Atticus771
01-22-2007, 10:55 PM
I sort of like this feature on Pistons.com. Anyone else check it out?
He answered my question this week:
David (Muskegon): Isn’t it premature for Joe D to be trying to move Nazr? For example, if he is moved this season and Webber decides not to remain in Detroit, we’ll just have another summer of trying to replace Big Ben. Am I missing something here?
Langlois: My hunch is that Joe Dumars is confident he’ll be able to do what he needs this off-season with the resources he has available. He knows he’ll have Rasheed Wallace back and is confident that Antonio McDyess will still be a Piston. Even though McDyess has the ability to opt out of his contract, he told me just the other day that he would have seriously contemplated retirement if the Pistons had traded him. That tells you where his heart is. If the Webber experiment works favorably, they’d be the overwhelming favorites to retain him. So if those three are back, then the frontcourt is set with Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson as the fourth and fifth big men. If either McDyess or Webber leaves, Dumars has his mid-level exception – that’s what he used to sign Mohammed last summer – and two No. 1 draft picks to use, possibly in trade, to address whatever needs the Pistons might have. So would it be a gamble to trade Mohammed now? Not a very big one, David.
He answered my question this week:
David (Muskegon): Isn’t it premature for Joe D to be trying to move Nazr? For example, if he is moved this season and Webber decides not to remain in Detroit, we’ll just have another summer of trying to replace Big Ben. Am I missing something here?
Langlois: My hunch is that Joe Dumars is confident he’ll be able to do what he needs this off-season with the resources he has available. He knows he’ll have Rasheed Wallace back and is confident that Antonio McDyess will still be a Piston. Even though McDyess has the ability to opt out of his contract, he told me just the other day that he would have seriously contemplated retirement if the Pistons had traded him. That tells you where his heart is. If the Webber experiment works favorably, they’d be the overwhelming favorites to retain him. So if those three are back, then the frontcourt is set with Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson as the fourth and fifth big men. If either McDyess or Webber leaves, Dumars has his mid-level exception – that’s what he used to sign Mohammed last summer – and two No. 1 draft picks to use, possibly in trade, to address whatever needs the Pistons might have. So would it be a gamble to trade Mohammed now? Not a very big one, David.