After looking at the roster and the lack of center depth, combined with the limited cap space we have left (3-5 mil), one of these two has to go.

AA will get zero playing time in the new perimeter rotation and Max will fighting for PT with Charlie, Prince when he slides down to PF a few minutes a game, and Daye when he gets some run. Possibly even Summers if they try him at PF.

I love Max, but for the sake of appropriate depth and his 5 mil a year contract, Joe's sole purpose the rest of this offseason should be moving him for cap space or a center. It's a shame, but the truth is we have solutions at PF, we have none at C.

Afflalo could clear another 1.5 mil if we jettison him to a team for a second rounder. Then we'd be at 5 mil or over for a center. Possibly in the Chris Anderson range at that point. A player who embodies Detroit Basketball. People mention Channing Frye, but that guy is sooo soft. He's Brian Cook all over again. We need a real banger.

Moving Rip is not an option. Gordon is best served off the bench and Rip is one of the easiest players to run an offense around in the league because of his off the ball work (which transitions seamlessly to Gordon when Rip hits the bench). Rip also allows us to keep size on the perimeter with our starters.

ALSO -- EXPECT TO SEE THIS LINEUP CLOSE GAMES IN OFFENSE FOR DEFENSE SUBSTITUTIONS LATE IN GAMES.

DEFNSE for OFFENSE SUB
Stuckey
Gordon
Rip
PRINCE
Villenueva

All 5 spread the floor, let Gordon or Stuckey have the ball in their hands. If we resign Dice then Stuckey may sit as Dice is a better shooter at this point. Reminds me of what Denver does moving Carmelo to the PF in crunch time. The nice thing is any screen Kwame sets in this lineup cannot be switched because a center would be stuck on a perimeter player with the game on the line. That means our perimeter guys should be able to turn the corner and get to the lane.

DEFENSE FOR OFFENSE SUBSTITUTION

Stuckey
Rip
Prince
Villenueva
Brown

Best unit we got, sadly... I hope Villenueva gets some defensive awareness. He could be an elite and versatile defender at the 4 with his size and athleticism.

AVERY JOHNSON is the guy to get him to do it. Avery will ride him till all he can think about it rotation, close out, rebound!

lets see of we can get a solid big when the market settles like we got kwame last year.

Move Max if possible, he is costing us 5mil a year, with 3 more years left!!!


But i dont think ANY team would like to take his contract. Even for a second round pick

quote:

Originally posted by Kirsten19:
Move Max if possible, he is costing us 5mil a year, with 3 more years left!!!


But i dont think ANY team would like to take his contract. Even for a second round pick

It would be so stupid to get rid of AA. You're not going to find another player, outside of Artest, that can D up Kobe, Lebron, Pierce, Jefferson, etc. like AA. Plus, his contract is so small.

Maxiel, I believe, is currently unappreciated by fans because Curry played with his minutes like a yo-yo. I look forward to seeing him play this year while getting consistent minutes like the 07-08 season, in which he established himself as the best big man off the bench in the NBA, according to 6th man of he year voting at least. Maxiel seemed to be a young player on the rise, then came Curry. Also, Maxiel gives D. Howard fits, which a lot of fans overlook. We need a center, but the main center we go up against is D. Howard who Maxiel can guard.

I think we should hang onto both, but AA would be my choice to stay because of Maxiel's contract and I think AA's upside and leadership is better. I believe AA, if given the minutes he deserves, will become a great leader for our young team.

I think AA will develop into a Bruce Bowen with more ability to create points for himself.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Afflalo2theMax,

I think if what I hear about Deron Washington is true I think Afflalo just became trade bait. I'd say both are gone but I think Max may be harder to get rid of because if I'm not mistaken doesn't he have a Poison Pill Provision in his contract? If I'm mistaken please forgive me but if so how does this affect him being dealt? He should have been paid same as Amir by the way. $5M is nuts for what he's been producing.

If Kwame is the center, and we pick up another post center, Maxiell isn't a good fit. And, if they bring McDyess back, there will be little playing time for him.

Afflalo won't get much time either, unless someone's injured, or RIP is traded, but he only makes $1 million, and the benefit of moving him would be small.

quote:

Originally posted by dbuch238:
If Kwame is the center, and we pick up another post center, Maxiell isn't a good fit. And, if they bring McDyess back, there will be little playing time for him.

Afflalo won't get much time either, unless someone's injured, or RIP is traded, but he only makes $1 million, and the benefit of moving him would be small.

I agree with you on McDyess. Why Joe wants him back at this point in his career is beyond me when we can get younger. I love his heart and what he's done for us but this is a business and its time to move past Miggity Mac. Charlie V. will take up most of the minutes so Dice will likely get less than 12-14 mins a night if that.

Now there's not a good reason that Afflalo hasn't been the backup behind Rip relieving him for at least 15 mins a night unless he just sucks! Will Bynum took his mins by being explosive off the dribble and hustlin'. The ideal scenario was that Bynum would be Stuckey's backup and Afflalo would be Rip's backup but we never see him and Bynum was put on the floor backing up both positions basically so what other conclusion can you make? I think Washington will take Afflalo's job and Bynum will go to more of a traditional backup role while periodically playing along side Stuckey.

I really don't believe both Rip and Tay will be on the team come training camp. One of them is going to be traded for front court help. My personal preference would be Rip. I think he is a much better player than Tay but I don't like the idea of him becoming a SF with Stuckey and Gordon in the back court. But that is a different discussion.

I agree with Afflalo2theMax about Jason Maxiell. He is unappreciated. Everyone but McDyess & Bynum looked bad last season. I write it off do to Curry's incompetence. We need Max's mobility. He does a very good job on help out defense. Not only blocking shots but cutting off driving lanes and guarding the pick & roll. Jason made big strides under Flip and that Max will return under Avery(assuming he is the coach).

I feel the opposite about Afflalo. I feel he has become overrated. His defense isn't nearly what everyone on this board makes it out to be. I view him as being mediocre and easily replaced.

In all honesty I don't think either will be traded but if one was to go it would be Afflalo because his contract is a nice filler in a bigger trade.

quote:

Originally posted by WiLLieHarDBallz:
Now there's not a good reason that Afflalo hasn't been the backup behind Rip relieving him for at least 15 mins a night unless he just sucks! Will Bynum took his mins by being explosive off the dribble and hustlin'. The ideal scenario was that Bynum would be Stuckey's backup and Afflalo would be Rip's backup but we never see him and Bynum was put on the floor backing up both positions basically so what other conclusion can you make?

You could conclude that Michael Curry had terrible rotations.

quote:

I agree with you on McDyess. Why Joe wants him back at this point in his career is beyond me when we can get younger. I love his heart and what he's done for us but this is a business and its time to move past Miggity Mac. Charlie V. will take up most of the minutes so Dice will likely get less than 12-14 mins a night if that.

McDyess can play two positions, PF/C, so he could get 25-30 minutes, and he's a good defender and has decent range. He's the type of player the Pistons should be looking for, although maybe a younger version.

McDyess would buy them time to develop their draft picks to play PF, and be a backup at center. They'll also need a 3rd center, hopefully someone young. Maybe Plaisted could fill that role.

This is not your old defensive, half court Pistons. This team will be running, and rolling up big scores, and not playing much defense. They probably want a center who plays low post defense, but can score from the post or perimeter.

I'd still like to see Rip traded for a center (hopefully Okafor), I think if we can land a good center we'll be in pretty good shape going into next season.

Stuckey/Bynum
Gordon/Afflalo
Prince/Daye/Summers
Villanueva/Maxiell
Okafor/Brown

If Daye or Summers can step up, and Villanueva utilizes his athleticism to play some defense, that's a good team.

But if forced to choose between trading Max or trading Afflalo, I guess I'd trade Afflalo. I wouldn't like to, because I like his defense and 3pt shooting, but as of now we have a thin front line and a log-jam in the back court (particularly at SG). Afflalo would see almost no playing time, but Maxiell would be the primary back-up PF.

They tried playing Maxiell with Kwame last season. It doesn't work. If Kwame, or someone like him is at center, I'd rather have one of the draft picks as backup.

Don't forget Jonas Jerebko. Having played in Europe, he's probably ahead of the other two. And then there's Trent Plaisted. He's a good defender, hasn't shown much offence, but he played C at BYU.

Dice was our best player last year. Even with rebuilding you need some solid vets. The guy still has gas in the tank.

quote:

Originally posted by dbuch238:
They tried playing Maxiell with Kwame last season. It doesn't work. If Kwame, or someone like him is at center, I'd rather have one of the draft picks as backup.

You don't have to bring them both in at the same time.

I'd rather see Afflalo go. With Deron Washington being 2" taller with the ability to finish strong around the rim and an improved jumper to boot, he just has that Piston DNA of old that we need. You guy's will see more consistent minutes from Max this season thus, improved production.

quote:

Originally posted by Lupus Guerrero:

quote:

Originally posted by WiLLieHarDBallz:
Now there's not a good reason that Afflalo hasn't been the backup behind Rip relieving him for at least 15 mins a night unless he just sucks! Will Bynum took his mins by being explosive off the dribble and hustlin'. The ideal scenario was that Bynum would be Stuckey's backup and Afflalo would be Rip's backup but we never see him and Bynum was put on the floor backing up both positions basically so what other conclusion can you make?

You could conclude that Michael Curry had terrible rotations.

That too. lol But if he showed that he was worth playing I think he would have at least been given a look.

quote:

Originally posted by dbuch238:
They tried playing Maxiell with Kwame last season. It doesn't work. If Kwame, or someone like him is at center, I'd rather have one of the draft picks as backup.

Don't forget Jonas Jerebko. Having played in Europe, he's probably ahead of the other two. And then there's Trent Plaisted. He's a good defender, hasn't shown much offence, but he played C at BYU.

I think Summers will be the backup SF. OR else he won't be picked ahead of Jerebko, and he has decent range

With Jerebko's size at 6'10 and 230lbs, he should be our 3rd PF.

Both Max & AA are gone along with Prince and Walter Sharpe if a good deal comes for the Pistons. I hope they are sent to the Suns for Amare.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/t...chine?tradeId=lz688y

We can hope

quote:

Originally posted by Detroit Pistons Fan:
Both Max & AA are gone along with Prince and Walter Sharpe if a good deal comes for the Pistons. I hope they are sent to the Suns for Amare.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/t...chine?tradeId=lz688y

quote:

Originally posted by Detroit Pistons Fan:
Both Max & AA are gone along with Prince and Walter Sharpe if a good deal comes for the Pistons. I hope they are sent to the Suns for Amare.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/t...chine?tradeId=lz688y

Steve Kerr isn't the brightest GM in the League, but even he would hang up the phone in laughter if Joe offered him that package for Amare.

Afflalo is a solid player, but d*** some of the comments about him in this thread are so exaggerated. No one in the League can defend LeBron, Kobe, and Pierce like Afflalo? WHAT? Afflalo is a good defender, but come on man. I can name alot of guys that are better defenders than him.

As for this thread topic. It really doesn't matter. I don't see why everyone is so urgent to find a Center right this minute, be patient and get the RIGHT Center, don't rush to get a Center because we are thin at the position and then regret trading a solid player to get a lame duck Center that won't be around long. This team isn't going to be anything special next year, we have time to find the RIGHT players and not rush to judgement (Like signing two guys on the first day of Free Agency even though neither play a lick of defense and aren't worth the money they are being paid).