OT- Pistons & day before draft

Submitted by shoes untied on

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-…

MichfaninWisc

June 23rd, 2010 at 6:47 PM ^

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?

shoes untied

June 23rd, 2010 at 6:55 PM ^

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. 

Steve Lorenz

June 23rd, 2010 at 6:48 PM ^

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. 

shoes untied

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:02 PM ^

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

Huntington Wolverine

June 23rd, 2010 at 9:20 PM ^

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?

FitzTou10

June 24th, 2010 at 2:02 AM ^

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.

ckersh74

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:05 PM ^

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.

neoavatara

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:06 PM ^

Hello, Remember Dennis Rodman?  Mahorn was kind of crazy too, not to mention Laimbeer.

We love ourselves nutcases...as long as they can play.

Steve Lorenz

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:23 PM ^

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. 

TheLastHarbaugh

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:39 PM ^

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.

GOBLUE4EVR

June 23rd, 2010 at 8:10 PM ^

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...

jmblue

June 23rd, 2010 at 10:15 PM ^

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?

jmblue

June 24th, 2010 at 7:26 PM ^

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.

Pai Mei

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:14 PM ^

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....

tricks574

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:31 PM ^

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.

Steve Lorenz

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:28 PM ^

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. 

TheLastHarbaugh

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:58 PM ^

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).

I Bleed Maize N Blue

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:43 PM ^

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.

ckersh74

June 23rd, 2010 at 7:47 PM ^

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.

turd ferguson

June 23rd, 2010 at 8:05 PM ^

i know you're making a pretty reasonable, uncontroversial point here, but i actually disagree. this is high risk - high reward time for the pistons. my biggest concern about the pistons is that they're about to fall into the no-man's land where they aren't good enough to compete, aren't terrible enough to get the very top picks, and don't have enough cap space to pick up any big-time free agents.

they need a star (or two). if there's a decent chance that cousins can be that star, i think they have to go for it, even if there's a real risk of spectacular failure. hell, spectacular failure might even be better for us in the long run than moderate disappointment.

TheLastHarbaugh

June 23rd, 2010 at 8:16 PM ^

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.

UMICH1606

June 23rd, 2010 at 8:42 PM ^

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.

PitchAndCatch

June 23rd, 2010 at 9:17 PM ^

"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

stonyc96

June 23rd, 2010 at 10:21 PM ^

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.

Rico616

June 23rd, 2010 at 11:43 PM ^

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.

mds315

June 24th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^

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.