"Dumars believes there is a 50-50 chance something will happen before training camp. He is not allowed to talk about players on other teams. But he reconfirmed that all players on his team are up for grabs, but he refuses to give them away in a fire sale." http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080717/SPORTS0102/807170382/1004/SPORTS
Am i the only one who thinks Dumars went about this the dumbest way possible?...he essentially blasted his team by saying immediate changes were needed and then says he's only looking at other teams' best players. WTF. If i'm a GM, why would i give up my best player for some guys who couldn't get it done in the east AND their old? Its not that i don't see them having valuable assets but i just don't see them making a trade that is equal that makes them immediately much better. Seriously. Why would they want Tmac? Dumars probably offered some terrible deal that Morey immediately turned down. If you're trying to get better immediately you have to either be offering expiring contracts or good young players and you need to trade with a bad team that doesn't mind getting worse this year.
Detroit has a lot of valuable players/pieces. Billups, Prince, Hamilton and Sheed are all established plus rotation players. Maxiell, Stuckey, Johnson are all finds and emerging young talent. McDyess is a good role player for a contender. I firmly believe that Dumars can land a top 10 player with a combination of his pieces, particularly if he is willing to deal Maxiell or Stuckey.
I don't have a clue what's going to happen. There doesn't seem to be too many superstar type players out there to be had. If I had to guess I'd say there's more a chance he doesn't make a big move than he does at this point regardless of his stated intention. I would think guys like Okafor and Josh Smith are about what they're hoping for now. Not really superstars, but pretty good young players that would fit the style of play. I definitely wouldn't call it a mistake by Dumars saying everyone was available because I'm not sure he did that just to drum up trade offers (although I'm certain he's talked to a ton of teams about a ton of different players). Everyone on the team is on a bit of an edge now and that by itself will shake up their attitudes. I don't think he dislikes the players on the team, but he didn't like their attitude anymore. As for the Pistons' playoff success being done, well people have been trying to sell that same story pretty much every year and it hasn't been right yet.
There's absolutely zero chance he moves Stuckey. None. I would think Max could be had though. Most fans view him as just a solid career backup PF. Amir Johnson is seen as having more potential as a starter. Max has too many games where he's invisible and isn't really the quality of defensive rebounder (although he has improved) necessary.
i would love to have maxiell, he`s better than any of our pf. yes he`s better than scola landry or hayes.
heck, if he sends us prince, wallace, chauncy, and a couple of 1st rounders, then let's give him, t-mac, hayes, francis, and carl
they were a consistent scorer away from beating boston. billups imo has always been overrated, he`s not a top tier pg like paul or williams, he`s more on line with the declining kidd or fisher. good but not great. the best player they have is rip. they needed another consistent scorer but no one came through which is why they were and probably are trying to get carmelo and mac.
What's with the love-fest "no way Dumars deals Maxiell or Stuckey" hyperbole on this board? Nice players, but certainly not budding superstars in this league. Anyone in the NBA can be had for the right price.
'Melo & Nene works outright for 'Sheed and Prince. It somehow makes sense for each team. That being said - i don't see it happening. Denver get the defence now missing with Camby's departure in Sheed - and a new SF who plays defense. Melo's offensive isn't made up outright. But the offense + the additional defensive presence Sheed n Prince would bring makes it worthwhile. Detroit get Melo - the scorer they needed in last season's playoffs. They still have Billups & Rip - have more minutes to give to Maxiell and the other athletic freak on their bench (Johnson? or someone) and with Stuckey improving and McDyess - that still is a very competitive team. They do lose a bit of their defense with Sheed n Prince gone but as we saw in the Boston series - it was their offense that they needed to improve on. (don't take out of context - by no means am i saying more offense >>> less defense) and if they get playing time out of Nene - that's a bonus.
Dumars was quoted as saying Stuckey is off limits. He also said pretty much the same thing about Amir Johnson. He didn't really mention Max as far as I can remember. I think Piston fans are a lot higher on Stuckey than people outside the team are. If you watch the kid every night you see things that are beyond stats. He needs to improve his finishing and become more consistent with his jumper (he was getting there at the end of last year) to really succeed, but the kid is just a stone cold killer on the court.
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I would agree except for the fact that he is Joe Dumars. He is a Pistons legend and has proven to be a very good GM and has always been known as a great competitor and person. Simply put, he is more respected than all but a handful of GMs in the league. I think when Joe says changes need to be made the organization, the fans and the players themselves agree. I think everyone in the league already knows that team couldn't get it done and why they couldn't get it done. I don't think it diminishes the individual value of each player but reconfirms that as a group they have grown complacent. Agreed although with the premium put on great PGs these days I still think a package of Billups and either Prince, Hamilton or even Sheed can get you a top 15-20 NBA player from a team who believes maturity and experience are needed over youth or talent. Denver is certainly a talented team but when your best player is a complete knucklehead you have to wonder if trading him for an elite, true PG and an athletic, defensive machine at your SF (or a sweet shooting, professional SG) would not make your team much, much better.
