not Drummond starts, this team will likely miss the playoffs. The development of him, Monroe, Knight, and Daye should be their main focus this season. I hope the coaching staff sees the value in keeping their minutes consistent every game instead of just consistent with their production.


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