I am proposing this trade ONLY at the trade deadline if no other big deals (Amare, Bosh, etc.) become available.

Detroit trades:
Prince
Rip

Detroit gets:
T-Mac
Filler
2010 1st

I know that T-Mac is always hurt but he's a 20+ mil expiring. He is good enough to get butts in the seats and I feel that having his expiring along with Kwame's 4 mil that Joe could again be a big player next off-season. With that much cap we make a run at a superstar and at a minimum pick up a couple younger studs and depending on the lottery, use the extra 1st to move up in the draft your star big man.

Actually, that's an interesting thought. I'm not sure if I would do it or not. McGrady could start at SF with Gordon starting at SG. I wouldn't be counting on him to carry the team by any means, as that would be a move for next season, not this season. We had better get some solid filler from them to give them Prince AND Rip for a pick and cap space. I'd want to be damn sure I had a shot at luring a guy like Bosh and a replacement SF to the Pistons in the offseason before making that move. If we did that and got Bosh and an average SF, I'd be ecstatic. The SF wouldn't be quite as important because hopefully Daye and Summers would be starting to earn more minutes.

Stuckey
Gordon
Avg. SG
Villanueva
Bosh

Plus an extra first? I'm okay with that.

The question is, with a roster of Stuckey, Gordon, Villanueva, and bench fodder, are we luring Bosh or Amare? Or are we going to have to hope for a trade to get that all-important improvement at C?

This is going to sound weird, but assuming TMac is healthy right now, I do that trade immediately. The pick would have to be top 3 protected at most since Houston is going to suck next year. We would get our chance at a C in the draft next season, have cap room, and have a chance to continue being mediocre this year. Stuck, BG, TMac, CV, and Wilcox with (assuming we suck) two lotto picks and a lot of cap space next season. I could roll with that.

If this ever did happen, we should consider getting a good cheap SG who can play well in spot minutes and be a pretty good defender... like Arron Afflalo.

Why would Houston do that deal? They'd have Prince, RIP, Ariza and Battier on long term sizable deals (with Buddinger and Wafer for depth). If they move TMac and lose that expiring deal they'll want a post player.

David (River Rouge, Mich.): If the Pistons fall out of the playoff picture like everyone is saying, do you see Joe D making a trade before the trade deadline? If so, don’t you think T-Mac would be a good fit? He is the highest-paid player this year and it’s the last year of his contract.

Langlois: Loaded questions, David. First, “everyone” isn’t saying the Pistons are likely to fall out of the playoff picture. There’s not the certainty that they’ll make the field as there has been for the last six or seven years, but they’re certainly in the mix with a handful of other teams for what appears to be four of the eight Eastern Conference playoff berths. As for Tracy McGrady, Houston has a valuable bargaining chip in his expiring deal. They can hang on to it, see his salary come off the cap next July and then go heavily after someone like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire. So if you’re going to tempt them to trade that contract – and lose their chance to be a major player in next summer’s free agency – you’re going to have to give them a player of real value. The Pistons would have to combine two of their three largest salaries – they belong to Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Gordon – in order for a McGrady deal to work, in all likelihood. I don’t see a fit with the Pistons.

Tmac to Detroit
RIP to Houston
Boozer to Houston
Prince to Utah


Utah wanted Prince, maybe we can get a pick from them for Prince too...
Tmac huge expiring ofc
Houston gets RIP & Boozer, if Yao comes back in March or so they could have a very strong team Yao/Boozer/Scola/Ariza/Battier/RIP/Brooks...

I like the concept, but I would like it more if TMac was able to play and play well.

I doubt that the Pistons write the season off by trading two popular players for a broken guy with a big contract. How do you sell that?

Last time, they hired a terrible coach right before they made the trade.

I doubt that the Pistons write the season off by trading two popular players for a broken guy with a big contract. How do you sell that?
If at first you don't succeed, try again?

We're four games into the season, btw. So doing that trade RIGHT NOW would bring on a ton of deja vu.

It does feel familiar.

Come meet and greet injured Pistons star Tracy McGrady on "TMac lazy eye crooked autograph night"

First 11,000 fans with at least one lazy eye get a free ticket. Got two lazy eyes? Get 2 tickets, 2 got dogs and 2 t-shirts for just $59!

Pistons need a superstar, didnt you know that! and Tmac is a superstar! ;)
Tmac could be ready to play when the deadline approaches, no ones knows...

If we did that deal at the deadline what would the off-season be like?

If it's anything like this past off-season the love cave would be a safer place, even though I'd have 3 kids by then.

I dhonestly don't know if I could handle Joe having a lot of cap space again so soon. Maybe in another couple of years.

In reading around a few other places, I'm seeing some sentiment from Pistons fans for a Rip/Tay for TMac deal.

Can TMac still take the banging at SF? Does it matter?

At this point I don't think it matters.

IF we did that trade then we'd be looking at signing someone (Bosh?) this coming off-season.

We'd have some assets to part with in a sign and trade (Stuckey/our 2010 Pick/Wilcox/Daye/Summers) IF Bosh wanted to come here.

A trio of Bosh, Nova and Gordon is a very nice place to start phase II (or would it be III?) of the rebuilding

How about Rip/Tay/Max (or Kwame) for TMac/Battier/Filler?

I'd do that in a second. That expiring would probably be our best shot at a legit big.

that'd be a good deal. For Houston, Tay can replace battier's defensive presence, although not as efficiently as battier. rip can easily make up for the scoring presence tmac couldve gave him. I don't think they'd accept max, and have no need for kwame.

Yao/Hayes
Scola/Landry
Tay/Ariza
Rip/Ariza
Brooks/Lowry

That's a pretty decent looking team and can have many different lineups in there. I don't know what the starting lineup would look like though.

a combo of stuckey gordon and battier should be promising, but what we do with tmacs expiring is more crucial. signing a big with that money would be ideal, but are we an attractive enough place for FA's?

They'd love Kwame. A big with an expiring contract?

And what are you doing with Yao in there?

Just trying to think in a Rockets POV and see what their best lineup could look like for the near future. I think I read somewhere Yao could return, but not really sure about that.

I'd still do any combo of Rip/Tay/Max/Brown for Tmac/Battier/1st

I don't think it would be a hard sell considering we've been playing well without RIP and Tay anyway. Even if Tmac never laced up you'd still be adding Battier to the mix which would help.

You'd still have Stuckey/Gordon/Battier/V/Ben with Bynum/Daye/JJ/Brown or Max off the bench.

That's good enough to be a 5th-8th best team in the East. If we do nothing I don't think we'll be making it any farther than with this deal.

Bosh and a pick will be a lot better than RIP/Tay next year too.

I'm (obviously) of the opinion that Bosh would come here if we had the money or assets to make it happen.

I don't know why I think that way, I just do. And I "know" he'd come here.

So anything that gets us the money to at least offer him the maximum we could is a good idea.

or acquiring future picks and a large 2 year contract (eg: Dalembert) is the next best option.

Was that a quick Tmac showcase for Joe?

Was that a quick Tmac showcase for Joe?
pretty horrible showcase if it was. could of at least let him do something in the game besides suck from the stripe.

I can't see how that was a showcase. He hardly played enough to prove anything

Might be time to look at this again.

There are only so many teams that have the contracts to match up with TMac's and we are one of them.

How about Rip/Tay/Max (or Kwame) for TMac/Battier/Filler?