OT - Pistons trade Prince, Daye to Memphis for more cap relief

Submitted by Butterfield on

In a move that can only be justified for cap relief, the Pistons have agreed to send Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye to Memphis for point guard Jose Calderon (recently aquired from Toronto). 

Calderon will join Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum, and Brandon Knight to give the team four point guards.  Meanwhile, the small forward option is pretty much Corey Maggette. 

Good news is Calderon comes off the books this offseason and the move frees up an additional 25 million for Dumars to spend.  Bad news is Dumars will spend it on Ben Gordon. 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--grizzlies-trade-rudy-gay-to-raptors-in-three-team-deal-230755012.html 

Tay, we'll always have your block on Reggie Miller in the '04 ECF. 

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JimBobTressel

January 30th, 2013 at 7:01 PM ^

The Pistons have something going with Monroe, Drummond (especially), and B Knight. It's time to build around these guys and give them complimentary pieces

Joined: 11/28/2010

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I Like Burgers

January 30th, 2013 at 7:36 PM ^

Calderon's contract expires at the end of the season.  He's going to demand a lot on the market, and unless they've learned nothing from their past mistakes, there's no reason to try and sign a 31 yr-old PG when you already have Knight on the roster.  Yes, Knight has his limitations, but this would be Gordon-Rip all over again.

Joined: 10/06/2012

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UMxWolverines

January 30th, 2013 at 7:23 PM ^

Good night sweet Prince. We'll always have the 2004 championship. The 2004 team will probably the last team without a real superstar to win a championship for a long time.

Joined: 03/01/2009

MGoPoints: 65435

turtleboy

January 30th, 2013 at 8:16 PM ^

Pistons also have Kyle Singler, Jonas jerebko, and another rookie, either Middleton or English who can play SF aside from Magette, and Villanueva who sometimes rotates in. So basically nobody.

Joined: 04/22/2011

MGoPoints: 35131

Dilithium Wings

January 30th, 2013 at 8:24 PM ^

Princes only claim to fame is the block. Never did much afterwards. I'm glad to see him leave. Thought Joe D gave up more than he needed too.

The fact that we brought in Calderon makes me think that Stuckey is about to be traded also. We are very weak at the SF position that he might be used to bring in one.

Lots of money for Joe to use in FA. Hopefully this time he can actually use it well. Looks like Tom Gores is giving him some room to make decisions.

Joined: 07/26/2012

MGoPoints: 2002

evenyoubrutus

January 30th, 2013 at 8:25 PM ^

And so it ends for the only player whom Joe D has drafted who actually turned onto a useful starter. Let's hope the new Young Guys turn out differently than so many before them.

Joined: 11/04/2008

MGoPoints: 178243

West German Judge

January 31st, 2013 at 9:02 AM ^

Joe has drafted very well lately.

Kyle Singler is a starter as a former second-rounder.
Andre Drummond was just named to the rookie/sophomore challenge all-star weekend.
Brandon Knight was a first-team all-rookie player and is joining Andre at the ASG.
Greg Monroe was second-team all-rookie.
Jonas Jerebko was second-team all-rookie, a starter as second rounder.
Rodney Stuckey was second-team all-rookie.

I'm annoyed that Joe drafted Daye (and telegraphed it), that he traded away Chase Budinger, and that he passed on DeAnder Jordan, but the majority of his recent picks have outperformed their draft positions.

Joined: 11/14/2012

MGoPoints: 99

TTUwolverine

January 30th, 2013 at 10:46 PM ^

I actually think the Pistons have a pretty good core of young talent to build around, but Dumars has to finish part two of this move or he's gotta go.  The guy brought a lot to the organization, but you can't get rid of good players to free up cap space and use it to sign mediocre ones.

Joined: 04/13/2009

MGoPoints: 2149

Tater

January 31st, 2013 at 12:10 AM ^

The Pistons are blowing it up and starting over.  This should ensure that they get a very high draft pick this year, as if they needed much more help.  They need to "catch up" with the Wizards, Bobcats, Cavs, Raptors, and Magic.  

After Joe Dumars built his NBA Championship team, he became a victim of his own success.  GM's would routinely lowball him because they were afraid of looking stupid like the Magic did after the Grant Hill sign and trade deal ruined the Magic for seven years and gave the Pistons a championship.  

Even though the Davidson family was very classy, and hopefully the players are still treated great, it's difficult to get a FA to make Detroit his home for the next five years or so.  Joe has to build by drafts and trades, and hope the occasional good FA wants to sign with the Pistons.  

The current FA's aren't very good, to put it nicely.

Joined: 08/13/2008

MGoPoints: 30584

Magnum P.I.

January 31st, 2013 at 12:42 AM ^

When people say the Pistons should "blow it up" and rebuild around young guys, they almost always include Knight in that group of core players. I just don't see it. He strikes me as nothing more than a backup PG on a championship-caliber team. Drummond and Monroe are the only real pieces the Pistons have right now, in my opinion.

Joined: 07/16/2009

MGoPoints: 30678

WMUgoblue

January 31st, 2013 at 2:33 AM ^

Knight really doesn't look like a PG, assuming they're moving him to SG while Calderon is here we'll see how he looks there, but he certainly doesn't pass the eye test as an NBA PG. Boy of boy Klay Thompson would like good here as another piece to build around but hinsight's always 20/20.

Joined: 12/06/2009

MGoPoints: 12422

Rather be on BA

January 31st, 2013 at 10:19 AM ^

I would assume (hope?) that the plan is to move Knight to the SG and try to either re-sign Calderon for a reasonable amount and if that is not possible draft either Burke or MCW.  Josh Smith is the obvious choice to go after at SF next year but I am not 100% sold on how he would fit in here. 

We could potentially also put more effort into resigning Calderon and going for a SF in the draft such as GRIII (hopefully he stays one more year to get into the lottery in 2014).

I only casually follow the NBA, but I like the possibilities this move opens up.  Don't screw it up, Joe.

EDIT: Looking at http://nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft and I see Deshaun thomas as a projected 2nd rounder.  A Burke, Thomas draft would fit the Piston's needs and also be quite funny.

Joined: 08/29/2010

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TheLastHarbaugh

January 31st, 2013 at 4:49 PM ^

I think this is more than a deal to free up cap space. I actually think this was a really good trade for the Pistons.

  • 1. It gives them an extremely competent pass first point guard, which is something they haven't had in a very long time. For those who don't know who he is, Calderon isn't just some scrub, he is one of the better passing point gards in the NBA. He can get the ball inside to Monroe and Drummond, while also setting up players like Knight and Singler on the outside.
  • 2. Outside shooting. The Pistons' perimeter players haven't been that great at knocking down triples. Outside of Brandon Knight and Kyle Singler, they really don't have any consistent outside shooting threats. Charlie V helps, but his minutes have been inconsistent. Calderon is shooting 43% from deep this year, 39% for his career. Oh, and he also has career averages of 48% from the field, and 88% from the FT line. 
  • 3. The continued development of Brandon Knight. BK can learn a lot from how Calderon runs a team. The Pistons can also see if the Knight to shooting guard experiment will be a success, which ultimately gives them a lot more insight into how they should build the team. If BK can play the 2 well, it will give the Pistons a lot of flexibility moving forward. 
  • 4. Cap space. The Pistons should have more than enough money to go out and sign a max guy, or a few quality players to fill holes in their rotation. They also have more than enough money to re-sign Greg Monroe, when he becomes a free agent in 2014.
  • 5. Minutes. Prince wasn't helping the team at all by playing as much as he was. He was not a part of the Pistons' future and those 32 minutes per game he played was stunting the development of younger guys who need more playing time. 

Joined: 08/06/2008

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