Glenn
07-10-2008, 09:31 AM
:langlois:
THURSDAY, July 10
Tony (Ecorse, Mich.): What players could Joe sign with part of the mid-level exception? It doesn’t seem like $5.6 million is a whole lot of money for one NBA player today, let alone two.
Langlois: There aren’t many free agents who’ll draw full MLE offers. Corey Maggette got more than that from Golden State, but then he opted out of a deal that was already over the MLE. If James Posey gets the maximum amount of money, I doubt he’ll get a full five years. He might be able to leverage his way into a fourth year because interest in him seems pretty high. Mickael Pietrus got a little less than the full MLE. James Jones got five years and $4 million a year from Miami, but only the first two years are guaranteed. Once this first wave passes, there’ll be a lot of player still out of work and a lot of teams who’ve already spent their money.
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Brett (Mililani, Hawaii): With the 76ers getting Brand and Orlando signing Pietrus (and Courtney Lee also looks like a good pick), the East looks a lot tougher. There must be a heightened sense of urgency in the Pistons’ camp to tweak their own roster.
Langlois: And Toronto picking up Jermaine O’Neal makes the Raptors all that much stronger if he can stay on the floor. But I think it’s safe to assume Joe Dumars knew other teams in the East would be making use of the cap space and assets at their disposal to close the gap. I don’t think anything other teams have done are going to form Joe D’s plan of action.
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Travis (Chicago): With Brand going to Philadelphia and Pietrus to Orlando, don’t you think Detroit needs to not mess around with Delfino and use the whole mid-level exception on James Posey? We certainly aren’t getting any younger and Posey has more to offer than Jarvis Hayes, Mo Evans or Delfino.
Langlois: The Pistons had their eyes on Posey a year ago but didn’t have the same role to offer as Boston. They’d be interested in him again – on their terms. I think Posey wants four or five years and I don’t know if the Pistons want to go there for a 31-year-old role player. He was superb in the playoffs, no question, but you have to be awfully careful evaluating players based on that sample size. Posey would help pretty much any contender, but a full mid-level deal – five years starting at the new MLE, just released by the NBA on Tuesday night, at $5.585 million, is a lot of money. Make a mistake and it could tie your hands two, three and four years down the road when you won’t have the chance to bid on better players – or, worse, won’t be able to retain your own free agents.
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Aaron (New York City): Shouldn’t the Pistons hurry up and make a move to make us even better? I’ve already heard comments saying the 76ers are better than the Pistons now that they’ve signed Elton Brand.
Langlois: Philly is now a real factor in the Eastern Conference, Aaron, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say the 76ers are better than the Pistons. And that’s as of today. Philly has now played its cards. The Pistons still have moves to make. And even if they make no moves, the Pistons have reason to believe they have plenty of room for internal growth from players like Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell and Arron Afflalo. Patience over the summer is advised. There will be plenty of solid players still on the market into August.
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Jackson (Grosse Pointe, Mich.): I know Joe D will be looking to add a veteran big man to fill the spot as No. 5 in the rotation, but why not go get a proven guy like Alonzo Mourning or Robert Horry to fill that spot?
Langlois: If the Pistons add a veteran big man, it almost certainly will be Theo Ratliff. And I think it’s possible that Cheikh Samb challenges him for that No. 5 spot. Based on what I saw in Wednesday’s practice in Las Vegas – granted, that’s not a lot to go on – Samb looks a lot more sure of himself and closer to cracking an NBA rotation this summer than last. He’s been in Auburn Hills since the season ended working with the coaches and it looks like things are starting to come naturally for him. Mourning is coming off a major knee injury and is committed to staying in Miami if he continues to play. Horry didn’t look like he had much, if anything, left for the Spurs last season.
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Al (Ishpeming, Mich.): What are your thoughts about possibly playing Amir Johnson at small forward? He seems to be young, fast and agile enough to play that position.
Langlois: Amir is much more comfortable guarding closer to the basket, Al. I’m not sure at this point he has the footwork to be chasing quicker small forwards. Amir has amazing straight-line speed for a big man and very good lateral mobility, but defending guys like Paul Pierce and Richard Jefferson is a little much. Besides, one of his great assets is his shot-blocking ability – I don’t think you want to move him very far from the rim.
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Fran (Southfield, Mich.): I read the Pistons might be interested in signing Carlos Delfino. Why would they want someone back who wasn’t happy here the first time around?
Langlois: I think it’s a real consideration for the Pistons at this point – with Pietrus and Jones off the market at pretty high price tags – partly because of the year Delfino spent outside the organization. He now knows the grass isn’t necessarily greener, if you know what I mean. The Pistons always thought he had tantalizing potential. He can put the ball on the floor, defend, run and jump. His outside shot was a little erratic and he leaned on it a little too much, but he gained valuable experience as Toronto’s sixth man for most of last season and would come back – if he comes back – a wiser and more experienced player. Delfino was a little high maintenance with the Pistons, thinking he deserved a bigger role than he was ever given, but he got some of the same treatment in Toronto and should have a better understanding of the NBA’s meritocracy system now – playing time goes to those who earn it.
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Sam (St. Louis): With a likely starting lineup of Stuckey, Afflalo, Sharpe, Johnson and Samb, will the emphasis in Summer League be on giving the starting five plenty of playing time or giving minutes to the likes of Acker, Bynum, Plaisted and Washington to see what they can offer. Is it possible to achieve both?
Langlois: Well, Acker’s out, Sam, as I wrote about in my blog on Wednesday. He apparently reinjured the knee that caused him some problems last summer and almost nullified the contract he signed with Barcelona. That’s a real setback for his shot at making the team. But Michael Curry told me that the starters will get the majority of minutes here in Summer League, though they’re also going to try to get good looks at the other players that are their property – draft choices Trent Plaisted and Deron Washington. They also think Will Bynum has a shot to stick, so they’ll want to see how he responds to game situations. Beyond those guys, minutes will be precious for the rest of the roster as they try to catch someone’s eye for a chance to get invited to an NBA camp or sign a contract overseas.
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Rob (Mount Pleasant, Mich.): What are your thoughts on Shaun Livingston, especially if Lindsey Hunter retires. He could be an asset with his length and size to complement Stuckey.
Langlois: I can’t imagine either the Pistons or Livingston seeing the attraction in making a marriage as long as both Chauncey Billups and Rodney Stuckey are on the roster. Livingston, even coming off the devastating knee injury he suffered about 18 months ago, is going to want a little clearer path to playing time than that. And the Pistons couldn’t compete financially with teams who have more than that limited role to offer him. Now, would it be a great luxury to have a guy with the potential of Livingston as the No. 3 point guard? You bet. If he can stay healthy, he has a chance to be a very good player. But unless he drags out his free agency while the Pistons do something dramatic in trade, I don’t see a match here.
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Alec (Detroit): How about trading Chauncey for Stephen Jackson? Golden State would have to throw someone else in to make the money work, but would get the point guard it needs. Golden State has Maggette now, so Jackson could be expendable to them.
Langlois: I wrote on Monday in my blog, Alec, that it would not be at all surprising to hear that Golden State had inquired about Chauncey Billups and suggested the logical exchange would involve either Jackson or, more likely, Al Harrington. But that was before Maggette signed. I still think the Warriors would like to hang on to Jackson, playing him at shooting guard, with Maggette at small forward. They might now be inclined to put Monta Ellis at point guard. We’ll have to see how it shakes out. But as to your point about throwing in someone else – yeah, I agree the Warriors would have to sweeten the pot and I suggested a No. 1 pick would be the likeliest sweetener. But money doesn’t have anything to do with it because when Baron Davis left, the Warriors got way under the salary cap – they could take on a big contract without having to ship out an equally big deal.
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Sean (Melbourne, Australia): I wonder if the Pistons are targeting J.R. Smith since they did try to get him last season. He could back up Tayshaun Prince at small forward and would probably settle for the mid-level exception.
Langlois: The Pistons didn’t try to trade for Smith last season. It was reported, but it simply was not true. I think Smith’s spotty behavioral track record makes it unlikely he’s going to get MLE money, though on pure talent he sure would be a candidate. He seems distinctly un-Piston like to me, but you never know.
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Adam (Chicago): With some recent trade rumors apparently having fizzled, is it an option for Joe Dumars to move one guy this off-season to save up money for 2009 or ’10 when the free agent classes are stronger? Would he consider taking a small step back in order to open up options for the future while gaining experience for our youth?
Langlois: I think he’d object to the notion of purposely taking a step back to horde resources for a run at free agents down the road because the truth is high-caliber free agents rarely change teams, though Elton Brand and Baron Davis are putting the lie to that notion. It’s pretty clear that both New York and New Jersey are positioning themselves to be players in 2010 when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Ray Allen, Amare Stoudemire and Manu Ginobili, among others, are due to hit free agency. But chances are pretty good most of those players wind up back with their old teams. I think it’s possible the Pistons find a trade that might appear to be a step back but turns out not to be – something along the lines of their 2002 deal that sent Jerry Stackhouse away for Rip Hamilton.
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Boris (Troy, Mich.): Is it possible to project which teams will be the top contenders in the East and West based on the draft, trades and free agency thus far?
Langlois: Still pretty early for that, Boris. I think the teams that have helped themselves the most so far this off-season are Philadelphia, Toronto and Milwaukee. And since Philly and Toronto were already playoff teams, I think they now have a reasonable chance at contending at the top of the East if a few other things go right for them this summer. The Bucks stole Richard Jefferson from New Jersey and got a good one in the draft in Joe Alexander – nice start by former Pistons VP John Hammond – and now look like a playoff team.
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John (Farmington Hills, Mich.): Did the Pistons try to move up in the draft? If Miami needed a point guard and wanted to trade its pick, could it have been Billups for Beasley?
Langlois: I got no indication the Pistons tried very hard to move up. The general consensus was they didn’t feel there was any sure thing unless they were able to move up dramatically and there wasn’t anything that tempted them to do so. The Pistons couldn’t have traded Billups for Beasley because Miami couldn’t take on an $11 million contract without sending a similar sum back to the Pistons.
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Joel (Calgary, Alberta): All of the Eastern Conference playoff teams have good small forwards – LeBron, Pierce, Turkoglu, Igoudala. We need a good defender behind Tayshaun to be successful in the playoffs. Never mind the money, signing James Posey would be great. What do you think?
Langlois: Posey was terrific for Boston throughout the postseason. He might have hit as many big shots as Pierce or Allen did. But you can’t say “never mind the money” because the salary cap makes it necessary to mind the money very carefully. And I’d be leery about giving Posey a full mid-level exception deal – at least for the full five years. Three years, sure. Four? Maybe.
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Jim (Warren, Mich.): Is it legal to construct a player’s contract with bonus incentives to win a championship? Does the bonus count toward the salary cap? Could this be a simple way to improve the “hunger” we are looking for from our current roster?
Langlois: According to the league’s collective bargaining agreement, it is legal to attach bonuses to a player’s contract. For purposes of calculating salaries related to the salary cap, the league classifies bonuses as either “likely to be achieved” or “unlikely to be achieved” based on the previous season’s numbers. I could find nothing specific about an incentive for winning the title. I suppose, based on a strict interpretation, that only the Boston Celtics would have to classify an incentive to win the NBA title as “likely to be achieved.” But in the first year of a contract, even unlikely to be achieved bonuses count toward the cap.
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Ryan (Grand Rapids, Mich.): If Al Harrington is the best player Detroit can get via trade, then Dumars wasn’t kidding when he said he wasn’t talking about team’s second- or third-best players. Harrington is Golden State’s fourth or fifth best. Don’t trade with Golden State. They have nothing of value except Monta Ellis.
Langlois: I wasn’t advocating for the trade, only suggesting that given the Warriors’ needs it would be surprising if they didn’t at least check in to Chauncey Billups’ availability and try building a package around Harrington in return. But don’t underestimate Harrington. I think he’d be a lot closer to the guy who averaged 18 points and seven boards a game for Atlanta two years ago if he got back in the Eastern Conference playing a style more compatible with his skills.
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Richard (Salt Lake City): Reading your True Blue Pistons blog, you mentioned Josh Childress. Makes sense. Boston couldn’t deal with him, home or away.
Langlois: Atlanta will have to pony up if it wants to keep both Josh Smith and Childress as restricted free agents. The Hawks might decide that paying a full mid-level exception to Childress would be too much of a commitment when he’s playing behind Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams. Much like Corey Maggette, Childress would be a real luxury as a sixth man for a contender. But if somebody throws a ton of money at Smith and the Hawks let him go, then they’ll surely do everything within reason to keep Childress.
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Jerry (Walled Lake, Mich.): I’m a little confused. I thought when we traded Nazr Mohammed that we would have his salary slot to combine with our other expiring contracts to use to go after an above-average player in free agency. I thought we would have cap space freed up in addition to being able to use the mid-level exception.
Langlois: Not the case, Jerry. The Pistons are over the salary cap just with commitments to their five starters plus Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, Cheikh Samb and rookie Walter Sharpe. Trading Mohammed merely meant that they wouldn’t have his $6 million on the books, as well. That doesn’t mean they can turn around and spent that $6 million on someone else and still use the MLE on another player. Teams over the salary cap can only use the MLE and their bi-annual exception – as the name suggests, you can use it every other year to sign a player for no more than $1.91 million for the coming season – and the veteran’s minimum. The Pistons have all of those in play this year. They could have used the MLE even if they hadn’t traded Mohammed, but they could not have done so without exceeding the luxury-tax threshold – which means they probably would not have used it.
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Spencer (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.): How do you think Walter Sharpe will fit in the rotation?
Langlois: We’ll get our first hints at that over the next week or so, Spencer, during the NBA Summer League. Michael Curry told me Wednesday, after putting Sharpe through two days or practice, that he has a great feel for the game and is a hard worker. Those are two pretty good indicators that he’ll be a keeper. I watched him practice and he certainly moves fluidly. He is struggling now with learning assignments and his shot wasn’t going in, but there’s nothing wrong with the stroke.
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Chris (Fremont, Ohio): What NBA player most closely resembles Cheikh Samb in playing style? I have only seen highlights of him and from what I could see he reminded me of Jermaine O’Neal. What are the chances of him cracking the rotation next year?
Langlois: Samb has a long way to go to become the player O’Neal is – or was, at least. O’Neal had very good footwork in the post that made him one of the league’s best on the blocks. Where Samb could approach O’Neal’s impact is as a shot-blocking defender. O’Neal was right there with the very best in the game as an on-the-ball post defender. Samb needs experience more than anything. He has the physical tools to stay in the NBA for a long time.
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Russell (Grosse Pointe, Mich.): I find it completely unfair that Los Angeles has two teams. So don’t you feel David Stern, regardless of how profitable they are, should move the Clippers to another city – possibly Seattle?
Langlois: Stern isn’t in the business of initiating franchise relocations. It’s his job to approve or reject them by steering the vote of the owners. No one is going to tell Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who moved the team to Los Angeles from San Diego, that he has to uproot and move anywhere. As for Seattle, I think it’s pretty likely it will again get an NBA team. It’s a growing, vibrant market that just won seed money to refurbish Key Arena or build a new one as part of its settlement with Clay Bennett for moving the Sonics to Oklahoma City. Once that ball gets rolling, you’ll probably hear Memphis and New Orleans mentioned as possible transfers.
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Elle (Phoenix, Ariz.): I would absolutely love to won the Pistons’ 2004 and 2005 seasons on DVD. Are these available for purchase?
Langlois: No, Elle, the NBA doesn’t allow teams to make their telecasts available via DVD. I suspect the production costs of something like that would be prohibitive vs. the revenue potential. But you can find an NBA highlight video of the Pistons’ 2004 championship season on DVD. A simple Google search should point you in the right direction.
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Norman (Indianapolis): The biggest deficiency with the Pistons is the absence of a suitable backup small forward. I believe a strong push should be made for Josh Smith. Furthermore, Cheikh Samb and Amir Johnson appear to be ready to play. We all know Kendrick Perkins had a good showing for the Celtics with improved playing time.
Langlois: Josh Smith isn’t going anywhere to be a backup, Norman, and certainly not for the money he’s seeking as a restricted free agent – and he’ll definitely be getting more than $10 million a year should he go back to Atlanta for one more season and hit unrestricted free agency a year from now. Johnson will more than likely find his way into Michael Curry’s rotation next season. Samb has one more year of seasoning to endure before he makes his big push for time, but it’s possible he cracks the back end of the rotation at times this season.
THURSDAY, July 10
Tony (Ecorse, Mich.): What players could Joe sign with part of the mid-level exception? It doesn’t seem like $5.6 million is a whole lot of money for one NBA player today, let alone two.
Langlois: There aren’t many free agents who’ll draw full MLE offers. Corey Maggette got more than that from Golden State, but then he opted out of a deal that was already over the MLE. If James Posey gets the maximum amount of money, I doubt he’ll get a full five years. He might be able to leverage his way into a fourth year because interest in him seems pretty high. Mickael Pietrus got a little less than the full MLE. James Jones got five years and $4 million a year from Miami, but only the first two years are guaranteed. Once this first wave passes, there’ll be a lot of player still out of work and a lot of teams who’ve already spent their money.
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Brett (Mililani, Hawaii): With the 76ers getting Brand and Orlando signing Pietrus (and Courtney Lee also looks like a good pick), the East looks a lot tougher. There must be a heightened sense of urgency in the Pistons’ camp to tweak their own roster.
Langlois: And Toronto picking up Jermaine O’Neal makes the Raptors all that much stronger if he can stay on the floor. But I think it’s safe to assume Joe Dumars knew other teams in the East would be making use of the cap space and assets at their disposal to close the gap. I don’t think anything other teams have done are going to form Joe D’s plan of action.
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Travis (Chicago): With Brand going to Philadelphia and Pietrus to Orlando, don’t you think Detroit needs to not mess around with Delfino and use the whole mid-level exception on James Posey? We certainly aren’t getting any younger and Posey has more to offer than Jarvis Hayes, Mo Evans or Delfino.
Langlois: The Pistons had their eyes on Posey a year ago but didn’t have the same role to offer as Boston. They’d be interested in him again – on their terms. I think Posey wants four or five years and I don’t know if the Pistons want to go there for a 31-year-old role player. He was superb in the playoffs, no question, but you have to be awfully careful evaluating players based on that sample size. Posey would help pretty much any contender, but a full mid-level deal – five years starting at the new MLE, just released by the NBA on Tuesday night, at $5.585 million, is a lot of money. Make a mistake and it could tie your hands two, three and four years down the road when you won’t have the chance to bid on better players – or, worse, won’t be able to retain your own free agents.
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Aaron (New York City): Shouldn’t the Pistons hurry up and make a move to make us even better? I’ve already heard comments saying the 76ers are better than the Pistons now that they’ve signed Elton Brand.
Langlois: Philly is now a real factor in the Eastern Conference, Aaron, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say the 76ers are better than the Pistons. And that’s as of today. Philly has now played its cards. The Pistons still have moves to make. And even if they make no moves, the Pistons have reason to believe they have plenty of room for internal growth from players like Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell and Arron Afflalo. Patience over the summer is advised. There will be plenty of solid players still on the market into August.
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Jackson (Grosse Pointe, Mich.): I know Joe D will be looking to add a veteran big man to fill the spot as No. 5 in the rotation, but why not go get a proven guy like Alonzo Mourning or Robert Horry to fill that spot?
Langlois: If the Pistons add a veteran big man, it almost certainly will be Theo Ratliff. And I think it’s possible that Cheikh Samb challenges him for that No. 5 spot. Based on what I saw in Wednesday’s practice in Las Vegas – granted, that’s not a lot to go on – Samb looks a lot more sure of himself and closer to cracking an NBA rotation this summer than last. He’s been in Auburn Hills since the season ended working with the coaches and it looks like things are starting to come naturally for him. Mourning is coming off a major knee injury and is committed to staying in Miami if he continues to play. Horry didn’t look like he had much, if anything, left for the Spurs last season.
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Al (Ishpeming, Mich.): What are your thoughts about possibly playing Amir Johnson at small forward? He seems to be young, fast and agile enough to play that position.
Langlois: Amir is much more comfortable guarding closer to the basket, Al. I’m not sure at this point he has the footwork to be chasing quicker small forwards. Amir has amazing straight-line speed for a big man and very good lateral mobility, but defending guys like Paul Pierce and Richard Jefferson is a little much. Besides, one of his great assets is his shot-blocking ability – I don’t think you want to move him very far from the rim.
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Fran (Southfield, Mich.): I read the Pistons might be interested in signing Carlos Delfino. Why would they want someone back who wasn’t happy here the first time around?
Langlois: I think it’s a real consideration for the Pistons at this point – with Pietrus and Jones off the market at pretty high price tags – partly because of the year Delfino spent outside the organization. He now knows the grass isn’t necessarily greener, if you know what I mean. The Pistons always thought he had tantalizing potential. He can put the ball on the floor, defend, run and jump. His outside shot was a little erratic and he leaned on it a little too much, but he gained valuable experience as Toronto’s sixth man for most of last season and would come back – if he comes back – a wiser and more experienced player. Delfino was a little high maintenance with the Pistons, thinking he deserved a bigger role than he was ever given, but he got some of the same treatment in Toronto and should have a better understanding of the NBA’s meritocracy system now – playing time goes to those who earn it.
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Sam (St. Louis): With a likely starting lineup of Stuckey, Afflalo, Sharpe, Johnson and Samb, will the emphasis in Summer League be on giving the starting five plenty of playing time or giving minutes to the likes of Acker, Bynum, Plaisted and Washington to see what they can offer. Is it possible to achieve both?
Langlois: Well, Acker’s out, Sam, as I wrote about in my blog on Wednesday. He apparently reinjured the knee that caused him some problems last summer and almost nullified the contract he signed with Barcelona. That’s a real setback for his shot at making the team. But Michael Curry told me that the starters will get the majority of minutes here in Summer League, though they’re also going to try to get good looks at the other players that are their property – draft choices Trent Plaisted and Deron Washington. They also think Will Bynum has a shot to stick, so they’ll want to see how he responds to game situations. Beyond those guys, minutes will be precious for the rest of the roster as they try to catch someone’s eye for a chance to get invited to an NBA camp or sign a contract overseas.
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Rob (Mount Pleasant, Mich.): What are your thoughts on Shaun Livingston, especially if Lindsey Hunter retires. He could be an asset with his length and size to complement Stuckey.
Langlois: I can’t imagine either the Pistons or Livingston seeing the attraction in making a marriage as long as both Chauncey Billups and Rodney Stuckey are on the roster. Livingston, even coming off the devastating knee injury he suffered about 18 months ago, is going to want a little clearer path to playing time than that. And the Pistons couldn’t compete financially with teams who have more than that limited role to offer him. Now, would it be a great luxury to have a guy with the potential of Livingston as the No. 3 point guard? You bet. If he can stay healthy, he has a chance to be a very good player. But unless he drags out his free agency while the Pistons do something dramatic in trade, I don’t see a match here.
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Alec (Detroit): How about trading Chauncey for Stephen Jackson? Golden State would have to throw someone else in to make the money work, but would get the point guard it needs. Golden State has Maggette now, so Jackson could be expendable to them.
Langlois: I wrote on Monday in my blog, Alec, that it would not be at all surprising to hear that Golden State had inquired about Chauncey Billups and suggested the logical exchange would involve either Jackson or, more likely, Al Harrington. But that was before Maggette signed. I still think the Warriors would like to hang on to Jackson, playing him at shooting guard, with Maggette at small forward. They might now be inclined to put Monta Ellis at point guard. We’ll have to see how it shakes out. But as to your point about throwing in someone else – yeah, I agree the Warriors would have to sweeten the pot and I suggested a No. 1 pick would be the likeliest sweetener. But money doesn’t have anything to do with it because when Baron Davis left, the Warriors got way under the salary cap – they could take on a big contract without having to ship out an equally big deal.
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Sean (Melbourne, Australia): I wonder if the Pistons are targeting J.R. Smith since they did try to get him last season. He could back up Tayshaun Prince at small forward and would probably settle for the mid-level exception.
Langlois: The Pistons didn’t try to trade for Smith last season. It was reported, but it simply was not true. I think Smith’s spotty behavioral track record makes it unlikely he’s going to get MLE money, though on pure talent he sure would be a candidate. He seems distinctly un-Piston like to me, but you never know.
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Adam (Chicago): With some recent trade rumors apparently having fizzled, is it an option for Joe Dumars to move one guy this off-season to save up money for 2009 or ’10 when the free agent classes are stronger? Would he consider taking a small step back in order to open up options for the future while gaining experience for our youth?
Langlois: I think he’d object to the notion of purposely taking a step back to horde resources for a run at free agents down the road because the truth is high-caliber free agents rarely change teams, though Elton Brand and Baron Davis are putting the lie to that notion. It’s pretty clear that both New York and New Jersey are positioning themselves to be players in 2010 when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Ray Allen, Amare Stoudemire and Manu Ginobili, among others, are due to hit free agency. But chances are pretty good most of those players wind up back with their old teams. I think it’s possible the Pistons find a trade that might appear to be a step back but turns out not to be – something along the lines of their 2002 deal that sent Jerry Stackhouse away for Rip Hamilton.
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Boris (Troy, Mich.): Is it possible to project which teams will be the top contenders in the East and West based on the draft, trades and free agency thus far?
Langlois: Still pretty early for that, Boris. I think the teams that have helped themselves the most so far this off-season are Philadelphia, Toronto and Milwaukee. And since Philly and Toronto were already playoff teams, I think they now have a reasonable chance at contending at the top of the East if a few other things go right for them this summer. The Bucks stole Richard Jefferson from New Jersey and got a good one in the draft in Joe Alexander – nice start by former Pistons VP John Hammond – and now look like a playoff team.
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John (Farmington Hills, Mich.): Did the Pistons try to move up in the draft? If Miami needed a point guard and wanted to trade its pick, could it have been Billups for Beasley?
Langlois: I got no indication the Pistons tried very hard to move up. The general consensus was they didn’t feel there was any sure thing unless they were able to move up dramatically and there wasn’t anything that tempted them to do so. The Pistons couldn’t have traded Billups for Beasley because Miami couldn’t take on an $11 million contract without sending a similar sum back to the Pistons.
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Joel (Calgary, Alberta): All of the Eastern Conference playoff teams have good small forwards – LeBron, Pierce, Turkoglu, Igoudala. We need a good defender behind Tayshaun to be successful in the playoffs. Never mind the money, signing James Posey would be great. What do you think?
Langlois: Posey was terrific for Boston throughout the postseason. He might have hit as many big shots as Pierce or Allen did. But you can’t say “never mind the money” because the salary cap makes it necessary to mind the money very carefully. And I’d be leery about giving Posey a full mid-level exception deal – at least for the full five years. Three years, sure. Four? Maybe.
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Jim (Warren, Mich.): Is it legal to construct a player’s contract with bonus incentives to win a championship? Does the bonus count toward the salary cap? Could this be a simple way to improve the “hunger” we are looking for from our current roster?
Langlois: According to the league’s collective bargaining agreement, it is legal to attach bonuses to a player’s contract. For purposes of calculating salaries related to the salary cap, the league classifies bonuses as either “likely to be achieved” or “unlikely to be achieved” based on the previous season’s numbers. I could find nothing specific about an incentive for winning the title. I suppose, based on a strict interpretation, that only the Boston Celtics would have to classify an incentive to win the NBA title as “likely to be achieved.” But in the first year of a contract, even unlikely to be achieved bonuses count toward the cap.
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Ryan (Grand Rapids, Mich.): If Al Harrington is the best player Detroit can get via trade, then Dumars wasn’t kidding when he said he wasn’t talking about team’s second- or third-best players. Harrington is Golden State’s fourth or fifth best. Don’t trade with Golden State. They have nothing of value except Monta Ellis.
Langlois: I wasn’t advocating for the trade, only suggesting that given the Warriors’ needs it would be surprising if they didn’t at least check in to Chauncey Billups’ availability and try building a package around Harrington in return. But don’t underestimate Harrington. I think he’d be a lot closer to the guy who averaged 18 points and seven boards a game for Atlanta two years ago if he got back in the Eastern Conference playing a style more compatible with his skills.
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Richard (Salt Lake City): Reading your True Blue Pistons blog, you mentioned Josh Childress. Makes sense. Boston couldn’t deal with him, home or away.
Langlois: Atlanta will have to pony up if it wants to keep both Josh Smith and Childress as restricted free agents. The Hawks might decide that paying a full mid-level exception to Childress would be too much of a commitment when he’s playing behind Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams. Much like Corey Maggette, Childress would be a real luxury as a sixth man for a contender. But if somebody throws a ton of money at Smith and the Hawks let him go, then they’ll surely do everything within reason to keep Childress.
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Jerry (Walled Lake, Mich.): I’m a little confused. I thought when we traded Nazr Mohammed that we would have his salary slot to combine with our other expiring contracts to use to go after an above-average player in free agency. I thought we would have cap space freed up in addition to being able to use the mid-level exception.
Langlois: Not the case, Jerry. The Pistons are over the salary cap just with commitments to their five starters plus Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, Cheikh Samb and rookie Walter Sharpe. Trading Mohammed merely meant that they wouldn’t have his $6 million on the books, as well. That doesn’t mean they can turn around and spent that $6 million on someone else and still use the MLE on another player. Teams over the salary cap can only use the MLE and their bi-annual exception – as the name suggests, you can use it every other year to sign a player for no more than $1.91 million for the coming season – and the veteran’s minimum. The Pistons have all of those in play this year. They could have used the MLE even if they hadn’t traded Mohammed, but they could not have done so without exceeding the luxury-tax threshold – which means they probably would not have used it.
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Spencer (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.): How do you think Walter Sharpe will fit in the rotation?
Langlois: We’ll get our first hints at that over the next week or so, Spencer, during the NBA Summer League. Michael Curry told me Wednesday, after putting Sharpe through two days or practice, that he has a great feel for the game and is a hard worker. Those are two pretty good indicators that he’ll be a keeper. I watched him practice and he certainly moves fluidly. He is struggling now with learning assignments and his shot wasn’t going in, but there’s nothing wrong with the stroke.
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Chris (Fremont, Ohio): What NBA player most closely resembles Cheikh Samb in playing style? I have only seen highlights of him and from what I could see he reminded me of Jermaine O’Neal. What are the chances of him cracking the rotation next year?
Langlois: Samb has a long way to go to become the player O’Neal is – or was, at least. O’Neal had very good footwork in the post that made him one of the league’s best on the blocks. Where Samb could approach O’Neal’s impact is as a shot-blocking defender. O’Neal was right there with the very best in the game as an on-the-ball post defender. Samb needs experience more than anything. He has the physical tools to stay in the NBA for a long time.
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Russell (Grosse Pointe, Mich.): I find it completely unfair that Los Angeles has two teams. So don’t you feel David Stern, regardless of how profitable they are, should move the Clippers to another city – possibly Seattle?
Langlois: Stern isn’t in the business of initiating franchise relocations. It’s his job to approve or reject them by steering the vote of the owners. No one is going to tell Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who moved the team to Los Angeles from San Diego, that he has to uproot and move anywhere. As for Seattle, I think it’s pretty likely it will again get an NBA team. It’s a growing, vibrant market that just won seed money to refurbish Key Arena or build a new one as part of its settlement with Clay Bennett for moving the Sonics to Oklahoma City. Once that ball gets rolling, you’ll probably hear Memphis and New Orleans mentioned as possible transfers.
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Elle (Phoenix, Ariz.): I would absolutely love to won the Pistons’ 2004 and 2005 seasons on DVD. Are these available for purchase?
Langlois: No, Elle, the NBA doesn’t allow teams to make their telecasts available via DVD. I suspect the production costs of something like that would be prohibitive vs. the revenue potential. But you can find an NBA highlight video of the Pistons’ 2004 championship season on DVD. A simple Google search should point you in the right direction.
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Norman (Indianapolis): The biggest deficiency with the Pistons is the absence of a suitable backup small forward. I believe a strong push should be made for Josh Smith. Furthermore, Cheikh Samb and Amir Johnson appear to be ready to play. We all know Kendrick Perkins had a good showing for the Celtics with improved playing time.
Langlois: Josh Smith isn’t going anywhere to be a backup, Norman, and certainly not for the money he’s seeking as a restricted free agent – and he’ll definitely be getting more than $10 million a year should he go back to Atlanta for one more season and hit unrestricted free agency a year from now. Johnson will more than likely find his way into Michael Curry’s rotation next season. Samb has one more year of seasoning to endure before he makes his big push for time, but it’s possible he cracks the back end of the rotation at times this season.