PISTONS PICKS:
Round 1: No. 21 — Rodney Stuckey, No. 27 — Aaron Afflalo
Round 2: No. 27 (57 overall) — Sammy Mejia
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Evening, Pistons devotees! PostmanE from the always moderately better than average We Are The Postmen, as well as the AOL FanHouse, here, setting up the structural component most necessary for draft discussion — the Official Detroit Bad Boys Draft Thread. Consider this your one-stop shop for Pistons draft discussion. I’ll be updating each time the Pistons make a selection, as well as when other notable picks take place. (Who’s it going to be? Oden? Durant? Or … Tiago Splitter? Hmmmm.)
So, here we are. To be perfectly honest, you commenters will definitely know much, much more about the Pistons and their needs than I do, as I am a Bulls fan and do my best to ignore the Crucial Motor Engine Parts until they inflict the annual early-round exit for the Bulls. Therefore, analysis will be largely left up to you. And please be gentle.
Since we’re about an hour away, I’ve got a question.
Surely you remember the Grant Hill-era teal and black and yellow uniforms. (Who could forget them?) While perhaps the real question here is “What were they thinking?”, my question is: What’s with the horse? Is a horse a piston, too? Or was that simply the most intimidating thing the Pistons design staff could come up with? Discuss amongst yourselves; back in an hour.
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7:oo: Well, this actually starts in another half hour. For some reason, I didn’t know that.
In any case, the big story so far is Joakim Noah’s suit. Henry Abbott mentioned Noah’s suit prediction to his father in a post earlier today — Noah called his suit “so funky” — but it simply exceeds all expectations. Bow tie, triple-breasted, cream and tan pinstripes … it’s truly a thing of beauty.
7:42: I’ll try to keep the non-Pistons stuff to a minimum, but for the sake of posterity, Greg Oden was just selected by the Blazers No. 1 overall. No real surprise there, but it’s hard not to think that the Trail Blazers missed a huge opportunity to start Sergio Rodriguez, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Zach Randolph, and LaMarcus Aldridge for the next six years. Then again, it is Greg Oden.
Also, apparently, Boston is going to trade their No. 5 pick, Delonte West, and Wally Sczerbiak to the Sonics for Ray Allen. And Seattle just drafted Kevin Durant. Again, no surprise, but now it’s clear that the Sonics are going to dump Allen and build around KD.
(Also, the post might have just been set to Private for some reason. Should be all fixed now.)
8:00: Things are falling into place basically as expected. Al Horford went No. 3 to the Hawks — weee, another forward! — and the Grizzlies took Mike Conley at No. 4. At No. 5, the Celtics just picked Jeff Green for Seattle. So, to shake things down, Seattle gets: Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Delonte West and Wally Sczerbiak’s contract and shooting. The Celtics get: Ray Allen. Not a bad pick-up for the Celts, considering they can start Pierce, Jefferson, and Allen together. And the Supersonics are set for years. The Bucks just took Yi, and Fran Frischilla just described him as “new school, hip hop, 50 Cent.” Riiighhhhht.
8:28: The Bulls, in case you’re interested, just selected Joakim Noah. As my cohort PostmanR just mentioned (we’re both Bulls fans; be gentle) hopefully Skiles doesn’t make him shave his head or something. But everyone’s happy here: the Bulls get a great motor guy who also happened to have NCAA success, and the Chicago beat writers get a better quote than the stylings of Ben Wallace. Win-win!
9:05: PISTONS SELECT RODNEY STUCKEY. The many mock drafts were correct — Stuckey it is. Jay Bilas just called him a poor man’s Dwyane Wade. Thoughts?
9:15: The Knicks just traded Steve Francis and Channing Frye for Zach Randolph and some pieces. Had to figure Randolph was going to wind up somewhere, but I would never have thought it was going to be the Knicks. Kudos to Isiah? Feels weird saying that.
10:20: PISTONS SELECT AARON AFFLALO. Detroit just selected the Pac-10 Player of the Year, a guy I’ve had the opportunity to watch in person several times. Good shooter, great defender, bad ballhandler, good character guy who’s gone through a lot during his poor Compton upbringing. Seems like a great teammate, which will have to make up for a skill set probably best suited for the role he played in college. In any case, the Pistons have definitely drafted in their guard template tonight (big, physical), something Jay Bilas has been happy to remind us of. So, what do the DBB commenters think?
10:47: Apparently the Bobcats are going to trade their first-round pick, Brandan Wright, to the Warriors for Jason Richardson. I told you I was a Bulls fan, so it’s probably no surprise to you that Michael Jordan is my favorite player of all time … but man, is that a bad trade for the Bobcats. I know Morrison struggled last year, and I know Gerald Wallace can be hit or miss, but what the hell? Jason Richardson is probably slightly above average, but he’s certainly not a franchise-changer — and Brandan Wright could be, given enough time to develop. Since when are the Bobcats in a hurry to win? Baffling.
11:02: Easily my least favorite player in the draft, Josh McRoberts, was just chosen by the Trail Blazers. It gives me great pleasure that this incredibly overrated, whiny d-bag — seriously, he cried during a game — fell all the way to the third hour of this draft. Cheers to that.
12:00: PISTONS SELECT SAMMY MEJIA. Just as the clock strikes midnight, and my sense of fatigue grows into a full-on fight with impending sleep, the Pistons mercifully select Mejia. I’d be lying if I said I knew much about Mejia, so, Pistons fans: what do you think? As always, throw your opinions in the comments.
And that will just about do it for me. Thank you for reading and checking it out, and while we may be rivals in ideology — Go Bulls! — we are forever united by our mutual love of Detroit Bad Boys. Catch you on the flipside, if people still say that.
maybe because of horsepower?
If there’s a way for Atlanta to mess up the draft, they’ll do it.
Apparently, the Hawks turned down being part of a deal that landed them Amare Stoudemire because one of the bickering owners vetoed the deal.
Matt:
You know, that makes sense. I never thought of that. I’m also extremely dumb.
i have the same idea as mat gibson have. its a horse that implies horsepower, which relates to pistons…..its better to put a horse than a car.
Horse . . . because logos are best when simplified in design. Something about a car engine or a cutout of a piston in motion does not translate into logoland. Also, Detroit apparently now thinks a “P” sums up simplicity better than a horse.
Yeah, the middle of the cutout portion of the P is supposed to be a “D” to cover the Detroit part of the Pistons, even though they play like a half hour away from the city they represent. I always thought it would be cool to see some rendition the Olde English D put to use, but here we are with a horse and a P.
Boston sucks so much. Ray Allen? They deserve to suck. Worst. Trade. Ever.
and yet another reason to hate the bulls…. introducing joakim noah!
A white version of Ben Wallace for the Bulls. I thought the Bulls were going to try and get a lost post scorer. Morons.
oh sorry about calling the bulls morons (forgot that you’re a bulls fan) but I still think its a bit redendent. Energy guys are great but the ability to score is nice as well. I just don’t think its the best move by the bulls.
wait. who’s a bulls fan?
Yes! Thaddeus Young went early, that means we can take Nick Young, Al Thornton, Rodney Stuckey, or Julian Wright. Thank you Billy Knight.
our temporary blog host PostmanE
not the worst pick in the world by the sixers, since they plan on losing next year anyway, but it’s the type of pick that’s going to give the pistons a lot of options at 15. now someone select javaris crittenden and we’ll have our pick of the litter.
Aren’t Noah, Ben, and Tyrus Thomas all the same person?
glenn - it’s billy KING in philly. get your horrible GMs named billy k_____ straight. they’re the guys you want on speed dial when you have swamp land in florida to sell. people, i can’t stress this enough: KNOW your crappy GMs.
i think i’d prefer stuckey over nick young. is that wrong?
lol, oops, i got so excited that they screwed up that i misstyped…
Young or Stuckey… Young I think makes the most sense since the need for a backup is bigger since its currently Dupree and our backup pg is hunter/Flip. So I hope Young
Ok forget my last comment apparently. But Stuckey wants to play here which is great, and if Joe likes him, I guess I like him. Still want Nick Young but oh well
i had read somewhere that nick young wasn’t much of a gym rat. that’s always a red flag to me. i guess you just have to worry about stuckey being blinded by the palace lights. and it was a position of need if he can cover both back-up spots. i think young was more stuck in the 2 guard spot.
gotta go forward or bigger at 27. would LOVE derrick byars if we can get him.
the NUTS on the NETS to take williams this high. now they should definitely trade for zach randolph. let the two of them run a meth lab/cock-fighting ring out of the arena basement.
oh the knicks already traded for randolph? but he and williams are still neighbors, so they can continue with their plan distribute firearms to the young people of jersey city. perfect.
I like the pick; this IS the 15th, so the pearls are gone. Dumars could have gone with Nick Young, but Stuckey sounds like he could be a “born Piston”; he’s tougher and I sense that he’ll bring the intensity of a Lindsey Hunter.
He’s mostly a mystery, but Jo-Mars is due for a plum; maybe it’s Rodney Stuckey. I hope we soon all concur with his nickname… HOT ROD. At any rate, he doesn’t seem like a hotdog.
Portland should have asked for the knicks 1st as well since Franchise sucks and Randolph is a 20/10 guy. And Stuckey will be interesting. I bet Flip Murray is kicking himself for not opting out since he just got replaced(unless Flip Saunders has something to say about it).
I’m prepared for someone to pull this quote out in 5 years and start laughing at me like a loon, but:
I’m about 90% sure I’m going to say “You know, we coulda had Nick Young at that spot, You know that right?” pretty much every single time Stuckey touches the ball. Bargle, this is gonna be a long offseason.
stop looking at me, josh mcroberts! or i will beat your blue devil ass!
I like the Stuckey pick. Maybe karma can help us out for botching the Milicic pick and give us a similar player to Wade, haha.
And what the hell is with the Suns selling their pick year after year?
Aaron Affalo? Wha?
Is it just me, or do we have WAY to many sgs:
Rip
Flip
Stuckey
Acker
Affalo
While we still have no center or backup sf. I’m starting to worry. Please tell me there will be a trade. Please please please.
Wow…why didn’t we pick Glen Davis there?
I’m cool with the Stuckey pick. Joe wanted to take the guy from a small school with a chip on his shoulder over the glamour guy in Nick Young. But I don’t know much about Aaron Afflalo. Can anyone chime in here? I wanted Morris Almond but Utah nabbed him. Can we turn the clock forward to our next pick. Hell it’s 2 hours away.
Matt, maybe the plan is to sign Grant Hill to back up Tay. I think we are going to ask one of these drafted guards to play point.
I don’t think Hill will come. I think he goes to the Spurs since they might offer him a starting job. I hope the sgs are packaged for a center or sf.
Stuckey is a solid choice. NBA ready and a strong combo guard to back up Billups and Hamilton. His college numbers bode well for his NBA career.
Afflalo baffles me. This seems like a wasted pick.
Matt, why would the Spurs bench Bruce Bowen? Have you read that speculation somewhere?
I did hear the speculation but it was finley and ginobli both come off the bench. I don’t remember if it was fanhouse or somewhere else
Honestly, we can lose Flip Murray at anytime now and I wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. He’s had moments, but not enough to hold on. My vote is still out on Acker, but he’s looked good at times. How does Stuckey handle/distribute the ball? Shooter? I’m not familiar with his game.
Aaron Affalo will be green (as far as NBA level) but I think he could be come a great role player off the bench. Good mid-range shot and can drain the three. I enjoyed watching him (and UCLA as a whole) during this last tournament. Hope he can get into the rotation next season.
Looksing forward to it. Thoughts?
The John Hollinger/ESPN draft rating system had Rodney Stuckey rated much higher than Nick Young - and high overall. It was a cool system (it’s on Insider, no link) and it predicted Tayshaun Prince as much higher pick in an earlier draft. When ESPN ran the rating system against past players it looked like it did much better predicting who would be have NBA success than the GMs.
It looks like too many SGs to me too but Flip Murray is only signed for one year and Acker has yet to play. Afflalo can play SF in a small lineup so maybe it won’t be a problem.
Flip Saunders play a small lineup? It took Rasheed getting suspended a couple games for him to give Maxiell a real chance. And I know Murray has one more year left but its still a roster spot taken up and maybe some complaining. Its a long offseason so I’m going to wait and see but honestly a little worried about this roster.
Matt Gibson - I’m trying to block out the fact that Flip Saunders is still the coach. You are probably right about playing time but that’s partly on Dumars for having a coach that doesn’t play young talent. Wasn’t that one of the (many) reasons the relationship with Larry Brown went sour?
chris mckosky (sp) said today on wdfn that flipper murray will most likely not be back next season. having said that, aflalo still isnt a very good pick. shoulda been pruitt from SC.
billups
rip
tay
dyess
sheed
stuckey
aflalo
acker
maxiell
johnson
mohammed- unless he’s traded
murray-same thing
if mohammed/murray goes (which i just think they will be gone) that leaves three roster spots.
just gonna throw this out there (understand that im a few beers deep at this point) but how about rip and nazi for brand? beer does the nba good…
More on playing time - Detroit needs to do better with young players.
Compare Paul Milsap of the Jazz to Jason Maxiell of Detroit.
Rookie Milsap, 6-8 258, 82g, 18/mpg, 6.8pts, 5.2reb.
2nd-yr. Maxiell, 6-7 260, 67g, 14/mpg, 5.0pts, 2.8reb.
If you look at it the players in front of Milsap were younger (Boozer vs. ‘Sheed) and Jerry Sloan still found him time. Milsap got 3 times the minutes that Maxiell got as a rookie and the Jazz got a fresh player they could trust in the playoffs. I don’t think Milsap is that much better tha Maxiell but I do think Utah uses him much better than Detroit uses Maxiell.
joe are you saying that Flip Saunders DOESN’T use his young players well?!? I thought for sure that Max and Delfino sitting on the bench was FANTASTIC ideas?!? I mean he even INCREASED the starters pt! That really payed off during the playoffs against the WORST 50 win team, maybe ever!
Oh look at this, my hate for Saunders has returned. Hello my old friend.
MG — At least Flip Saunders did a good job of developing value for the team with Delfino — too bad that team was Toronto. It would have been so much smarter to split Delfino’s minutes between Maxiell and Flip Murray and traded him BEFORE last year another #1 pick.
my thoughts on sammy mejia… i saw him play a few times (as im a fan of depaul). this kid could be a great energy guy off the bench in a few years– much like acker, play a year or two in europe to develop a shot better. he won’t ever be a starter, but could be a slasher type, back up sg.
my buddy works on the depaul training staff and just called, said mejia is a great kid who works hard.
who really knows tho…
oh and who else will be singing that all american rejects song all night? “darnkess ends tonight, it ends tonight…” ahhh
and i like dj strawberry– i think could have fit in well here as a back up sg/sf. great defensive player who has a lot of speed and energy. o well.
Is Dumars trying to make my head explode, since it’s getting close to that. Another guard! Ok my head isnt going to explode (that would hurt), I don’t think this will be a 2nd round gem, so I’m ok. He has a cool last name- Sammy Mejia
Three shooting guards, Joe? I mean, really?
Dowdell would have been the better pick right about then. Or even Brandon Heath out of SDSU. I’ve seen the both of them and they’re definitely playmakers
Just so you all know, the Free Press is reporting that Dice has picked up his player option for next year. Next step? Trade Flip for a carton of luckies….
The NY Post has a cool little profile on Mejia:
“June 27, 2007 — There won’t be a big party tomorrow night when Sammy Mejia watches the NBA Draft in his family’s Bronx apartment.
It’s not just because the former DePaul standout is unsure when, or if, he’ll get selected.
“Little guys like me don’t have parties,” said Mejia, referring not to his 6-7 size but to his draft uncertainty. He could go in the second round. […]
The son of a pastor, Mejia spent most of his free time at his Dominican father Jose’s Pentecostal church, not far from where the family lives.
“Growing up, my parents were probably more strict than most,” said Mejia, who was on his way to a workout with the Pistons last week, one of several teams for whom he showcased his skills. “They didn’t want me missing church for anything. I went to three or four services a week, at least, and playing basketball was not a reason to miss one.”
As Mejia grew and became one of the best players in the city, his parents, Jose and Elyza, made some more concessions. That decision paid off.
After leading Theodore Roosevelt to a PSAL B title, Mejia went on to Storm King Prep in upstate New York before landing at DePaul, which is why he’d be a 24-year-old NBA rookie. […]”
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06272007/sports/knicks/bronx_s_mejia_has_a_prayer_knicks_dan_martin.htm
I like the pick. He had low assist totals at DePaul but there was nobody to pass to on that team. He might be one of those players who wasn’t comfortable being “the man” on a college team but who are well suited to doing the work it takes to be a pro.
More on Mejia at links below:
http://www.depaulbluedemons.com/player.asp?CatID=2&ID=162
http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=430&p=8&c=1&nid=2012957
Hmmm Sammy Mejia. 6-6 PG prospect? Trying to look up his info right now.
Im with everyone else about the Affalo pick. Seems like we are already stocked at guard position with Acker and Murray and now Stuckey.
Portland had a great haul. Seattle did pretty damn good to.
Ok draftexpress finally loaded and….I have no idea. 6-7 PG “but ball handling certainly isn’t a strength of his right now”. Theyre a little vague when they talk about him. Anyone watch him play?
Just wanted to quickly weigh in with my opinion about Sammy Mejia. I’m about to be a senior at DePaul and have seen Sammy play on many occasions. He wasn’t the most athletic player on our team (that was Wilson Chandler who went to NY at #23), but he was the emotional leader. He is a good shooter who knows how to pick his spots. He also handled the point guard duties for DePaul often and demonstrated a high basketball IQ. He was also unafraid to take big shots at the end of the game, often making huge threes. I think he could be an asset to the team as a back-up at guard in a couple years. I was really hoping he’d wind up in the D.
He’s a big PG, not an SG. I think his assist totals dropped in college because he had to score on a bad team. I like a 6′6″ project PG better than a 6′0″ project PG. Congratulations on being a Piston Sammy Mejia!
Super detailed Mejia bio from Depaul below (PDF):
http://www.depaulbluedemons.com/imagelibrary/files/SammyMejiabio.pdf
and I was slow posting. Thanks jimmy
I agree about Strawberry. Greath athlete who could be lockdown defender type bench guy.
Seems like everyone agreed we needed to become more athletic. Like the second thing they say about Affalo is he isnt that athletic.
Quick we need to bring in Trey Johnson, Ron Lewis, Russell Carter, Quinton Hosley, and Marko Tomas for that last guard spot.
That’s nice. We have five shooting guards on the team.
That’s nice. Milwaukee picked the Chinese big man who didn’t want to play for them.
That’s nice. Chicago picked another guy who can’t score to play up front - one that trumps Ben Wallace for an afro. Plus some other big guy, plus another guy named James0n who’s pretty much Ben Gordon.
That’s nice. The Pacers did whatever, and I’m sure it was nice.
That’s nice.
DJ Strawberry is Darryl Strawberry’s kid. That’s nice.
Lets bring in Visser and Joao Gomes for Bad Boy Summer Camp. Or whoever as long as they are NOT a SG.
We are revolutionizing? a new brand of small ball maybe.
At least Detroit isn’t the singular head-scratcher.
I laughed heartily at Charlotte and Golden State making both teams worse through trade.
I chuckled at the sideways move and the 15 million picks the Blazers made.
5 shooting guards. See ya, Rip?
The Detroit Pisgtonsgs!
I like the Stuckey pick, but don’t like the Afflalo pick at all. I would have preferred someone like Alando Tucker. I am very surprised Visser didn’t get drafted. It would have been very nice to have him in Detroit (he went to my high school).
I hear the next 24 will be about the Bucks hiring Jack Bauer to find and capture Yi from China and bring him to Milwaukee.
LOL Fel. That’s good.
It was fun watching Dick Vitale and Stephen A. Smith have a tasteful-ish mini-huff-off. Then Dick threw around some papers later after taking a pep pill, and ESPN all but told him to go away until college basketball begins before he signed off.
Ianmac has an interesting trade possibility at Need4Sheed:
Rasheed, Rip & First 2 picks to LA for:
Kobe, & a Big (Walton or Bynum)
The trade works on Trade Checker on RealGM (w/Bynum).
The Affaflaflfo pick makes a lot of sense if he is headed back to LA. If I’m in Los Angeles I don’t mind seeing Farmar, Rip, Odom, Sheed, Kwame Brown with Affaflalfo, Walton, and Stuckey off the bench. Two UCLA stars, two guys with rings, and a very good SF in Odom. It’s probably a better team than with Kobe but I’m not sure if it will sell enough top-dollar tickets in LA.
hehe the best ive seen with Vitale is a few years ago maybe they switch to him and for about 15 good seconds he just sits there kind of like a switched off robot and then all of a sudden he comes to like gesticulating and yelling about something or other.
I really dislike Stephen A Smith and not in a man i just disagree with everything he says but in a every time i find out hes on a show i just wanna turn it off and not watch.
BTW was I the only one rooting for Thornton to fall to 15?? I was getting really damned excited thanks to genius billy king taking Thad Young. Though Thornton would have ruined out chance of having 5 SGs on a team.
hmm interesting joe chauncey,kobe,tay,dice,bynum with maxiell, amir, maybe hill, acker, murray off bench. Young up front but wont matter to much with kobe, chauncey, tay.
Nice to think about but Im not gonna hold my breath. It just doesnt sound like JoeD is gonna move any of the big 4 anytime soon.
Im ready for Vegas baby, Vegas!!
dumars better have a good explanation for this.
Very interesting Draft…the Pistons do have an overload of players at the 1 and 2 positions…which i think some trades will be underway to get the rest of poistions balanced out…
maybe a package deal w/ Murray and Nazr for a bigger Center or back up Veteran SF…
!Goodbye .me bizarro JoeD .me pick bad pick early .me then pick good with later picks !Hello
I was out at the bar so I am late to chime in…… but 3 G’s?!?!? And to cap it off…. Aaron Gray got drafted by Chicago. [I go to Pitt]. He’s got the low post move but otherwise…. Stuckey is gonna be dunking on him with ease. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him really jump that high…. or shoot a jump shot. Or block a shot with any intensity.
Hate to say it…. but now Aaron Gray is my enemy. More or less.
not sure that even makes sense to me but i think bad = good and vice versa and joed usually messes up the early picks and nails late picks. its late. time for sleep. good morning
Do you speak of my post? I’m hoping he nails the pick with Stuckey. I hope karma helps us out after Darko and gives us our own version of Wade.
If Afflalo makes it into the NBA, his nickname should be “spellcheck”. You heard it here first, folks.
If that was what it took to get Zach Randolph, I can’t believe the Pistons weren’t in that discussion. Watch them sign Francis (after Portland releases him), rendering these picks entirely moot.
That said, this draft was about Stuckey. They got a guy who is almost certain to give them exactly what they need immediately, and could give them much more down the road. Dumars did the right thing, dodged the risk-players and the projects, and took one of the 10 best college players.
Improving at the third guard position will make a big differerence, simply because of the dropoff between “average” and what we have now. Our front court, as presently situated, is beyond loaded. Wallace, Prince, McDyess and Maxiell will all be part of the regular rotation, and we all want Johnson to get minutes, yes? If the Pistons do acquire Hill (and he is target #1), that’s 6 players splitting 144 minutes, even if Webber doesn’t re-sign.
However, if Hunter retires (and we should all hope that he does) there will be about 30 back-court MPG. There is room for two players there, and Acker is an unknown quantity. Even if Stuckey is good for 20 (and he will be, mark it) that leaves some real minutes for yet another guard. Plenty of reason to draft another guard.
The question for me is why Spellcheck and not, say, Pruitt? Maybe we’ll find out.
Longtime viewer, first time poster - I’m glad I’m not the only one wishing Joe D had put his crack pipe down BEFORE the Affalo pick. Seriously, unless we’re trading people, or Joe thinks someone’s dying (or had not a clue to the wind that Murray was picking up his option) WHY for all that is good and Glen Davis did we pick 3 guards? As much as many like to bow at the knee of King Joe, the dude has some seriously questionable decisions to his reign, and tonight does not polish but further tarnish his scepter. I would hold my breath for a deal, but I don’t feel like dying.
One thought about the draft - if the Pistons are trying to win now it makes sense to draft older college players even if they have a bit lower potential in the long run. Stuckey is 23, Afflalo is 21, Mejia is 24. For comparison Darko is still only 22 and Amir is 20.
MLive tonight: “Dumars said on Thursday night that Stuckey will get a chance to play immediately as a backup to Billups and Richard Hamilton. “We’re not going to put him on a two-year plan,” Dumars said.
There are 240 minutes of playing time in a game.
CB - 32
Rip - 32
Stuckey - 22
Prince - 35
Maxiell - 22
Sheed - 30
McDyess - 22
Amir - 20
…that’s 90% of the minutes. Add one tweak via trade or free agency and the guys at the end of the bench and there are your 2007-08 Detroit Pistons.
Love the Stuckey pick, not so hot on the kid from UCLA over other guys still on the board (namely Fazekas), and Sammy has absolutely no chance to make this roster.
Overall, Stuckey is the headline, and I think he’ll quickly become a fan favorite.
Kevin S, that scenario is fine….except those guys are all 4’s, want to play 4, aren’t THAT great at 5, and would rather not play there. Except Prince who’s a 3 who perodically covers the opposing 4 if he’s quick. It’s an awesome gameplan for winning about as many games as Golden State does.
I repeat, this is going to be an insanely long offseason.
Triple kc and joe joe has got a point- While I’m not so sure stuckey immediately gets the 22 minutes per game, by the end of the season, I have no doubt he could be pullin in those type of minutes. I wholeheartedly agree with the rest of his breakdown. breakout year for the young front court.
Amir and maxy are the future in the new fun ‘n gun, run & dribble down, kick it to the elbow, create-off-the-dribble-david-stern-owns-you-nba
…aside from developing the first generation of David Hall half-breeds, \we need someone new to work the 5-spot next year. Also…we can’t keep both cwebb and nazr. keeping both of those bigs guarantees the stones remain stagnant. mike abdenour needs to jump awn it and take those athletic-tape skizzors of his, and immediately sever and castrate the pseudo saunders mullet. that shit has got to go.
probably wrong in multiple ways, but fingers crossed that Billy D has as a conveying interest in his will, that Dumars and Hammond gotta hire back us some Rick Carlisle for the stretch run
No substitute for a backup point guard. That’s that.
Stuckey and Afflalo > Hunter and Murray. Those 2 fill those holes immediately in the rotation. Mejia > Ronald Dupree. If they keep him, Mejia could be some sort of x-factor off the bench. It’ll take some time to get him in the flow of the NBA game, but that’s why he was a 2nd round pick. He’s 6′7, he’s got some beef on him, he could be decent, if not serviceable in the pros.
All 3 guys are 6′4+, which makes the backcourt still one of the biggest in the league. Stuckey, 6′4 - Afflalo 6′5 - Mejia - 6′7 with some meat on them.
HOPEFULLY some of you are right and this means they’re looking to trade Hamilton… but I doubt it.
Supposively we loaded up on posts to combat the heat in their hayday…
Would this be us trying to get large guards in an attempt to be able to stop Cleveland? (Aside from their obligatory Lebron’s team free throws)
In workouts, Afflalo measured at 6′6 w/out shoes. According to a predraft Chad Ford blog. He is the Carlos Delfino replacement, he plays great D except unlike Carlos he can make an open jumpshot.
Hopefully Hill does sign with Detroit.
PG
Billups-31
Stuckey-15
Hill-2
SG
Rip-32
Afflalo-10
Hill-6
SF
Tay- 33
Hill-10
Amir-3
Afflalo-2
PF
Maxiel-25
Johnson-12
Dice-6
Sheed-5
C
Sheed-23
Dice-13
Nazr- 7
Maxiel- 5
I’m alright with the stockpile of players. I keep hearing seatle needs a coach. Any chance in them taking flipper? PJ coach the D next season with Bill as the asst. what do you think?
kevin s - I really liked your last post.
Before everyone panics… there is still a LONG way to go before next season. Stuckey was a great pick, and chances are Afflalo was the best available player at #27.
McDyess is back for sure, and I am not too worried about Billups. He’ll stay. I am unsure about Webber, but I hope he stays. As for Lindsey Hunter, sure he’s not all that great anymore, but he’s a terrific role player as a PG defensive specialist, and he’s been a Piston for over a decade. I hope he finishes out his contract. If he doesn’t, then Acker or Afflalo will take his roster spot. No big deal either way.
As for not having a backup SF, there are the Grant Hill rumors (I have no idea how accurate those are), or the Pistons could trade Murray and/or Mohammed for a backup SF. OR they might end up keeping Nazr, especially if Webber doesn’t return, b/c all of their other bigs are PFs, not centers.
Go Pistons!
if the pistons resign billups, i still think they’re the five-seed with the current team, right now. i’m still holding out for a elton brand trade tho…
and how aboot the shift of power (on paper, atleast) from the west to the eastern conference?
dumars announced today that michael currie is also back as an assistant coach
Looks like Blalock is gone, since they had a press conference for Stuckey and Afflalo and Afflalo had jersey #8 and Blalock was #8 last season. And if Afflalo can guard the sf spot, there’s still the possibility of the lineup Stuckey, Acker and Afflalo. So trade flip and/or nazr for a center then and we’d be set.
I really think instead of signing G-Hill we should get gerald wallace. He will command some money but if you free up some cap space he is a great player to have in the rotation. As versatile as they come and plays good defense. He is been underrated for a long long time and could play a great 20-30 mins ago backing up Tay and possibly playing some SG.
I love michael curry–good to have him back.
I still think they need to trade for a real center since nazr sucks and everybody else is a 4.
We were desperate to have some bench perimeter players. Delfino, Hunter, Murray, all didn’t work out. So Joe drafted three guys, hoping two pan out.
Active Roster:
Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Wallace, Mohammad (no indication that he’s being traded, so let’s just slot him in here).
McDyess, Maxiell, Johnson, Stuckey, Afflalo
To fill out the roster, Grant Hill is a possibility, Webber might return, maybe we see Dale Davis back. But that’s a solid ten man rotation up there, and considering what Dumars did, I’m much less against Grant Hill that I would have been had we drafted a guy like Thaddeus Young.
And looking at that, it might make more sense to trade Nazr than I thought.
You could be right he, he wore the 4 at UCLA but he obviously cant wear the 4 as a piston. Maybe he bought Blalocks number for an iphone
I hardly think that Jason Richardson, Ray Allen, and Zach Randolph constitute a ’shift of power’. In fact, I don’t think it even makes the balance of power wiggle.
Maybe shift in weight, can new york handle the combined weight of randolph, curry, jerome james?
Wish we couldve used some of our extra 2nd rounders and moved up more towards the top of the second round. Oh well. Im assuming there mustve been something they saw in Mejia. Anybody hear anything else on that pick?
Shift in Power? Greg Oden and Kevin Durant [+ all the young talent they brought in to surround those guys with] > Randolph, Richardson and Allen. Blazers and Sonics had great drafts in my opinion.
I’m just glad that the best post player on the Bulls now is Aaron Gray. He’s got some talent on the offensive side of the ball down low. But he rarely ever shot a jumper, or dunked, or showed any real aggression. He is more of a jump hook/layup/tip in type of player. And he is not a shot blocker at all. So I think we can handle the Bulls still.
Well the Afflalo pick doesnt bother me to much anymore, Im actually starting to talk myself into liking it. Still not sure about Mejia at 27 though.
Well we will find out next saturday, cause its Vegas baby!Vegas!
Hopefully we can roll out stuckey, acker, afflalo, mejia, with sambh at center.
i like how everyone is predicting the minutes all of the young players (from the draft, over-seas, and the DL) will get…
which i dont mind, it gives you that sense of security that when some of the older guys move on, we have younger talent to lean on…
but you also got to remember, we dont exactly have a coach that likes to play younger talent…Saunders is VERY stingy on who gets and doesnt get playing time…so if one of our younger guys doesnt turn out like expected, it could be hard to tell if it was because he was a bust or just never got the opportunity to prove himself..
I was initially mad we didn’t take Nick Young, but Stuckey seems tougher and more apt to get to the basket. The thing that always scared me about N. Young was that he carried himself EXACTLY like Jalen Rose on the court. Smooth and fluid but no intensity.
Afflalo is a reach but I think he can become a Bruce Bowen type player (and hopefully not another Chris Duhon). I would have rather had Pruitt or Splitter.
Apparently, the Pistons made a promise to Mejia that they’d take him at 57 (according to draftexpress.com). They must see something in him.
I’m guessing Flip, Lindsay, Dale, and Webber are gone. With Stuckey, Afflalo, Maxiell and Johnson getting their minutes.
Personal troubles aside, Zach Randolph will destroy Eastern conference teams on the block. There’s nobody that matches up well with him in the East, and since Isaiah and Curry are life partners, maybe David Lee is shoppable. But him being dealt to the Pistons is only going to occur in my imagination. Plus, whoever gets him will have to take some garbage with him.
I’m a Stuckey mark, too. People just kind of watch him do what he wants. I mean, even though they’re Big Sky opposition. And since when did that matter, Wade went to Marquette for God’s sake.
John Hollinger seems to think that Isiah may just move Randolph since Curry and Randolph will just be a black hole for balls passed into the post. Neither of them can pass or play defense. It’ll be devastating offensively but defense they will be horrible. So maybe he’ll move him….. help out Joe D?
Aight, after having almost a whole day and night to think about it I’ve FINALLY come up with a reasonable theory. I figured there is no way he’s trading Hamilton, so that didn’t make much sense. I mean Rip isn’t perfect, but he’s priced right and very productive. Defensively he’s finally rised to the level of the rest of the core, it just makes zero sense to move him right now unless someone is offering the moon, which I just can’t see. So what I came up with instead was this:
At 15 Joe took the player he thought would most help the franchise right now in a backup role while still having a decent upside. Something about Nick Young (probably work ethic and defence) turned them off, so they went with the guy they’d been looking at all along and took Stuckey. When 27 rolled around, they didn’t really like any of the 5’s left on the board, and figured the undersized 4’s weren’t worth drafting because they are already loaded with bigs who can’t/won’t play center. Glen Davis would have been a great pick, but then you don’t have room to see if Amir is the real deal or play Maxiel as much. Figuring that SF was targetable in FA, Joe decided to back up the semi risky Stuckey pick by taking an absolutely “safe” defensive minded SG to secure the first pick. It’s alot like how some NFL teams who take a QB with an early first round pick will take a “safe” backup with way less upside later, just in case. (Best example I can think of is Heath Shuler/Gus Ferrotte, where Ferrotte turned out to be the better starter in the long run) They probably had Affalo rated very close to Stuckey on their SG board anyways and had taken Stuckey for his offensive upside. This way they get two chances to fill the backup 2 spot and if by some miracle they both work out then they can try moving Affalo to the 3 because he’s 6′6″.
Of course none of this makes any sense whatsoever if they don’t target a backup SF and C in free agency. Maybe I’m just being silly but I’m desperately hoping for a patented Joe D “Nobody sees what I see in this guy” FA signing at either spot and then this all makes sense.
Come on July 1st baby!
The Bobcats just bought out Brevin Knight. He’s a great option as backup PG for Detroit. A 3-to-1 career assist to turnover ration and a a real professional guy. Worth a look I think…
I like Knight alot, if only because he’s a classic “This guy is pretty good in video games, how come I’ve never heard of him before?” type dude. He’s also got pretty decent wheels if the TV screen is to be believed. However I honestly doubt he’ll be the guy, for pretty much the same reasons I think everyone asking for Hill is crazy.
Assuming we look back at Joe D’s track record as a general manager, and to a small degree disregard the earliest parts when he was just cleaning out the roster given to him, it seems pretty obvious to me that he likes to trade or sign high potential players with a streaky track record after their first or second contracts. He really REALLY likes reclaiming other people’s projects right after the “damn I give up point”. Even Nazr, which was a desperation move forced on him, wasn’t 30 yet and came with a spotty track record highlighted by a few stand out performances. Neither Knight or Hill match that profile IMHO, both being too old and too high profile. Honestly I’m not sure it’s possible to predict WHO he’s going to spend on this summer, if only because he always seems to target guys who’re failing someplace else but would work like a charm here. This is probably the only reason I haven’t completely given up on Flip Murray and Mr Mohammed.
I bet two of the guards get packaged up and sent off in a deal for a big man. Not some impact guy either, it’ll probably be for some jobber like Nazr.
Free agent bigs are horrible this year, so if one’s going to get any sort of quality, trading is probably necessary. And NOT for Marion. *Hit the puking drop from WDFN*
PistonsGirl4Life, I really enjoy your posts. Like me, you seem to take reshaping our Pistons seriously. You provide some good insight. I sometimes get tired of reading the “trade Flip & Nazr for Kobe” crazy statements. Keep up the good work. I was on the bring Grant back bandwagon until I just realized that boy is 35 already. Now I’m on the fence again. I have not kept up with Morris Peterson’s NBA career since he left MSU. What are everyone’s thoughts on him backing up Tay? Can someone fill me in on how he has developed in the NBA. I was just looking at the list of free agents and there are no worthy bigs out there. Joe is going to have to make a trade man. Does anyone know if Amir is going to play Summer League ball in Vegas? I hope so. We need keep him playing and growing constantly.
Brevin Knight is too small (5-10) and fragile. He stays hurt. I watched him for a while when he played here for Atlanta. I DO NOT WANT SHAWN MARION. He is not a PF folks. His life is going to change drastically without Steve Nash. Nash doens’t get him the rebounds and blocks and hustle, but I think all those open looks adds fuel for him to do the other things. When he’s got to work for his shot and not get those great open looks Nash provides, I wonder if he’ll still be as energetic on rebounding and defense. He can’t create his own shot. He fits Phoenix very nicely, but not us. At least we only had to wait a month or so for the draft. Now we’ve got to wait 3 darn months for training camp and to see what Joe’s going to do (if anything). I’m cool with Stuckey and Afflalo picks, especially if Amir shows signs next year like Maxey showed this year. And if Maxey steps up and plays 20 mins and give us 10 and 6. I think we should keep grandpa Davis down on the end of the bench to be our dedicated Shaq hacker, like we used Elden Campbell in the championship year. We don’t have to gear our roster to stop Shaq anymore, but he is still around guys.
Well… first of all “PistonsGirl4Life” - I like you!
Here’s my plan…
Trade Nazr Mohamed and Flip Murray for anything… draft pics… Even 2 chickens are better! Then we should trade Rasheed and Hamilton (maybe one more player) for Pau Gasol. Finally we sign with Vince Carter and Grant Hill, both free agents.
That’s a great team:
Chauncey Billups
Vince Carter
Tayshaun Prince
Chris Webber
Pau Gasol
—
Grant Hill
Jason Maxiel
Antonio McDyess
Rodney Stuckey
Arron Afflalo
Amir Johnson
For our small forward needs I see three options that fit Joe D’s mold. First is Mickael Pietrus. Hes a solid defender, good athleticism and can hit the three. The only problem is hes a restricted free agent and with the Jrich trade, Warriors probably have enough money to resign him. 2nd is Matt Barnes. Good defender, athletic, streaky shooter but he hustles. Again Warriors now might have the money to resign him but he fits what Joe D looks for in a player, especially since he fought his way into the nba. 3rd is Mo Pete, who was mentioned earlier in the comments. He isn’t staying with the raps. He can score, defend and has ok athleticism. The problem is how much will he ask. He might take a hometown discount but if he’s not good enough to get alot of time with the raps, will he be good here? For centers theres not much, which is why Darko might get paid alot this offseason.
what was nice about our back-up situation during the championship year (and to a lesser extent in the arroyo years) was that there was a change of pace when chauncey sat down. i don’t think brevin would provide that. but you can’t argue with his numbers. if he could be had on the cheap, why not?
oh, i know why. we have 10 guards on or around our roster.
when i was looking at how the draft broke down and looked at the players surrounding our pick, it did seem like we were somewhat limited in our choices. but splitter went the very next pick, and there is a thing called “trading down” that schmucks like billy king have mastered. so i don’t see why joe couldn’t have been working the phones at the turn of the 1st. especially since roster space on this squad is at a premium. we didn’t need 3 draft picks. while we got one thing we needed, a player who will contribute immediately (in theory), we did need some size and rebounding somewhere. chicago got bigger and miami still has fatty fat fat in the middle. 3 big guards almost seemed purely like a reaction to lebron scoring 29 points in a row. i just didn’t like our draft.
The draft was absolutely a reaction. The easiest way to win the east is to shut down LeBron, Wade, and Deng. If you can do that, your path to the finals is a cakewalk. Shaq is not the most important player in the conference anymore. The draft was absolutely a reaction to getting torched by LeBron, and that’s not a bad thing.
but you do need to keep your roster solid with bigs. it’s still a game where height is a HUGE factor. cwebb will be gone. same with dale davis. and nazr might as well be (though good luck finding a trading partner for that contract.) our two best rebounders, sheed and dice, just keep getting older. it’s nice that we’ll have a s-load of guards to throw at lebron (although let’s just say my confidence in arron afflalo shutting down lebron james is somewhat limited), but right now we’re rolling with the hope that amir can contribute NOW and that maxiell can make the next step. another young big body would have been nice. big baby maybe. or jermareo davidson. or fesenko.
but not josh mcroberts.
cheick samb. we could use you.
None of those bigs would be ready to play. Any big at the 27 pick is a project.
At first, I thought the 3 guards were excessive but Mejia is a longshot. Also, Lindsay, Flip and Delfino will all be gone.
Afflalo’s definitely not a scorer but he did put up some decent and efficient numbers at UCLA. I’m pretty sure he’ll find his niche now that he doesn’t have to be the primary scorer. And I think his athletic ability is not as bad as most people think.
well, this explained adding the THIRD guard. we were kissing up to chauncey’s agent, andy miller:
“Dumars has helped sweeten the pot. First, he has indicated he would sit down with Antonio McDyess, another client of Miller’s, to discuss a contract extension beyond next season. And the Pistons drafted another Miller client, point guard Sammy Mejia, with the 57th pick. Mejia will play in Europe next season.”
i guess it doesn’t hurt to use the 57th pick as a gesture of good will to our free agent mvp’s chief negotiator, especially since he’s heading across the atlantic. and afflalo i can understand, seeing the picks that went around him. i still don’t like the draft, but i can accept it.
Hmm i like MattG’s idea about Matt Barnes. He was making about 750k and playing about 24min. Can we give him a signicant amount more $$ and similar PT though? Maybe signntrade Flip? I dunno. Pietrus is making 2.5M. Peterson is at 4.5M. Barnes looks like the best chance moneywise unless we can get the others on the cheap. Not sure how much we have to spend moneywise though.
Heheh *blushes*, thanks for the props.
Of the three guys Mr Gibson mentioned, I like Pietrius the best but he’s right so does Golden State and I don’t think he’s leaving. Barnes fits the profile perfectly and is probably priced right, however again Golden State is thinking the same thing.
On the other hand, I live in Toronto now, have for about 10 years now and I’ve had a chance to see Mo Pete up close and personal throughout every single phase of his career so far. His biggest problems are “Staying motivated, staying in peak physical shape and dealing with pressure.” Sounds bad I know, and for the Raptors (who drafted him with the idea that he’d be the “second part” behind Carter) it was. But then I start thinking about what he’d look like on a team with the best training staff in the NBA, on a team that wouldn’t let him get fat and quit, on a team where he’d have to hit 3 big shots a night and nothing more. He’s athletic (when in shape), a solid defender and a good mid-long range shooter (again when in shape). Also historically his contract years are his WORST years (the dealing with pressure part) so assuming we could offer him 3-4 years with a fitness waiver……..
I’d take that flier at 4 or less a year. Again if he stays in peak physical shape, his jumpshot would rival Chauncey’s for best on the team immediately. He’s our kinda player, when motivated and fit.
You bring up good insight as usual pistonsgirl4life. But what I really want to see is if Afflalo can truly guard small forwards (never seen him listed as 6-6) since I would love to put him at 3 and give Acker a shot at 2. That way we can focus the mle on a center or trade it the mle to a team for a center (you can do that right? Teams always put cash in trades). Might be a good way to get rid of Flip and/or Nazr if we throw money in there.
So with that said, anyone else excited to see what Acker, Stuckey, Afflalo (I have warmed up to him since my comments of bad draft pick), Amir, Samb can do in the summer league. It starts july 6th
Regarding Affalo, I really have no idea. I mean I think the primary reason for making the pick was to have two shots at solving the problem to be honest. I’m not sure Affalo has to even TRY SF until we know if Acker or Stuckley are ready this year. I’m pretty sure the 6′6″ measurment is from ESPN, so questionable credibility I’m sorry to say. That’s the kicker, alot of these guys are unknowns anyways. My theory was simply that Joe D was maximizing his # of chances to solve the problem at hand, and intended to go in another direction at SF/C (be it FA or a trade).
As for summer league, you betcha though as always I’m not going to hold too much stock in it until I see Flip actually giving these boys mins in real games with the real Pistons.
As a side note, considering Acker was on the fence about going back to Europe next year anyways, is it possible we’re giving up on him at this point and the draft indicates that? I mean, I’m not rightly sure WHY his agent would advise him to come to Detroit with so many players at his spot.
One option I haven’t heard anyone mention is Gerald Wallace. If the Bucks sign Mo Williams (and they will, if they don’t land Billups) then it looks like he’ll have to take the MLE, since Charlotte has invested in Richardson. If Orlando wises up, they might pull this particular trigger, but the Pistons should be investigating this option. He’d be quite a bit better than Hill, and would free up some trade opportunities.
We’ve seen a lot of great players at UCLA. Afflalo is one of them. Howland’s offense was not a great showcase for him, but Afflalo is the kind of guy who will do what the coach and the team require without complaining. He’s great at taking the last shot and a great defender. He totally brought it on every possession on both ends of the floor in every game for 40 minutes no matter who we were playing or what the score was for three years. He’s relentless.
He also works very hard on his game and is going to improve where he’s weak. So I think you guys are going to be very pleasantly surprised.
I’ve just become a Pistons fan, by the way. Haven’t liked the Lakers for years and you guys now have my favorite NBA player. Go Pistons!
Matt Barnes had a decent run at SF in the playoffs for a team that had no real scripted offense but to get it over center court and hoist up a 3.
Gerald Wallace may not go somewhere where he will not start. So I wouldn’t count on him signing in Detroit.
Arron Afflalo is 6′5, and he’s a SG. I doubt they’ll line him up at SF, considering he never played SF in NCAA. All this talk about Will Blalock and Alex Acker pretty much proved itself to be mostly hot air after seeing Detroit select 2 guards with their 1st round, guaranteed contract, picks. I don’t understand all the hype for Alex Acker, just because you light up a league that features Europeans and has-been NBA players. That’s not a knock against Acker’s skills, it’s just the truth, and if you don’t believe me about the concerns of the level of talent in his league, Scoonie Penn (former OSU great) is on his team.
Take a flyer on the 2 first round picks this year and cut Acker loose. Let him be great overseas, let him spend his career overseas much like Anthony Parker of the Raptors…
Boney
At actually draft workouts Afflalo was measured as 6′6 in socks. In addition he has a 6′9 wingspan. He played SG/SF at UCLA as well. He is primarily a SG but dont be suprised to see him get spot minutes at the 3.
Hill is likely to end up at Phoenix, may rot on the bench a la Jalen Rose. I too like Barnes and Pietrus. I want to stay away from Mo Pete though.
I just want to see what Acker can do. He’s had no real chance to show what he can do. That’s why I keep pulling for him to get some chance.
If the NBA were a house, then I’d want to commit arson.
Two things stopped me from going further on that notion.
Brevin Knight in limited minutes as a backup point guard, if Detroit’s serious about Stuckey, and Stuckey is legitimate and can carry 20 mpg in reserve . . .
Matt Barnes, backing up Tayshaun, if it wasn’t for the fact that his somewhat-mohawk was one of the most ugly things I saw in the playoffs. Man, shave it all the way, or shape it Mr. T Style. Don’t go FredEx crazy. Despite all that, Barnes would make me happier than Grant Hill. Crap. Rephrase. Rodney White would make me happier. Dennis Rodman resurrected would make me happier. I can’t stand Grant Hill.