Vacation = over. It was fun while it lasted, but now I’m a bit overwhelmed trying to catch up on everything that I missed. Fortunately I was able to check email (which includes all of your comments posted on DBB) roughly every 36 hours, so I’m not completely out of the loop, but there’s still plenty to touch upon.
So what’s a guy to do? A good old fashioned link dump:
- Much of the conversation in the DBB Vegas Summer League open thread centered upon Cheikh Samb, whose performance received mixed reviews among DBB readers. As it happens, that’s not a unique phenomenon: witness the differing opinions of Samb in this post on TrueHoop. Henry Abbott presents three views on Samb — two from a couple of scouts as well as his own:
So, that leaves us, I’d say, with three observers who see a lot of the same things (one scout thinks he’ll get quicker, another does not, but otherwise, the professionals seem to more or less agree). It’s no secret why this guy is a prospect. He’s looooooong and looks at home on the basketball court.
But it’s a big question whether or not he’ll reach his maximum potential. Two professional scouts are guardedly optimistic about everything, while the blogger (that’s me) is less so. I hope he proves me wrong. And if Cheikh Samb makes it big in the NBA, Joe Dumars and the Pistons will have a solid reminder why they don’t have bloggers on their basketball staff, and they can brag about the great deal they got in the garage sale that is the late second round.
If Samb someday develops into a legitimate rotation player, the Pistons can certainly pat themselves on the back … but for the sake of accuracy we should remember the cost wasn’t really a mere late second-rounder but instead Maurice Evans, who was traded to the Lakers for Samb’s rights on Draft Night 2006. I was a fan of the trade then and still am today, but if/when this trade really starts paying dividends, it will be a gamble that paid off, not a discovery off the garbage heap.
- It seems like everyone is at odds about Samb’s future — even those in Detroit’s front office. From Krista Jahnke’s profile on Samb in the Detroit Free Press:
Samb needs strength, both in his upper body as well as his lower body, which is crucial for big men to hold their positioning. During the summer, Samb is to return to Senegal, where he’ll have to rely mainly on sit-ups and push-ups to add more muscle.
Just how much muscle he can gain is up for debate.
“He’s always going to be an extremely tall, long person,” Hammond said. “We know he’s not going to come up with a different, massive body.”
Ronzone’s not so sure.
“You look at a guy like (DeSagana) Diop from Dallas,” Ronzone said. “He was like 190 pounds, 6-11 when he first came to the league. Now you see him six years later (at 280 pounds). I think (Samb) could be like that.”
Also worth noting from this article:
Samb’s father, who reared 21 kids before he died, was almost 7-feet-4.
Wow. Just … wow.
- Speaking of profiles, Jahnke has another good read in today’s Free Press, this time focusing on Rodney Stuckey. Read the whole thing for insight on his background, which explains why his high school grades prevented him from being recruited by bigger schools and how he rebounded in college to become an academic All-American.
What I’m going to single out here, though, is this quote from Flip Saunders about what he’s seen from Stuckey’s game so far:
“He’s extremely coachable,” Saunders said. “He can get to the basket probably better than anyone we’ve had since I’ve been here. And when I say that, I mean getting here quick, just one or two dribbles and getting there really quick. … He lets things happen, but then he has the ability late to take some things over.”
- Stuckey clearly made an impact in the Vegas Summer League — he cracked this guy’s top three VSL performers by averaging 19.3 points, 4.3 boards, 2.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. More solid praise from Brian Windhorst.
- Speaking of VSL performances, it wasn’t a big surprise to see Jason Maxiell turn in an excellent showing, but how about his new physique? He dropped 30 pounds since the end of the playoffs and it shows — check out any of the highlight videos over at BBSC and watch for the surprisingly svelte No. 54. Just like DBB reader Brad, I’m curious if Maxiell can see time at the three spot (assuming, of course, he keeps the weight off).
- For a supposedly “aging” team, Detroit will have a remarkably young core of reserves next year.
- Rasheed Wallace and Flip Saunders have apparently patched up any differences. Sounds good now, but I still don’t believe this is the last we’ll hear about their relationship.
- Darko Milicic signed a modest three-year, $21 million deal with the Grizzlies. I’m still a firm believer in Darko’s talent, and it should be interesting seeing him play next to Pau Gasol (and not just because Darko called Pau “soft” less than a month ago). Then again, if you believe what one Lakers TV announcer accidentally revealed on the air Saturday night, it’s possible Darko was signed to replace Pau, not play next to him.
- Both Gabe Pruitt and Glen “Big Baby” Davis were under the impression the Pistons were going to draft them.
- Odd news coming out of San Antonio: Amir Johnson reportedly turned down more money from the Spurs to sign with the Pistons, who ended up giving him a three-year, $10.8 million deal. Honestly, it doesn’t really make sense to me: as Justin Rogers notes at Full-Court Press, Johnson was a restricted free agent and the Pistons made it pretty clear retaining him was a priority, so he could have forced Detroit’s hand by signing an offer sheet with the Spurs and having the Pistons match it. Unless, of course, the Spurs were offering more money but over more years — if Johnson breaks out like a lot of people think he might, I imagine he’ll want to test free agency again sooner rather than later.
- The Wizards were one team keeping an eye on Amir Johnson’s status — not because they were interested in him, but because his contract might set the bar for what Andray Blatche can command.
- Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois on the team’s remaining offseason plans:
At guard, Dumars probably will explore the trade market for Flip Murray once the dust settles on free agency and teams have a better gauge on what they can expect from draft choices after seeing them in summer play. All indications are that Lindsey Hunter intends to play another year, though the Pistons could also include Hunter in a trade to make contracts work under the salary cap if the situation calls for it. … Dumars said Wednesday that he’s comfortable going into the season with some combination of Afflalo, Mejia and veteran Ronald Dupree backing up Tayshaun Prince at small forward
Can’t say I’m terribly pleased about hearing Hunter plans to come back, unless, of course, he’s willing to digest a steady diet of DNP-CD’s. He’ll need to, if it’s true that Mejia and Dupree are in the team’s plans behind Tay.
And … that’s all. For now, at least.
Lindsey, my God, just pack it up already.
Never again should this man be allowed to drive a lane, clogged with defenders, and heave uncontrolled, unbalanced airball lay-ups, and immediately start claiming he was fouled when his idiot shot doesn’t go in. It’s like another team’s paying this guy to play for us.
I wouldnt call Lindsey an Idiot, but ive notice him trying to go to the Lane like Iverson and try and get a foul off a airball lay-up…but can you really blame him? Most of the time this happens is when the game is pretty much sealed for the other team and no else on the court is doing a damn thing…so you can give him an excuse for forcing up lay-ups but in normal game circumstances he doesnt normally drive to hole wrecklessly.
I’m fine with Lindsey playing as long as he is contractually bound never to shoot a shot of any kind.
I dont want Hnter to see one speck of playing time, unless its garbage time
About the Spurs offer, it cannot have been for that much more. By staying with the Pistons, he stays with a team that has a veritable mandate by the GM to play him. That is probably worth an extra $270k per year when you’re playing for the 6-year deal.
The issue isn’t that the Pistons are that old, but rather that there isn’t any good transitional assets between the kids and the adults. If Dumars can cultivate a starting 5 that will be ready in 3 years, he will do something that I have not seen done before.
It’s easy to get excited about Summer league and “upside”, but virtually every team has youngsters with potential. Stuckey, Spellcheck, Johnson, Samb and Maxiell could all be great (well, the ceiling for Samb seems to be Dasagna Diop, so “great” might be overstating it) but they will not ALL be great.
Players like Billups, Hamilton, Wallace, and Prince are hard to come by. That’s why, when you have them on your team together, you play them heavily in hopes of taking your best chance at a title.
I want to see what Stuckey and Maxiell can do to help THIS ensemble win games, not see what they might be 3 years down the road. On that note, it was nice to read Maxiell eyeing a potential starting spot (and, apparently, going on the Nazr diet). It seems like he gets it. Delfino didn’t. Milicic didn’t. Even Okur didn’t, though he panned out for Utah.
If Hunter is traded, he will retire. His family is here, he has a business here. Maybe $2+ million has it’s allure, but I bet he would take a modest settlement to disappear.
Does anyone in their right mind think there is a trade market for Flip Murray?
Why would Amir turn down more money? Simple. It doesn’t help the club and they have already committed to matching all incoming offers. Why sabotage the guys you are going to play for anyways? Much respect to the Spurs for playing mind games though.
I have to think Sambs ceiling is higher that Diop, no pun intended. Samb can at least already hit that 10-15 footer. Diop played in the summer league specifically to work on his shot and went 2-19 from the field.
The Hunter already has a guaranteed front office position with the Pistons. Davidson tends to take care of those who he regards as loyal, as such, a trade is out of the question. The real question is whether Lindsey wants to play another season with what can be regarded as an unwritten mandate to bring in new blood, which would have the effect of further decreasing his own minutes, at the ripe ol’ age of 52.
Lindsey Hunter… Trade… out of the question? are you serious? How many times have we traded away lindsey? That alone makes it possible that we could trade him. let alone expiring contract. unlikely would be a better word. As for flip murray… once again expiring contract. also flip did decent when billups was hurt… maybee in a the right situatuion he could be slightly more than marginal. As it is you won’t see a market for flip (as previously stated) until free agency winds down. The real question is who gets the 15th roster spot?
hunter lives in my buddy’s neighborhood in plymouth township, mich. needless to say they’re huuuge houses, lol.
What I think is funny is the quote that said “Samb will have to rely on pushups and situps to build muscle” once he returns home to Senegal this summer. What? They don’t have heavy stuff to lift over there? I mean, Rocky got buff from chuckin’ logs in rural Russia. Couldn’t Samb pick up a rock or something? Send him a John Basedow tape!
umm…so we traded lindsey away once at the beginning of the teal era…. was there another instance?
Lindsey Hunter needs to retire! The Pistons need to clear up some space for the young guys to get some minutes, or they’ll never develop. As for Amir, he’s got a lot of pressure on him heading into the season. That being said, it sounds like he’ll get the playing time to prove himself. I’ll be watching anxiously!
Check me at http://www.clutch3.com
Hoopsworld posted an interesting feature on Mad Max (http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22645.shtml) and they also have a video interview that Pistons fans might enjoy.
Looks like Samb and Mejia will be on the 15-man roster, according to Keith Langlois at nba.com:
http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/summer_070716.html
“Maybe the biggest news coming from Las Vegas is that Hammond said the Pistons have decided to get Samb signed so he can split time between the Pistons and their new Development League affiliate in Fort Wayne, Ind.”
and
It also now appears likely that the Pistons will carry Sammy Mejia on the 15-man roster, Hammond said. The Pistons selected Mejia 57th in June’s NBA draft after taking guards Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo in the first round. In addition to the three draft choices, Maxiell and Samb, Amir Johnson joined the Las Vegas summer team for its last game, a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, after re-signing with the Pistons as a restricted free agent.
“We like him,” he said. “If we had our druthers, he would have an opportunity to do so.”
Hopefully Samb can get to at least 250 lbs and maintain his mobility, but lets get something straight. Desagna Diop was not 190 when he came into the league. Actually if you check nbadraft.net he was listed at 300 lbs in the 2001 draft. The comparison, to put it kindly is a bit of a stretch. In todays NBA you don’t have to be a 300 lb center to be a serviceable big man.