Nazr Mohammed played 16 minutes to Jason Maxiell’s zero this afternoon. I speculated in my live-blog that the Pistons may be showcasing Nazr for a trade, and I’m even more convinced of it right now after reading Nazr’s pre-game comments in A. Sherrod Blakely’s blog:
Mohammed came about as close as you can come to asking for trade just a few minutes ago.
“I like to be part of what the team is doing on the floor,” he said. “So if I’m not in the plans, then yes, I would ask for a trade.”
Mohammed’s probably not going to play much tonight - or any other nights in the immediate future unless someone gets hurt.
Dumars has made a habit out of moving unhappy players quickly, and I suspect Mohammed will be suiting up for another team very soon.
If Nazr was in fact being showcased, he could have done himself a favor by playing a bit better — he had just four points on 1-3 shooting with four boards and a block. That’s not bad production given his minutes, but he was also limited by four fouls.
Oddly enough, the team reportedly interested in Nazr is the Timberwolves, who got an up-close look at what he can do. The Pistons are rumored to be looking at Marko Jaric, who didn’t play because of a thumb injury. Swapping Nazr’s contract for Jaric’s is about a wash (they both have four years left after this year for roughly the same amount of money), but I’d like to think Nazr is worth more on the trading block — he’s not great, but he’s a legitimate big man, which is harder to come by than an average combo guard. We’ll see.
C-Webb in, Nazr out? [MLive.com]
Detroit Mulls Post-Chris Webber Options [NBA FanHouse]
At least McDyess fought for his job this afternoon. Even though he was struggling the whole season, I think he’ll be valuable in the playoffs, or God forbid, an injury to one of our bigs.
I had mixed feelings about what to do about him, but since now Nazr is practically asking for a trade, I think Joe Dumars can package him and Flip Murray (who played terrible in the end of the game) before the trade deadline.
I wish Nazr would shut up. He’s a low energy foul machine. Doesn’t he realize that (like Darko) it’s not a coincidence when two coaches decide you aren’t good enough to start?
Any way we can trade a low energy foul machine and defenseless shot missing machine for a good dribbling assist machine?
Fadel…. someone had to say it. Flip Murray played so bad in OT it sank us. He took bad shots and played no defense…. but what’s new.
We show case our guys for trade and then they crap the bed…. awesome.