Pistons Mailbag - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - Page 2

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Langlois: The ball is in Portland’s court, Emery. They can make Oden a restricted free agent by extending a qualifying offer to him by June 30 for $8.8 million. If the Blazers do that, there’s no way he’s going anywhere in free agency. If they don’t, then teams will consider their next move. When you say the Pistons have all the time in the world, I think Joe Dumars would object. To the contrary, if Oden were to become an unrestricted free agent, my guess is that the team likeliest to sign him would be a team either with the cap room to go beyond a mid-level exception (which might not even exist in a new CBA) or a contender looking to swing for the fences – a Boston or a Miami, for instance, that could sell Oden on not having to carry the franchise but a place where he could very well assume a significant role. (Though, again, if there’s no MLE, I don’t see how Boston or Miami could get him unless Oden is willing to sign a veteran’s minimum deal. And he might be, for one year, to prove himself.) As to your last point, while I’m sure Kander would give him his best chance to succeed, we can’t assume Kander would offer an encouraging report to Joe Dumars on Oden’s chances for a healthy future until he got a chance to review his medical history and his current status. His knee issues are different than McDyess’ were.

Langlois: Tyler’s story isn’t terribly dissimilar to DeAndre Jordan’s. Jordan was considered a potential No. 1 overall pick before spending an unremarkable freshman year at Texas A&M and declaring for the draft, where he slid all the way to the early second round. Now he’s got a future as a starting center, or at least a solid rotation big man. Tyler bypassed college altogether and, as you noted, skipped his senior year of high school. His first year, spent in Israel, was disastrous. And Tyler impressed no one last June at the Reebok Eurocamp in Italy. He spent the past season at a low-level pro league in Japan and it was in doubt up until a week ago whether he would be drafted at all. But he helped his case in Chicago and now, some believe, he could be drafted in the first round. If he is still around when the Pistons pick at 33, I suspect they would give him full consideration based on what NBA teams have learned about him recently.

Langlois: It’s not an unreasonable deal for either side, Bruno, and my guess is both parties wouldn’t dismiss it out of hand. It’s probably something they would put on the back burner, though, and see what the draft yields and what other possibilities are out there. It probably doesn’t move the needle much for either team, and it’s possible they could include those players as part of a bigger package with greater potential impact than simply swap them player for player. Atlanta might be more inclined to trade Josh Smith, a higher-profile player who could yield a bigger piece in return and open the door for the Hawks to move Al Horford from center to power forward. That would also re-establish Williams as Atlanta’s starter at small forward. But Charlie V does have appeal around the league, despite his up and down two years in Detroit. Big men who can shoot it like he can are rare commodities. And if Atlanta loses Jamal Crawford to free agency, a distinct possibility, then Charlie V’s scoring ability off the bench might be its best response.

Langlois: You can’t come up with a handful of players in NBA history who had Rasheed Wallace’s size plus his vast array of skills – and not just a vast array of skills, but skills in which he ranked near the top of the charts. If you had to win one game or a playoff series, I think you could make a credible argument for Rasheed over Dirk. Where Nowitzki ultimately wins the argument, I think, is consistency and phenomenal shot-making skills. He gives you what he’s got every night and he’s the most versatile 7-foot scorer in NBA history. As a defender, there’s no comparison. When Rasheed was in his prime – when he came to the Pistons in 2004 and for the next few seasons – he was a dominant defensive force who was as critical to the team’s success on that end as Ben Wallace, I always believed.