If you were Dumars...

[Salmonous Maximus]

What moves would you pursue this off-season?

First, I would fire Flip Saunders. I know they already said that he is safe, but I don't see why. The guy just doesn't spark any emotion in his players, and he seems like he is unable to adjust or draw up successful plays off of timeouts. Bring in a guy like Hubie Brown or any older, respected, hard nosed coach. LB was the perfect coach while he was here. It's too bad all the egos involved screwed that situation up.

As far as roster moves, I have a few ideas. I know they are far fetched, but I can hope.

We need a superstar to negate the Lebron/Wade/Arenas trio that will dominate the Eastern conference for the next 5-10 years. So we must do whatever we can to get Kobe out of LA.

1) Rip-Sheed-1st round pick to LA for Kobe

2) Pick up Grant Hill AND Jerry Stackhouse for added depth. (both are free agents and can be had for cheap, plus both are good character vets that will do anything to get a ring)

3) Sign Billiups.

4) Dump Webber, Delfino.

5) Find an athletic big man to play center if possible.

Starters Kobe-Billiups-Tayshaun-Maxiell-Mohammad

Bench Stackhouse, G.Hill, Murray, McDyess, Amir Johnson, and TBA

I guess I'm dreaming, but something like this needs to be done!


http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/pistons_08.jpg

[MEL]

Flip can go for all i care but i dont see Joe getting rid of him Unless a big name coach is available. Joe's tired of the 2 year coach than gone.
Flip is far from a "winning" coach. He might get you into the playoffs but cant take a team deep. In my opinion he was way out coached by the Cavs coach. So if he goes it wouldnt bother me much. But whos available and has a winning track record?

Kobe. I dont see him going anywhere. He's a DIVA, he needs a team in a glamour market, L.A. or New York are about the only places big enough for his massive ego. Perhaps Chicago. Kobe in Detroit? aint gonna happen. To small and rough of a place for Kobe.
Plus it would take Rip, Sheed and both 1st round draft picks to get him, if not Maxiall also. He would be in the 20Mill per year range and also have a 9Mil guarantee to pay from the team who gets him.
Sheeds value has greatly deminished. He draws and huge contract for 2 more seasons and his melt down in game 6 really put a big dent in his already tarnished reputation. If he goes it will be cause Joe is tired of his
crap and lets him go for nothing. My guess is he stays.
Billups resigns. Rip stays, Tay is perhaps the most attractive piston for a trade but Joe would only trade Tay for a young, front line big man.
Webber is gone, unless he is willing to settle for a small contract and is willing to be the #7 or 8 off the bench. Dont see Webber going for that so
he's either bound for another team or retiring.

Maxiell. Love his energy. Enjoy watching him play. But he;s only a 20 Min.
per night player, not a front line starter. If he could develope a jump shot and improve his Free throw percentage he could get more minutes.

Mohammed will be the first one out of town if its not Sheed. Crap he's Dale Davis's back up. Plus Joe would like to dump that contract on someone else

Amir Johnson. He's high on every teams wish list. Look for this to be the year he plays. He might not start but he's the future for Detroit. He needs playing time and will get plenty next year.

Delfino. Wish he could become the player that i thought he could but he looks to be a lifetime bench player. Unless someother team takes a chance on him and lets him play. Wouldnt be suprised if he become a very good player, if he gets playing time.

Dice i think will stay and that would be a good move to keep him. Look at his numbers vs Sheeds per game than look at the amount of playing time.
Dice is the overall better player!!! Plus he's a real pro with a good head.

So what we need is a big forward/center to replace Webber. Or to replace sheed also if we could dump him. That would leave 2 big holes in the starters up front. Find a veteran player up front with some years/life left in him, Have him start along side.....Amir Johnson.... New front court with energy and upside.

Having said all that. Who knows whats gonna happen???:dizzy:
I dont see major changes needed. The biggest concern is the bigs up front
Webber/Sheed. They both need to go, but you cant dump both of them unless you can get a good starting big man in return.
Anyone really should be available for a trade as long as the trade brings
in a player of equal or greater value.

Two names ive heard that will be available this year: Shawn Marion and Jason Richardson

[GMONEY]

ok time to wake up from the dream, kobe isn't coming here. it would be nice and i hope i'm wrong. too much of a diva. bring garnett in that would be the right guy

[MEL]

ok time to wake up from the dream, kobe isn't coming here. it would be nice and i hope i'm wrong. too much of a diva. bring garnett in that would be the right guy

K.G. to Detroit? Thats one of those rumors thats been going around here of years!!! But what/who do you give up for K.G.? I dont see it happening .
Im thinking one or two quality big's but no superstars

[William H Bonney]

Kobe isn't coming here. Maxiell is a career back-up. Unless Phil Jackson or Pat Riley are available,,, Flip is here to stay. And,,,, how the hell would we ever know what our bench is capable of,,,,, they never play.:rolleyes:

[farmlegend]

Flip is going nowhere. I doubt if Dumars even has the de facto authority to fire him. Davidson still owes Larry Brown money, he's not about to take on another liability.

[Salmonous Maximus]

Flip is going nowhere. I doubt if Dumars even has the de facto authority to fire him. Davidson still owes Larry Brown money, he's not about to take on another liability.


Well, If the old man wants to win again he should take on that liability. With the decision to keep Flip, he is obviously happy without championships.

[FieldWalker]

I'd rather watch the pistons lose every game next year than see Kobe in a Stones jersey. Not to mention I don't think Billups and Kobe on the same team would fly all that well. I'd also hate to see them spend all that money when they wouldn't even shell out a little coin for B. Wallace.

I say we just trade all of the Pistons for all of the Suns... I'd hate to see the paperwork involved in that.

Next year I wouldn't mind seeing Billups gone, traded for a big man while he still has some value.

[y2ba]

Well im going to get ready for the flaming...but here it goes..


There are a handful of guys worth the league max...Chauncey..i love ya...but you arent one of them.. see ya later...the run was great. Oh yeah..nice triple try in a tied game 5.

Sheed- you wear out your welcome everywhere...game 6 was pathetic..hit the highway..lets trade him.

Rip..he stays

Webber- Retire ...please

Prince- gets a free ride...bad Cavs series...seee ya next yr.

Nazi--who are you and what do you do?

If you cant tell..im still a bitter Pistons fan:rant:

[MEL]

Well im going to get ready for the flaming...but here it goes..


There are a handful of guys worth the league max...Chauncey..i love ya...but you arent one of them.. see ya later...the run was great. Oh yeah..nice triple try in a tied game 5.

Sheed- you wear out your welcome everywhere...game 6 was pathetic..hit the highway..lets trade him.

Rip..he stays

Webber- Retire ...please

Prince- gets a free ride...bad Cavs series...seee ya next yr.

Nazi--who are you and what do you do?

If you cant tell..im still a bitter Pistons fan:rant:

No need to flame on you. You are saying the same thing most everyone
is saying. Chauncey is the only question. If we can resign him at a "fair"
amount than we should resign him. If its gonna cost the Max. than, see ya!
I like him and he's a leader on the team but his weaknesses were maginified
during the playoffs with the Cavs AND the Bulls. Now the words out, put some pressure on and and you take him out of the game. I think we'll see team putting pressure on him next season to exploit the weakness.

I feel that the core is there. Just a couple of pieces need to be changed.
Web and Sheed need to go. Sheeds 'tude has turned into a poison and Web just dosent have it anymore. Dump sheed at all costs. Web can retire, move to another team or stay with the stones. If he wants to stay-he should ride the bench. He can back up Dice, Max and Johnson.
We need to pick up a new big man up front, a young stud who we can count on. If Johnson is as good as everyone says he is than its time to
put him in and play!!!
If we can get lucky and get a good front court it would take pressure off of
Chauncey cause other teams will have to gaurd them.
I really would Love to see a player come in that can take it to the post.
The stones have lived by the jump shot and died by the jump shot.
Time to get a player who can breakdown a defense and open up the 10 to 20ft area for easier jumpers. Plus when the games on the line i like to see
a guard take it to the rack, higher percentage shot and chance for a foul.
Its a great play late in a close game. Better percentage than Sheed jacking up his 3 pointers.
You post is right on. Im also not against trading Rip or Tay, but only if a Really good player comes our way via the trade. But would rather keep them and get a free agent.

[pescadero]

Keep:

Chauncey - he may not be a max player but someone will pay him pretty big, and he's better than any other PG we're going to get for similar money... and he's a good leader.


Rip - one of the better SG in the league, great midrange game, and is a dependable defender.

Tay - good defensive SF, willing to defer (unlike say Marion who is talking his way out of Phoenix because he want to be The Man), and can back up at PG

Maxiell - may never be a full time starter, but an energy guy that plays hard and can give you 8-10pts, 6-8 boards, and a couple blocks a game off the bench even if he never improves his offensive game.

Amir Johnson - Too much potential to lose at this point. Legit 7' with huge athleticism and he is inexpensive.

McDyess - consumate professional, wants to be here, great talent to have coming off the bench.

Delfino - still young, can play the 2 or 3... good guy to have coming off the bench.

Toss:

Blalock - Hasn't shown enough talent to play PG in the NBA at this point. Horrible shooter. Jamal Tinsley without the strip club incidents and the passing talent.

Davis - great professional and hard worker, but too old and takes time from developing players who are already as good but have an upside.

Dupree - he's had enough time to develop into something more than just an athlete and hasn't managed it yet. Waste of a roster spot.

Rasheed - Most talented player on the team, but the biggest problem for the team when his head ain't right. Expensive and has some trade value.

Hunter - great defender, but too old and offensively limited.

Borderline:

Webber - if he will play for a similar salary next year he is cheap, and a useful player to have coming off the bench when Chauncey ISN'T on the floor.

Murray - Cheap, only guard currently on the team that can break down a defender off the dribble, can play both the 1 and 2. If he can learn to get his offense rolling "Microwave" style as a bench player he could be extremely valuable. If not, toss him.

Mohammed - good size, little trade value, possibly a much better player in a more uptempo style game. Depending on what happens to other front court players may be worth keeping.


Needs:

Backup PG who is a penetrate and dish guy.

PF/C who can play in the block and get easy offense.

--
lp

[bigcountrysg]

I would come out of retirement and show people I can still play. Then I would bring back the championship to Detroit and then retire again and go back to coaching.

[Salmonous Maximus]

A little off topic, but I'm watching game one of the Finals right now. What a frickin concept!! The Spurs adjusted at halftime in their game a tad, and are now kicking the crap out of the LeBrons. I know the so called "King" had a magnificent game 5 against a clueless Flip Saunders defense, but the guy still can't hit a contested jump shot. He also doesn't need to be triple-teamed leaving everybody Else WIDE open. And Yes, I'm still bitter.:rant:

[Can't Touch This]

A little off topic, but I'm watching game one of the Finals right now. What a frickin concept!! The Spurs adjusted at halftime in their game a tad, and are now kicking the crap out of the LeBrons. I know the so called "King" had a magnificent game 5 against a clueless Flip Saunders defense, but the guy still can't hit a contested jump shot. He also doesn't need to be triple-teamed leaving everybody Else WIDE open. And Yes, I'm still bitter.:rant:

Yeah, that is why James isn't quite there yet. Like, vs. the Pistons, game 1 and game 6 were HORRIBLE games for him. Not just for him, those would've been horrible games for anyone. Games 2 and 3 were good-great, obviously game 5 was amazing. However, he has to work on his consistency for sure, MJ would consistently just demolish teams, he had many of Bron's game 5s in his career. Obviously James is still very young and early in his career and will likely learn to be more consistent.

[romayer]

We need to get rid of Flip. From a results standpoint, he is a Carlisle reincarnated. Good regular seasons, 50+ wins, but not enough savvy to take us to the title :(

I would much rather have KG here than Kobe. Not more talented, but better fit with our existing guys and even with the fan base. Plus, KG is willing to win in any way, Kobe wants to be a primadonna on a winning team (helped get rid of Shaq just for that).

[wally-eye]

What ever they do I hope they don't hire Isaiah Thomas as coach, as some of the papers are calling for......now THAT would be a bad move.

He's no more a coach then my Grandmother and she didn't know a thing about basketball and she's dead...........

[TopGunner22]

they better keep rip !

[Winston]

What ever they do I hope they don't hire Isaiah Thomas as coach, as some of the papers are calling for......now THAT would be a bad move.

He's no more a coach then my Grandmother and she didn't know a thing about basketball and she's dead...........

Agreed, the man is a menace to coaching and the GM profession. Sure he has made a few decent draft picks (Balkman, Frye, David Lee) over the last few year. However, he ran the CBA into the ground and was atrocisous on the Pacer bench.

I doubt he would leave the Knicks anyway.