Posts tagged ‘John W. Davis’

Here’s the Detroit Pistons latest trade rumor…

The Pistons reportedly turned down a trade with the Jazz that would have sent Carlos Boozer to Detroit for Tayshaun Prince.

A league source said that while the Pistons like Boozer, they simply couldn’t let go of Prince.

Via Boston Globe

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By Deven Khrucell aka Pimpscwalla

You mean to tell me that years ago, when I used to go see the Detroit Lions practice, all I had to do was tackle Barry Sanders in the Silver Dome parking-lot and I could have been famous?

I think Nike Messed up on this one. They just should have let everyone see the king get posterized. Now Lebron looks like a scared coward.

I wonder what his Nike advisors will have him tell the media?  I can just see him in an interview telling them “I have no recollection of any sort of dunk video.”  Then when the tape is released, we’ll have a “dunkergate” conspiracy.

Kobe’s image was almost ruined by his actions with a woman and now if he doesn’t handle this correctly Lebron’s image could be tainted by two points.

I never thought the day would come that I would endorse this trade…

Its such a sad day, but this must be done.

Its time for Richard “Rip” Hamilton to be traded to the Utah Jazz for the often injured Carlos Boozer.

If you listen to Episode 112, I emphatically said Carlos Boozer will never play for the Detroit Pistons.

The reason I said Boozer would not be Piston is I thought we were going to spend 12 to 14 million dollars to acquire him via the 2009 free agency market.

When a re-emerging team like the Pistons have 19 million in cap room and you spend 75% on Boozer that doesn’t equate to a logical acquisition.

But, Boozer opted to stay with Utah Jazz and I was relieved.  I knew we could pursue a great young talent like Charlie Villanueva who I think can be an All-Star by 2011.

As much as signing Charlie V makes sense, Ben Gordon creates a lot of questions marks.

Is he tall enough, is his defense good enough, and will he be happy coming off the bench.

These are all issues that you have to consider because the 6′1 ish Ben Gordon is now the highest paid player on the Detroit Pistons.  (Money=Stardom & Ego)

But as many questions as Gordon creates, he also provides multiple answers.

He can score on anyone in the NBA, he’s a deadly and consistent long range shooter and he’s only 26.

As much as experience counts for in the NBA, its a young man’s league.

Mr. Rip Hamilton is 31 years old and his play will only decline in the future.

I think your highest paid player, (Ben Gordon) should start for the simple economic fact of getting your money’s worth.

If I was the President of a company, I would not have my highest paid employee only work part-time.

That employee would work the long hours needed to get the job done.

Ben Gordon can’t help us win a championship off the bench. I need him to start and play 38 minutes a game, to go hard on defense and average 22 points a game.

I need him to be on the court as much as possible with Rodney Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince to establish the rapport needed to continue the championship culture that Joe Dumars started to create in 2002.

It’s obvious that Richard Hamilton will not be happy off the bench, remember when he said this… “Something’s got to give. I’m all for doing whatever it takes for the team, but coming off the bench with us not winning, something’s got to change”said Hamilton.

Rip’s already called his shot and for the Detroit Pistons to get another step closer to contending for a championship we need all the firepower we can get in our starting 5.

Right now our top five players are, Stuckey, Gordon, Hamilton, Prince, and Villanueva.

Doesn’t that look eerily similar to small ball?

How quickly do we forget that Pistons fans worldwide could not stand that lineup.

And you know what, the Detroit Pistons players hated that “Small Ball” lineup even more.

With all that said, how often in the NBA are trades for All-Star caliber players fair. (Not Often)

If we can trade Richard Hamilton for Carlos Boozer, WE MUST TAKE THAT DEAL.

Utah’s weakness has always been at shooting guard, and if they really love Paul Milsap then they should be happy to make this switch.

Rip should be happy to go to Utah’s because he can play with what he desperately needs, a point guard.

In my opinion, the young Deron Williams looks like a more polished, pass first version of Chauncey Billups.

If you’re Utah, a your starting five is Deron Williams, Richard Hamilton, Andrei Kirilenko, Paul Milsap and Memo Okur, then you are honestly ready to compete for the NBA championship.

Will you win one, probably not, but with the sometimes volatile Ron Artest and the often injured Andrew Bynum starring on the Los Angeles Lakers, anything can happen.

The new look Pistons would practically be complete, Rodney Stuckey at PG, Ben Gordon at SG, Tayshaun Prince at SF, Charlie Villanueva at PF, and Carlos Boozer at C.

Thats a starting five that would compete well against any team in the NBA.

Don’t forget the Pistons have one of the best, training staffs in the league.  If Boozer comes to town and listens to what they have to say, he should be able to stay on the court for 70+ games and most importantly be ready for the 2010 playoff push.

And remember if this Boozer merger doesn’t work, Carlos will still be a 2010 free agent…

Peace,

John W. Davis

Pistonscast.com

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By Deven Khrucell aka Pimp Scwalla

From the beginning of his tenure as president of basketball operations for the Detroit Pistons, Joe Dumars has been pretty hard to read when it comes to his prospective draft picks. No matter how many names are thrown in the mix for potential selections, I never come close to what Dumars is thinking. For example, in 2008 He made Walter Sharpe Detroit’s top pick when most people barely even knew who he was. But after watching the 2009 NBA draft I might have a clue into the thinking process behind Dumars’s selections.

Since his first draft in 2000 when he decided to select Michigan State point guard Mateen Cleaves (passing on Hedo turkoglu and Michael redd), whenever Joe Dumars is in a bind and needs to reach into his bag of tricks, he usually comes out with a forward. When I took a count of each player that Dumars selected since becoming the Piston’s president, I found that out of a total of 23 picks, 14 of them were fowards and of those 14 forwards selected, 9 of them were small forwards, which is equal to the total number of picks at the other three positions combined. It’s apparent that Joe has a lot of love for the forwards—but why?

In an interview after selecting the Piston’s first round draft pick Austin Daye in the 2009 NBA draft, Joe Dumars told everyone that when drafting a player, he looks for someone that can play more than one position. But after taking a closer look at his draft track record, I think it’s a little more than that. I think a certain body type and ability gets his attention as well. For example, not only is Tayshaun Prince able to play more than just the small forward position, his long lean frame and level of athleticism makes him one of the most versatile players in the Pistons line-up with the ability to play four positions. As a rookie, how nice was it to see Tayshaun at 6 ‘9′ slow down Allen Iverson in the 2003 playoffs and follow that performance up with locking up a very hot Tracey McGrady enabling Detroit to defeat Orlando. His length also enabled him to disrupt an otherwise unstoppable Kobe Bryant in the 2004 NBA finals, which earned him the name “Kobe Stopper” by fans. He was as important as any other Piston during their championship run in 2004. Maybe that explains why Dumars, knowing how good Carmelo Anthony was at 6 ‘9′, couldn’t resist taking Darko Milicic who had the potential to play the same position at 7 feet tall. Taking Darko with the third pick turned out to be Dumars’s worst decision to date–all other top five selections are, simply put, the franchise of their teams. In retrospect I’m sure he would have taking Anthony instead.

Carmelo Anthony wasn’t Joe Dumars’s only missed opportunity. In the 2001 draft that followed a season where the Pistons were just 32-50. Dumars was very high on a freshman forward from UNC Charlotte by the name of Rodney White. He saw enough in his game to pass up the likes of Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson, Tony parker and Gilbert Arenas. This was at a time when Detroit had just lost superstar player Grant Hill and the best the Pistons had at point guard was a very limited, Chucky Atkins. But disappointment didn’t stop Dumars from continuing to pursue his type of players. In 2008 he took as he described it, a “long look” at UAB forward, Water Sharpe, who at the time, no one really even knew and then he drafted four more forwards the very next year in the 2009 NBA draft.

This goes to show that Joe Dumars just likes what he likes. He looks at players from a different perspective than other people do. That’s why he’s able to strike gold with Tayshaun Prince when many others passed him by and also fail miserably with Darko Milicic when others were wondering…”what the hell!” One thing’s for sure, when it goes good it really goes good and when it goes bad, he’s been able to weather the storm pretty nicely.

By Deven Khrucell (aka Pimp Scwalla)

When the Detroit Pistons go on the clock June 25th, it’ll be anybody’s guess who Joe Dumars might draft at number 15 and even more of a mystery is what position. One thing’s for sure, with the current state of the Detroit Pistons, he had better choose carefully.

The Piston’s main concern right now is trying to pick up impact players from the free agent market or by trading for them. Most of the big name free agents are big men like; Bosh, Okur, Boozer, etc… Players like those won’t come cheap. In order to make this possible, there’s a good chance they will lose Rip Hamilton and/or Tayshaun Prince.

The draft pick that I see fitting best in this mix is Louisville Cardinal, Terrence Williams. Williams is a lock-down defender with plenty of explosiveness and is able to knock down three point shots when needed. I also like the fact that he is a four year guy who can guard both the two and the three.

While Williams won’t quickly replace Rip or Tay, drafting a guy like Williams could help soften the blow of losing one or two of Detroit’s cornerstone players. His versatility makes it easy to slide him into either the shooting guard or the small forward position. He also gives the Pistons some leverage when decide which players are going to be here in the future.

Many believe Rodney Stuckey is a better fit at shooting guard and the Piston’s should draft a point guard. That definitely makes sense, but let’s look at the whole picture. Drafting and working with another young point guard (at this point) will be too daunting and could be disastrous for an inexperienced Michael Curry. Besides that, we still don’t know for sure that Rodney’s late season woes were because of the position he plays or the fact that being a great NBA point guard can’t be achieved over night.

Either way we look at it, in order for Detroit to get better, it’s going to cost them at the shooting guard or small forward position–leaving a big hole in the line-up. Why not fill in that hole with someone that can play both - it just makes sense.

What do you think?

Via Chicago Tribune
Are we finished with the Ben Gordon rumors yet?

Ben Gordon denied rumors that his agent already has a deal in place with Detroit on Wednesday.

“You can’t even negotiate until July 1, so that’s just rumors,” said Gordon. “I really don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“One thing I’ve learned for sure in the NBA is you don’t have a deal until something is signed,” Gordon said. “Come July 1, I’m excited to see what’s out there. I’m excited with the possibility of getting a long-term deal.”

Got a question for Pistonscast.com? Send it to John W. Davis. And for Pistonscast news and updates follow John on Twitter.

Ben Gordon’s agent is reportedly telling people that his client has a guarantee from the Pistons.

The agent claims that Detroit has promised Gordon $11 million annually, which makes sense considering that the guard rejected $10 million and $9 million from Chicago in the previous two years.

There have been rumors that the Pistons are looking to trade Richard Hamilton, which has only accelerated the speculation that they are targeting Gordon.

Via Bulls.com
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I SAY PISH POSH!!!!

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Bill Laimbeer Quits the Detroit Shock!

Bill, Bill, Bill!!!!

Please coach the Pistons. I beg of thee. I implore thee. We need you.

Honestly, you need us too. You need a team that’s ready to win, not the Timberwolves. They are young and will drive you crazy!!!

Joe D, come on man. Just demote Coach Curry lol!

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Auburn Hills, MI – Tom Wilson, President and CEO of the Detroit Shock and Palace Sports and Entertainment, announced today that Bill Laimbeer has resigned from his duties as head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock. In a related move, Wilson announced that effective immediately, Rick Mahorn has been promoted to head coach and Cheryl Reeve has been promoted to assistant coach/general manager.

“It’s disappointing that Bill has decided to step down as head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock,” said Wilson. “But at the same time, Bill led the Shock to three WNBA Championships and a league-record 27 postseason victories during his seven-year tenure. We thank him for his guidance and dedication to the franchise and our organization.”

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Shock: Laimbeer Resigns Press Release

Bill Laimbeer NBA Coaching Rumors

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What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here.

Its time to go after my Favorite Player Again… Hawks looking to Trade Josh Smith.

A great 2nd Round Pick for the Pistons: Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks.

Mr. 4th Quarter aka Please Sign This Man. Agent: Turkogle Will Opt Out

Kobe Bryant Could Earn 30 Million Dollars in the NBA!

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New Episode is Out!

Who’s Your Pistons Draft Pick?

Got a question for Pistonscast.com? Send it to John W. Davis. And for Pistonscast news and updates follow John on Twitter.