What about this plan?

[vege]

Truth is, there's not much to be excited about with Dre injured.

Yeah not as if we have a PG who had 18 assists 2 games ago and is at the top of the league in assists and assists per turnover rate and 2 young players in Knight and Monroe who have been scoring 20+ points a game the past 2 games

The rest of the team is utter garbage but we do have some very good pieces that should get us excited in Calderon/Knight/Monroe/Drummond.

[Joe Berry]

Truth is, there's not much to be excited about with Dre injured.

Yeah not as if we have a PG who had 18 assists 2 games ago and is at the top of the league in assists and assists per turnover rate and 2 young players in Knight and Monroe who have been scoring 20+ points a game the past 2 games

The rest of the team is utter garbage but we do have some very good pieces that should get us excited in Calderon/Knight/Monroe/Drummond.

I agree, i would even include Singler, while he's struggeling as a starter in the NBA i think he can be a great 7,8th man on a good basketball team.

[ajaX82]

The hate for Monroe around here is absurd and disgusting.

so is your hate for knight, hypocrite

Address content, not posters.

- ajaX

[StickAndMove]

vege - I agree wholeheartedly with your post about the hate for Monroe. From my perspective, he is often severely underappreciated by Pistons fans.

Truth is, there's not much to be excited about with Dre injured.

Yeah not as if we have a PG who had 18 assists 2 games ago and is at the top of the league in assists and assists per turnover rate and 2 young players in Knight and Monroe who have been scoring 20+ points a game the past 2 games

The rest of the team is utter garbage but we do have some very good pieces that should get us excited in Calderon/Knight/Monroe/Drummond.

Calderon is fun to watch, but I don't think he's particularly exciting because of his age. I am excited by players who appear to have the potential to play significant roles on a championship-contending team three or four years from now. At that point, Drummond will be 22 or 23, Moose 25 or 26, Knight 24 or 25. We need players whose primes are closer to those three. Calderon will be 34 or 35 at that point and likely will be reduced to a role player by then. Honestly, Jerebko excites me almost as much as Jose does, because I think there's a better chance he contributes down the road at a point where we could be competing for championships. What I want most from Jose is for him to take BK under his wing and work with him on his passing, floor generalship, etc. Calderon's best talents are Brandon's biggest weaknesses, and it may just be wishful thinking, but it seems to be worth a try, at least. In the NBA, Knight hasn't had a pass-first PG as a teammate until now. I hope he's instructed to follow Jose around and absorb any advice like a sponge.

[MrBigShot]

Inconsistency is the cause for the hate. After a slow start where it actually looked like he regressed, Monroe has put together a very solid stretch and has shown stretches of being more than just a good player...he's shown stretches of being an elite big offensively. Putting up roughly 17/10/3 on 50+% shooting the past two months.

He's messed up a few times in crunch time, but overall I think Moose has earned praise and I'm feel like he's improved, even if slightly.

Knight is the one that get a disgusting amount of hate here. I think most agree that we would give the max to Moose. I would. And of course Drummond receives nothing but praise as well, but it's all well-earned.

[dan2314]

how can you possibly say smith is a better fit next to drummond? we have two athletic shotblockers, neither of who have any offensive fundamental play that monroe has. smith has a better mid range jumper than monroe which would help but you cant trust him in the post which is really important for a basketball team.

[Warspite]

I dont get the Josh Smith love here. He cant play with Drummond.


Now if we were trading For Horford that might be a differant story. I think Horford would fit well with Drummond. .

You just cant build a Pistons team that can only score 60ppg and expect to hold everyone under 50pts.

[mercury]

I would pay Josh Smith up to $13-14 mil per year. He is more legit than any other free agent on the board and instantly makes this team a contender with the cast they have plus whomever they can sign with that $28 mil. Do it Joe, Just DoooooiiiiiIt!!!

This team is not going to contend next year. Josh Smith won't change that. Unless you're talking about contending for a playoff spot.

My only hope for the Pistons' off-season is that the front office doesn't take on any contracts that will mortgage our future going forward. I hope that they are looking to go all-in a few years from now.

This is accurate... we need to be realist with our expectations for competing with tier 1 teams... at this moment we shouldn't be looking at anyone over 27 years of age... it would be ideal to build a core that can be competitive for more than a couple years.... maybe in 2015/16 we can add that mature final piece.