OT- Pistons & day before draft
Via Chad Ford of ESPN he says that sources have told him that Minnesota Timberwolves offered the Pistons Al Jefferson for Tayshaun Prince. I hope to the basketball God that if this deal is just straight up, Joe D accepts it. Solves our low post issues. Al Jeff has a big contract but he is still a young guy. Minnesota is hell-bent on getting rid of Al Jefferson with Kevin Love in their lineup. They are also trying to re-sign some tall European white dude but i've never heard of him (Darko). Tay is still a good player especially if a role player and he has the beautiful expiring contract for summer of 'Melo (2011 however he may sign an extension).
Per Bill Simmons and Chad Ford's mock draft today they made "bold" predictions for the draft tomorrow. Simmons' bold prediction was that the Pistons would somehow get Cousins. I think that has a very good chance of happening as well. My buddy who works for Rotowire covering who covers the pistons suggests a swap of 1st rounders with the Kings and throw in Maxiell. I go from six to midnight just thinking about Cousins with potentially Al Jefferson down low.
Anyone else pumped for the draft? Any predictions on the draft as a whole and where Manny goes? How about the amount of times LeBron is mentioned somehow about his free agency? I am an avid NBA fan and this is by my second favorite draft of the entire year with number one being my Fantasy Keeper NBA league.
Link:
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/17014/wolves-burning-up-the-…
I don't really want Al Jefferson. I don't know a whole lot about everyone in basketball, but I don't think Al Jefferson is the solution.
There's no way Dumars can turn this down if it's true. WTF is Minnesota thinking by making this move?
Maybe I confused Al and Thomas.
if you dont want al jefferson, then you dont know basketball
I was happy you guys took charlie villanueva off our hands. He had talent, but he never played up to his size, played no defense, and usually sat around the perimeter the whole game. But how did he do last year? Did he improve? Was it a good signing?
Haha. I'll admit that when they singed him I looked at the numbers and thought he would evolve into a better version of LeMarcus Aldridge, if given more minutes. After witnessing him first hand, I understand why the Bucks limited his playing time.
I hated the signing last year...hated as the year progressed...hate it even more now. we knew we would be bad this year. i wish we had waiting for this summer to spend. could have had a chance with Bosh or Amare or Boozer (i only would really want bosh from that group). Him and Ben Gordon didn't do much for me. Ben would be ok if we didn't already have rip and will bynum. Charlie V had little D and played around perimeter alot.
all i gotta say is i love our gm, john hammond, that we stole from you
Bringing up Charlie V and nobody talks about his domestic violence charge brought on yesterday?
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/37863957/ns/sports-player_news/
Eh he is just getting ready for that tough defense we are getting back to...
I've been watching the Pistons for years, and charlie villanueva is the biggest waste of talent I've ever seen. One of my least favorite players ever.
for the last time, please don't draft Cousins. He has talented headcase written all over him. Somebody compared him to Eddy Curry and it seems valid based on his issues at Kentucky.
you are right because headcases don't succeed in detroit (see Rasheed Wallace). Yes he has AI potentially but we already knew what AI was. You take away the headcase issue and Cousins is #1 or 2 draft pick. work the risk especially when our need is a big.
Edit: sorry that came out kind of jerk-ish. so i apologize. you are entitled to your opinion. However, Cousins has stated his #1 choice is Detroit and our #1 choice (realistically) is Cousins. I think (especially if we re-sign Big Ben) we could mentor him. There is a 1 Headcase per team role. Thus, why AI and Sheed failed. Having two headcases can lead to them hanging out and then you can get a fight in a palace
From what I've read and seen of him, the "head case" rep seems like an ill-fitting label. What issues did he have at Kentucky besides yelling at Cal the one time? I know he had one incident in high school but hadn't heard anything beyond that.
Not to mention if an pychiatrist can help Artest, who's unredeemable?
Cousins is insanely talented and very young. He's not a headcase. Just lacks a little maturity. I followed Kentucky basketball this year and at the beginning of the year Cousins was always in foul trouble and getting in shoving matches, but he really calmed down and started to play as the year went on.
For the love of God, accept. Big Al is one of my favorite players in the NBA, and he fits a position of need.
I'd pass on Cousins, too, but for Yost's sake, don't be drafting another small forward. We've only got about 19 of them on the roster now.
Hello, Remember Dennis Rodman? Mahorn was kind of crazy too, not to mention Laimbeer.
We love ourselves nutcases...as long as they can play.
The Lakers just won the title with Ron Artest (who thanked his hood and his psychiatrist in his post-game interview) and Lamar Odom who eats like a pound of candy a day and thinks that second-string Kardashian was marriage material.
The Pistons aren't contending though and they won't be for at least a couple years. You can add headcases when you already have a strong foundation, but you can't build a team around them. That's why you see Randy Moss go to New England and not be a problem anymore and it's the same reason the two teams in the Finals each had at least one. They have a strong solid nucleus.
We presently lack a strong enough lockeroom to deal with a headcase. Hell, even Rip has become difficult to deal with the past two years. I will always be thankful for everything he did for the Pistons, but he has got to go, and sadly his contract makes that extremely difficult.
Just realized my same comment was already mentioned before me. And my post had a typo. Soooo....
Go Pistons! Draft Good!
The wife and I are unanimous: Odom married the third string Kardashian sister. Kim & Kourtney (even with child) are both superior alternatives to Khloe.
was pretty normal here in detroit for the most part... the weirdest thing he did way back then was shave odds things into his hair...it wasn't until chuck daly retired and his wife left him that he started going "crazy"... thats when the pistons traded him to the spurs and then he completely lost his mind...
Rodman was normal here (sort of) because he looked up to Chuck Daly as a father figure. Losing his "father," coupled with a nasty divorce, made him go crazy.
Rasheed Wallace got it together because Larry Brown, a Hall of Fame coach and fellow Tar Heel, was someone he respected. He didn't respect Flip Saunders the same way and trouble started.
The question here is, is John Keuster the guy who can control this locker room?
Laimbeer and Mahorn were never considered headcases. Mahorn briefly had a weight problem, but that was it. Laimbeer was always considered a good locker room influence. He was one of the guys who set people straight.
Getting Al Jefferson would be amazing!
If you do not want Cousins, who else should the Pistons select??? I keep on hearing teams should not take Cousins, but have zero alternatives. Please do not say Aldrich....
Instead of Cousins, I've heard the name Ed Davis from NC, for what it's worth.
Than a good guy with Ed Davis'. Cousin's is a man beast, he is possibly the best player in the draft, and he fits a glaring need on the Pistons. Do whatever you can to get him. This franchise isn't going to be rebuilt by playing it safe, they will have to take risks on players, and those players might as well be of the immensely talented variety.
Also, if there was a deal out there for the #4 and Al Jefferson in exchange for Tay and the #7, Joe would be insane not to take it. You have an overflow of wings on this team, you have no size, and you would be getting back an incredibly talented post presence, as well as moving up into the part of the draft that actually has players who might be All Stars. Jefferson plus any one of Demarcus Cousins, Wesley Johnson, or Derrick Favors is light years beyond Tayshaun and Ed Davis/Greg Monroe.
I personally like Greg Monroe but I might be in the minority there. He's an excellent passer for a big already at this stage in his basketball life and has a high ceiling offensively and defensively. Either him or Ed Davis. I don't mind going upside at all....but Cousins hasn't shown anything besides being super talented with a crappy attitude. He came to the combine overweight and refused workouts for certain teams while Monroe came to the combine with a suit and tie aka he's SRS BISNESS.
did he refuse to work out for Detroit? Rubio i believe refused to work out for Minnesota...look what happened there
Actually I read that Cousins prefers Detroit (sweet). I think Minnesota drafted Rubio with the intention of moving him when he decides to make his way to America......it will backfire though I am sure because he didn't play well at all last year.
I would throw in Rip, and/or a draft pick for the rights to Rubio, and Damien Wilkins or another reserve (I would initially try to get Brewer but his value has increased quite a bit after a solid season, so that's probably a no-go).
Yea, we would definitely have to take back a bad contract, something like Darko (gasp!) and his 7 mil/year, in order to make it work.
If Ben Wallace is signed and can mentor Cousins and turn him into a pro, fine. But if Cousins doesn't get in shape, doesn't practice and play hard and doesn't heed the coach (i.e., he stays a headcase), then I'd rather have someone less talented but who will contribute more.
The Pistons can't afford a bust.
I agree. They can't flame out spectacularly (read: Darko) with this pick. And they need someone who can plant his big ass in the low post. We haven't had a true consistent low post scorer since Otis Thorpe.
In other NBA related news, it appears as though the Thunder are going to make a push for one of the top picks. They've now amassed 3 first round picks. I can't imagine they sit on all of those picks.
I think Al Jefferson for Prince would be an awesome move. However, Jefferson has 3 years at 42 million left on his deal, I am not sure Joe will be allowed to take on that kind of a contract with the team up for sale.
"I go from six to midnight just thinking about Cousins with potentially Al Jefferson down low."
I was just browsing and had to log-in only because I couldn't believe no one mentioned anything about this, but i definitely lold
Jefferson + #16 + #23 for Tay + Wilcox + #7
I think I'd have to pull the trigger on that one... losing the #7 hurts b/c we're in position to pick up a Udoh-type player, but Al Jefferson might be too much to pass up. Maybe Joe D can re-package the #16 and #23 somehow... then again, I'm not an NBA GM.
i heard on ESPN that they asked the Pistons for Tayshaun and the 7 pick for Jefferson
Cole Aldrich, Ed Davis or Faroq Al-Whatever his name is, then by all means make that deal.
I wouldnt do it, Wolves are asking for a lot for a player that they would love to get rid of. Plus Prince and Wilcox have expiring contracts while Jeff is due 14mil per for the next 3 years.
If Detroit can do something with the cap and somehow dump Charlie V they might be in decent shape. Ben G played good but he was hurt. I'd like for Detroit to add some size in the draft and maybe next off season too.
we are stuck with Charlie V. No one is gonna take on that contract for a guy who can't get off the bench.
Charlie V is only getting about 7 million. Thats the mid level exception + 1mil, in other words, a bit more than Mc Diggety Deyess was getting off the bench. Its really not that big of a contract...
If he played like McDyess then yes really not that big of a contract. McDyess could play D and knock down the open mid range jumper. i wish he would have got a ring with us. It is a shame he may not get one. Definitely deserves it
If we cannot trade up for Cousins, I would have no problem doing that trade. We we finally have a down low presence. I have no idea what we would be looking at at 16 and 23, but Id prefer to have Jefferson and two picks to Ed Davis or Greg Monroe.