Offseason Plan (Post Deadline)

[ComboGuardCity]

Sometimes I wonder how much guys in here actually WATCH basketball outside of just watching some Pistons games....if you actually WATCH Cousins play, you will find he is very comfortable in the high post, both scoring (shooting), passing, and driving the lane. But for those of you who are strictly stat crunchers:


Monroe assists per game -- 3.3
Monroe minutes per game -- 32.7


Cousins assists per game -- 2.9
Cousins minutes per game -- 31.6

You're the one stat looking man. Moose makes a lot better decisions out of the high post compared to Cousins. Its not even close. Just another case of the Grass is greener...

[Selffar]

Wont give up on Monroe until he has proven failed playing along with Drummond, they didnt have enough chances back then

And now, we should be focusing on finding a top swingman. I like Corey Brewer's length, defense and athelticism, cant be worse than Singler anyway;

then maybe we need a backup PF behind Monroe, we shouldnt spend billions on Milsap as Monroe and Drummond will be our future. And we cant afford to overpay again for a backup Big.

We should save some cap space for Monroe n Drummond's contract extension.

[jaredtyshaf]

Cousins is shooting a whooping 32% outside of the painted area, and he takes a lot of shots (5 shots/game not including paint), it is dreadful to watch him hold the ball on the high post and take contested shots. He is a decent passer like Greg too but his usage rate is bigger than him. I'd say he is comfortable but a terribly low efficiency player and a cancer to the team to boot.

I don't even need to reply now, said everything I was gonna say!

[Liverbird]

I don't think there's a need this summer to spend big on Free Agents. With the new luxury tax penalties starting in 2014, cap space will be at a premium...I suspect that there will be quite a few teams looking to dump salary next year and willing to part with talent/draft picks to do so. The free agency class is also much better in 2014. IMO, the Pistons only need to make small incremental moves this offseason.

- Let Bynum, Maggette and Maxiell walk.
- Draft Oladipo (I think he's going to be a very good player. Does everything to help you win) Otto Porter would be an excellent choice too.
- Resign Calderon for 3 years at around the MLE
- Potentially look at Millsap

PG: Calderon/Knight
SG: Oladipo/Stuckey/English
SF: Singler/Middleton
PF: Moose/Millsap/CV/Jerebko
C: Drummond/Moose/Kravtsov

CV and Stuckey will be expirings with value to luxury tax teams.

Tons of cap space to find a SF.

[iserp]

What if... the Lakers amnesty Kobe?

If not, i would trade for Danny Granger.

[BadMofoPimp]

What if... the Lakers amnesty Kobe?

If not, i would trade for Danny Granger.

Granger would fit a need. Kobe would go chase a ring in New York for the Minimum or something being he would still get paid by the Lakers.

[ComboGuardCity]

The 2014 class is very weak if you take into account Melo, Lebron, Wade, Kobe already have a very short list of teams to play for.

[ChipButty]

If we are able to land Bazz, we must make a big play for Iguodala. 3yr/45mill should get it done. In addition, if Granger struggles in his return and throughout these playoffs, I think he can be had for VERY cheap. Stuckey + 2016 first for Granger could get it done IMO. They're going to have to resign both George and Stephenson the next season and I think they're going to give the team entirely to PG even with Granger's return. Granger is a great stop gap and if Bazz proves he can develop into a good player (which I think he will) we can let Granger walk after his contract is up, unless he's happy taking a 10mill a year job to be the sixth man. At this point, I think its inevitable that Kaman comes back to Detroit and whether we want it or not, Bynum will be back to be our backup.

Knight/Bynum
Iguodala/Bazz
Granger/Singler/Bazz
Monroe/CV
Drummond/Kaman

That's a team that I think is better than the current Pacers squad and can be a peak ECF team as early as next year!

I think this is about as good as we could realistically hope for. Should he opt out, Iguadala would be my number 1 target. Bynumite makes sense, if we are sticking with Knight. I'm also a fan of buying low on Granger. Obviously he needs to demonstrate his knee is 100%.

If we can't get Iguadala, option #2 would be throwing a total of $25 million/year combined at Josh Smith and JJ Reddick. I have no concerns about giving Smith minutes at SF and Reddick (who I think is the most underated free agent on the market) would be ideal to help spread the floor. Signing Smith also provides trade flexibility with Monroe.

[Moose10Fan]

3 years 45 million for Andre Iguodola?

WHY???????

If we are paying that much I’d at least like to get someone on the perimeter who we can give the ball to and expect a basket or a foul.

Iguadola is a nice all around player, but he’s approaching the downside of his career and isn’t worth that sort of money.

[BadMofoPimp]

I wouldn't pay Iggy more than $8-9 mil for 3 years at his age. He is just starting to decline.

[ChipButty]

^^

Iggy is less than 1 year older than Lebron. He's 2 years younger than Wade and 5 or 6 years younger than guys like Marion, Kobe, Pierce and Ginobili. What is this concern about his age and a decline in ability based on?

I am not suggesting 3/45 is great value, but we have the cap space to overpay and if he's the player you want, then that is probably the lowest price you can expect to pay. You are not going to find value in free agency.

I think Iggy/Smith and Reddick are the best options for this team. I'd rather overpay for the players I want then settle for players I don't rate as highly. If you have a better option, throw it out there.

[Timmaytime]

^^

Iggy is less than 1 year older than Lebron. He's 2 years younger than Wade and 5 or 6 years younger than guys like Marion, Kobe, Pierce and Ginobili. What is this concern about his age and a decline in ability based on?

I am not suggesting 3/45 is great value, but we have the cap space to overpay and if he's the player you want, then that is probably the lowest price you can expect to pay. You are not going to find value in free agency.

I think Iggy/Smith and Reddick are the best options for this team. I'd rather overpay for the players I want then settle for players I don't rate as highly. If you have a better option, throw it out there.

The only concern might be based on the fact that his game is based on athleticism and those players tend to decline quicker, but I would much rather have a 29 year old Iggy than most options

[mercury]

This should be a good reference when discussing F.A. $'s to spend...
From Langlois: "The amount of money in expiring contracts doesn’t necessarily equal the amount of money a team will have under the cap, Carl. Remember, the Pistons are about $11 million over the current cap of $58 million. The cap for 2013-14 won’t be set until the first week of July, but let’s say it goes up to $60 million. The Pistons have about $34 million in committed salary for next season, though they have the capacity to create more depending on what they choose to do with the contracts of Rodney Stuckey (guaranteed at about 50 percent of his reported $8.5 million), Charlie Villanueva (eligible to be amnestied, which means he’d still get all of his reported $8.6 million but it would no longer count against the salary cap), Slava Kravtsov (reportedly a team option for next season) and Kim English (ditto). But let’s stick with $34 million, and if we assume a cap of $60 million, that leaves $26 million in cap space. If the Pistons intend to bring back Jose Calderon – as they’ve said they do – then he would have a “cap hold” of 150 percent of his current salary, which would be approximately $16.5 million. It would then behoove the Pistons to get something done fast with Calderon so the cap charge would then revert to his first-year salary. For argument’s sake, let’s say that would be $7 million. That would leave them with $19 million after signing Calderon."

Looks like he's missing the rookie cap hold roughly 2-5 Mil

[Goldtop]

ESPN took a poll from writers on their picks for losing teams in the East with the best future:

Tom Sunnergren, Hoop 76: Detroit Pistons Among the rarest commodities in sports is a young, dominant NBA big man. In Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, the Pistons have two of them. Add Jose Calderon and "Exciting Young Lottery Pick X" to the mix, and suddenly you have a team that could make waves as soon as next season.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-o ... sing-teams

[theBigLip]

If we are able to land Bazz, we must make a big play for Iguodala. 3yr/45mill should get it done. In addition, if Granger struggles in his return and throughout these playoffs, I think he can be had for VERY cheap. Stuckey + 2016 first for Granger could get it done IMO. They're going to have to resign both George and Stephenson the next season and I think they're going to give the team entirely to PG even with Granger's return. Granger is a great stop gap and if Bazz proves he can develop into a good player (which I think he will) we can let Granger walk after his contract is up, unless he's happy taking a 10mill a year job to be the sixth man. At this point, I think its inevitable that Kaman comes back to Detroit and whether we want it or not, Bynum will be back to be our backup.

Knight/Bynum
Iguodala/Bazz
Granger/Singler/Bazz
Monroe/CV
Drummond/Kaman

That's a team that I think is better than the current Pacers squad and can be a peak ECF team as early as next year!

I think this is about as good as we could realistically hope for. Should he opt out, Iguadala would be my number 1 target. Bynumite makes sense, if we are sticking with Knight. I'm also a fan of buying low on Granger. Obviously he needs to demonstrate his knee is 100%.

If we can't get Iguadala, option #2 would be throwing a total of $25 million/year combined at Josh Smith and JJ Reddick. I have no concerns about giving Smith minutes at SF and Reddick (who I think is the most underated free agent on the market) would be ideal to help spread the floor. Signing Smith also provides trade flexibility with Monroe.

Good as we could hope for? This is wet dream city! If we can obtain Granger, Iggy and Bazz this offseason, we'd have the potential to, dare I say, become an elite team again.

[mercury]

I'd rather play Knight at the 2 over Redick... they shoot about the same from distance...Knight is the better defender and penetrator... given his youth & salary he's a bargain.... only gonna get better from here.

[Brapman]

I very much like a projected backcourt of Calderon and Knight. Knight, IMO, projects as a very fine player. When he gains in consistency and efficiency (as he certainly will do - he's just 21 so he'll obviously mature and get stronger and better as a player just with seasoning), that's a very dynamic backcourt. I'd focus on finding a great 3rd guard, someone who can shoot it from distance and defend (I'm not loving what I'm seeing from English, although I wouldn't totally give up on him just yet, and Stuckey and Bynum ain't it).

Knight's an almost impossible cover for a SG when he's playing efficiently.

[Jodi]

All I want us to do is fix our SF problem, sign another big man in FA(Kaman or Dalembert), and get another guard via draft or trading our pick for proven young talent...We'll never win anything with Calderon as our starter, I don't think he should be included in future plans...I also want us to sit on half of our cap space...

[princeofpalace]

Yet another new plan

DRAFT DAY

#8- PF/C- Cody Zeller
#38- SG/SF Allen Crabbe
#57- PG- Nate Wolters

Lets assume that we miss out on Porter/Shabazz/Mclemore and are left with a bigman crop that includes Zeller/Len/Plumlee/Bennett. We gamble on Zeller to complete our 3 bigman rotation get the wing Joe D likes in Crabbe and 3rd string PG in Wolters

TRADE

Detroit trades:Kim English to Denver for Wilson Chandler.

I had previously been opposed to this type of trade, but Chandler is finally starting to look like he's returning to his previous form so apparently I was very wrong about him. And, if we miss out on wings in the draft then this scenario looks even better. Denver pulls the trigger to save cash and get away from lux tax territory.

FREE AGENCY

First we allow Maxiel, Bynum, Calderon to expire. We also waive Rodney Stuckey.

PG- Eric Maynor- 3/10 deal. Maynor is a very good pass first PG that should play 20-25mpg at the guard spot.
SG- OJ Mayo- 3/33 deal. Mayo is a very good shooter who can be clutch. We only sign him for 3 years to minimize the risk.

2013-2014 Detroit Pistons

Knight/Maynor/Wolters
Mayo/Middleton/Crabbe
Chandler/Singler/
Monroe/CV/Jerebko
Drummond/Zeller/Slava

We get two shooter/scorers at the wings spot, which we desperately need. Both help to spread the floor, give Knight better options to pass to and take the pressure of Greg Monroe to be the teams best scorer. We acquire a young pass first back up PG in Maynor, that isn't a defensive sieve, and who still allows Knight to play off the ball from time to time.

IMO, this is a young playoff team with potential.

[Jodi]

^I don't know who Cody Zeller is but your plan looks legit...I think we could sit on some of our cap space with your plan too...