Joe Berry
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Hey Joe, now you need a backup point guard
By John Hollinger
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&id=2332322
OK, Joe Dumars, the clock's ticking. You have seven shopping days left to find yourself a backup point guard.
The trade of Darko Milicic was the big news Wednesday night, but for the Detroit Pistons, the bigger story come June will be who backs up starting point guard Chauncey Billups. The Pistons sent the previous backup, Carlos Arroyo, to Orlando along with Milicic, and since the trade only returned Kelvin Cato's expiring contract and a draft pick, the Pistons will have to fill that void somehow.
One obvious option is Lindsey Hunter, who recently returned from an injury and has won the trust of his teammates with his performances the past two seasons. However, Hunter is 35 years old and, while a pesky defender, he's a huge liability offensively.
In last season's playoffs he shot only 31.9 percent, and he hasn't shot above 36 percent since 2001-02. He's also played shooting guard for most of his career -- running the offense has never come easily for him.
Besides, what happens if Hunter goes back on the shelf, or even worse, if Billups were to end up there? Detroit has absolutely no Plan B at the moment.
That's a dangerous position to be in when your goal is to win a championship right now. It doesn't matter how much cap space Dumars clears for next year by trading Arroyo if he loses out on a ring in the meantime. The Pistons already have the league's best record and a playoff-tested starting five, but do they really want to depend so heavily on Hunter's surgically repaired ankle when he was a marginal player to begin with?
That's why it's so important for Dumars to come up with a replacement for Arroyo before the Feb. 23 trade deadline. Fortunately for him, a few names are out there. Far and away the most alluring for him is Mike James, a free-agent-to-be for the Raptors whose play off the bench helped spark Detroit's title run two years ago. However, he may cost a pretty penny since the Raptors wouldn't mind re-signing him over the summer.
(And speaking of former Pistons, you have to think Dumars is kicking himself right now for not re-signing Chucky Atkins last month while he had the chance.)
If he can't talk the Raptors out of James, then Dumars may have to set his sights quite a bit lower, choosing among several flawed candidates.
A brief sampler:
• Minnesota's Marcus Banks plays the pressure D Detroit likes but he's not a pure point guard offensively;
• Chicago's Jannero Pargo might be too shot-happy for the Pistons' liking;
• Portland's Steve Blake can run the show adeptly but would be vulnerable at the other end
• Denver's Earl Watson is rather richly compensated for a guy who would only play 10 minutes a night.
Unfortunately for the Pistons, somebody of that ilk is probably what they'll end up with especially since one of the best targets, Atlanta's Tyronn Lue, is now out with a knee injury.
Of course, Arroyo wasn't exactly the second coming of John Stockton to begin with, so picking up one of these guys shouldn't leave the team any worse off. But they do have to get somebody. So while in the long term most will look at this trade as Detroit's washing its hands of Darko and getting a do-over in 2007, in the short term the story is the Pistons' dropping their backup point guard and hoping like crazy they can get another one in a week's time.
It's a gamble, but Joe Dumars has rolled the dice plenty of times before and he's won far more of them than he's lost. Seven days from now, we'll know if he's won another.
Ich hoffe auf Brevin Knight, Bernie hat ihn angekündigt ihn ziehen zu lassen, wen ein contender anfragt und eine anständige offer gemacht wurde...cato plus nen first round vielleicht?
die Darko Saga ist beendet, mit ein bisschen Glück hätten die Pistons jetzt ne Dynastie sein können
naja bestes Team der NBA tuts im moment auch
By John Hollinger
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&id=2332322
OK, Joe Dumars, the clock's ticking. You have seven shopping days left to find yourself a backup point guard.
The trade of Darko Milicic was the big news Wednesday night, but for the Detroit Pistons, the bigger story come June will be who backs up starting point guard Chauncey Billups. The Pistons sent the previous backup, Carlos Arroyo, to Orlando along with Milicic, and since the trade only returned Kelvin Cato's expiring contract and a draft pick, the Pistons will have to fill that void somehow.
One obvious option is Lindsey Hunter, who recently returned from an injury and has won the trust of his teammates with his performances the past two seasons. However, Hunter is 35 years old and, while a pesky defender, he's a huge liability offensively.
In last season's playoffs he shot only 31.9 percent, and he hasn't shot above 36 percent since 2001-02. He's also played shooting guard for most of his career -- running the offense has never come easily for him.
Besides, what happens if Hunter goes back on the shelf, or even worse, if Billups were to end up there? Detroit has absolutely no Plan B at the moment.
That's a dangerous position to be in when your goal is to win a championship right now. It doesn't matter how much cap space Dumars clears for next year by trading Arroyo if he loses out on a ring in the meantime. The Pistons already have the league's best record and a playoff-tested starting five, but do they really want to depend so heavily on Hunter's surgically repaired ankle when he was a marginal player to begin with?
That's why it's so important for Dumars to come up with a replacement for Arroyo before the Feb. 23 trade deadline. Fortunately for him, a few names are out there. Far and away the most alluring for him is Mike James, a free-agent-to-be for the Raptors whose play off the bench helped spark Detroit's title run two years ago. However, he may cost a pretty penny since the Raptors wouldn't mind re-signing him over the summer.
(And speaking of former Pistons, you have to think Dumars is kicking himself right now for not re-signing Chucky Atkins last month while he had the chance.)
If he can't talk the Raptors out of James, then Dumars may have to set his sights quite a bit lower, choosing among several flawed candidates.
A brief sampler:
• Minnesota's Marcus Banks plays the pressure D Detroit likes but he's not a pure point guard offensively;
• Chicago's Jannero Pargo might be too shot-happy for the Pistons' liking;
• Portland's Steve Blake can run the show adeptly but would be vulnerable at the other end
• Denver's Earl Watson is rather richly compensated for a guy who would only play 10 minutes a night.
Unfortunately for the Pistons, somebody of that ilk is probably what they'll end up with especially since one of the best targets, Atlanta's Tyronn Lue, is now out with a knee injury.
Of course, Arroyo wasn't exactly the second coming of John Stockton to begin with, so picking up one of these guys shouldn't leave the team any worse off. But they do have to get somebody. So while in the long term most will look at this trade as Detroit's washing its hands of Darko and getting a do-over in 2007, in the short term the story is the Pistons' dropping their backup point guard and hoping like crazy they can get another one in a week's time.
It's a gamble, but Joe Dumars has rolled the dice plenty of times before and he's won far more of them than he's lost. Seven days from now, we'll know if he's won another.
Ich hoffe auf Brevin Knight, Bernie hat ihn angekündigt ihn ziehen zu lassen, wen ein contender anfragt und eine anständige offer gemacht wurde...cato plus nen first round vielleicht?
die Darko Saga ist beendet, mit ein bisschen Glück hätten die Pistons jetzt ne Dynastie sein können
naja bestes Team der NBA tuts im moment auch 