Pistons free agency rumors/media speculation (Offseason 2009)

[Higherwarrior]

yeah we need to make a trade FCOL. i'm not holding my breath though.

[Pharaoh]

But who are we gonna trade with?

Is Charlotte shopping Okafor?
Is Toronto shopping Bosh?
Is Phoenix still shopping Amare?
Do the Clips wanna part with Kaman or Camby?
Do the Warriors wanna deal Biedrins?

What other starting calibre C would "we" want to team with our guys?

[Glenn]

If Biedrins really is at odds with Nelson, then he'd be a really nice fit for either Rip or Tay, IMO.

Okafor is the other one that I love to see here.

Kaman would be my third choice, but could we get him for Tay, and can he stay healthy?

I would have loved Camby a year or two ago (as mentioned at the time) but he's what, 35? 35 and injury prone is probably not the best thing for this team, he could go to a contender maybe.

I've given up on Bosh & Amar'e.

Others that I'd "want" but may not be able to get would include Al Jefferson, KEVIN LOVE, Brad Miller, Nene, Troy Murphy (why not?), Bogut, Dave West (could play C in the East, same for D.Lee & Brand), Aldridge, Oden, Pryzbilla, Haywood.

Hell, I might even think about Dalembert at this point.

Now, I didn't check out contracts on all of those guys, so don't hold that aginst me (you will), but the point is, there's not necessarily only 2-3 guys that could help us.

IMO.

[Pharaoh]

If Biedrins really is at odds with Nelson, then he'd be a really nice fit for either Rip or Tay, IMO.

Do the Warriors want/need Rip or Tay?

Okafor is the other one that I love to see here.

Does Charlotte want/need Rip or Tay?

Kaman would be my third choice, but could we get him for Tay, and can he stay healthy?

Don't know - I asked you first.

I would have loved Camby a year or two ago (as mentioned at the time) but he's what, 35? 35 and injury prone is probably not the best thing for this team, he could go to a contender maybe.

His expiring contract could mean Joe is King... Again!

I've given up on Bosh & Amar'e.

Never, ever give up.

Others that I'd "want" but may not be able to get would include Al Jefferson, KEVIN LOVE, Brad Miller, Nene, Troy Murphy (why not?), Bogut, Dave West (could play C in the East, same for D.Lee & Brand), Aldridge, Oden, Pryzbilla, Haywood.

Hell, I might even think about Dalembert at this point.

Now, I didn't check out contracts on all of those guys, so don't hold that aginst me (you will), but the point is, there's not necessarily only 2-3 guys that could help us.

IMO.

And I keep going back to this:

Does any team want/need Tay or Rip? We've got Kwame's expiring to deal. We've got youth to deal. We've got veteran talent to deal.

The assets are there - who wants 'em?

[Glenn]

If we actually "knew" who wanted what, then we'd be onto something.

If none of the 12-15 teams that I just posted have any interest in either Rip or Tay, then it sounds like we're sunk.

[WTFchris]

Well, start by making a list of teams wanting RIP or Tay and are willing to part with talent equal to them regardless of position (of course it would have to be PG/PF/C).

After that you find teams with centers to move that could use the players listed from the first part above.

Maybe you find a team that has extra PG's and wants RIP. Then you find a team that needs PG's and has too many bigs.

[Zekyl]

I was going to question you putting Troy Murphy in there. I didn't realize how big he is. I didn't think he had the size to defend Cs, but he's 6'11" 245. I know he can hold his own against some of the bigger PFs.

The more important question is which of those guys would we have a shot at using Rip or Tay as the primary player with Max, Kwame, draft picks, rookies as possible inclusions?

Biedrins is possible, they already tried to trade him once this offseason (yes, it was for Amare) and the rumors have always been out there that he and Nelly don't get along.

The Clips aren't moving Camby or Kaman. They have a solid rotation of Camby, Kaman, Griffin. They have Gordon at SG so no on Rip. They have Thornton at SF, though he could be moved to a backup SF/PF role potentially, but they'd be smart to let the young guys grow together.

Al Jefferson or Kevin Love - we don't have anything they would want.

Brad Miller - the Bulls have Deng at SF. I don't think they'd move him for Rip, they'd rather have Miller's expiring, plus they already need to improve their frontcourt without moving him.

Nene - They have Carmelo at SF. They have Smith at SG and he wouldn't handle a move to the bench very well. Nene finally got back to his old form. If anything, they'd look to unload K-Mart.

Troy Murphy - They have Granger at SF. I don't actually know who they have at SG. I don't know if they'd move him for Rip. I just realized how little I know about the current Pacers. They dropped off the map.

Bogut - They just locked him up long term, plus they'd be looking at Gadzuric and Elson in the middle. I would love it but Hammond isn't that dumb.

West - It was potentially possible when we had cap space, but I don't know if we could save them enough money at this point.

Lee - How low will he be willing to go? We don't have the expirings to give the Knicks for him. If we included both of our expirings (Kwame and Bynum), we'd only be able to offer him about $6m starting, and that's not getting it done. If we still had Afflalo and Sharpe, we could have upped that to at least $8.5m and NY would have been taking back 4 expiring contracts. How well does he fit with CV? Can he defend the post against bigger Cs (Shaq, Z, Garnett, Howard)? We'll label this one possible, but not likely.

Brand - They have no room for Prince at SF between Iggy and Thad. Rip wouldn't be out of the question, with Iggy at SF and Thad at PF. They seem to think that Brand is ready to bounce back this year, with last season being his first back from the injury. Do you really want to be paying him $18m in 2012-13? He'll be 34 with a serious injury history. It may not seem like a bad move for 2009-10, but that's probably $45m tied up in Gordon, CV, Brand, Max for that season. They get a SG and out from his contract, possible.

Aldridge - Dubious

Oden - How bad do they want Tay and have they given up on him? Highly unlikely.

Przybilla - How bad do they want Tay and do they think Oden is ready to be the man? Highly unlikely.

Haywood - I thought this was the solid fallback move when the offseason started. They only move his expiring to save money this year. The most we can save them without cap space is about a million. The downgrade to Kwame and whatever else we include may not be worth it.

Dalembert - For Rip, they'd be listening. They'd lose Dalembert's D, but they could possible run out Rip at SG, Iggy at SF, Thad at PF, and Brand at C. He's great at blocking shots and he's a solid defender. But is that enough to cover up his complete lack of offense and propensity for fouls that limits him to 25mpg? If he was making $8m, then he is a no-brainer. At $12m this year and $13m next year, that's tough.


I'm not trying to rip apart your post, Glenn. I'm just stating the possibilities of us actually making a move before the season starts. We're probably going into this year with 1 more vet minimum big.

Remote Possibilities:
Brand
Dalembert
Biedrins
Lee

Highly Unlikely Possibilities
Przybilla
Oden
Murphy?

Unless it's a 3-team deal or a team that has some cap space (Portland, come get Prince), we're not looking too hot.

[Glenn]

No prob., Zek.

Solid analysis is always welcomed.

[Glenn]

Starbury on DRose: "He's a beast. A PROBLEM. A PROBLEM ... I got Chris Paul...Derrick Rose...Jason Kidd...Rondo...Dwill--he nice too."

Via the 24 hours of Starbury chatravaganza

[WTFchris]

Yeah. Some people on here (Kstat is the biggest voice piece for this) are saying you can't judge our moves because Joe will still make a trade for a big. I'm just not seeing it as all that likely after losing all our cap space.

You don't give up a decent young center unless you are forced to financially -OR- you think you are getting better players/picks in the deal. We can no longer help teams with saving money. We don't have great picks or stud young talent either.

There just aren't going to be that many scenarios to get a young big. Period.