Off-Season Planning

[Pharaoh]

It seems everyone is starting their own thread for their off-season plan... who am I to be different?

I'm not trying to do something crazy here - not signing CP3 or Josh Smith or Iggy.... not trading for Eric Gordon, Afflalo or Tyreke Evans

Just trying to build a long term winner here and it's got to start somewhere:

Draft

Assume the order remains as it is right now:

ORL = Noel
CHA = McLemore
CLE = Porter
PHO = Olapido
NOP = Bennett
SAC = Burke

Those picks all make some kind of sense... I think

I'm not taking Bazz!

I'm going to select Zeller and trade him to OKC for #12 and #32...

With Washington, Minnesota, Portland and Philadelphia selecting next I know a quality PG prospect will be there at #12.... and the Thunder know Zeller, Gobert and Len would be gone at #12... so they pony up a high 2nd round pick to grab a talented big man that not only fits right now with Ibaka and Perkins but long term would be a nice compliment to Ibaka, Durant and Westbrook.

We move down and hope to grab 1 of MCW, McCullom, KCP, Schroeder while adding #32 which will come in handy!

So the order continues:

OKC = Zeller
WAS = Len
MIN = McCullom
POR = Gobert
PHI = Bazz

And I'm lucky... we get MCW @ #12!

Not going to go through every pick but I'm sure smarter people than I can explain why the first 12 would/could pan out this way

In the second round:

DET #32 = Nate Wolters
DET #35 = Tim Hardaway Jr
DET #56 = some random European to leave over there until some point down the road

MCW, Wolters and Hardaway Jr looks like a pretty good Draft... or is it? I'm not as educated on the college kids as most since NCAA coverage on regular TV in the Land of Oz does not exist!

Free Agency

We renounce all our free agents... and waive Slava and English as well.

NOTE: If we waive Slava before the 29th of June we only have to pay him $500k!

Assuming a $60 mil cap....we have approx $30 mil in cap space to use!

Sign Earl Clark for 4 years, giving him $7 mil flat per season
Sign Al-Farouq Aminu for 4 years, giving him $7 mil flat per season

I'd then take Andris Biedrins and Brandon Rush from the Golden State Warriors in exchange for their unprotected 2014 pick.

I need clarification on this though. Everyone knows that you can't trade consecutive first round picks.... GSW traded their 2013 first rounder... once that debt is paid can they trade their 2014 pick?

It really doesn't matter if we get the 2014 or 2015 pick - as long as we're getting an unprotected pick from them in 2014 or 2015 I like my chances

The deal saves them $13 mil immediately... which they can spend on Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry while avoiding the luxury tax. They keep Richard Jefferson and his expiring allows them to once again come under the tax threshold after next season... so they can't really complain!

We get expirings that may or may not have value prior to the trade deadline... and at worst we get a future first round pick while meeting the minimum team salary requirement

That deal completes my off-season.... nothing amazing.... nothing "sexy".... but long term I think it puts us in a great position

What Do We Got?
We'd now have the following full roster:

Drummond/Biedrins
Monroe/Clark/CV-DNP/Jerebko
Aminu/Singler/Middleton
Knight/Rush/Hardaway, Jr
MCW/Stuckey/Wolters

Biedrins, CV-DNP, Rush and Stuckey are all expiring deals... everyone else is young and either on rookie deals or "reasonable" contracts

The potential is there to combine assets (young talent + large expiring contracts) to trade for a legit All-Star player... assuming one was locked in to a long term deal.... The Boston model of building

Potential Rotation with the Big 10:

Drummond 30 + Monroe 18
Monroe 16 + CV-DNP 16 + Clark 16
Aminu 28 + Singler 14 + Middleton 6
Knight 12 + Stuckey 28 + Middleton 8
MCW 30 + Knight 18

Assuming we can't get anything for Stuckey and CV-DNP (or Rush or Biedrins) during the season we could cut ties with them if needed (only keep them if we're pushing for the playoffs) and go with the youth:

Drummond 30 + Monroe 18
Monroe 16 + Clark 26 + Aminu 8
Aminu 22 + Singler 20 + Middleton 6
Knight 24 + Hardaway 14 + Middleton 10
MCW 28 + Wolters 14 + Knight 6

"Losing the Right Way"?

[Pharaoh]

While I'm sure no one wants to sit through another "rebuilding" season I believe that the picture I paint above puts us in a win-win situation

We have plenty of young cheap talent that could be assets to other teams (Knight, MCW, Hardaway, Wolters, Middleton, Singler, Monroe)

We have plenty of expiring contracts that we could package with that young talent in order to get a quality player via trade (Stuckey, CV-DNP, Biedrins, Rush)

Plus we'd have a future first we could trade that is not our own (Warriors pick)

Ideally though everything would shake out well for us. For 1 season CV-DNP and Clark compete for the majority of back-up minutes up front... Clark armed with the knowledge the Pistons are committed to him long term, CV playing for his next contract regardless of what happens with us.

Depending on who had the hot hand we'd have a legit stretch 4 weapon to team with Drummond and Monroe and if we wanted to go with a "smaller" option Aminu could play some PF depending on the match up.

On the perimeter we've got Stuckey, Knight, MCW getting most of the minutes, but Wolters, Hardaway Jr and Middleton could all play a role if needed

SF is covered by Aminu, Singler and Middleton - competition for minutes is a good thing and those 3 would all be fighting for a bigger role - though Aminu would know he's locked in long term as a starter or at the very least a 6th Man type role

I believe it's a young, versatile roster and while not ideal we'd certainly have some hope for a better future... and if Drummond and MCW could realise their potential we could be looking at a dominant decade!

[Joe Berry]

its too late to lose the right way...the Pistons did not give up one of their own 1st round picks to get GSW 1st, i didnt like the Gordon trade at all, but the Pistons have the financial flexibility NOW, they paid a high price for it, they have to use it this offseason...expiring contracts are overrated, what did they get us this season?

MCW and Aminu cant shoot a lick, thats just a terrible fit next to Moose/Drummond

[princeofpalace]

^
MCW would be feeding Monroe/Drummond down low all day. MCW is really good setting up bigmen. But, I agree- that we'd need shooters on the wing, which is why Aminu doesn't fit.

Its not a bad plan, all and all though- all though Clark at 7 per would be a terrible contract

[vege]

Dude, Clark won't make more than 2-3 mil a season and 2-3 million is already grossly overpaying for him. He is bad. He played well for 1 or 2 weeks and that's it. Austin Freaking Daye showed more than Clark in the NBA so far. Seriously. 7 million for Earl Clark?

I don't and never liked the idea of trading down. We are a team that need talent, you are trading a better prospect for 2 lesser ones, that's a bad move for a rebuilding team who is desperate for talent.

I would much rather fix our Wing situation via draft than our PG. The PG talent pool in the NBA is huge, there are SEVERAL all star talent PGs, I can easily list a dozen, while wingers there aren't many talented wingers, especially young ones.

At the top of it, there aren't many 20 PPG players in the league. Shabazz could not only be an all star SG, he could be a 20 PPG player and right now that's priceless. You add that to the fact he can really shoot and that's what we need with Monroe and Drummond and it's a no-brainer. If he is available at #7 you draft him and you run.

Knight should not start until he deserves to start. He is a bad basketball player right now. If he improves next season sure I'd love to see him playing well and deserving to start at either PG or SG spot. If we bring him back as a starter playing the way he played his last 2 seasons we will continue to be at the 6-10 lottery range.

Lastly, if GSW didn't trade their first to get out of Biedrins by now, why the hell would they trade an UNPROTECTED 1st to get out of an EXPIRING Biedrins, and at the top of it add a player they like and is cheap in Rush.

GSW 2 main players are Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut and they are both INJURY PRONE players. If a disaster happen and they lose both for an entire season they possibly handed the #1 pick to get out of an expiring contract and gave away a solid cheap roleplayer for the pleasure of doing that. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

[Collymore]

7M for a scrub like Aminu?!? That's even worse than the Clark contract. Aminu won't get over 4M.

[ImHeisenberg]

Nice plan, Pharoah.

What I liked: You're looking to build a strong foundation while still maintaining the team's flexibility. You're being cap conscience (mostly), and keeping the door open to strike a mid-season trade if a 'can't miss' player becomes available.

What I didn't like: Carter-Williams. He can't shoot, so defenses will cheat on him and crowd Moose & Dre. Also, watching him in the NCAA tournament, I got the impression that he's incredibly timid. He lacks a killer instinct on either end of the floor.

Tim Hardaway Jr- He will not be available in the second round. There's no way he falls past 25.

Earl Clark and Aminu- You're overpaying quite a bit for both of these guys. They're both career role players/backups. This would be CV/BG to a lesser extent.

Otherwise, I appreciate your reasoning and detailed approach to this. Also, I'm getting interested in Dennis Schroeder, probably due to all the Rajon Rondo comparisons I'm hearing. If Detroit traded down, he may be a good prospect.

[Pharaoh]

I'm not going to defend every little thing but I will defend the MCW pick and the GSW trade idea

Many people here have issues with Bazz... and many people here have issues with MCW.

If the option is Bazz at #7 and Wolters at #35 OR MCW at #12, Hardaway Jr at #32 and Wolters at #35 I'll take the 3 talented kids over the 2!

We need talent - as everyone correctly points out... so I can justify trading down IF we pick up an extra young talent by doing so

The GSW trade = They are right at the tax threshold - for a team that looks to have a bright future this could be a serious issue

Dumping 2 expiring deals doesn't seem smart - most people would argue that they'd be better served keeping Biedrins and Rush, let them expire when Jefferson does and bring in other pieces then

There is one huge problem with doing that: They likely lose Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry!

IMO Jack and Landry are great pieces for the Warriors... 2 players they like and get the most out of. Will the Warriors go deep into the luxury tax to keep both? I doubt it

So dumping Biedrins and Rush is actually smart financially... they dump 2 players they're likely to dump anyway but do it 1 season early in order to retain 2 key pieces!

And the cost of doing business is the first round pick! It's the easiest way (only way?) for them to retain Jack and Landry without exceeding the tax threshold

The luxury tax is a huge deterrent for almost every single team - I can't see how it's not for the Warriors.

As for the whole plan: I've made better ones. Not including Millsap hurt quite a bit.... not keeping Calderon hurt a bit.... not including Redick, Wright or Brewer hurt a bit.

I'm on record stating that Millsap would be my #1 target this off-season... Calderon likely #2 and Brewer or Wright #3...

Drummond 30/Monroe 18
Monroe 16/Millsap 32
Free Agent 30/Singler 18
Rookie 30/Knight 10/Middleton 10
Knight 20/Calderon 28

That's 9 players - Stuckey and CV-DNP would be gone if I had my way

There are plenty of options for Joe Dumars this off-season... I hope he has a better plan than I do

[ImHeisenberg]

You don't have to defend the GS trade to me, you basically jacked it from me. lol.

At #12, it's quite possible that Shabazz is still available there. I just don't believe that Hardaway is still available at #36.

[Pharaoh]

You don't have to defend the GS trade to me, you basically jacked it from me. lol.

Mate, it was such a great idea I had to steal it...

That kind of move is what I hope we're able to do this off-season, since there are no great free agents that will pick Detroit above all other locations.

But acquiring additional assets and then combining them with other assets to trade for an All-Star calibre player already locked in to a long term contract? That's the way to go...

and is a hell of a lot easier to accomplish than signing some amazing swingman or quality PG when the free agent class is... well, it is what it is... crapola

[Warspite]

That plan is almost a 180 from your plans 2 months ago.

It would maybe be the worst 3pt shooting team in NBA history.


I can see Monroe demanding a trade by the allstar game. If your going to tank one more yr you might as well unload Monroe as well and save the max contract.


What about keeping Zeller and trading Monroe +38 to the Thunder for 12,29, Lamb and Jones. Draft MCW, Withey.

That gives you 4 new rotation players on rookie deals +the 5-7 (some trade bait) vets and you have 10 players and still about 30 mil to work with (buy out Stuckey and CV Amnesty). You can go all in Max for 2 FAs or trades.

MCW/Knight
Gordon/Lamb/English
Iggy/Middleton/Singler
Zeller/Jones/Blair
Drummond/Withey


Tough with the young PGs but if they develope that team is going somewhere. No doubt they can play some defense and shoot.

[Pharaoh]

That plan is almost a 180 from your plans 2 months ago.

Happy you noticed... and it was by design

Obviously I didn't intend to create the worst 3 point shooting team in NBA history but I did want to put together a group of players that presented a lot of trade options

And I believe I did that

I'm not going to endless pimp my plan of Millsap, Calderon, Brewer/Wright... or Redick

There are a lot of options for Joe... I hope he hits a lot of home runs this off-season