[Mel Kiper Jr]

Originally Posted by jbill

I'd love for us to find a better rebounder/rim protector for cheap to take the role that Max is filling right now.

Bynum for Turiaf?
CV or Max for Diop?
Daye/Max for Ellington/Darko?

I don't know...just some ideas. I like the idea of our defensive identity involving someone who blocks more than one shot every two games.

WHY would Minnesotta do that trade? Daye sucks and Max is overpaid and lazy.

Diop sucks. He hasn't score a point in 3 games and is averaging 2 ppg for his career. We'd be looking for ways to get his contract off the books if we traded for him.

Turiaf wouldn't be much of an improvement over Maxiell.

If you want to roll the dice, go for Thabeet. Something l ike Daye for Thabeet might work. Underachiever for underachiever.

[tin mad dog]

Okay- bump!

[whoDean]

GC was drinking the Joe Juice

[Lou Stefanic]

It's not juice, it's grease. And it excretes from Joe's pores. And has the vague odor of gravy.

[Mel Kiper Jr]

We are a 2 game winning streak away from this thread gaining steam again...

[mn3]

Detroit Pistons shooting guard Ben Gordon still struggling to meet expectations | MLive.com

If Daye's best position is SG, like I think it is, then this could come down to Gordon vs. Daye vs. somebody not on the roster yet. We certainly really need one of Gordon or Daye to snap out of it and to start playing like they are quality players. If neither does, both could be gone after this season and the Pistons will have a hole to fill.

[King Mob]

Is that hole backup shooting guard?

[ThaMaestro]

Isn't Rodney the two guard of the future?

[mn3]

3 guard rotation. I assume Stuckey will eventually be the starter. I'm thinking of who the third guard will be.

[diecast75]

did someone pick up keith bogans yet?

[King Mob]

.500 is worst case scenario, check out this analysis you guys

Detroit Pistons: Why Greg Monroe Is the Best Up-and-Coming NBA Center | Bleacher Report

[Stefan S]

Originally Posted by King Mob

.500 is worst case scenario, check out this analysis you guys

Detroit Pistons: Why Greg Monroe Is the Best Up-and-Coming NBA Center | Bleacher Report

I posted the same link in the "homer" thread


but yeah!

I agree that we already have more inside O presence than ever in the recent history
(I never saw the great Bob Lanier but I saw his shoes, impressive.)

[Dave Bing]

Biggest feats in the NBA...

[Stefan S]

First off, Dave Bing, fuck off!

When I saw those shoes in person (they are behind the glass at the Palace), I just flipped out. They look like they are for the San Clause or some other cartoon character, like small canoes with laces.

[tin mad dog]

Is it time to edit this to say .050 or better?

[ghandi]

Is it too late to put some money on that under 20.5 win total that Vegas listed at the beginning of the year?!?!

[Mel Kiper Jr]

Originally Posted by ghandi

Is it too late to put some money on that under 20.5 win total that Vegas listed at the beginning of the year?!?!

As soon as you do that, Joe will go out and sign Kenyon Martin to prove that he isn't tanking on purpose.

[Stefan S]

Originally Posted by Mel Kiper Jr

As soon as you do that, Joe will go out and sign Kenyon Martin to prove that he isn't tanking on purpose.

Or make a trade of Tay for Kayman
JJ / Austin starts at SF
we have an immediate 5-6 games improvement

it would be a nice trade, I thnk
of course not possible ntill March (?).

[Hobbs]

Kaman isn't getting traded for veterans. They want picks and expirings. They are not going to take on long term salary for him.

[Stefan S]

too bad, we do not have assets

(of course we build around Knight/Monroe
I think also Stuckey, even if eventually off the bench, and JJ

[Mel Kiper Jr]

I think our best course of action here is picking up guys from the D-League for tryouts. Maybe we can snag a PF that has some potential?

[Stefan S]

Originally Posted by Mel Kiper Jr

I think our best course of action here is picking up guys from the D-League for tryouts. Maybe we can snag a PF that has some potential?

Good idea and why not to roll a dice from time to time .
We have notthing to lose. I hope we scout these guys but,
then, so is the rest of the league.

[ghandi]

Originally Posted by Hobbs

Kaman isn't getting traded for veterans. They want picks and expirings. They are not going to take on long term salary for him.

Yeah we better watch it...Joe will trade the lotto pick for him......

[Mel Kiper Jr]

I think a worry is that he will trade the lotto pick to some team to take Gordon or Villaneuva and get a player back kind of like the Clippers did that costed them Irving.

[Dave Bing]

No way that happens. Of all the fears this season, us dumping our best asset is not one of them.

[papalawrence]

Originally Posted by tin mad dog

Is it time to edit this to say .050 or better?

Lol.......count me in the camp that overestimated these Pistons. I thought they might win 28-30 games this year.

But imho they are winning.......Knight and Monroe are playing major minutes, and the Pistons are hoarding ping pong balls.

[hack]

Not winning, but perhaps they are #winning.

[Mel Kiper Jr]

I don't know that this is the year to be really bad. There seems to be no Blake Griffin this year, but about 7 players that are really good.

So theorectically, being one of the worst 7 teams is all we needed...not being horribly bad. Thus, another reason I don't think we are tanking on purpose.

[mn3]

You might be right. There might be no transcendant superstar in this draft - no top five player like Rose or Griffin or Howard. But I think Davis has a chance to be close to that level. If he is paired with Monroe and Knight, I could see him maximizing his potential, since both of these Pistons seem to have the ethic and IQ to do so.


Chad Ford, when asked, said that of all the teams, the best fit for Davis would be the Pistons, and he'd expect that his addition would be enough to turn us into a playoff team.


But if we have to settle on Drummond, Robinson, Sillinger, Barnes, Perry Jones or Gilchrist - we might well have one more year smack dab in the lottery giving us the chance to add a 4th terrific core player to a team. (The 4 are Knight, Monroe, the 2012 pick and the 2013 pick). My thinking is if we don't get a guy who in year one is an NBA ready defensive stud - we'll remain too poor a defensive team to win enough games to make the playoffs. The only guy I see changing that for us in yr 1 is Davis.


My guess is that Drummond, Jones, Robinson might each become excellent defenders - but it will take them 2 or 3 seasons to adapt to the NBA to make that huge impact on that end. There's nothing wrong with that - we're at least 2-3 years away from being seasoned enough (let alone talented enough) to be a top team. But it seems to me that only Davis could put us in a position to win enough games to jump out of the lottery next season.


Still, assuming we're a lotto team once again, we could be setting ourselves up to be a Portland Trailblazer like team before it all went bad with Oden, Roy and losing so much of their terrific young talent. 2012-13 could be a really fun year for the Pistons. We'll still be sorting through things with Stuckey, JJ (two really nice pieces for any team - and certainly with value throughout the league), Gordon, Daye (if he's even still on the roster - man, this is a kid whose head needs to be pulled out of his arse and quick. He's squandering a ton of natural talent. He SHOULD be a guy who turns into a great asset for the Pistons, but that's just not happening right now), Maxiell (who is playing like a guy who deserves a role on a good team), Tay and even CV.


If we draft a guy like Gilchrist or Barnes, that should increase the odds that Tay is traded for another young asset by trading deadline next season. If we draft a power forward, then CV might be amnestied or traded. No matter what though, I like the way this is shaping up.

[The King]

I like Robinson a lot. He ATTACKS the basket. He would be a nice fit next to Monroe who is more of a finesse offensive player. You really have to love how Robinson shows up for big games.

[Orwellian O.]

This team is really only a solid, athletic, D playing PF away.

Knight
Stuckey
Prince
??????????????
Monroe


That is a pretty good linup, it is the PF position that is killing the team. Also, a rebounding SF off the bench would be great.

[Stefan S]

I am not yet convinced that Monroe is a true C.
I see him more as a power O player who likes to bang inside
but I think he lacks an inch or two to be a true C.
Anyway, our other big needs to have lots of size.
Ideally, our other big should have enough size to be able to guard the opposition biggest man.

Of course, other things being equal, at this moment (before the tournament and so on)
it looks like you probably have to draft Davis if you have a chance.

[B.I.G.]

As far as drafting a front court player, its Davis or bust for me. If its BPA, then its Barnes or bust after Davis is gone. I may take Drummond but after that, not really excited about Sullinger, Robinson (haven't seen him play but his size concerns me and not a strong shot blocker) and others pairing with monroe. We almost certainly need to draft Davis just to improve our defense. Ben Wallace made the Pistons defense better by any defensive lapse from the guard play. Defensively, we could very well...as a matter of fact we would be a better defensive team than that 2004 team. Stuck, Knight, Prince, Davis and Monroe would something to get excited about.

[Hobbs]

Sullinger is the best offensive player in this draft. He'll be a 15+ ppg guy in the NBA at a fairly high efficiency. He'll also rebound at a competitive level 8-10 per game (and he may do more). He's sort of fallen into the trap of people knowing too much about him and nitpicking him to death. He's not the best fit with Monroe, but having two double double guys with great offensive efficiency is a pretty damn good foundation.

Robinson is the best rebounder in the draft. That's a big plus. He can do a lot of things offensively, but he isn't a post up every time down the floor type.

[GC_STONES]

The thread topic was a typo. It was supposed to be ".500 or better next season". I swear to David Stern.

Anthony Davis is impeccably what this team needs. We have a legit shot at him and it is titillating the GC neurons to go into full GC mode.

This kid is the best DEFENSIVE big man prospect to come around since Dwight Howard/Okafor draft. Sadly, there is no way that Davis doesn't go #1 overall. Dumars needs to sacrifice Villanueva at center court of the Palace to gain the b-ball gods favor.

[GC_STONES]

Robinson or Sullinger would be a solid consolation prize--if we don't land Davis at #1.

Sullinger and Monroe appears awkward on paper, but having two beast double-double guys to go to war with is hard to come by. It worked for Memphis.

Robinson oozes potential. I won't be too upset if we miss Davis and land TR.

[The King]

I like MKG if we take BPA and don't go big. I don't want Barnes. I just don't see it with him.

[B.I.G.]

Yeah I'm going to check out Kansas vs Baylor this wednesday on ESPN2. Two potential Pistons drafties in Perry Jones III and Robinson should be fun to watch. Watched Henson and Davis yesterday evening and before I thought they were the same type of players but yesterday I was just sold on Davis

[B.I.G.]

Originally Posted by The King

I like MKG if we take BPA and don't go big. I don't want Barnes. I just don't see it with him.

Barnes is NBA ready trust me. You won't be dissappointed with him

[Hobbs]

I'm a little less sold on Henson than I was before. I just wish he would have bulked up a bit more by now. He's still a top 10 guy, but hanging out at the bottom of that tier now.

[GC_STONES]

MKG is probably BPA anywhere from #2-7.

I would love to have him because of his versatility and you just know he'll find a way to impact a game--wherever he is plugged in at. He can play either wing spot.

A wing rotation of Stuckey, Knight, MKG, Prince, Jerebko.... quite good.

[Stefan S]

Originally Posted by GC_STONES

Dumars needs to sacrifice Villanueva at center court of the Palace to gain the b-ball gods favor.

addition by subtraction
a classic case

[Dave Bing]

Agree about Sullinger being overanalyzed. He gives you the same things as DeMarcus Cousins with fewer jumpshots and mental spasms.