Keith Langlois' Pistons Mailbag

[Atticus771]

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.

[Zekyl]

I agree with him completely. Max is turning into a very solid big man and who knows what will be out there for us this summer. I have no idea what big men have expiring deals but if we could pick up someone that's basically like Nazr without the foul problems and complaints, I think we'd be ok. A guy I've always liked that never quite lived up to his potential is Chris Wilcox. I'm not sure if he ended up signing the one year deal with the Sonics or if they broke down and gave him a multiyear deal though.

[Glenn]

Tiba (Detroit): I am and will always be a “Detroit” Pistons fan. It breaks my heart to know my favorite team has an uncertain future in this city. Please tell me any way I and all true Detroit Pistons fans can help.

Langlois: While I’ve stated and remain convinced that the chances of the Pistons leaving Detroit are extremely remote for a number of reasons – still no other more attractive market without a team, current Detroit difficulties notwithstanding; terrific facility (and with terms unlikely to be matched elsewhere); David Stern’s utmost respect for what Bill Davidson meant to the NBA and what the Pistons meant to him – ultimately, the NBA is a business, and like any business, money is an overwhelming motivator. So buying tickets to games helps. Watching games on TV to keep ratings strong helps. Patronizing the businesses that do business with the Pistons helps. Supporting the team in whatever way you can helps. And, of course, reading Pistons Mailbag helps – I’m sure it does, somehow.

Finally out of the closet.

[Glenn]

And lol at the first two posts in this thread.

[Atticus771]

And lol at the first two posts in this thread.

Nazr was great. Screw Glan.

[Tahoe]

Supporting the team in whatever way you can helps.

Glan needs to write this 100 times on the chalk board.

[Pharaoh]

I agree with him completely. Max is turning into a very solid big man and who knows what will be out there for us this summer. I have no idea what big men have expiring deals but if we could pick up someone that's basically like Nazr without the foul problems and complaints, I think we'd be ok. A guy I've always liked that never quite lived up to his potential is Chris Wilcox. I'm not sure if he ended up signing the one year deal with the Sonics or if they broke down and gave him a multiyear deal though.

Zekyl - have you ever seen Back to the Future II?

Where they're in the alternate 1985 and Marty McFly says (something like this):

"Son of a bitch stole my idea ... It's all my fault... It's all my fault"

Got nothing to do with this thread, just thought you might enjoy the movie

[Zekyl]

Man, things have changed since then. Although, back then Max looked like he was turning into something special. He just never developed any consistency.

Wilcox definitely never lived up to his potential, so I'd say I was close on that one. He used to be a great pickup in whatever NBA video game I was playing during his 1st or 2nd year in the league.

[Vinny]

Rip spin zone starting.

http://www.nba.com/pistons/chat_mail..._110201_1.html

[lospistones]

How would you expect them to "spin it"?
That's pretty much how I understood things were happening.