You do not have the correct version of the Flash Player Plugin. Click here to get it.
We reserve the right to edit your question for the sake of brevity or clarity.
Archives: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | FAQs
Dieterik (Kalamazoo, Mich.): Have you heard about this three-way trade: Sending Prince to Portland, Kaman to Detroit and Jerryd Bayless to Clippers with other players involved to make the trade work out. What do you think?
Langlois: I know Portland was trying to broker a three-team trade last summer that would have resulted in Tayshaun Prince winding up there and Carlos Boozer coming to Detroit. Portland, typically, wasn’t willing to offer much except cap relief for Utah. If Portland was eager to get Prince last summer, it only makes sense that it’s even more interested now with both Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw out for extended periods. But Prince is also hurt, so this one doesn’t have a chance to happen unless and until he gets back on the floor and proves his disc injury isn’t going to be debilitating. Joe Dumars didn’t come close to biting on Portland’s offer over the summer and there was no indication Utah was interested, either. Has Joe D seen enough from his rookies to give him any more confidence he can get by without a proven small forward on his roster? Certainly not while Rip Hamilton remains out with a serious ankle sprain. Beyond that? Stay tuned. I don’t see him actively seeking trades, but if something really enticing came along, perhaps. Does Kaman qualify? He’s had real durability issues, but there’s no question his size, rebounding and scoring touch would be an asset.
Langlois: There are going to be nights he’s not as noticeably active or make a huge impact on games, and I suspect every time that happens people are going to wonder if he’s hit the wall. But let’s keep in mind that the same thing happens to much younger players who rely on great effort to affect games. Jason Maxiell, for instance, is 27 and had a terrific game against the Lakers on Tuesday, not so much against Portland on Wednesday. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. As long as Ben Wallace is feeling good physically, I suspect he’ll continue to play close to 30 minutes a game and helping the Pistons more often than not.
Langlois: That information, Jon, can be found in the Pistons official media guide, which is available at Pistons.com. It’s in the Records section, on the page headed “The Last Time.” (http://www.nba.com/pistons/media/mediaguide09_records.pdf) And the answer is: Chauncey Billups, who on Feb. 20, 2004 against Minnesota put up 20 points, 10 boards and 11 assists. Larry Brown probably found something to grumble about.
Roz (Ann Arbor, Mich.): Did Rodney Stuckey injure his ankle in the Dallas game? I hope all is good.
Langlois: His calves cramped on him midway through the fourth quarter. He volunteered to re-enter the game late. He’ll be fine for Tuesday’s game with the Lakers, but you can bet Arnie Kander will make sure he’s being adequately hydrated on the flight west.
Langlois: That’s the $64,000 question – times 100, perhaps. There’s no question that had the Pistons or anyone signed Will Bynum last summer to a mid-level exception contract, they’d be pleased with the production they’re getting from him for that price. He’ll be 27 next season in the first year of a new contract. Will some team offer him the full MLE as a restricted free agent? Maybe. Will one team that desperately needs the playmaking ability off the dribble and high energy he brings offer even more? With so many attractive free agents hitting the market next summer, I’m not sure that can happen. Regardless, the Pistons will have the right to match any offers Will might get and unless there’s a “poison pill” clause in there, I think you’ll see Joe Dumars do what it takes to retain him.
Langlois: Actually, too much money going back to Cleveland for that to work. Hamilton, Prince and Maxiell combined are on the books for roughly $29 million for the 2010-11 season and LeBron, assuming he signs a max contract (which, for a player of his service, would be 30 percent of the salary cap), would come in somewhere around $16 million to $17 million, given current cap projections for next season. A sign and trade is a possibility, but probably not as great as LeBron staying in Cleveland or signing outright with another team. LeBron is going to want to sign with a team that has the pieces in place to win a title; agreeing to a sign-and-trade deal, although it would allow him to get a sixth year on his contract and greater annual raises, would mean coming to a lesser team. LeBron already rolled the dice once when he signed his last contract, taking a shorter term to give him this chance at free agency. I don’t think one extra year on his next contract is going to sway him one way or the other. Remember, he’ll be 25 when he signs this contract. That means, if he signs a five-year deal, he’ll also be very attractive – assuming he stays healthy – when this next contract expires, when he’ll be 30.
Sharon (Burton, Mich.): I was at last night’s game and had a great time for my birthday. My question is why aren’t Rip and Tay on the bench supporting the team? They are my favorite players and I was just wondering why they aren’t there.
Langlois: It’s not unusual at all, Sharon, for injured veteran players not to sit courtside during games. Tayshaun Prince has a ruptured disc in his back. I’m guessing the worst thing he could do would be to sit in street clothes, behind the players’ bench, in a folding chair, trying to get up and down all night or crane his neck to see what’s going on. Rip was at the game taking treatment on his injured ankle. I did see him outside the locker room after the game and asked him about his ankle. He’s still a ways away from getting back. When I asked if he thought he’d make it back for any of the four-game West Coast trip that starts next week, he indicated it wasn’t likely. And happy belated birthday!
Langlois: I got several Mailbag entries similar to yours, Odeh. Everyone in the organization understands that winning over a skeptical fan base isn’t going to happen overnight, but I’m seeing a pretty healthy percentage of fans who are optimistic for the future and excited to see the development in the present. They’re going into a particularly brutal seven-game stretch right now with five tough road games and home games against Dallas and Cleveland. It’s not a good time to be without Prince and Hamilton, but they’ve shown they’ll compete every time out. This stretch might knock them back, record-wise at least, but when they get back to full strength, and the schedule straightens out, I think they’ll put together a nice run and wind up in the thick of the playoff race.
Langlois: It’s pretty indisputable that Stuckey is farther ahead of the game at 23 than Billups was, partly due to opportunity, partly due to injury, partly due to the greater stability Stuckey has enjoyed – though to say there was much stability in his second season would be a stretch. It’s also worth remembering that even the Chauncey Billups who came to the Pistons to start the 2002-03 season was a long way from an elite point guard. By the end of that season, it was pretty clear Joe Dumars had landed a bargain with the mid-level exception, but at the midway point of that first season – which was Billups’ sixth year in the NBA – the jury was still out.
Massimo (Lausanne, Switzerland): With Jonas and Austin proving they can play and defend and score, what are the chances Joe D takes advantage of this to further accelerate his revamping of the roster, making Prince and Rip and maybe Wilcox or Maxiell part of a potential move?
Langlois: While Jerebko and Daye are off to very promising starts, it’s premature to expect Joe D to actively start shopping his veterans at this point. I don’t think it’s out of the question that after the season, and only then if he’s convinced that Jerebko or Daye or some combination of them plus DaJuan Summers is ready to assume full-time duty, he explores his options. In the same way Rodney Stuckey’s emergence made Chauncey Billups a valuable bargaining chip, it’s possible that the rookies – and the accompanying cost certainty of their rookie-scale contracts – will make it possible for Joe D to make a similar move that benefits the Pistons economically and eventually benefit them with a roster upgrade.
Langlois: DPOY is a long shot, Tim, because the perception built up over the last three seasons won’t easily dissipate and the Pistons aren’t likely to get much national TV exposure this season. But if he can maintain his minutes-per-game average and keep his rebounding numbers up around 10 – and I don’t know about the likelihood, given the 23 back-to-backs the Pistons have scheduled and John Kuester’s plan to monitor his minutes in such circumstances – then he’ll at least be in the running for a berth on one of the All-Defensive teams.
Langlois: Starting from scratch? They retained Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum, Kwame Brown and Jason Maxiell from last season – and all six are in the rotation, or would be, if Hamilton and Prince were healthy. That’s a long way from scratch. Had the Pistons stayed pat, their nucleus would be 35 (Rasheed Wallace), 35 (Antonio McDyess) and 34 (Allen Iverson), to go along with Hamilton (31), Prince (29) and the rest of the players still here. When you say “add a few pieces” to them, understand that you couldn’t add anything to that roster without sacrificing something else, because that roster also would have meant the Pistons were significantly over the salary cap.
Ken (Oxford, Mich.): You have to admit that Prince sitting after almost 500 games straight and Maxiell sitting after playing the first three games is suspicious. Is there a trade in the works? Tell the truth!
Langlois: I know the conspiracy theorists were on high alert when Tayshaun Prince didn’t dress with a back injury the past two games, but does anybody really think Joe Dumars would tell Prince – whom he knows views his consecutive-games streak as a badge of honor – to sit out because he has a potential trade in the works? Really? Do you think Dumars would really be worried that Prince, after playing seven straight years without missing a game due to injury, would be at high risk for injury by playing one more game? Joe D had several phone calls asking about Prince over the summer but decided he’s already introduced enough change to the roster for one season. He’s got no obvious backup for him, so trading Prince would necessarily have to be for another small forward. The rookies, for all their promise, aren’t ready to handle full-time duty. As for Maxiell sitting, that was almost certainly nothing more than Kuester not seeing great production from him in the early going and wanting to get a look at Chris Wilcox. It’s safe to say that position battle remains open.
Langlois: “Unload” probably offends the ear of a lot of Pistons fans, but I get your larger point. That’s the nature of sport, especially one governed by a salary cap. It’s essentially what motivated the Chauncey Billups trade – Rodney Stuckey was available to assume his role at a significantly lesser cost, freeing up money to address other needs. It’s only logical to think Joe Dumars is monitoring the progress of all three rookies carefully this season and will make his moves next summer with that foremost in mind. But I don’t think he’s even contemplating other moves before that – or certainly not now, at least. He’s seen very good moments from Jerebko and Daye this week, but good moments don’t mean they’re ready to replace veterans who’ve played at or near All-Star levels for years.
Langlois: Bosh is extremely quick for a big guy and he’s always looking for rebound lanes to crash. He’s clever and knows how to draw contact and force officials to make calls. The way Toronto plays now, with the floor spread with shooters, those lanes for him are even wider than they’ve been. No, all those calls weren’t right, but they’ll never get ’em all right. There are more subjective decisions to make in the course of a basketball game by far than in football, say, or baseball.
Jason (Jamestown, N.D.): After three games, we have a blowout win and two giveaways. How can they make the second halves as good as the first? I know we miss Rip, but these were very winnable games.
Langlois: You’re right – they were winnable. They were the games a team that knows itself a little better than this team currently does would have won, too. The hope is that as this season progresses, the Pistons will figure out how to sustain success when things are going well and be better able to extricate themselves from trouble when they aren’t going so well. Injuries are a fact of life in the NBA, but the timing of Hamilton’s injury was a punch in the gut, coming as it did in a game that was well in hand when he and the offense built with him and Ben Gordon in mind had gotten off to such a promising start. If he can get back, and back at 100 percent, within a week or so, the hope is they can pick up where they left off in Memphis.
Langlois: Herrmann’s playing in Spain, Mahorn is still doing radio commentary for home broadcasts.
Langlois: Easy: A great jump shot. ESPN.com’s John Hollinger had some stats recently that showed Nelson was easily the NBA’s most accurate shooter on deep 2-point shots last season and also was a remarkable 3-point shooter. That’s why Nelson’s play was elevated so dramatically last season. Can he duplicate that type of shooting? Probably not. Can Stuckey become a better perimeter shooter? He most likely will. Bynum is already a clearly better jump shooter than he was last year – not really a 3-point shooter yet, but he’s added range and looks to be a more confident shooter.
