Don’t really understand the rationale for this at all. I agreed with Matt’s earlier column. Unless they think they can trade up for something when Stuckey comes back. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Holy crap, this doesn’t make any sense at all. Can someone explain the logic behind this to me? I hate to say this cause I’m 26 as well.. but in the NBA terms, Dupree IS “old”. He’s no prospect. He was never particulary good and isn’t going to get any better.

Why give up on the prospect you JUST DRAFTED for someone like Dupree? I mean, I know Dupree’s supposed to be a great locker room presence and all… but it’s not like Detroit’s team is full of thugs and need character guys.

So does this mean a winner will be announced soon for that little roster game we played here a while back?

I’m puzzled as well. At Duprees age I don’t know how he could have accomplished less. Mejia looked like he could be a solid player with some more playing time. I haven’t really seen Dupree play enough minutes to see what his game is like. I looked him up and found a game he played 32 minutes and he put up 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 fouls. Thats alright(nice amount of rebounds), but I think Mejia could have done that easily with 32 minutes and he’s a rookie.

Whats Duprees contract worth? Maybe trade Dupree for a 2nd round draft pick and see if that gives us enough cap space and the extra roster spot to pick up Webber again? If we don’t intend to trade Dupree then I don’t know what Joe D was thinking.

I agree with all of you, it’s not real logical at all. Cutting Dupree would of gave him a chance to actually see playing time with other teams coming off the bench. Since he is 26 i dont think he would like to spend another season standing next to the bench in a suit. Dupree has a verticle leap, so it doesnt surprise me that he grabs rebounds.

I really thought Mejia had everyting going for him, hes younger so he can play a couple years in the D-League before he gets “old” and has a good relationship with a player the Piston’s think is a great prospect, Samb. Now that he is cut, he has zero chance of making a team and will have to play in the D-League with no NBA representation.

I agree with Matt C – this is a move to trade Dupe for picks, in order to sign a free agent. Might be Webber, might not…

I read were about $400,000 under the luxury tax. I found an article saying Duprees contract is worth $825,000. From what I can tell the veterans minimum is 1.2M this season. If we could trade Dupree for a 2nd round pick and sign Webber for the veterans minimum we would be right on the luxury tax limit.

Nazr and Dupree for Kobe ;)

Almost seems to perfect to not be for a trade.

Is Dupree really even worth a 2nd round pick to another team?

Regardless, I don’t think we can expect any surprise moves this year any longer…

I don’t even want Webber to come back. He hurt them as much (if not more) than he helped them last year.

It may not be Webber, but the trade with Dupe is happening, mark my words. Charlotte, for example, could desperately use Dupe, and they don’t need to get any younger, so they could give up a draft pick. This could be a very good deal for the D.

I’m not trying to say Dupree is better than Mejia, but I think you guys aren’t looking into this move from all angles. Let’s suppose no trade goes down involving Dupe. I see Rob G saying “mark my words”, but I’m nearly inclined to use the same phrase preceding the claim he WON’T be traded. For the time being, no resolution to said trade issue and we plain don’t know the future of it. Besides, this wouldn’t be the first time that people anticipated a trade in the NBA and it didn’t happen, and it wouldn’t be the last.

If that ends up being the case for the sake of my argument here, we cut the 16th guy so we can get down to 15. We have to do it, and a team doesn’t imagine it will need to rely on it’s 15th guy for any meaningful minutes during a season because well, it never does. Nothing against Mejia the person, but I’ve always gotten the impression that our core has always seemed to really like Dupe and maybe this was a move out of respect to him and/or the rest of the squad who may have been proponents of keeping Dupe.

I don’t think the locker room would be distraught over Dupe being cut, but I think it’s going to be glad he wasn’t if I’m right that they like him. It’s a move to preserve status quo, continuity, appease even in the smallest form any feelings of ill-will, or whatever you want to call it. That’s how I see it.

What if this wasn’t really a big deal and/or a large gap in talent and they went with the guy who the players are used to seeing around and have a greater familiarity with and a greater bond (based maybe entirely on his longer tenure)? To me, that seems logical, and probably a more prudent decision, especially from a team psychology standpoint, which I believe plays an important role in success. If Sammy Mejia blows up (which is clearly a serious IF), shame on us. If not and Dupree remains untraded, I find the move generally inconsequential in terms of talent, and mildly solidifying in terms of chemistry. Just adding a perspective that hasn’t been offered on the subject yet.

Mike Payne – Dupree was actually traded for a 2nd round pick before, to the Wolves (and the Pistons got him back for nothing.. gotta love the Wolves!)

 I would love for another team to be gullible enough to trade for him again, but I really doubt that’ll happen …

Trade Dupree for a 2nd round pick, then sign him for a 2 year contract in the offseason, have him sit on the bench all year and then trade him for a 2nd round pick at the beginning of the next season. Dumars is a fricken genius.

I’m one of the few people who think they SHOULD bring Webber back.

Regardless, Dupe had some value. has anyone looked at the Celtics roster? Dupe would be their 7th man. That’s not worth a 2nd round pick?

And on Meija: he’s not gonna be a star. Jair Jurrgens, maybe. Not Meija. Hard-nosed, undersized swing-men are the most dime-a-dozen type there is in the NBA. If there’s a chance to bring in a player who might matter, there’s no harm in losing this guy. And I like Meija.

Hopefully there is something even better cooking for the frontcourt, but nobody passes like Webber. Nobody.

Satchel – I am gonna miss Jair Jurrjens. He showed some nice stuff last season and I agree that Atlanta could be getting something nice back in this trade. Can’t expect to get a guy like Renteria though without paying some sort of price. At least I can feel secure with the guy playing defense in the hole for once. Guillen was pretty pitiful. And to officially bow out of the ARod sweepstakes was a decision I always believed Dombrowski would wisely come to, but never expected him to come to it this fast nor did I ever feel 100% secure of such a belief either. Now I can finally exhale and sleep peacefully.

If Sammy Mejia pans out as a D-league player in ‘07 and ends up with the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants I can see the logic in keeping Dupree. Mejia isn’t NBA ready, no other team thinks he’s ready, and you still have Dupree’s salary as a trade chip and Mejia under close observation with Mejia grateful for the guaranteed cash and likely to give the Pistons first crack at signing him down the road as a free agent.

If Mejia signs with another team I think you’ve blown a second round pick to keep a journeyman SF with no demonstrated upside over a player that just a few months ago you selected because of his potential.

It’s puzzling but events over the next few months will reveal this move as either A) smart or B) a minor brain freeze.

The Timberwolves sent a protected 2008 second-round pick to the Spurs for cash considerations and guard Beno Udrih, whom the Wolves immediately waived.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AgLy6nBd5u9Es2JhRVBY.h68vLYF?slug=ap-timberwolvesmoves&prov=ap&type=lgns

This should’ve been our 2nd round pick! ;-)

I couldn’t really get it to work out on ESPNs trade machine, but I had an idea for a trade involving Dupree:

Dupree for Kobe, straight up.

Thoughts?

Mike Payne…. I’d be willing to do that deal but only if LA threw in 2 first rounders and Lamar Odom. Then we could hopefully trade Kobe for some gatoraide and a euro prospect the Spurs don’t want.

Deal?

As for the “news”, whoever said “the 15th man on your roster isn’t going to play” pretty much nailed it. Nobody is even going to remember the name Sammy Meija in a couple months. I mean sure, you always hold out hope that you “stole somethin” with every single 2nd round pick you make but really it’s actually pretty RARE to actually do that. Meija would have had to be pretty special to crack the rotation (something I’m bordering on 100% sure Dupree won’t do).

Plus think about this from the team’s perspective for a min… why does one even KEEP a 3rd string SF on the team? Because the backup has a long history of not being able to play because he’s hurt all the time. If Jarvis Hayes survives a full season I’m pretty sure that’d be his FIRST 82 game season in the NBA. They kept Dupree because there’s a VERY real chance the 3rd string SF might have to play a few games this year. Obviously they felt more comforitable that Dupree wouldn’t embarass them than Meija (and fwiw, don’t say Affalo… A) the word so far is he doesn’t actually look very good when playing SF, just SG. B) He’s only 6’5" which is short for a SF and C) he has the same “damn rookie” issue Meija does).

Seriously if say Prince rips his knee and is done for the year after 10 games did you REALLY want to know Sammy Meija was being counted on for 12 mins a night? I dislike Dupree because he does absolutely NOTHING with the ball whenever he gets it, but he’s not a horrible defender, he knows our set play calls and the organization clearly feels comforitable with him as a deep bench player (hence the re-aquiring when Minny dumped him).

PG4L:
Kobe, Odom, and Mihm for Dupree, Hunter, and Delfino’s practice shorts that are still stanking up the Pistons locker room. Final offer.

Mejia was drafted as a favor to his agent, and if he did make the cut, would’ve spent the whole season in the D. As for Dupes, he’s known as a tough defender and a hard worker. This really is splitting hairs, though. Anyone want to open a thread about John Long?

We’re talking the 15th and 16th guy here. While one could argue thar Mejia has more upside than Dupree (note Flip’s priceless comment that “we know what Dupree brings to the table”, or something like that-yes, Flip, a career 15th man on the roster, apparently), it could be about saving the dough they’d have to pay Dupree if they cut him.

Frankly, I’m more concerned about the Renteria/Jurrjens-Hernandez trade, but I guess that’s for another blog lol.

I THINK MEJIA IS GOOD PROPECT FOR THE PISTONS BUT THEY DONT LIKE MEJIA THEY CAN TRADE HIM OR PUT IN THE DLEAGUE.PISTONS DO A MISTAKE WITH THAT DUPREE CANT PLAY LIKE MEJIA.