Rasheed you are NOT the weakest LINK! You can stay. For now...

What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here. Joe Dumars is back in the news. This time he is defend the lack of offseason moves that we all thought were a fore gone conclusion. There was just one catch and Joe D told us this in June, I’m not going to make a move just to make a move.

Joe D in the Det News:

Dumars defends lack of Pistons’ roster moves

“I said we would look to make changes but we wouldn’t do a bad deal,” he said. “The deals that were presented were not good deals for us. You don’t make deals so you can walk in here on a day like today and say, ‘Hey, we made a deal.’ You want to resist that, and I did and I make no qualms about it.”

Nor did he worry much about salving any bruised egos of his veteran players who were put on the chopping block.

“There’s nothing to patch up,” Dumars said. “I’m the one who was upset, so who do I need to patch things up with? It’s been good. Guys understand that six straight years of making the conference finals and going to the NBA Finals only twice isn’t enough and I am not going to rest on that. What you do is keep pushing, keep moving forward.”

Stuckey and Afflalo

With the same players coming back, how does this team take a step forward?

The answer: It starts with a new coach (Michael Curry), a rejuvenated attitude and a new commitment, and some significant growth from within — specifically, larger roles for second-year guards Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo, the two featured players on the bus tour.

“I am ready for any challenge that comes in,” said Stuckey, whose minutes are expected to increase significantly. “I am always ready. I told you guys, I am never scared. They are going to be expecting more out of me and I love that challenge.”

Both Stuckey and Afflalo raved about how different the atmosphere is around the practice facility.

“Our head coach believes in us 110 percent and he’s going to give us the opportunity to showcase our talent,” Stuckey said. “Things are different around the practice facility, a lot more upbeat. With Michael around, there’s just a whole different vibe. It’s a lot of fun and we can’t wait to get started.”

Afflalo put it this way: “It’s just about consistent behavior and having consistent habits all year long. If you build inconsistent habits in your intensity and the way you play the game and rely on your talent level to bail you out — it can hurt you at the end. I know Coach Curry focuses on playing the game hard every day and when you do that you have no excuses at playoff time.”

Curry has called Stuckey his “sixth starter,” and there is a chance Afflalo’s minutes could double this season. Dumars was asked if he worried about putting too much pressure too soon on these young players.

“No,” he said, speaking mostly about Stuckey. “If you threw him out there last year as a rookie and tried to put it all on him, that would be too much. If we threw him out there this year and said he had to be a starter — that would be too much. We are still talking about a guy who is coming off the bench. It’s not like we’re throwing him to the wolves.”

Maxiell on the Free Agent Clock

By the end of training camp (Oct. 31), Jason Maxiell will have to decide either to take a contract extension offer from the Pistons or refuse it and become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Dumars said Wednesday that informal negotiations were ongoing with Maxiell’s Cincinnati-based agent Richard Katz .

“There’s nothing unusual going on and nothing new to report,” Katz said in a brief telephone interview. “Nothing is imminent.”

The Pistons have offered Maxiell a three-year extension worth approximately $15 million. Should he leave that contract on the table, he would play out the final year of his contract this season (earning $1.87 million) and become a restricted free agent — which means the Pistons could match any contract offer to Maxiell.

It’s a win-win situation for the Pistons. Either they lock up a key reserve player through 2012, or they have a hungry player fighting for a contract this season with the power to match any other team’s offer the following summer.

Cowens on Amir

Pistons assistant coach Dave Cowens had the quote of the day. Talking to a group of sponsors at the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, he described Amir Johnson this way: “Amir does a lot of things you can’t coach and he can’t do a lot of things you can coach.”

Good news for Maxiell but something is going to have to give. We cant have four 25-30 minute players for the next 3 years. Either Rasheed or McDyess is going to have to retire soon or Maxiell will have to leave. My boy Amir needs his tick!

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

Ben Gordon on the Pistons?

Whats Going on World?

John W. Davis here.  I was emailing with one of our Top Listeners my boy Nate from DC.  Here was his email.

 Sup PC?  We gotta get Ben Gordon I think.  Pleassse discuss on Pistonscast.  In my opinion, we have a defensive backup SG with Arron Afflalo but we would get a beastly offensive SG backup who would become our sixth man in Gordon.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can make the argument that we don’t wanna take away time from other Bench Babies but I think he’s worth it.

Well Nate brings up an interesting player.  Ben Gordon is the last big name free agent left on the market and his offensive capabilities are NBA tested and proven.  Simply said he can put the ball in the basket.  Here was my response to Nate’s email.

Ok Nate its an interesting idea but you have to give me more.  1st who would you trade for him.  Remember he is going to make 10-12 million and he’s a backup.  Would he really like that?  Dont you think the Pistons would be over paying for a bench player?

Just giving you some food for thought.Okay so I want

to hear from from you.  Ben Gordon on the Pistons? Yes, No, Maybe so. Thoughts please.  Go to the Contact section on this page and drop us a message or just leave a comment to this blog.

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

I think Joe D is trying to stock pile as many good contracts as possible, so he can go for THE trade. I also think that after the Sheed trade, no one wants to trade. Just like no one will trade with the Lakers now, after they got a steal and made it to the Finals because of it.

Ok, after trading Sheed to us and us getting to the Finals in ’04, do you really think they would perform a sign-and-trade with us for Josh Smith? I highly doubt it. (Can you imagine Sheed and Smith side by side in Atlanta now? If things went different…

I do think Joe D shot himself in the foot when he announced the fire sale. I think all the teams came to him and wanted a steal, but Joe is not going to allow that. That is the #1 reason why he is waiting for THE trade.

Bill

John W. Davis here. I think Bill made some great points. What do you think? Email us at hosts@pistonscast.com.

Peace,

John