Home Run Offseason

[The Penguin]

Waive Stuckey, Amnesty CV31

Draft one of (Noel, McLemore, Muhammad, Porter, Bennett, Oladipo)

Trade pick #35, future 2nd, $3 mil in cash for a pick in the 17-20 range, draft one of (McAdoo, Austin, Adams, Dieng, Withey)

Sign Josh Smith & Andre Iguodala

Sign Billups with remaining cap room & promise of a job in the organization

Knight/Billups/min FA
Iguodala/Rookie Wing/English
Smith/Singler/Middleton
Monroe/Jerebko
Drummond/Rookie Big/Krav

The key would be flexibility. They could play big with the above starting lineup, or play small with this years draft pick coming in and Monroe or Drummond going out.

[Piston Pete]

Star power is there, but Iggy/Smith are not the kind of "shooters" we should be looking to put net to Monroe/Drummond.

[The Penguin]

Knight (28) / Billups (20)
Iguodala (12) / Rookie (30) / Knight (6)
Smith (12) / Igoudala (24) / (Singler/Middleton/English) (12)
Monroe (20) / Smith (22) / (Rookie/Jerebko) (6)
Drummond (30) / Monroe (12) / (Rookie/Krav) (6)

[The Penguin]

Star power is there, but Iggy/Smith are not the kind of "shooters" we should be looking to put net to Monroe/Drummond.

Drummond/Smith/Iguodala/Knight/???? could be one of the very best defensive lineups in the league. Adding a guy like McLemore to Knight/Billups/Singler should give us enough shooters, if not guys like Novack/Kapono/Korver don't usually cost a lot to acquire.

[Snakebites]

If we're building around a pair of big men quality range and spacing from the perimeter is going to be an absolute must.

Its also not sensible to pay Iguodala the big bucks it will take to get him here if he's playing 24 minutes off the bench.

[The Penguin]

If we're building around a pair of big men quality range and spacing from the perimeter is going to be an absolute must.

Its also not sensible to pay Iguodala the big bucks it will take to get him here if he's playing 24 minutes off the bench.

I have him starting at the 2....

[Jodi]

Knight/Billups/min FA
Iguodala/Rookie Wing/English
Smith/Singler/Middleton
Monroe/Jerebko
Drummond/Rookie Big/Krav

That's a very good line-up...Call me crazy, but I see Smith picking Houston before signing with the Detroit...I would love it if Dumars made this happen though...

[MrBigShot]

Knight/Billups/min FA
Iguodala/Rookie Wing/English
Smith/Singler/Middleton
Monroe/Jerebko
Drummond/Rookie Big/Krav

That's a very good line-up...Call me crazy, but I see Smith picking Houston before signing with the Detroit...I would love it if Dumars made this happen though...

You're not crazy. Your 100% right.

[Snakebites]

If we're building around a pair of big men quality range and spacing from the perimeter is going to be an absolute must.

Its also not sensible to pay Iguodala the big bucks it will take to get him here if he's playing 24 minutes off the bench.

I have him starting at the 2....

My bad.

I still don't like starting two wing players with minimal range, particularly given we're trying to build around a pair of interior big guys. I realize they are both in this scenario because they are the two best free agents available outside of Paul/Howard, but I don't think signing both is a wise move. The merit of signing one or the other depends on teh asking price. I don't anticipate I'm going to like the offer Smith will end up signing with someone. Iggy I'm less sure about.

I'd be surprised if Billups really has any interest in coming off the bench for the Pistons to close out his career ala Big Ben, but heck, who knows.

[Minas]

I think with Drummond and Moose we are going to have to fill the team with shooters to space the floor similar to what the Magic did when they had Dwight. I like J Smoove as a player but he is not a fit in Detroit imo. He is best suited to playing PF and is not good enough to start at the 3 because he has an unreliable jumper. Plus I think he relies a lot on his athleticism which may desert him in a few years. Same goes with Igoudala who isn't the greatest scorer in the world and definitely won't be worth what he gets paid. I would love to get Chauncey back though and get a pick late in the first round as you have said. With all that said though that team would be a monstrous defensive team!

[ComboGuardCity]

[retrolenny]

I'd be all over this, especially if we can get Ben to come back for a 20 min/game bench role too!!!

[theBigLip]

As much as I hate Redick for his lack of D, that might be the way to go for SG. But would prefer McLemore if he is available to us.

[Timmaytime]

Probably need a shooter or two. Maybe go Redick/Iggy or Mayo/Iggy instead of Smith

[princeofpalace]

A home run season in my book is more along these lines

1) Draft PG- Trey Burke or Micheal Carter Williams at #5, Adrian Payne at 35, BPA at 57

2) Trade Brandon Knight and Kyle Singler to NOH for Eric Gordon
Trade Jerebko to Denver for Wilson Chandler

3) Sign Eric Maynor

Trey Burke/Maynor
Eric Gordon/Stuckey/English
Wilson Chandler/Middleton
Greg Monroe/CV/Payne
Andre Drummond/Slava/BPA

We get a real PG + 2 shooter/scorers on the wing to spread the floor for our bigmen

[DetroitDon15]

A home run season in my book is more along these lines

1) Draft PG- Trey Burke or Micheal Carter Williams at #5, Adrian Payne at 35, BPA at 57

2) Trade Brandon Knight and Kyle Singler to NOH for Eric Gordon
Trade Jerebko to Denver for Wilson Chandler3) Sign Eric Maynor

Trey Burke/Maynor
Eric Gordon/Stuckey/English
Wilson Chandler/Middleton
Greg Monroe/CV/Payne
Andre Drummond/Slava/BPA

We get a real PG + 2 shooter/scorers on the wing to spread the floor for our bigmen

2 terrible trades right there,

[Piston Pete]

Is he general consensus on here that Burke will be better than Knight?

If so, we could trade Knight to ORL for Tobias Harris, then do Stuckey (or Jerebko) to Denver for Chandler.


Burke
Chandler
Harris
Monroe
Drummond


I just worry that Knight will be better than Burke long-term. He's the better shooter and defender, and is bigger. Burke is the better passer, that's about it.

[Timmaytime]

are we sure Chandler is quick enough to play the 2 guard? seems like he would get burned.

[Brapman]

All HR predictions have to take into account the team's obvious strength for the next decade, Drummond and Monroe at the power positions:

The larger issue for the Pistons down the road, perhaps, will be how they respond when teams go small late in games, as an increasing number do. In the waning minutes of fourth quarters, top-shelf small forwards Rudy Gay and Luol Deng have moved over from small forward since Drummond’s return. It wasn’t an issue in the Boston game, as Frank rode out a unique frontcourt combination of Monroe-Charlie Villanueva-Jonas Jerebko when the latter two sparked a rally from 18 points behind, but the Celtics often go small to finish games with Jeff Green and Paul Pierce at the power positions in the absence of Kevin Garnett.

“They call it a game of chicken,” Frank said. “Chicago is doing that regardless (of how the Pistons lined up). Toronto is doing it regardless. The bottom line is they’re getting their best players on the floor. In the NBA, when you have ‘position-less basketball,’ you have a lot of talented mid-sized guys and (if) that’s the strength of your team, you’re getting them on the floor. So, yeah, it’s a game of chicken and what you have to weigh is, OK, if your better players are big and their better players are small, you try to exploit that matchup. But if it’s not working in your favor, it’s whatever coach flinches first. And it’s all based on who’s getting the most out of their strengths.”

The Pistons exercised an extra dollop of caution in bringing Drummond back from injury after a 22-game absence as the stress fracture in his lower back healed. But the 10-game sample they’ll get to see of Drummond playing with Monroe together will be a valuable evaluation tool to take into the off-season, he said.

“Big picture, for where we’re going as a building team, the more reps we can get those guys, the better,” he said. “Regardless if they do great or struggle a little bit, it’s not really an indicator of what’s to come. It’s just more things you can use to evaluate as you get into the off-season of what we need to do to get better.”

Ultimately, Frank is confident Drummond and Monroe will mesh, and his confidence is fueled mostly by what he’s come to know about each player’s intent.

“It’s making sacrifices and concessions to make it work,” Frank said. “They definitely can play together and the more they continue to improve their games, the better they’ll be together. And they enjoy playing together, which is a big part of it. Sometimes combinations don’t work because guys just don’t want to make it work. A lot of times you see it at the two and the three when you have two wing scorers that both feel like they have to have the ball at all times. Pettiness gets involved. But with these guys, they’re both very unselfish guys, so it definitely will work.”

We need guys on our roster who fit these guys. There are a few guys on the roster who intrigue me as potential fits: Knight, Singler, Middleton. There are some other guys who I don't quite see as fits, and who could/should be trade assets: Stuckey, JJ. Calderon could be a fit, but he's not on our team (yet) next season.

Personally, I think the best fit of all these guys is Middleton - but that's based on small snippets and making major projections from those snippets. I like what he's shown, and think he could be a very good all around player. If he has the opportunity to play next season (with a high #1 and tons of cap space, he might not get that opportunity) and if he takes full advantage of his offseason, he could be a huge surprise for the league.

For me, the HR for the offseason is Knight taking a huge leap forward at his SG position and coming back as an improved PG as well; Middleton doing what I just said and winning the SF position and possibly even the backup SG position; Singler developing into a highly effective backup SF and stretch PF (since he should become a very good to great 3 pt shooter); the Pistons drafting Smart or MCW as our PG of the future; signing a veteran PG (Calderon hopefully) as a mentor and placeholder for Smart/MCW; trading Stuckey and JJ for future assets; adding a veteran PF and a veteran C to upgrade our bench backups at those positions; and NOT overpaying FA's this offseason; and Drummond working hard this offseason and coming back noticeably stronger and better.

[Jodi]

A home run season in my book is more along these lines

1) Draft PG- Trey Burke or Micheal Carter Williams at #5, Adrian Payne at 35, BPA at 57

Come on, please stop with this Burke stuff...He's like a poor mans Kemba Walker or DJ Augustine...McLemore, Smart(Piston Pete & Clarity jump on board), and Muhammad are our only options...

2) Trade Brandon Knight and Kyle Singler to NOH for Eric Gordon
Trade Jerebko to Denver for Wilson Chandler

Dumars isn't giving up on Knight yet...Jonas for Chandler may not be enough...

3) Sign Eric Maynor

Ok, but he's injury prone...We might as well sign Calderon as our back-up...