Detroit Basketball

I'm always fired up for the NBA Off-Season. Generally there's more trades made in the NBA than another sports. This off season a lot of teams are going to look to make major moves. We've already covered the Knicks so let's look at another NBA team who is going to be shaking things up.

Joe Dumars, Pistons president pulled no punches during Tuesday's press conference, saying that he intends to shake up the team's core this off season. "Everybody is in play," Dumars said. "You lose that sacred-cow status when you lose three straight years."

Dumars started his house cleaning by firing Flip Saunders. One of the main complaints about Flip was that he waited to long to play Detroits youngsters. Joe Dumars is definitely looking for the new coach to find minutes for Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell. Stuckey, of that group, esepcially is in line for a much bigger role next year. He really came on at the end of last season and has the size and talent to start at either PG or SG. The obstacle in the way of getting Stuckey more minutes is that Billups and Hamtilon are entrenched at their respective postions.

If Dumars is truly intent on shaking up his core one of the Hamilton, Prince, Billups trio will have to go. It's surprising that Billups would even be a consideration in a trade scneario but he certainly is starting to look a step slower, especially on the defensive end. By the time his contract expires he's going to be a 36 year old making 13 million dollars.

Of all the players on the team Rasheed Wallace is the most likely to be dealt. Dumars prefaced comments about Wallace by saying, "If he's here next year. That's pretty strong language. When Wallace came over in Detroit he was a "malcontent" however, on Detroit he became an intense player and team leader. Wallaces antics though seem to have their course. Wallace should have a lot of trade value. He's still got good basketball in him, it's rare to find a big man who can play with his back to the basket and defend in the post.

So what moves can the Pistons make to shake up their core?

Jermaine O'Neal still can still be one of the most dominating big man in the NBA. He has a giant sized contract but it only has two years remaining on it. It would be hard to match up contracts to make this work under the salary cap but an interesting trade would be Wallace and Prince for O'Neal and Danny Granger.

Josh Howard may have worn out his welcome in Dallas with his marijuana habit and his openness about smoking. However, he's still a very talented player and would be an upgrade at SF over Tayshuan Prince. Their contracts are similar and a straight up swap with draft picks and cash potentially moving to Dallas to make it more appealing would make sense.

Detroit could move Wallace to Charlotte who needs a low post scorer. Wallace would pair nicely with Emeka Okafor. The Bobcats are also under the cap and could send back some salary filler and their first round pick, 9th overall for Wallace. Wallace and new coach Larry Brown have a great relationship and the Pistons would also acquire a valuable trade exemption in such a trade.

Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa are players that have fallen out favor in the post D'Antoni era. Diaw and Barbosa for Prince and salary filler would make sense for both teams. Prince would give the Suns the athletic swing defender they desperately need. Barbosa and Diaw would give the pistons depth athleticism and youth. Interestingly enough with a starting 5 of Wallace, Diaw, Hamilton, Stuckey and Billups with Barbosa, Johnson and Maxiell off the bench the Pistons could go to a run and gun style.

I love the NBA Off-Season.