Rodney Stuckey. Keep him or Trade him?

[napsDUBS]

He has an expiring contract. Has been in Detroit since his first year as a pro. It is hard to let him go, but would you like him to stay or switch on another team?

[Billl]

If you can get anything for him, trade him. He's not a bad player, but he is incredibly inconsistent and has shown to be injury prone. Every time he gets it rolling, he gets banged up.

[uncleoswald]

the record without stuckey is deplorable. i don't think he's a good player overall, and he's likely balling for a contract right now, but he's too important to a bench that needs to score for the pistons to make the playoffs. fortunately, charlie villanueva is as an expiring contract of a similar size, and there are no consequences (this year) in trading him.

[dVs33]

You're not going to find many posters on here that would be interested in keeping him.
Personally i'm a stuckey fan, but i'd have to see how the rest of the season and offseason play out.
Stuckey isn't high on the priority list right now. We have to see how the Monroe situation pans out and go from there.
I'd keep him if he's on a cheap deal and there's still a 6th man role for him on the roster.

[kurtis48239]

If you can get anything for him, trade him. He's not a bad player, but he is incredibly inconsistent and has shown to be injury prone. Every time he gets it rolling, he gets banged up.

Honestly thats my only gripe with him at this point,everytime he gets on a role (like ya said) he gets injured and is out weeks at a time.

[Piston Pete]

Trade for future assets. I don't think Stuckey is in our future plans.

[Notanoob]

I'm open to trading Stuckey, but considering how useful he has been this year, I'd be fine just keeping him and letting his contract expire. If we move him, we've got to get some real value back. I think that the chances of us finding a good trade for Stuckey are poor, since not a ton of real contenders still need a 6th man, or have something to trade to us for one.

[Dre Drummond]

Most likely he'll get an MLE type offer from another team this summer and walk. If we could use him as a package for a better, (even if slightly overpaid) wing player we have to do it.

[Cowology]

Despite being a disappointment Stuckey is an OK player. The problem is he doesn't really excel at any particular thing. He's an OK defender, OK ball-handler, OK scorer... which sounds good... but it means he doesn't really have a clearly defined niche or role that maximizes his ability. At best he tends to be a wash, somebody who isn't really hurting you, but who isn't really good enough at any particular thing to actually help you either.

Sure, he's shown flashes... but it's way past time we stopped talking about his "potential". Stuckey is who he is. He might make an OK 6th man in a new environment, but Detroit should probably trade him now and get at least some value back before letting him walk in the off-season. Unfortunately that probably won't happen since Joe needs to win now and what we'd get back would probably be a down-grade in terms of immediate on the court impact.

[paQo the BAWSER]

He's an OK defender, OK ball-handler, OK scorer...

and zero IQ, don't forget it. When he drives to the basket, ain't NOTHING in the world that can change it

[sc8581]

He's an OK defender, OK ball-handler, OK scorer...

and zero IQ, don't forget it. When he drives to the basket, ain't NOTHING in the world that can change it

That's just flat out wrong, he's a much smarter player than your boy Datome.

[Natopher]

If Stuckey wasn't getting injured every other game I'd say keep him. But at this point I'd rather trade him for a player who isn't always injured and has a better jump shot.

[theBigLip]

I think we first need to answer the question: Do we want to make the playoffs and try to win a series?

If that answer is "Yes", then we need to keep Stuckey. He never lived up to expectations, especially as a PG, but for right now, he is a very good scorer off our bench, and our team has gone to crap since he got injured. And maybe he's just playing hard for a contract, but nonetheless, he has been effective. So unless we can somehow turn him into a significant asset, we are better off keeping him, even if that means losing him this summer with nothing in return.

[Brapman]

I think the keep him/ trade him conversation is hard to evaluate because the key might be our 2014 and 2015 salary cap situation. According to one of the ESPN writers, the Pistons have about $7 million in cap space in the summer of 2014, and something near max contract space in the summer of 2015 even if we resign Monroe.

I think the Pistons should keep flexibility as much as possible, and keep allowing the guys on this team to develop for another season together. If we can sign or trade for upgrades on our bench, then do so. But I like the idea of developing Drummond, Monroe, Smith, Jennings, KCP, Singler and, I hope Gigi and adding and subtracting from that base while adding a star player in the summer of 2015 - about the time when our team could really be taking a step forward - especially as Drummond starts to emerge as a more dominant player.

As for Gigi developing, Thorpe today wrote an article on Insider talking about the need to wait on rookies for a season or two, because they very often take off AFTER their first year. He cited Calderon (24 year old rookie with a lot of Euro experience), Dirk, Paul George and McGrady.

Most rookies have similar stories to tell. But they should take comfort in knowing that just a few years ago DeMarcus Cousins made just about every mistake possible as a rookie and looked like a total train wreck most of the time. Today, he looks like an All-Star.


Calderon is another good example. He led the NBA in 3-point percentage shooting last season but made just 16 percent as a 24-year-old rookie with overseas experience. Dirk Nowitzki averaged 8 points per game as a rookie, shooting 40 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3. Now he's a future Hall of Famer. Paul George scored just 52 points in the the first 31 games of his rookie season, never scoring in double figures in consecutive games until late January of that season. And Tracy McGrady's coach during his rookie season once said that T-Mac would never make it in the NBA.


The point is that the rookie experience is so much more than just competing against and with the elite players of the game. The adjustment these young players must make is equal to the adjustment their teams have to make for them, and that is a complicated issue when there are 13 or more players on a roster. When Zach Randolph was awarded his "Most Improved Player" award for the 2003-04 season, he said he didn't play any better, he just finally got to play a lot.


Sometimes it's more playing time, sometimes it's better coaching or a better system, sometimes it's better teammates or a better team culture. The only solution for rookies is to stay focused every day on doing their job. Inherent in that job are many ups and downs, with the downs far outweighing the ups in most cases. It's a drastic mistake, though, to put too much stock into successes and failures of Year 1.

[rock digger]

Keep him. He's been a solid player this year in a reduced role and the only real fault with him is that he can't seem to stay healthy. Our team is a lot better when he's playing and our bench pretty much sucks without him (that is, sucks more than usual). Of course, I am not a fool and wouldn't pass up the right offer, but the most we can get for him is probably one or two second round picks. There is no chance we could get a late first since teams are hoarding them like crazy this year (JJ Redick couldn't even command a 1st rounder in his sign and trade) and Jordan Crawford, who has been playing much like Stuckey this year, also couldn't get one.

Rodney Stuckey > 2nd round picks and therefore we should keep him.

[DocRI]

the record without stuckey is deplorable. i don't think he's a good player overall, and he's likely balling for a contract right now, but he's too important to a bench that needs to score for the pistons to make the playoffs. fortunately, charlie villanueva is as an expiring contract of a similar size, and there are no consequences (this year) in trading him.

^ Exactly this. The fact is that our bench sucks on ice; if we're trying to make the playoffs (and all signs point that we are), we need to keep his production as a 6th man combo guard who can back up both Jennings and KCP. But to be clear, I'm talking about THIS year; whether we resign him in the offseason is another conversation (and, naturally, centers mostly on what he'll cost). If we get lucky and can trade him for assets that both help improve us now for this year's playoff push and in the future (i.e Afflalo), then sure, that's a no brainer. Otherwise, I don't think you can gut what's already a wafer-thin bench by dealing Stuckey for "future assets."

[Hotmayo]

Is this even a serious debate?

[DonVitoReturns]

Time for him to go

[Clarity]

Keep him, easy decision. Hes been outstanding now that he has a clear role & some talent around him.

[paQo the BAWSER]

He's an OK defender, OK ball-handler, OK scorer...

and zero IQ, don't forget it. When he drives to the basket, ain't NOTHING in the world that can change it

That's just flat out wrong, he's a much smarter player than your boy Datome.

are you his cousin or similar?