I just had this idea which could give us some ideas for trades.

Pick your ideal starting 5 from whomever is available among free agents and some players in a ton of trade rumors. Try to make it at least realistic. Existing Pistons welcome. IF you post two teams, try not to use any of the same players.

Here is my 5.

PG: Ben Gordon - despite his lesser ballhandling skills, I like his overall offensive package
SG: Rip Hamilton - in the end, I just like his size, mid range game, and FG%
SF: Hedo Turkoglu - can shoot from 3 and has good ballhandling skills. Intelligent
PF: David West - can post, and has one of those fantastic decreasing salaries.
C: Bosh - a nice complement to West inside outside.

This team is explosive, with scoring from all 5 spots, and the ability to score in the clutch.

My Squad =

pg: Stuckey and Bynum - 2 "attack the basket" guards

sg: Ben Gordon and Double A - Gordon gets signed to a starting salary of $8 mil and brings the extra ball handling/high volume 3 point shooting Joe wanted. Double A showed enough to warrant significant minutes and I'd give him time at SG and SF.

sf: Ariza and #15 (Austin Daye) - Ariza signs for a starting salary of $6 mil and while I'm a bit worried about how he will do outside the triangle I think he's done enough to warrant this kind of role. Apparently Daye has potential and is a smart player, but for his rookie year the dude will have show enough to shorten Double A's minutes. Can Daye do that?

pf: David Lee and Maxiell - I traded Amir, our lowest 2nd round pick and a future 1st round pick to NY and got Lee (signed to a starting salary of $8 mil). Lee likes to attack the hoop and that's what I want. Max is given a legit shot at becoming all that he can be. Here's hoping he can earn most of that contract extension he got.

c: Chris Bosh and Kwame - I traded Rip and Prince for Bosh, Banks and Humpries. It's not the ideal situation but I strongly believe that Bosh is the foundation of the franchise and he will lead this group to the playoffs. Kwame brings what he brings and if Maxiell doesn't show and prove then Kwame could seesome decent minutes again.

P, I don't think he was looking for you to do any sort of trades. Just list ideal starting 5 from FAs, trade rumor guys and our players.

For trade rumor guys, I assume he means not guys we think we could trade for, but guys that are actually being thrown around in legitimate NBA rumors. So while I've said I'd like to trade for Hinrich a few times, he's not a trade rumor guy because the media isn't really saying anything about him being traded.


Also, in your idea above we'd better have signed Bosh to a huge extension if we're trading Rip and Prince for him and 2 bad contracts.

PG Stuckey - like his upside and he'll continue to improve. combo guards can have a big adjustment (just ask Billups)

SG Ariza - need a good wing defender that can knock down threes. That's all we need from him.

SF Hedo - can share some ball handling duties with Stuckey. not selfish, but can take advantage of mismatches and spread the floor for Stuckey to drive

PF Bosh - go to guy down low, nuff said

C Kaman - keeps Bosh fresh from banging with bigger centers. good rebounder and defender and has enough post moves to give you 15 ppg.


This is a realistic 5 I think. I'm not sure Ariza and Hedo will be out there, but this isn't far fetched or anything. If you think Bosh isn't really available, you can put West in there.

C- Amare'

PF- McDyess

SF- Prince

SG- Gordon

PG- Stuckey

PG- Earl Watson
SG- Flip Murray
SF- Battier
PF- Dice
C- Samb

PG- Earl Watson
SG- Flip Murray
SF- Battier
PF- Dice
C- Samb
:SHIT STORM!:

PG- Earl Watson
SG- Flip Murray
SF- Battier
PF- Dice
C- Samb

I call BS!

we all know you want Ariza as your go to guy:

PG - Earl Watson
SG - Flip
SF - Ariza
PF - Battier
C - Foster

The Foster thing is a bogus rap. I may have acknowledged that the guy kills us, but he's not a legitimate member of my clan.

Perception is reality.

C, I like your starting 5, but I thought it was interesting you picked Bosh to be our low post threat rather than Amare or even West, who are much better post players.

If I have to choose between those 3 I choose Bosh every single time.

I have my doubts about Amare as a leader and West is a little smaller than Bosh.

Bosh just seems like the guy you can build around for the long haul and he's willing and able to lead a team to the playoffs.

I think if I put West in that spot the team simply isn't as good. Same for Amare

In the end, I HAVE to think that Chris Paul is available, despite what anyone says. This team has too many albatross contracts and is a smaller market in lux tax range. Without even a question, Dumars should be pushing hardest at this guy. In the spirit of the best starting 5, I offer this:

Chris Paul - Stuckey, Prince (not sure that they would want his contract) and 2009 and 2011 firsts for him and Posey.

Rip: Still no one else who will bring it, and he would be just ridiculous with CP3.

SF: Posey - could be Peja as well, but I think Posey would be a better defender against LBJ and PP. And he can spot up for 3s.

PF: Dice - maybe possible maybe not, but he can board, and shoot well. Maxiell as the backup.

C: Kwame

Its not permanent, but I think its semi realistic that we could run with this rotation and have success for a season.

Hell look at it this way. If we move PRince and Stuck in some package for CP3 and Peja, it completely eliminates their cap liability I believe. It will save them more than 26 mill THIS SEASON ALONE. No one else can offer them that.

Paul is not available.

I gotta disagree. Look at their roster. No one will take Chandler. No one will take Peja. Mo Pete, Posey, and West represent their moveable assets, and even they are a stretch given the length of their contracts and amount they are worth. Now if you are the owner, and someone is offering the deal I put above AND the chance to keep your team at least competitive while not paying the tax. CP3 is great, but to pay an additional 26 mill to keep him? Fiscally this makes too perfect sense. I just see this coming.

I think if you took Peja off their hands and not Posey the Hornets would be more willing to bite.

Hell, try to find a way to take Chandler (maybe sending out Kwame) and they'd jump at the fucking chance.

You draft Mullens, do the big trade and this is your team:

C: Chandler/Mullens
F: Dice/Maxiell
F: Peja/Second Round Athlete
G: Rip/AA
G: Paul/Bynum

The PF/C spots aren't great but with Chris Paul getting into the lane whenever he wants they'd be getting easy dunks/lay-ups. His addition likely sparks Maxiell and who knows what he could do with some confidence and consistent minutes?

And while I didn't crunch numbers for you BBF I gotta think that we'd still have some kind of money to get a free agent big like Wilcox or some other dude inbetween the LLE/MLE range

Paul is not available.

You are naive.

Do you guys think we could go after Chris Paul? Is he available?

Zekky...haven't seen you post in a while...Whats up, Vladamir?

Everyone in the league is available for the right package.

It's known New Orleans is having money issues. It's known they don't really wanna pay the tax.

Mark Cuban offered to take Paul, Chandler and Peja. I believe they offered Dampier, Stackhouse and shit.

Surely we could top that offer with an All-Star calibre SG (Ripper), young bucks (just drafted), the expiring contract of Kwame and some cap savings?

I'm not saying we should make the offer, just that it's possible to come up with a package they could like.

Oh I am absolutely saying we should make that offer, and I personally think we wouldn't have to offer a ton more since we could offer what no one else can, the opportunity to not pay the tax THIS season.

And honestly Peja and Tyson are bad contracts, but they are short term. These are not deals that will cripple us for 5 years, and the players are at least decent.

They might be more inclined to listen to a Paul deal with Collison there. I still don't think he'll be moved, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Give them Stuckey and they might listen.

And as Heath Ledger (as The Joker) said...

"And ... here ... we ... go!"

Indeed and FYI, Tyson, Peja and Paul for Tayshaun, Stuckey, and Kwame does fit us under the cap barely I think. Maybe even with an uprotected first next year from us.

Now this exact trade is extremely unlikely, but at least it matches Dallas' offer. I still think Tay, Stuck, and maybe a first next year for CP3 and Peja or Tyson is possible considering who was drafted by each team.

Still looking like Boozer though

Give them Stuckey and they might listen.

I'd be willing to part with Stuckey and RIP in a deal for West and CP3.

We could save them some serious money and they'd still have a couple good players to build around.

Exactly.

They could have Max too if they wanted him, or Daye.

I'd be willing to part with Stuckey and RIP in a deal for West and CP3.



Yes, yes you would.

next try:

July 7: sign Lee 5/45 mil (i guess Knicks won't match) otherwise try Millsap
and Gordon 5/55 mil

Trade RIP & Tay & pick for Okafor, Wallace ( i know not very realistic, but Larry loves RIP& Tay, if they can move Nazr+Radman for Dalembert...maybe who knows...

Okafor / Kwame
Lee or Millsap/ Maxiell
Wallace/Summers/Daye
Gordon/Afflalo
Stuckey/Bynum

Charlotte would improve too they just need another PF
Dalembert/Diop
Diaw/ ?
Prince/Henderson
RIP/Bell
Felton/DJ

Here is a scenario where you might want to take the gamble on Brand:


1. Trade Tayshaun for Shane Battier, Brian Cook (3.5 exp)

2. Sign Ben Gordon (9 mill starting)

3. Trade Stuckey (1.8), Maxiell (5?), Kwame (4.1), and Cook (3.5) for Amare (16)

4. Rip (11.4) and Oberto (3.5) for Elton Brand (14.8)

5. Use the remaining 8 mill or so in cap space to fill out the bench.

C: Amare
PF: Brand
SF: Battier
SG: Afflalo
PG: Gordon

Bench: Bynum, Daye, Summers
Good scorers, 3 point shooting, and aggressive defense at the 2 and 3.

Can we trade Oberto with another player? Or is that only not allowed if he came to us in a mulitplayer trade?

BBF, I don't want Gordon as our starting PG. No way, no how. People are unsure of Stuckey right now? Gordon would be even worse as a PG. There's a reason he was a SG in Chicago. It wasn't because he couldn't beat out Hinrich for the start spot. They drafted both of those guys because he's a SG that can handle the ball but he's not a floor leader that should be running your offense.

Can we trade Oberto with another player? Or is that only not allowed if he came to us in a mulitplayer trade?

There is a time frame in which you have to do it. You can do it "immediately" which we did not. Now we have to wait two months to move him with any other players.

BBF, I don't want Gordon as our starting PG. No way, no how. People are unsure of Stuckey right now? Gordon would be even worse as a PG. There's a reason he was a SG in Chicago. It wasn't because he couldn't beat out Hinrich for the start spot. They drafted both of those guys because he's a SG that can handle the ball but he's not a floor leader that should be running your offense.


LOL Yeah, we would probably have the league fewest assists.

Step 1:
Boozer opts to stay, OKC offers Millsap 10+ mil (or is rumored to at least).

(S&T) Oberto for Memo for 10 mil

Gives Utah a cheap one year replacement big until Boozer is a FA (then they re-address center). If they match on Millsap they can buy Oberto out if they choose

Step 2:

Sign Ben Gordon 10 mil

pretty much capped out right now.

Step 3:
Trade RIP and Daye for Amare

Depth Chart:
PG Stuckey/Bynum
SG Gordon/Afflalo
SF Prince/one of our 2nd rounders
PF Amare/Max
C Memo/Kwame

LOL I could live with that too.

Memo's not an option anymore, but David Lee is.

Memo opted to stay, but you could still trade for him. We're not getting Amare for Rip and Daye when Golden State can't get him with what they offered.

Assuming that the GS-Suns deal falls through and OKC offers Millsap 10m:

Get JVG as the coach
Trade Rip for Biedrins
Trade Max for Hinrich (or any other combo guard that doesn't dominate the ball, he's just the type of player I'd want)
S&T for David Lee (NY will match any reasonable offer) - 1st rounder and Oberto or Kwame (NY still wants to cut salary for next offseason)

We've still got cap space for additional bench help in the frontcourt.

Hinrich or similar/Bynum
Stuckey/Afflalo/Washington
Prince/Daye/Summers/Washington (suddenly we have SF depth?!)
Lee/FA/Summers
Biedrins/FA


It's funny, DraftExpress has David Lee as "Best Case: Drew Gooden, Worst Case: Chris Anderson"
Who wouldn't take Anderson over Gooden right now? And who doesn't think David Lee is way ahead of both?

Don't like that team. Neither Lee nor Biedrins are great offensive players (both are complementary bigs). Hinrich doesn't provide much offense either. You basically have all complementary offensive players.

Bosh
Dice
Summers
Gordon
Stuckey

Bynum
AA
Daye
Powder
Kwame
Washington
Jonas

Some Big Man from Vegas team
PG Jibber Jabber from Vegas team

Blow this thing up!

Trade Rip, Tay, Kwame and next year's 1st to PHX for Amare and J Rich.
Sign Villanueva, Drew Gooden, Damon Jones and Jamaal Magloire.

PG - Stuckey/Jones/Bynum
SG - JRich/Afflalo
SF - Villanueva/Daye
PF - Gooden/Max/Sharpe
C - Stoudamire/Magloire

This would be contigent on Amare signing an extension. PHX would like the cap relief and they get 3 for 2. Gooden, Magloire and Jones should all command smaller salaries. Gooden gets the chance to start, Magloire gets decent minutes closer to home, and Jones gets a chance to return to DET where he had one successful run.

Gooden? No. Magloire wouldn't be bad as a backup not making the ridiculous money he has in the last few years. I don't want Villanueva as my starting SF. I'd almost rather have him move to PF in that scenario and have us sign a SF instead of Gooden.

Why the Gooden hate? He's 6'10", 250, only 27 years old, and averages 12 and 8 for his career. He can't shoot from outside, so we would finally have a PF in the paint. He should be cheap since he only made $1.4 mill last season. To get that type of production for that type of money? Are you kidding? Not to mention added motivation against Orlando, Cleveland, and Chicago?

That's why the Gooden hate.
http://lowposts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/gooden_patch.jpg

Gooden in my mind fits right in there with Steven Jackson, Jamal Tinsley, Jermaine ONeal, and Ricky Davis. Just knuckleheads who aren't going to win.

Anyway on a tangent I'm kind of irritated that we didn't make an offer to Josh Childress to be our SF and use our draft picks elsewhere.

I mentioned Childress quite a bit. I thought $4 mil might be enough.

I doubt Atlanta wanna have him on there team.

Gooden in my mind fits right in there with Steven Jackson, Jamal Tinsley, Jermaine ONeal, and Ricky Davis. Just knuckleheads who aren't going to win.
Yep.

I mentioned Childress quite a bit. I thought $4 mil might be enough.

I doubt Atlanta wanna have him on there team.

They extended him a $4.8m qualifying offer, so no $4m isn't going to be nearly enough.

He's talking to the Bucks, btw.

no room anyway with all the wings we drafted.

Send Rip to Utah for Boozer
Send Prince to Charlotte for Okafor
Send Max to Lakers for Ariza (S&T)

Okafor/Kwame
Boozer/CV
Ariza/CV/Rookie
Gordon/AA
Stuckey/Bynum/FA

It's a young team with 18 mil in expirings next season.

Never stop Nugget.

Lakers would not want Max. They'll resign Odom.

I love the fantasy line-ups.

How about we just get Joe to convince David Stern that since Detroit's colours are Red, White and Blue it's only logical that we get Team USA instead of dudes like Austin Daye and Kwame Brown and Rodney Stuckey.

By broadcasting Detroit games to an International audience you are confusing those "less" enlightened because the team colours are so similar.

In order to avoid having Team USA look bad (or the Pistons, depending on your POV) it's more practical to have all Team USA affiliated players join the Pistons and the uniforms will be identical.

Cap space? Don't need it.
Draft picks? Don't need 'em.
Championships? Every damn season!