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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

WATH OUT FOR THE LAKERS! THEY’VE GOT A NEW POINTGUARD….
>>JORDAN FARMAR IS AT HOME

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.

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…”