Pistons Mailbag - Thursday, April 28, 2011 - Page 2

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Langlois: Maybe in 2014-15, Jymel. Biyombo and Noguiera are intriguing prospects, and it’s even possible that Biyombo could help as soon as next season. But they are also two of the biggest mystery men in this draft, both very raw offensively and probably with much to learn defensively before their promise at that end would translate to competence, let alone dominance. As for Iguodala, it was widely known last season that Philadelphia was shopping him. His experience with Team USA at the 2010 World Championship is believed to have sold Iguodala on becoming more focused on what he does best – being a lock-down wing defender – and less on trying to be an every-night scoring leader. Doug Collins would probably object to losing him at this point, but management might convince him that Iguodala’s $44 million due over the next three years could be better spent elsewhere. Again, if Philly decides to move him, the market will be shaped to a significant degree by what the new CBA makes possible.

Langlois: The Pistons have three draft picks, Shikhar. But once the clock hits midnight on June 30, the contracts of Pistons free agents – Tayshaun Prince, Tracy McGrady and Chris Wilcox become unrestricted – come off the books. Teams don’t have to get down to the 15-man roster limit until the regular season starts. As for Randolph, Memphis management was adamant – publicly, at least – that it fully intended to retain him and make him a centerpiece of their near future. There was no indication they were sending other signals privately to rival teams. And the near-trade of O.J. Mayo to Indiana that fell through at the trade deadline would support the belief that Memphis intended all along to keep Randolph and pending restricted free agent Marc Gasol; dealing Mayo before his rookie contract matured and it would require bigger money to keep him would make that plan feasible.

Langlois: I don’t think Stuckey is very likely to be elsewhere, Max. The Stuckey who finished the season, Greg Monroe taking more big steps, the return of Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye’s continued progess will all take up the slack of losing Prince, if he indeed winds up elsewhere. There’s at least some likelihood of a trade. If the lottery yields a player who can come close to contributing at the level Monroe did as a rookie, he’ll be another big piece. I’m still expecting the Ben Gordon who scored a consistent 18 a game for Chicago to re-emerge, given some tweaking in the way he’s used. It’s too soon to start making projections for how next year will play out, but the Pistons aren’t without the assets to cobble together a playoff team.

Langlois: Moot point now, Eric. The Knicks picked up Billups’ option this week. The deadline for them to inform Billups of their intention was Friday. He’s back in New York, where he’ll make more than $14 million next season, in the final year of his contract. He’ll be 35 when the season opens. It’ll be interesting to see if he holds up physically. But Chauncey was right when the playoffs ended when he said the Knicks really didn’t have much choice. They had little alternative on their own roster at point guard – Toney Douglas is a fine young player, but he was considered a shooting guard coming out of Florida State and he’s still far more that than a point, though he might eventually play himself into a point guard – and, with so much money tied up in Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, and the roster having been gutted to get Anthony, they had nothing in the way of assets to add a quality point guard via other means.