The Pistons traded Maurice Evans to the Lakers last night for the rights to Cheick Samb, the 51st pick in the draft who may or may not ever actually play in the NBA.
That’s not entirely giving Evans away for nothing, but it’s pretty much like giving Evans away for a scratch-off lotto ticket that has a 1-in-4 chance of paying. This move may not make much sense to some fans, but it makes perfect sense to me.
For one, it was obvious to anyone engaged in the whole “Mo Evans or Carlos Delfino” debate last season that either Evans or Delfino had to go — there just wasn’t enough playing time for both of them and they’re both too good to deserve a string of DNP-CD’s[1] week after week.
I think it’s been obvious all year which guy I’ve supported, but no matter what opinion you have of either player, the objective facts are that Delfino, who’s 24 years old, is three years younger and scheduled to make about $200,000 less than Evans over the next two years.
As much as the fans realized it was difficult for Evans and Delfino to co-exist in the same rotation, it was apparently even mroe obvious to Evans himself. Joe Dumars explained last night, recounting a recent conversation he had with Evans’ agent:
“We just felt like there wasn’t going to be enough minutes. I talked to Mo’s agent Roger Montgomery maybe three weeks ago. He called me and said ‘How do you think the minutes are going to go next year? Do you think Mo’s minutes are going to change?’ and I said ‘I don’t see it changing that much.’ I told Roger that I thought he (Evans) and (Carlos) Delfino will continue to platoon minutes and that I hope that both of them would get more minutes and rest Tayshaun and rest Rip. He said if I didn’t think he was going to get much more than he did last year that he thinks it’s best for him to be elsewhere where he could get more minutes. I just said ‘If something comes up and we can do that I will, but I can’t promise you that he’s going to play more minutes next year.’”
But why give him away for nothing?
Well, yes, but sometimes have the flexibility of an open roster spot (not to mention a little bit of salary cap/luxury tax relief — moving Evans for nothing saves the team $3 million over two years) is better than getting back a player in return.[2] The way I see it, there are only two, maybe three, roster spots the Pistons have available next year, and the Pistons have already made it clear that they intend to fill those spots in free agency.
Of the Pistons’ three rookies (Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson and Alex Acker) last year, at least two of them (Maxiell and Johnson) will be returning in 2006-07. Toss in the fact that the team really likes Will Blalock this year, and that’s potentially four young players taking up more than a quarter of the 15-man roster.
The other 11 spots fill up real quickly when you consider four of the five starters are returning for sure and Antonio McDyess, Dale Davis and Delfino are under contract. If Ben Wallace returns, there are only three open spots, one of which may or may not be reserved for Lindsey Hunter if he decides not to retire. So there’s potentially only two spots at play here, and the Pistons have made it clear they will pursue a backup point guard and a slasher off-guard/small forward on the free agent market.
If Samb ever does develop into anything, it makes perfect sense for the Pistons to let him go through all of his growing pains while playing in Europe and not on their roster, especially since there are at least four “projects” already accounted for.
Conspiracy Theory Time: Just for kicks, since this is a blog, and by nature all blogs dabble in irresponsible journalism[3] , perhaps there was another reason why Evans was shipped out.
About three weeks ago, Martin McNeal described in a column for the Sacramento Bee an detailed account of “how Flip Saunders lost the locker room.” He described an incident in the locker room when Saunders addressed the team following Ben Wallace’s decision not to re-enter the game against Orlando.
The buzz is that Saunders lost a great deal of respect in the locker room when he talked about Wallace’s decision and then told the team it was not going to win the championship because of incidents such as that one.
That did not go over well with the Pistons, and Saunders was told in direct terms by one veteran not to say anything like that again to the team.
As players left the locker room, they saw Saunders being consoled by assistant coach Sidney Lowe. And with that sight, Saunders lost more respect.
Whatever “buzz” McNeal is talking about went completely unreported in the Detroit media. When I posted about the column, one of the comments came from Tom Ziller, who writes the Sacramento Kings blog Sactown Royalty. Tom recounted McNeal’s relationship with Evans from when Evans played for the Kings:
FWIW, McNeal was overly sympathetic to Mo Evans last season and in the offseason, and criticized the decision not to bring him back. So Mo could be The Mole, if what Marty says is true.
McNeal also has people in Detroit, though that results from his strong relationship with Webber, so that’s not likely to explain any inner knowledge of the current Pistons.
I have absolutely no clue if what Tom is suggesting is true. And to be perfectly honest, I have no clue if Evans is the type of player who would leak info. As far as I’m aware, he never publicly complained about his playing time this year, and the general consensus among fans (or at least those wondering why Delfino didn’t play more) was that he was “one of Flip’s guys” from their (albeit brief) days together in Minnesota.
But if Evans was the guy who talked to McNeal, and if Dumars and Saunders found out about it, well, I’m not too surprised they shipped him at the first chance they got, which not only solved the problem of getting rid of a guy who didn’t want to be here anymore, but also let Saunders flex a little muscle about the front office having his back.
Make of this what you will, it’s just an idea that may or may not have any shred of truth attached to it. But it sure is interesting.
- Did Not Play - Coach’s Decision
- I’ve thought this for a while, but Henry Abbott articulated it very well the other day.
- Of course that’s pure b.s., but that’s the way blogs are often represented in mainstream media.
I don’t think Mo Evan was our guy. If you really think about it Evans turned out to be a jump shooter. We really need a player who is going to attack the basket. I did not see that from Mo Evans. The guy can jump out the gym but he turned into a 3 pts shooter. We can’t be a jump shooting team next year. We need a guy who is going to attack the basket. I don’t mind losing him for almost nothing because I really dont think he will come back and hurt us. Good move Joe D!
Boo. Hoo.
You guys are sipping at the Kool-Aid. I understand the decision to deal Mo, but why not at least wait and see how this Ben Wallace free agency escapade plays out instead of wasting an experienced NBA-ready player, an asset to most teams, for a guy, who let’s be honest with ourselves, is a lottery ticket away of even being Mikki Moore. Doesn’t Mo serve a better purpose in a package deal of some sorts if we suddenly have to do a sign and trade with Ben? Or to get a 2nd rounder next year in a draft that is supposed to be far superior to this year’s? To give you some perspective, we got a future 2nd for Ronald Dupree who played about half the minutes and about half as many games as Evans. People blow their noses with future 2nds. I don’t know what they do with a 7 footer from Senegal who weighs as much as our new 6-foot rookie PG. But most don’t throw away an experienced NBA player for them. A hasty trade by Joe D.
Who cares about Samb? If he ever makes it to the NBA, great. If not, well, we got a $1.5 million trade exception in return for Maurice f***ing Evans.
Let me repeat that: another team paid the Pistons to take Mo Evans off their hands! Evans might be “an asset to most teams”, but he isn’t an asset to Detroit; he’s a liability on the floor and an enabler to Flip Saunders’ method of coaching scared.
And you can’t include other players in sign-and-trades, in any case. It was a salary dump that also allowed Dumars to assert himself clearly over the Flopster. As such, this might have been the best draft night the Pistons have had in four years.
Right, he’s an asset to other teams. The teams we would be making deals with. Teams that might be willing to consider value in a role player on a 64-win team. As opposed to wasting him on a guy who using the word “project” in regards to is being optimistic. It’s not like the choice is wait four days and eat 3 million dollars. But a choice would be wait, see what develops, and deal. Either way, you’re discarding the 1.5 mill/year. And if you’re just looking to dump salary, get a future pick! Why be in a hurry to lock yourself into this guy? It makes no sense to say it doesn’t matter who we got. It absolutely matters. Last I checked you play the game with players, not a budget.
And best draft in 4 years? Better than last year? You’re absolutely CHUGGING the Kool Aid. I’m pretty sure people in 10 years aren’t going to be sitting back reminiscing about “remember the year we had the last pick in the draft? And then we dealt Mo Evans for that Senegal kid? Those were the days…”
For all we know, the best deal Joe Dumars could get for Evans was this project. And, if Dumars likes the project, it’s best to acquire his rights rather than playing games with future second-round picks. If you like this bust, by all means take him instead of waiting a year to pick another bust. Use the “you play the game with players, not a budget” line on Bill Davidson, who sets the budgetary constraints Dumars has to operate under.
And best draft in 4 years: 2005 Maxiell/Johnson/Acker; 2004 Paulding; 2003 Darko/Delfino/Glyniadakis. None of them have become even rotation players for Detroit. As far as I’m concerned, getting rid of Mo Evans is a better reason to celebrate than acquiring any of them.
It 1) got a toxic player off the roster, 2) allowed Dumars to gain ground in his power play with Flip, and 3) allowed Moneybags to save a couple million dollars. Any additional gains from some future second-round bust would be marginal in comparison. We got a good offer now? Great. There’s no reason to wait for another offer that couldn’t possibly be _that much_ more attractive.
Well Detroit Fans sorry to say, but you just traded “GOLD” for “DIRT”… obviosly Detroit organization didnt want that to happen and from a fan standpoint it was just an awful negotiation. By the way D-Troit “had” their glory days don’t expect them to be a title contender anymore, they “had” one shot, they used it, they missed…
Evans’s lost maybe not that big but it symbolizes the downfall of Detroit!!!
WATH OUT FOR THE LAKERS! THEY’VE GOT A NEW POINTGUARD….
>>JORDAN FARMAR IS AT HOME
I can’t believe I’ve been agreeing with a Lakers fan named “Ian Pore”, but nonetheles, BD…
ah) You’re the first person on the planet to refer to Maurice Evans as “toxic” in any regard.
bah) What power play would Dumars ever need to make to show Flip Saunders who’s boss when he could just go ahead and, I don’t know, FIRE HIM. The only threat Flip Saunders presents is the threat of coaching this team into the ground, so there’s certainly no need for Dumars to throw any weight around. And what kind of power play is that? “I’ll show you, Flip. I’ll trade our 8th man for some dude who will never suit up for anything but a summer league exhibition game. In your face, Saunders.”
cah) You’re celebrating a draft, which is usually a process in which talent is ADDED, for the fact that we SUBTRACTED a guy. If Darko couldn’t crack our frontline in 3 years as the no. 2 pick, what chance did Maxiell have in one season at pick 25? And you want to know the reason the Pistons aren’t that broken up about not having a first rounder this year? Because they got him. Last year. In the 2nd round. His name’s Amir Johnson. Now tell me again how 2nd round picks are useless? And tell me again how this year’s draft is better than last year’s?
I think that Dumars could have gotten a better deal for Mo Evans than a used no. 51. Teams wish they could fill up a bench spots with 2nd round picks. Well, with pick 51, the Lakers just did and they’re very happy about it. (See previous post.) Meanwhile, we’ll be sending sandwiches to Senegal for the next two years. It’s a bad trade. Luckily for the Pistons, it involves two guys who won’t make a bit a difference in whether we get the gold again or not. Unfortunately for you Lakers fans who may have strayed out of your depths, it ain’t gonna help you get back to the mountaintop either.
Mo sucked, but Flip kept playing him, so Joe dumped him the first chance he had to do so. Mo had no chemistry with the regulars. I love how Flip tries to take ownership of this move… yeah, right.
I think you’re dead on about Amir Johnson as 2006 1st rounder, Dutch. If he had been there this year, he would have been lottery-class.
The key here is that Evans is off the roster, at no cost to Detroit.
While many of us can casually toss x million dollars of Mr. Davidson’s money around, it is clear that Mr. Davidson does not want to do that. Joe decided that Evans was no longer Piston material. He found a place to unload Evans at no cost. Mission accomplished. From the viewpoint that says “I don’t want to spend my $1.5 mill if I don’t have to”, this is a superior outcome to the “I MIGHT be able to offload Evanss contract”.
Part 2 is that the Pistons got 7′ tall lottery ticket named Cheik Samb. (Cheek-sam? Check-sum? Chick-sam-B? how do you pronounce that?). DBB’s article sez:
“A tremendous shot blocker. He’s 7-1, very athletic around the basket, runs the floor really well and has, really, a soft touch with the ball for a 7-1 guy. I like his length, athleticism and his ability to protect the paint.” (Joe D)
“Strengths: Raw, lean shot-blocker who has tremendous upside as a prospect.” (NBA.com)
“In his first season, Samb blocked more shots himself than all but one of the teams in LEB2. He also averaged 9.6 points and 7.7 rebounds, pretty good numbers considering his utter lack of experience … Perhaps some team will show the same foresight and draft Samb.” (Sports Illustrated)
Choices are:
a) Pistons wasted the pick, Joe D couldn’t draft his way out of a paper bag (except for Prince) and these are fringe publications.
or
b) Samb Might have been a worth flyer.
The Pistons are a perennial NBA power with an owner who will spend where needed, a remarkably canny GM and an awesome roster - they don’t NEED to use their drafts to keep them on top. Unlike many teams, they have the luxury to use the draft to take risks and work the long game. Maybe this guy takes 5 years to mature (Ben Wallace did). That’s right about when they’ll need him. Maybe he never makes it - I think it’s worth the risk.
I like how that one idiot says that trading Maurice Evans is a symbol of the downfall of Detroit. Have fun with your new shooting guard that shoots 30% from 3 and drives the lane for dunks in exhibition games, but lives outside during the regular season.
Also, $1.5 million dollars to a guy like Mo Evans is an absolute waste of money. He provided no spark off the bench, he was never in the same class as a Vinnie Johnson (old school reference) coming in while Rip and/or Billups rested. Funny how Evans always got like 2 minutes of PT and then at the next break in time Flip brought his boys back in.
Delfino will be a better player than Mo Evans will ever be. As far as Amir Johnson, he’s an absolute SICK athlete (I just hope he doesn’t turn into Mikki Moore). I hope he sees PT this season…Maxiell will be a beast too.
This is not a big deal guys! This move will not hurt us. I never even heard of Mo Evans before this year. This will give us a little more room to make some other moves this summer.
Right, Mo Evans is such an asset that the Kings let him walk for nothing and the Pistons traded him for a guy who appears to have a parasite. The Lakers will find out soon that there’s a limited skill set there.
IIRC, some of the buzz about Evans leading up to his signing here was that he had the ability to be a lockdown defender (he wasn’t) and that he was a high-energy guy who would approximate a JYD-level of instant energy (he didn’t). On certain nights, when the Pistons were rolling and Evans played strictly to his strengths, he showed flashes of being a guy that might warrant more minutes, which were followed by nights that he had to put the ball on the floor, attempt a mid-range jumper, try to make a move in the open court, or do something other than dunk when within three feet of the basket.
Put simply, there is nothing that he can do that Delfino cannot, and there are plenty of things that Delfino can do that Evans cannot. That alone justifies the move. Delfino’s also cheaper and four years younger - and while we might not know exactly what his ceiling is, it’s undeniably a lot higher than Mo’s. For all the improvements Evans was supposed to have made while apparently “tearing it up” in Europe, they weren’t readily on display here. Maybe it was a comfort or chemistry thing, but it was an awkward match. And, as someone else mentioned above, the Pistons don’t need more guys standing around, misfiring badly and lacking even the most basic ability to create their own shot.
Getting Amir Johnson some more minutes as a by-product of this will hopefully pay dividends, too.
As usual, though, some fans are quick to judge the move as though the Pistons were actually looking at this is as a straight up trade for Samb, and not the series of moves it helps precipitate. Using the MLE, for instance, potentially on someone like Wells or Jeffries. It’s impossible to judge this move as anything more than positioning at this time.
As for Samb, who knows, but given that teams like the Spurs have been drafting unknowns from overseas for years and letting them play through their growing pains without chewing up a roster space, and given his potential, it was worth the risk, even if at best he becomes a spot defensive specialist down the line, capable of swatting a couple of shots to change momentum.
Actually, I think this is a great move; even if ‘Mo was traded for your favorite-water boy rights.
The truth is that he didn’t fit the team’s chemistry; even more so after “the mole” issues.
let club faker think they have the next Devean George, they don’t…well,….maybe a poor man’s version.
& I don’t care how “raw” Cheik Samb is; raw shot-blocker & all of that…let’s not forget Ben Wallace was an undrafted player, & I’m pretty sure he was raw when he came in; & that worked out alright, didn’t it?
Well, it looks like Toronto is giving up on next season by acquiring TJ Ford for a big man…I’m no GM but I would never trade a quality big for a little guy
Mo Evans was a cap consideration for the Kings, they wanted to keep him and that lithuanian kid Songalia who they both liked but couldnt give new contracts under the cap.
I have no idea what you folks did up in Detroit but as Kings fan i was more than thrilled with his willingness to drive to the basket, use his frame on opposing shooting guards and not take stupid shots as well as his energy.
My cousin in europe says tahts excatly how Evans was when he played in europe as well as one of the rare imports with a high ball IQ.
So let me me laugh when I read that Evans didnt attack the rim and shot 3 pointers like a demented Damon Jones. That is the opposite of his career record until he got to Detroit. I get the feeling that it was the role the Pistons wanted him to fill even though he was never known as a great long range shooter.
Sort of like trading for Stevie Franchise because you need a ball distributor.
As for the greatness of the team, the big 5 is now the big four, still an impressive bunch but the lack of fresh players of the past few years is going to start to kick in. Throw in 1 or 2 big injuries waiting to happen and the fall could be as close as the playoffs.
Young cant plug the team with old guys like hunter and delk and if you never go past a 7 man rotation, the young players will never get better.
So, Mo Evans is a Laker. Between Ben Wallace leaving for Chicago and the Pistons looking to replace him with Joel Pryb*** that’s the best news I’ve heard today.
So long dude. You were too inconsistant and ate up too much of Delfino’s playing time to suit me. The fact that he never made the choice concerning who gets the greater playing time between him and Delfino for Flip and Joe speaks volumes. He couldn’t get it done.
He couldn’t get it done despite the fact that Delfino started the season in Joe’s dog house from his behavior last year over that knee injury and even though Delfino never really seemed to get into any sort of flow that demonstrated his slashing and creating ability that we saw glimpses of earlier in his career.
It seems that Joe has made a choice when Maurice could easily have made it for him with some superior skills if he had them.
Joe must like Delfino or at least think that Delfino is not that much of a downgrade. If that’s the case why do we need Evans. I of course wish him the best but now maybe (and that’s a big maybe) the Pistons will play Amir Johnson or Delfino more and we can really see what these kids are capable of.
Since I’m a Piston’s & a King’s fan I wanted to respond to some of Delk’s comments,particularly how”I loved how he(Mo) drove to the basket…etc…”
Yes, with the Kings; & I also was intrigued with how he managed to stay in front of Ray Allen(when Cuttino Mobley was injured) in the playoff series against Seattle; & frankly, I think the Pistons noticed this as well when they brought him in.
Unfortunately, I did not see him finishing at the basket with his above-the-rim-potential, & if he was chosing to jack up outside shots at 30%, is that the coaching staffs fault?
I also consider the (alleged) mole issue troubling, because it goes to loyalty.I remember an interview Mo’ did with KHTK slamming Rick Adelman for his lack of playing time; & a year later…surprise, surprise! he’s(again, allegedly)a fly in another coaches ointment.
If he proves me wrong in fakerland, fine; but I’m more than happy to see Delfino get those extra minutes with Mo’ gone, tho’ I’ll wish him luck with the dark side, I guess, he’ll probably need it.
i think mo evans sucks he could not attack the basket or take a jump shot all he could do was take a 3 pointer in that special side place of his but i do wish him good luck elsewhere!