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well all those confrence championship games in a row only two finals appreances and one title. maybe they have underacheived. don't know what the chemistry and win / loss record will show if some one is traded. wonder how good they would be if they actually used that number 2 pick a few years ago?

At the time of the Rasheed Wallace trade, it was considered unlikely that the trade would have happened had the Pistons taken Carmelo Anthony instead of Darko. So yeah, Anthony's way better than Darko, and probably things would be better NOW if they'd taken Anthony, but maybe they wouldn't have gotten the championship they did win in '04.

r.wallace and t.prince to the nuggets

h.nene and c.anthony to the pistons


DENVER
in fighting karl/anthoney gone
3 headed monster (camby, wallace, kmart - C/PF setup)
prince badly needed wing defender
iverson needs to be freed up on defense and be the no. 1 scorer
if wallace fails his contract expires so no big deal
eliminate risk on nene future


DETROIT
nene all dependant on health so a risk
already other solid bigs though like mcdyess and maxiell
energy/scoring major thing that is killing the pistons - they are stale
carmelo wont be liable on defense as backcourt defenders (billups and hamilton and stuckey are great)
carmelo instant all star added and offensive stud


you only need so many defenders
carmelo needs a leader like billups to show him the way

detroits backcourt SHOULD not be touched but they really badly need a spark and that man could be melo at the 3

pistons current group can only go so far they need other teams to start fearing how they will stop them again


r.wallace is attractive because of the 3 way PF/C combination for the big mans west (camby-wallace-martin)

r.wallace is low risk he has 1 year left on his contract if it dosent work out

t.prince is what the nuggets need a solid 3 who can score and defend who dosent earn ridiculous money

The idea of a dual-hybrid backcourt is brilliant.
That is what propelled the late-90's version of the Bulls to their championships in 96 through 98. Both Jordan and Ron Harper were big, tall guards who played together in the backcourt. Even though both started their careers as shooting guards, they could both handle the ball and play point guard when needed.
The only flaw is on the defensive end, where an opposing team's smaller, quicker point guard could slither by. Even Jordan occasionally had trouble defending those quick small guys.
- JL

Sounds like Dumars is really trying to shake things up. I'm interested to see Rasheed Wallace play in a contract year.

If Dumars would have taken Carmelo Anthony at #2 in the 2003 Draft, he would'nt be in this situation that he is in now. The Pistons have a bunch of really good basketball players, but no one superstar. Yes it worked in 2004, but at that time they had 5 really good basketball players instead of the 4 really good basketball players they have now. Dumars should take more credit for not drafting Carmelo Anthony. The Pistons would have at least won the Finals in 2005 and Probably had one maybe even two more legitimate shots at titles the past 4 years had they had Melo on the team. Also, Melo would be more mature and a better basketball player playing around the likes of Billups, Hamilton, Prince, R. Wallace, and B. Wallace from his rookie season until now. The 2003 Draft should be looked upon as a key factor in making the Eastern Conference Finals every year for the past 6 years and only 2 finals apperances. The players and coaches should be held accountable as well, but Joe Dumars please don't forget your screw up in the 2003 Draft.

Holy smoke it looks like J. Dumars went to fat city. He look horrible. What has he been doing at the dinner table. Maybe its just the stress of the Pistons?

Reddog2 - it's the typical Mid-West diet of "meat and potatoes".
The idea of eating salads and vegetables has not yet hit places like Detroit.
Of course, when you're a pro athlete, you burn it all off, but you start gaining it once your playing days are over. The Detroit residents who work in auto plants also stay in shape through the hard work, but others out there gain weight and show their girth.
- JL

Good analysis, winkstrap. DMoney and others - let's please please not play the "Well if they had" game...they didn't. And they won a championship, so it didn't turn out too terrible.

at first i thought Joe making statements that he was open for business was just him venting for losing in the conf finals the past few years. apparently not. if joe is labeling stuckey his only untouchable.....then this maybe the beginning of the end for joe. who i thought was doing one of the better jobs throughout the league.

Copying and pasting your post from the other day wink?
-No original ideas>?

As I responded the other day to you....not going to happen......
Not enough value in return for Melo

- and you responded to me.....trades have more to do with $ than talent.....

And I said- that though $ is a FACTOR....they won't just GIVE melo away
he's too young & can score in the league-

Only Rasheed needs to go on this roster. Prince should be untouchable because he is young and he's a great defender.

Hamilton brings you another dimension on offense and I don't see why would the Pistons trade him. Billups has a lengthy contract and he's up there in age so I am not sure if the Pistons can get much for him in return.

Stuckey might be good, but I don't think he is ready to carry the Pistons. Maybe keep Billups as a mentor for him the next season. Bottom line is, the Pistons are in a rebuilding mode.

Yeah, like the "fire sale" that is going on with the Pistons will net some good players in exchange. Look around in the NBA and you can't win by meshing together unknown comodities. Who's there in Free Agency? How many superstars can they truly trade for ? What would it cost to bring in a Wade or a Dwight Howard?

The only two teams that will make a play for SHEED is Charlotte with Larry Brown and Denver with Gearge Karl

Carolina guys stick together

Should be two untouchable Pistons: Stuckey (although I don't know why he is untouchable) and Tayshawn Prince. Dumars would be a fool to trade Prince.

I agree....who is stuckey? and why is he 'untouchable' ?

Dumars is going to regret blowing this team up. Rebuilding is a lot harder than it looks. He should put in a call to Pat Riley or Jerry Reinsdorf. They could tell him a few things. The Bulls have been rebuilding since '98.

Hllywd: I agree with you about not blowing this team up. He needs to get rid of Rasheed but other then that this team needs to stay firm.

Dumars is smart. He's going to try to bring in new blood and keep contending rather than have all his guys get old at one time. Sell off the parts mentality. They've stagnated a bit.

Dump Wallace and Hamilton. Stuckey can get the job done at either the PG or SG spot and trade the other two for a good, young big man.