Trade Deadline Watch: Detroit Pistons

Okay, this is not how we expected this season to go so far.

There are questions, many surrounding "The Answer", and the Chicken Littles have permanently nested in Detroit.

Nobody connected to the Detroit Pistons are safe from the criticisms, save for perhaps Rodney Stuckey.

Reading Pistons' forums over the past few months, I have seen grenades lobbed at countless targets, the list of whom is staggering.

Allen Iverson has been called everything short of "the anti-Christ" by disgruntled fans.  Actually, these fans are beyond disgruntled. It's like in Blades of Glory when Chad Michael Michaels asks Jimmy Macelroy "what's colder than ice?  I'll tell you what.  Oksana Baiul." 

What's more disgruntled than a Detroit fan?  I'll tell you what—a Detroit Pistons fan in mid-February in 2009. 

Okay, it's not as catchy, but it's just as true.

Additional targets have included Tayshaun Prince ("still too passive"), Rip Hamilton ("whining prima donna"), Rasheed Wallace ("for the love of God, please stay in the paint!"), Antonio McDyess ("age is finally catching up"), Amir Johnson ("maybe he wasn't as good as we thought he was"), Jason Maxiell ("play harder!"), and Walter Hermann ("will you please cut your hair, you look like Tarzan!"). 

Okay, I made that last one up, but I could see it!

Furthermore, the usually untouchable Joe Dumars has begun to draw fire, with fans even going back and debating how good of an executive he really has been. 

However, the harshest and most unanimously reviled target of fan venom has easily been coach Michael Curry.

Curry has been questioned on everything he has done. Of course, Detroit fans are very tough on their coaches—Pistons' coaches especially. While sometimes the fans are way off in their criticism, you can hardly deny their cause in this instance.

Curry has not done a good job thus far. He has had schizophrenic substitution patterns (pattern as in, there is a pattern for the movement of hummingbirds), ridiculous starting lineups and questionable play calling. All in all, it has been a train wreck through the first half of the year.

Many fans, this writer included, were high on Curry's hiring. They thought that he would sweep out the sense of entitlement that had crept into the Pistons locker room. They also thought that Curry would lengthen the bench and try some new things on defense to spark a suddenly stagnant team and infuse a much-needed youth movement.

Overall, the fans have been universally disappointed. Of course, Curry was dealt a difficult hand to play with the Iverson trade, but mistakes have been made.

A Different Kind Of Goal

Once the Iverson trade was made, the season changed. 

This seems like an obvious point, but it goes deeper. The goal of the season changed.

While many people connected with Detroit put on a brave face and talked about contending, this was not the primary goal.  Of course, if the Pistons contended for a title, it would be icing on the proverbial cake. But make no mistake about it, this was not the primary goal.

The primary goal was accomplished in one fell swoop of Joe Dumars' pen. The goal was two-fold: trim salary to sign a young, top of the line big man and usher in the Rodney Stuckey era.

If it sounds like Dumars gave up on a season, you would be incorrect. Joe waited until early into the season to trade Chauncey Billups not because it was the first deal he received. 

He waited because it was the best deal he received. Could he have received someone better if he waited longer? Perhaps. But the longer he waited, the more likely he would be sabotaging an entire season. He pulled the trigger on the Billups trade when he did because he wanted to save the season.

Detroit had gone as far as they could with Billups. In the playoffs over the past two seasons, Billups was badly outplayed by his counterparts. 

In the Cleveland series two years ago, Billups was held to just 15 points and three assists-per-game. Additionally, Billups committed nearly four turnovers-per-game in that series. 

In the Boston series last year, Billups was held to just over 16 points and five assists per game.  His turnovers were better, but he was essentially the doorman for the Rajon Rondo coming-out party.

It became clear over the past few seasons that Billups was unable to overcome speedier point guards. Teams threw trapping, high-pressure defenses at him and he crumbled. 

By trading Billups for Iverson and his expiring contract, Dumars gave the Pistons their best shot at building a winner. 

Additionally, Iverson has the ability to penetrate and get to the hoop, something that Billups struggled to do in the playoffs. Therefore, Iverson gives Detroit a chance to win in a different way.

Thus far, it has not worked, and likely it will not get much better this year. Dumars took a shot at this trade improving his team this season, and it doesn't appear to have worked.

Furthermore, by trading his starting point guard, he ushered in a new era—the Stuckey Era. This is something that was going to happen anyway once Billups' contract had expired, therefore, the new goal of this season was to streamline the development of Stuckey and the other young players on the roster.

It was not a perfect plan, but it was the best one available. 

Now What?

With two months left in the season, the Pistons are in a different position from any other time in Dumars' tenure—they are hovering around .500, and battling Atlanta and Miami for the fourth spot in the playoffs.

They are still struggling to juggle their guards and forwards, and their front court continues to have problems. Team defense seems to be a mess, and continuity on offense is not much better.

So with the trade deadline quickly approaching, what should Detroit do?

Nothing.

Detroit should stand pat and work to salvage this season.  

This may be difficult for fans to fathom, but it is the right call. Dumars has built a strong team moving forward, and trimmed enough salary to make the Pistons major players over the next two summers.

Now, is there a player or two out there that Dumars might pull the trigger on?  Of course.  Most notably, Chris Bosh and Amar'e Stoudamire.

If Detroit were able to pry one of those two players away from their teams for a minimal amount in return, Dumars would do it in a New York second. A top notch, young big man would instantaneously transform the Pistons into a contender again.

However, those trades seem to be unlikely. Phoenix is asking for a ton for Stoudamire, and Toronto has not acknowledged that they are willing to deal Bosh. 

There are some other big men that could be available, such as Carlos Boozer and Shaquille O'Neal, but Detroit seems unlikely to pursue those two.

Likely, Detroit will stand pat and hope for the best. If Curry gets his act together and the team miraculously turns it around and makes it deep into the playoffs, Dumars and Curry will look brilliant.

However, this does not seem like a strong possibility. More likely is that Detroit will continue to struggle. They will make it into the playoffs, but they will lose in the second round. The fans will lose control of whatever self-restraint they have exercised and there will be a major backlash.

If this prediction comes to fruition, Iverson will not be re-signed. He likely will not be re-signed under any circumstance, but that is besides the point. He was a rental and he knew that going in.

Additionally, Wallace will not be re-signed for a high salary, although Dumars will do everything in his power to sign him to a much smaller one. Likely, however, Wallace will receive a larger contract from another team, potentially Charlotte, and he will leave Detroit.

McDyess will likely retire. That leaves Hamilton, Prince, Stuckey, Johnson and Maxiell to be built around. This is enough of a core unit to entice a top-level free agent, although Dumars may be waiting for bigger fish. Therefore, it is likely that Dumars will not sign a top-notch free agent this summer. 

He will, however, be a major player next season.  With the rookie class of 2003 becoming free agents, there will be a mad dash to determine which of these players will re-sign with their teams. Those that won't will become trade bait. 

And that is when Dumars will strike.

There is no doubt in my mind that Dumars will come up with a top-notch talent within the next year and a half.

The only question is who will be coaching the team that inherits this top-notch talent. 

If Curry doesn't learn to do his job better in a hurry, he will not be that coach, and the coaching carousel will begin again. 

But you can take this to the bank—Dumars will be the man in charge in Detroit until he decides he doesn't want the job anymore.

So Pistons' fans, hold on tight.  Like the economy, things likely will get worse before they get better.  But keep a stiff upper lip folks.  Detroit has one of the most brilliant executives in sports, and your 'Stones will become contenders again.

Just remember, you have been fortunate to have one of the best teams in the league for the last decade...and a lean year or two can not take that away.

And when the Pistons get back on top, you can behave like your team has been there before, because it has.