theBigLip's offseason whim

[theBigLip]

I've been thinking about publishing a realistic plan, but haven't had the energy to come up with one up to this point. And after we dropped in the draft lottery, and coming to grips with the poor free agency choices, it hasn't seemed like a fun task. But wtf, its either do work or come up with a plan, so here I am

Over the past few months, it has been easy to say just draft Porter and sign Mayo, or just draft Oladipo and sign Iggy. I've decided to do another route, take some chances, assume we can pull off a trade, and set myself up for a ton of criticism

Step 1: Use Knight (and anything else outside of Monroe and Drummond) in a sign and trade and get Tyreke Evans. Sure, he can be a ball hog and doesn't have a great outside shot, and needs to be reminded to play D, but he is a great athlete and could use a change of scenery. Need to convince the Kings that Knight is more of a PG. Maybe throw in some cash. But this gets a legit SG who can score.

Step 2: I know we'll overpay, and he's not an outside shooter, but wtf, let's throw some money at Josh Smith and not Iggy. He's 27 (Iggy's 29), so he's young enough to be part of our transformation. He gives us some versatility to play the 3 and the 4. We'd have a huge front line of Smith, Monroe and Drummond. Scary.

Step 3: Draft a PG. I'm not just a Wolverine homer, but I'd be very happy with Burke. He can shoot, but still be a pass first PG. If he's not available, MCW certainly will, and I think he'd work out just fine.

So our 2013 BigLip Detroit Pistons are:
PG: Burke
SG: Evans
SF: Smith
PF: Monroe
C: Drummond

Still need a bench, and more importantly, a good coach, but I'd like to see what a team like this could do. Bash away...

[Snakebites]

Shooting, who needs it?

I'm not really in favor of going after Smith for the amount of money it will cost, but I am beginning to sense that we're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place as far as free agency goes.

We either have to overpay for a guy or two or come up empty handed. Same situation we were in back in 2009, but (hopefully) with slightly better options and the hindsight of how bad it worked the last time we went all in on the only 2 guys available.

The biggest concern I have there is that there's simply no reliable shooting of any sort in that starting line, which makes us really, really easy to defend.

[Jodi]

No trading Knight...

Evans probably wouldn't fit here, we need a 2 that can shot the ball...

I'm down to sign Smith for defensive reasons, but I understand the argument where he'll be a bad fit...

[theBigLip]

The good thing is that as we miss every outside shot, we will get every rebound

Some sharp shooting role players would obviously compliment this lineup well, and would be less expensive.

[ChipButty]

I think we need to address the PG position, so I like the fact that you are bringing in Burke.

If you are signing Smith to play minutes at SF I think you have to have a shooter at SG. Tyreke is going to have a hard time getting to the rim when there are no three point shooters spreading the floor. Mayo would probably be a better fit. Eric Gordon, JR Smith and Kevin Martin would be other options.

[Cowology]

Agree the lack of shooting will be a problem. I'd be more inclined to bring JSmooth in as our PF and trade Monroe for a PG, SG or SF then fill the remaining holes via Draft/FA.

My problem with Smith is the contract he's going to demand. But IF he's the best FA we can realistically target then I'm not opposed to using Monroe as trade bait to re-balance the roster. We need to add the best possible talent through both the Draft & FA, and then trade for need. But the premium has to be on acquiring talent/assets. We are in dire need of upgrading our talent pool.

[theBigLip]

Agree the lack of shooting will be a problem. I'd be more inclined to bring JSmooth in as our PF and trade Monroe for a PG, SG or SF then fill the remaining holes via Draft/FA.

My problem with Smith is the contract he's going to demand. But IF he's the best FA we can realistically target then I'm not opposed to using Monroe as trade bait to re-balance the roster. We need to add the best possible talent through both the Draft & FA, and then trade for need. But the premium has to be on acquiring talent/assets. We are in dire need of upgrading our talent pool.

Good point on trading Monroe, especially if he wants to play center and doesn't want to deal with a twin towers team. Sounds like the start of another thread, which we've probably already had a few times this year

[Cowology]

Lotta different ways to approach it. If you amnesty CV & buyout Stuck we should have enough money to pick up 2 starters. Draft the 4th starter and trade Monroe for the 5th.

Does Moose/Knight/JJ get me Rondo? Then sign JRSmith/Mayo or absorb Gordon and draft Oladipo. Or sign Tony Allen and draft Shabazz. Don't like Rondo, then make a run at a starting SG/SF with Moose, draft Burke and again fill in the other wing via FA. We need value out of FA, Trade and the Draft.

So hypothetically, IF we did decide to make a run at Josh Smith and put Monroe on the table who is the best pg, sg or sf we could get? Answer that and you'll have a better idea who to draft and pick up via FA.

[ComboGuardCity]

Lotta different ways to approach it. If you amnesty CV & buyout Stuck we should have enough money to pick up 2 starters. Draft the 4th starter and trade Monroe for the 5th.

Does Moose/Knight/JJ get me Rondo? Then sign JRSmith/Mayo or absorb Gordon and draft Oladipo. Or sign Tony Allen and draft Shabazz. Don't like Rondo, then make a run at a starting SG/SF with Moose, draft Burke and again fill in the other wing via FA. We need value out of FA, Trade and the Draft.

So hypothetically, IF we did decide to make a run at Josh Smith and put Monroe on the table who is the best pg, sg or sf we could get? Answer that and you'll have a better idea who to draft and pick up via FA.

Not addressing you in particular, but there seems to be a large faction of the forum that is all for trading Moose for positions that are at a surplus in this league. Watching the Grizzlies this year in the playoffs, I think its entirely possible that a Monroe and Drummond tandem can be just as good as ZBO and Gasol within the next two seasons...and as we can see, that style of play works. The Grizzlies are surrounded by 3 role player 1-3. Yes, Conley has stepped up, but PGs literally grow on trees that play at Conley's level. We have a rare commodity in our big man duo. No reason to break it up unless we get a superstar in return.

[Clarity]

When will the Josh Smith nonsense stop lol

[dVs33]

Smith is going to demand a lot of money and he's way too inconsistent for my liking. He's still a tweener.
I don't want him.

We should be looking at building around Moose and dre.
pick up some depth guys for reasonable contracts and keep some cap space to keep more trade possibilities open.
Brewer, calderon, Milsap - these are the type of signings we should look at while we let monroe, drummond and knight develop.

[HotelVitale]

Yes, Conley has stepped up, but PGs literally grow on trees that play at Conley's level.

Two things. First, there are maybe 10-16 point guards as good as or better than Conley on the planet. He's not a superstar but he's better than everyone except those 10-16 dudes. I agree with your point about not undervaluing Monroe and our current strengths, but Conley is much better than an average NBA player--he's an above averae starter at the deepest position in the league. He posted a PER or 18.4 this year, he plays the team system well on D, he led the league in steals, and he controls the team's pace on offense as well as any point guard not named Chris Paul. Credit where it's due.

Second, thanks for noting that you're not using a figure of speech and that point guards literally grow on trees. Broad-leafed, deciduous ones native to New England and southern Canada. People often forget this.

[The Penguin]

I realize it was the NBA TV series, but did no one pay attention to the Hawks-Pacers series? The Hawks best lineups featured a front line of Horford-Petro-Smith. There's no doubt in my mind Drummond-Monroe-Smith could do fine as a front court.

I really want Josh Smith and Tony Allen to add to Drummond/Monroe/Knight/BPA Rookie.

I hear people on the lack of shooting, but I also recognize we could get back to having one of the best defensive teams in the league with Drummond-Smith-Allen-Knight as a nucleous.


Fun with math:

C - Drummond 32 minutes - Moose 16 minutes
PF - Moose 20 minutes - Smith 28 minutes
SF - Smith 10 minutes - Singler/Middleton/Rookie 28 minutes
SG - Allen 32 minutes - Singler/Middleton/Rookie 16 minutes
PG - Knight 32 minutes - vet PG 16 minutes

[ComboGuardCity]

Yes, Conley has stepped up, but PGs literally grow on trees that play at Conley's level.

Two things. First, there are maybe 10-16 point guards as good as or better than Conley on the planet. He's not a superstar but he's better than everyone except those 10-16 dudes. I agree with your point about not undervaluing Monroe and our current strengths, but Conley is much better than an average NBA player--he's an above averae starter at the deepest position in the league. He posted a PER or 18.4 this year, he plays the team system well on D, he led the league in steals, and he controls the team's pace on offense as well as any point guard not named Chris Paul. Credit where it's due.

Second, thanks for noting that you're not using a figure of speech and that point guards literally grow on trees. Broad-leafed, deciduous ones native to New England and southern Canada. People often forget this.

I planted my Steph Curry tree a few weeks back. Unfortunately I failed to tend to it and was left with a bunch of Jimmers.