Drafting Darco sets this team back at least 3 years at the 4 spot. Trading Francis sets us back an unspecified number of years in the back court even with Billups. The only player I would be interested in with the number 2 pick would be Carmelo Anthony. He is ready to start now and could make a huge impact this year. I just don't think this trade does anything for us in the foreseable future.
What did you say about Yao last year. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I got $5 bucks that says you've never seen Darko play a game, and at most have only seena highlight or two. In either case, Francis + Cato would definitely solve Detroit's two main problems, according to Joe Dumars.... http://www.detnews.com/2003/pistons/0305/26/b03-174360.htm Dumars vows roster moves Pistons president says team likely will become younger for next season By Chris McCosky / The Detroit News Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News Pistons rookie Mehmet Okur (13) will compete for a starting job next season, possibly relegating Cliff Robinson to the bench. AUBURN HILLS --If you know Joe Dumars at all, if you have been paying attention to the last couple of summers, you know that he will not be content to let the Pistons rest on the laurels of another 50-victory season and subsequent trip to the Eastern Conference finals. You know there are going to be upgrades and changes. "Stand pat? I don't think so," Dumars, the Pistons' president, said Sunday. "Last year, we traded our best player (Jerry Stackhouse); I don't think we'll be doing that this year. But looking to add? I think our track record shows the last three years, we'll be looking to add significantly." He said he expects at least a 25 percent turnover in personnel. "I don't think you can stand pat in this business, unless you've got a dynasty, like Shaq and Kobe," he said. "If not, you've got to constantly push and prod and get the most out of your team. That's my mission now." For starters, Dumars said, the team likely will get younger. Among the players not expected to return include veteran free agents Jon Barry, Danny Manning and Don Reid, even possibly Michael Curry and Hubert Davis, although both still have a year left on their contracts. This year's rookies, Tayshaun Prince and Mehmet Okur, will be vying for starting roles next season, possibly sending veterans Curry and Cliff Robinson to the bench. The Pistons are also expected to draft 17-year-old Serbian forward Darko Milicic with the second overall pick. "We could very well be younger," Dumars said. "When you do that, you're not looking at what happens in November and December. Your goal is the playoffs. New Jersey took a step back in the regular season, but they're a stronger team than last year. "I'm prepared for us to be in that position." Dumars said he will focus his energies on fixing the team's two most obvious weaknesses -- rebounding and scoring. "There has been an on-going evaluation all year," Dumars said. "Obviously, rebounding has to be a concern, it's glaring. A lot of nights, Ben (Wallace) has 15-to-20 rebounds and next-closest guy has three. That's too wide a disparity. That's something I'll have to address. Some of it can be addressed inside, Okur and some of those guys can rebound better. "And scoring. You always have to look for guys who can put the ball in the basket. I'll be looking down that road this summer." To do so, Dumars will have at his disposal the mid-level salary-cap exception, which is expected to be between $4.8 million and $5 million. He can use it to sign one player, as he did with Chauncey Billups last summer, or split it up among two or three players. "There are two guys I'm looking at," Dumars said. "One is a perimeter guy, one is a big guy." Among the free agents who might fit the bill include big men Jerome Moiso and P.J. Brown from New Orleans, Rasho Nesterovic from Minnesota and Kenny Thomas from Philadelphia; and perimeter players Corey Maggette and Eric Piatkowski from the Clippers, Jason Terry from Atlanta and Voshon Lenard (Detroit Southwestern) from Toronto. Dumars also could go the trade route. The team is over the salary cap, but has plenty of room under the luxury tax. After the Pistons were swept out of the playoffs by the Nets on Saturday, Dumars delivered a message to his dejected players. "Any time you can repeat as 50-game winners, win the division again and make the conference finals, it's a very good year," he said. "But we're disappointed because we felt we were good enough to get to the Finals. "As I told the team, tip your hats to New Jersey because they did it the way it's supposed to be done. That's a hard lesson learned. I told the guys, 'You just ran into a team that was more determined and more focused and was ready to move on more than you were. Now that you tasted that, you understand that, at that level, how hard you have to play.' "I told the guys, 'I plan on us being back, so get ready. That's our goal. Let's take another shot at this thing. Work hard this summer and come back and be more determined.'"
This is the reason I didn't suggest MoT instead of Griffin in the trade. Steve's base year hit and a second large salary make it unworkable. Playing Ming (C); Darko (PF); Boki (SF); Posey (SG); and Billups (PG) has an intriguing ring to it in "what if" land. Reality is probably somewhere else.
I can't say I truly understand the dynamics of Steve's BYC status. What does this mean in terms of return value?
This trade sucks from the Rockets standpoint. We get a slightly better than average PG, and an unproven foreigner for one of the best PG's in the league and a promising PF?!?!?! Throw in Ben Wallace then Id do it.
Right now, according to this board, everyone is better than Francis. Everyone loves Bibby. He's the consumate pg. Didn't he average only 6.7 assists per game? Yet, Francis is villified on this board.
okay, this is ridiculous. We could offer Steve for Billups and the #2 and Detroit would have to consider it. Everyone is better on D with Ben Wallace behind them and they wouldn't have been swept with Steve in the lineup.
Okay, how about Cato + a re-signed Posey for #2 (Darko Millicic) + Z. Rebraca + a resigned Jon Barry?
You couldn't be more wrong about this one. Darko was a star in Europe, Skita played about 8 mins a night. Darko is more nba ready than Lebron and Carmello despite being a little younger. I expect darko to put up numbers similar to Ming as far as points and rebs. I'm looking for 12ppg 6rebs. Back to the proposed trade, why would Detroit do it? They won 50 games playing team ball on offense and defense and get to add the #2 pick and have cap space left. Detroit wouldn't give that up for Francis or Griffin , i'm pretty sure.
I know. Steve put up MVP like stats and is always the first person people want traded. NEWS FLASH........Not going to happen!
Thumbs, I'd have to pass on this offer. Francis has star quality & if he went on the market, would have several teams lining up to trade for him. Billups, while he is a solid PG, is a second tier player at best & the #2 pick comes with no guarantees that he'll ever be as good as Francis. I've never seen Darko play & add to that, the fact that he's only 18 years old, makes me think it'll take a couple of years for his game to fully develop. As for Carmelo, he's only played 1 year of college ball. Come to think of it, so did Griffin, & he hasn't exactly hit the ground running. I'm not even sure I'd consider the deal if they threw in Wallace with the deal. Although, I would think about it long & hard. I'd like to get a PF that can score, as well as rebound. Wallace seems to be a rebounding/defensive specialist & we have a similar (albeit, not as good) player in Cato. It's my belief that this team is just a couple of moves away from the playoffs, & with the right moves, could go deep into the playoffs. I suggested in another thread that trading for Eddie Jones & Brian Grant would push us over the top. I truely believe that. Yes, they are older players that are getting close to the end of their careers, but they bring the final ingredients that we need to make a push for the playoffs & possibly, a championship. I read an article somewhere the other day (& I can't remember where), where a coach was making the comment that NBA careers are so brief & when you get close, you have to plan on winning today, not tomorrow. Francis is 26, Mobley is 28, Taylor is 26, Cato is 28, & Posey is 26 years old. They're the nucleus of our 8 man rotation & coming into the prime of their careers. If we have to wait 2-3 more years for the new kids to develop, we could miss that window of opportunity & have to start all over again. I'm looking forward to seeing Francis play without Mobley on the team. Not that I'm saying Mobley is a bad player, I'm just saying that I'd like to see Francis lead the team, instead of co-leading it. While he still makes bonehead decisions at times, I definitely saw a willingness on his part to learn & adapt his game to his teammates this year. Steve is maturing & will be (as others have alluded to) a top 5-10 player in the next year or two. I love Rudy & everything he's done for this organization, but maybe bringing in a coach like Larry Brown could be the final move for Francis's complete development as a superstar. Sorry about being so long winded.
It is not unbelievable to me at all, I have witnessed him play the same individual, show boat, one on one, ball hog, look me I'm a star, gee I forgot how to pass, let's see if I can make another dippsy doodle play resulting in a critical turnover kind of basketball for FOUR LONG YEARS. I want him to take his clueless streetballer attitude somewhere else. The teams that "would kill for him" can have him. Nothing personal with you, but I am sick to death of Steve Francis.
Are you sure you want to predict that? You do relize that Darco is only 17 right now don't you? He will barely be 18 when the draft roles around in June so please find me just one example of an 18 year old stepping into the league and having a Yao Ming type of impact? Not: Kobe KG Jermain Dirk not even Amare since he was 20 during his rookie year. All of those mentioned above were older than Darco when they entered the draft. Dirk would probably be the best comparison since they both came from Europe at a very young age but at least Dirk played small forward and did not have to bang against the big boys.
If I were CD and faced with that offer, I think I would too. My proposal was really just to find perspective relative to our current roster. I hope my sig expresses how I really feel. However, if Steve moves to the SG, I hope we can find a talented, tall PG. If he remains at PG, he needs a talented, tall backup.
Thank you! I guess it's just because everyone's frustrated with Francis, but if you really ask fans of other teams they'd probably put Francis in the top 3-5 PG's (ESPN and Sports Illustrated both had him ranked in the top 3) in the league. When I went to the Cavs game when Houston was in town everyone was talking about how incredible Steve was, and how great he's gonna be. It seems like Rockets "fans" are the only ones who bash him all the time.
