Some of the wonderful things rattling around in this full brain 'o mine. UPDATED EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY (or at least twice a week)

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

My Pistons Summer Wishlist….

So, they’re done. If you listen to the pundits, they’re done as a team as we know them. Big changes seem to be in store for the team in the last 5 Eastern Conference Finals, and 2004 NBA Champion, the Detroit Pistons.

So, what do they need to climb that mountain again? What do they need to put them head and shoulders above the Cavs, Heat, and Bulls…all of whom will be better next year than they were this year?

Well…I think they can only go so far without completely blowing everything out of the water. They were exposed for not having enough reliable scorers…and I think they got a little bit out of sorts not following the gameplan thrown out by Flip Saunders…who already has been confirmed to be back.

Here’s who should be back next year:

Chauncey Billups (assuming they resign him)

Rip Hamilton

Tayshaun Prince

That’s your core. I think specifically, they need to work on depth more…specifically more for the playoffs than anything. Rip wasn’t enough to carry the load when Chauncey was covered adequately in the Eastern Conference Finals by Larry Hughes, and Tayshaun was a little tired from covering Lebron James.

Carlos Delfino, Jason Maxiell, Antonio McDyess, will be back. Amir Johnson should be able to at least join the rotation somewhat next year. Plus, the Pistons have two picks in the first round this year…they should be able to at least get one rotation player out of those two picks. Flip Murray has said that he’s probably not going to opt out of his contract, and come back…he can play some minutes a situational backup to Chauncey or Rip.

Notice how I haven’t mentioned Sheed yet. My first thought, after thinking about how the Pistons blew up this year was that either Sheed had to go, or the Pistons have to go after a Coach who can control him. Well…Flip is coming back. I think Sheed needs to go. For what in return though?

Some have asked for Zach Randolph. He probably would be easier to control than Sheed. He would stay near the post instead of flaring out to the 3-point line all the time. Course, he’s got 3 additional years than Sheed on his contract…and with Greg Oden coming to Portland…the Blazers probably won’t want to risk corrupting Oden with Sheed.

How bout some of these trades for Sheed though:

Trade Sheed to New York for Quentin Richardson and Channing Frye.

I have a feeling Isiah feels he needs to for sho make the playoffs this year. Sheed would certainly help that, and Frye had fallen out of favor with him. Richardson would be great as a backup 2 or 3 that could actually make a shot.

Trade Sheed and Lindsey Hunter to the Celtics for Al Jefferson and Theo Ratliff.

Boston could use Sheed’s game to help them rebound big time and possibly make the playoffs. Hunter would probably retire, and they’d have the extra cap space. Jefferson likes to play down low, and if Ratliff can still play, he’d be great on the defensive end. If not, he’d be in the last years of his contract.

Trade Hunter and Nazr Mohammed to the Nuggets for Marcus Camby

Hunter would retire and give the Nuggets the cap space. Mohammed could help man the middle, and at about 12 million dollars less over the life of his contract. Camby would help out at the defensive end, but still allow the Pistons to try and run a little bit more.

Trade Sheed and Hunter to the Suns for Shawn Marion

You put Tayshaun, Marion, and Maxiell – McDyess – Mohammed on the front line? That’s a looooong front line. And active. That’d be good stuff. Sheed could help the Suns walk that edge and give them one last shot to get them to the next level.

How about…you take the above trade…and then also this one:

Trade Nazr Mohammed to the Portland Trailblazers for LaMarcus Aldridge and Sergio Rodriguez?

Aldridge showed a lot late in the year, and he can score down low and defend pretty well.

Then go out in free agency, lure Grant Hill for one last run at a minimum deal, and go after another scorer with your mid-level exception.

All things considered…here’s the trades and free agents I would go for the hardest:

Trade Sheed, Nazr, and one of your first round picks for Randolph, and Aldridge. Sign Grant Hill. Pursue Gerald Wallace HARD, with your mid-level. In the event you can’t sign him, grab up Joe Smith or Austin Croshere.

Your next year’s starting five would be:

Chauncey Billups

Rip Hamilton

Tayshaun Prince

Zach Randolph

Lamarcus Aldridge

Backups:

G – Grant Hill

G – Carlos Delfino

F – Amir Johnson

F – Gerald Wallace or Maxiell

F- Antonio McDyess

You’d get a little younger, and a little better defensively. You’d get more active, and most of all…you’d get more hungry. Which is what was really lacking this year…

Enjoy the Finals.

Spurs in Six!

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was a good post man. I'm normally not a 'sports guy' but I found it interesting.

Nate Block said...

Thanks! As always, I'm wishing for a trade for KG without giving up the core...but with that probably not happening, I think these moves would really help.

Anonymous said...

You are a complete tard if you think the blazers will trade L.A. and Sergio for Nazr.

Anonymous said...

These are the most retarded trades I have ever seen. As if the Blazers would give up last year's #2 pick that was putting up awesome numbers are the end of the year along with Sergio-- who was a complete steal later in the draft for stinking Nazr. Blazers don't want Sheed back and they are certainly not trading Zach for him. Pull your head out of your arse.

Anonymous said...

... did you know that Sheed used to play for the Blazers and more than wore out his welcome????

If they took him back Kevin Pritchard and Paul Allen would be lynched by angry (former) Blazer fans.

Anonymous said...

Keep on wishing buddy. Your trade ideas are completely outrageous and you should accept the fact that the Pistons are caught in a horrible tailspin. They should live with the fact that they're going to suck and start rebuilding from scratch.

Anonymous said...

thanx for the comedy, keep nazr, maybe u should get ben back. sergio and lamarcus for nazr, i just can't stop laughing.....

Anonymous said...

I thought your fellow bloggers were supposed to look out for each other. Looks like someone with the initials C.H. sent a bunch of negative commentators to your page. you can check out his reference to you here: http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/ Hope that helps, I just wanted you to be aware of the fact that someone unbeknownst to you started this shit storm. I like the blog though. You seem to be passionate about the game, and spend less time ridiculing others and more time writing interesting pieces about your team. Kudos

Anonymous said...

"Trade Sheed, Nazr, and one of your first round picks for Randolph, and Aldridge."

Oh my...I get that Portland happenings aren't on your radar screen, and that's fine...but I can't imagine a trade that is less likely to happen than Sheed coming back to Portland for ANYBODY. Wow.

Anonymous said...

Pistons are learning what Blazer fans learned the hard way. Raw Weed is a cancer................

Anonymous said...

The whole "bloggers need to help out other bloggers" thing is dumb. If someone writes something stupid on a blog, other bloggers should feel free to comment on the stupidity. Case in point: this blog. These trades are some of the dumbest I've ever heard.
CH runs one of the best sports blogs out there, and you should actually be thankful for the hits you're getting because of his comments. I'm sure you're having fun and are very happy in your Pistons fantasy world, and I hope all of the people commenting that are based in the real world don't take you away from that.

Anonymous said...

Wow, bloggers selling out other bloggers, what has the world come to?
CH's blog clearly say's "...hilarious, but please take into account that the title of this post is "My Pistons Summer Wishlist.... " So if you're going to leave a comment, please be nice about it."

And, these trades are ridiculous, however, I will refrain from calling you an absolute idiot. In addition, any negative feedback you get is surely better than the lack of feedback you most likely never get.

Anonymous said...

Another guy from PDX... While all of the above mentioned trades are most certainly wishful.... I am a little confused as to why you would throw Sheed out to the wolves so quickly. You do know HE is the reason your team made it to the finals and won in 2004? With out the addition of him to that team, they would have never even made it to the finals that year. Also a little note to the other Portland fans who have left comment here: Why is it that you all hate Sheed so much? Is it because he plays with such a passion for his team that it kills him everytime an unfair call is made? It is that emotion that gets him "T's" all the time. Just because the media exploits him as a bad apple, you all jump on that bandwagon. It seems everyfan has such short term memory. The Portland fans who forget he led them to consecutive trips to the Western Conference finals, even the Detriot fans whom he brought a title to.

Chicken Out 7 said...

Let's put this in perspective: LaMarcus Aldridge is 22 years old and the 2nd pick of the draft last year. Post all star break #'s: 14 pts, 7.3 rebs, 1.6 blk, in 28 minutes. Nazr Mohammed is 30 years old and a piece of poo: 5.6 pts, 4.5 rebs, .8 blks. AND!!! you want Sergio Rodriguez an upcoming 20 year old point guard? Your Xbox 360 NBA Live game would reject this trade as preposterous!

About RaWeed Wallace. The dude got kicked out of game 6 so if there was a game 7 he wouldn't have been able to play. Headcase! It's not like he's averaging 25 pts and 10 boards either. He spends most of his time nowadays popping three pointers and shooting less than 40% from the field for a 6 ft 10 guy. He was a great 4th man on a team, he never LED the Blazers to anything because he's not a leader. Good but not great. Oh yeah, he's freaking 33 years old and getting worse by the year. I'm sure teams are lining up for an overpaid 33 year old poor shooting PF with severe anger issues getting kicked out of the most meaningful game of the year.

Anonymous said...

It's a shame these 7th graders are cussing this poor person out for having a fun "wishlist". Grow up kids. Go Blazers.

Anonymous said...

Oh this is rich...you have just made my day. Congrats on being one of the most delusional and uninformed NBA fans around.

While you're at it how about the #1 pick and Brandon Roy for Dale Davis and a 2nd rounder.

Anonymous said...

It's not RaWeed Wallace... it's T-H-Sheed Mari-wallace.

Anonymous said...

It's not my Vedis, it's not your Vedis... it's Arvedis, Sabas.

Anonymous said...

I've looked over a couple of your posts and I'm actually a bit impressed. You're a pretty good writer. Seriously, very entertaining posts. Your trade idea of sheed for Qrich and Frye might work, too.

The rest, including those not involving the blazers, are pretty unreasonable. And by 'pretty' I mean 'completely.'

Good style, just work on content a bit.

Nate Block said...

Wow! Someone actually reads this thing? Seriously guys, this is why I'm not an NBA GM. Most things I was looking for were:

a) a low post presence.
b) finding someone with drive...just not too much passion like Rasheed.

I think the gap between the Pistons and everyone has closed so tightly (seriously, next year anyone could win the East) that Rasheed has turned into as much of a hinderance as a help.

For all you Blazer fans...heck no, I wouldn't make any of those trades. Although, sooner or later, you're going to probably have to choose between 2 of your 3 big men: Aldridge, Randolph and Oden. But, yes, I agree, Sheed won't be coming back to Portland. But...this is my wishlist. Out of all the trades I've heard, or listed, I like the one for your Blazer frontline the best. :-) Take that as a compliment.

What's probably more likely though is a trade of Sheed to New York (if they can't get Jermaine O'Neal).

Thanks for reading though. And, even if you're blasting me, that's cool. I appreciate you being passionate about your team!

Anonymous said...

I don't think he's being "quick" to dump Rashweed. Believe it or not, it was over three years ago that he went to Detroit. And as someone else said, the one thing Wallace isn't is a leader. Remember, he also got kicked out of a Conf Finals game back in 2000.
If they can get the Knicks to give up either Frye or Lee in a deal for Rasheed they should jump on it.

Anonymous said...

If you genuinely believe that Detroit could possibly acquire LaMarcus Aldridge for Nazr Mohammed, you shouldn't be discussing basketball. And this is coming from a Pistons fan.