JT4104

July 6th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^

Well...at least Joe D is going out in a blaze of glory. KCP better shoot about 45% from 3pt land as he will be the only guy with range beyond 15 ft.

OmarDontScare

July 6th, 2013 at 8:02 PM ^

Exactly. Which is why you build a young nucleus (Trey) and let them grow together without burning cap space trying to become a team that'll lose in the 1st round of the playoffs.

This is just so dumb on so many levels. If there's any year to go young and sacrifice meaningless wins it's this year. The 2014 draft is loaded at the top - not like we have any chance at beating the Heat, Pacers, Knicks, Nets, Bulls, etc.

Whats the point Joe? Go young and build for the future. So stupid

TheCool

July 6th, 2013 at 9:11 PM ^

Well, if the Pistons weren't a business determined to make money waiting around and hoping to win a lottery (that the Pistons seem to never fare well in) would be an ok idea. Not saying these moves guarantee sell outs but the team should be more competitive which should translate to selling more tickets.

Also, they have young talent that they are developing and Josh Smith is only 27.

lilpenny1316

July 6th, 2013 at 10:22 PM ^

That's pretty young.  And Brandon Knight is 21, just a year older than Trey.  I'm not saying this is a top 4 team out East, but this is turning into a team that's expected to contend for a playoff spot.  Let's see what they do with Stuckey and Charlie V's contract before teabagging Joe D after he made a reasonably good decision.

AAB

July 6th, 2013 at 3:42 PM ^

So many GMs are terrible at rebuilding.  If you're going to rebuild, commit to rebuilding.  Signing a guy who will maybe help you steal an 8th seed or get a terrible lottery pick is just a waste of money.  Just accept that you'll need to suck for a while before you can be good again.  

Rico616

July 6th, 2013 at 4:04 PM ^

Joe D is under pressure to make the playoffs. You might think it's better to be a lottery pick team again, his boss thinks it's better to make the playoffs.

alum96

July 6th, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^

Honest question

You are the Pistons GM

It has been made known to you, you need to make the playoffs or you are fired.

Do you follow your own advice and "make the team awful so it can stockpile top 5 picks" for the next GM knowing the decisions you advocate on this board will cost you your job but MAYBE make the team better in 5 years? Or do you save your own skin, make decisions that get you the #7 or #8 seed and keep your cushy well paid job that you love?

If you can look in the mirror and say the former you are in the tiny minority.

OmarDontScare

July 6th, 2013 at 8:06 PM ^

Exactly. At that point, it becomes your job to explain to management why rebuilding is a necessity. If you can't successfully do that then maybe you shouldn't be a GM in the first place.

M-Wolverine

July 6th, 2013 at 8:14 PM ^

Can you imagine the press conference? "We had a philosophical difference. I believed in building a team the right way; ownership wanted to be the 8 seed in the playoffs, future be damned."

But that's giving Joe too much credit. He's shown time and time again he'd rather put a team out there just over .500 than a sucky one to ger the pieces that win a championship.

alum96

July 6th, 2013 at 9:25 PM ^

 "We had a philosophical difference. I believed in building a team the right way; ownership wanted to be the 8 seed in the playoffs, future be damned."

Name me one GM who has resigned and said words even within 80% of what you are saying an honorable GM would have done....in any major U.S. sport.  Not sure what planet you guys live in other than the one called Idealism....

M-Wolverine

July 6th, 2013 at 10:39 PM ^

Have inherited new ownership that either hasn't pushed them out for their own guy or just left them to continue their good work? Bad GM's don't say it because they don't know if they'll get another job. Good owners don't make ultimatums to GM's doing a good job.

M-Wolverine

July 6th, 2013 at 10:27 PM ^

Used to be when you upvoted or down voted, and it went to infinity, those points would go to you point total. So mods didn't have to -999999 people, the masses could just neg them to Bolivia. I think you also got points for people posting in your thread, (though I could never confirm that) and I created a lot of open threads with record posts (hockey overtime Tourney game, bowl games, etc). There was also the time where the site crashed and you could only post threads from the App and I was one of the test guys so we'd just have open threads all day long or a week or two.

Then I just kinda lucked out that the system when points started disappearing after a year stopped just as some of my big threads were going to disappear, but not before guys like jmblue, Shoe, Magnus, etc lost enough points to fall behind, evn though they had a big head start.

TheCool

July 6th, 2013 at 9:19 PM ^

Seems most competitive people who are GMs in the NBA disagree with you. First, you don't have to completely rebuild by tanking. The best player to serve what your team needs isn't always going to be the #1 pick. The best player, as far as career performance, is rarely the #1 pick. So, why you guys think having a higher pick guarantees something is beyond me.

If this team becomes competitive and reaches the point of 6-8 seed in the East, then they are reasonably one player away from competing for the conference and competing for an NBA title.

Also, your best chance as GM at accomplishing your job is 1st keeping your job.

alum96

July 6th, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^

Your last sentence is the key.  Anyone who believes in the "tanking for 7 years" philosophy does not get the chance to finish the job unless you are Elgin Baylor or Matt Millen.  And those two doofus' didn't finish anything except destroying franchises.

I am not playing devil's advocate out of spite, I am simply shaking my head at what some people advocate.

Owner: Joe, you've now had 2 years under me and 5 years since you blew this thing up, I think it is time we make the playoffs.

Joe D:  Mr. Gores, you don't understand how to build a franchise.  I want us to continue to tank for another 3 years so we can continue to add pieces.  Because I am not competent enough to find high end talent anywhere but in the top 6 picks.  And on that note, I resign and wish to have a press conference explaining that we had a philosophical difference and you wanted to win, and I wanted to tank.

Owner: Sounds great.

M-Wolverine

July 6th, 2013 at 10:42 PM ^

If they'd stop winning games at the end of every season when no one else is maybe they wouldn't have to. They've sucked for years and years because they win just enough to not be horrible, but are never good. Now they're making moves to be average, but never great. I guess that's progress.