NBA Rumors: Detroit Pistons Should Consider Sign-and-Trade with Rodney Stuckey

The Detroit Pistons need to seriously consider the future of their franchise, and a lot of that will come down to figuring out whether or not they want restricted free-agent guard Rodney Stuckey to be a part of it.

There's no doubting that Stuckey brings a lot of positives to the table, so there is plenty to think about on that end.

He is one of the more explosive guards in the league. He's strong and extremely quick, and that allows him to drive the lane and get to the rim with ease.

At 6'5" and 205 pounds, he's pretty tough for many point guards around the league to defend, which is another big plus.

He's got decent range and has been developing a pretty consistent three-point shot, and he averaged 15.5 points, 5.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game last season.

Like I said, there's plenty of good.

On the flip-side though, there's actually a lot of reason to believe the Pistons should move into this new era without him.

One, he was drafted to be the replacement to Chauncey Billups. Granted those are some very tough shoes to fill in Detroit, but I think most fans would agree that Stuckey is underwhelming more times than not.

Two, for some reason the Pistons have been determined to turn him into that replacement, which means turning him into a point guard.

While he is improving, if you've ever watched him play you can just tell that he naturally does not want to pass the ball. He's a natural scorer, and he excels at driving the lane. While he's getting better at running the offense, it's still not what he's the best at.

That's a bad problem to have in the NBA, especially with your point guard.

Then there's the issue of his attitude. Last year's Pistons team was notorious for their attitude towards former coach John Kuester, and Stuckey was right in the middle of all of the player-coach drama.

Finally, there's rookie point guard Brandon Knight, who many believe to be the Pistons star of the future.

In his only season at Kentucky, Knight averaged 17.3 points, 4.2 assist and four rebounds a game, and there is no reason he shouldn't take over this team moving into the future.

In order to give Knight a fair shake at running the team, he should be handed the keys to the starting job at point guard.

Would the Pistons move Stuckey over to 2-guard? After all, it may be a more natural fit for him.

What it boils down too is that there are too many questions regarding Stuckey, and he hasn't given us enough answers.

According to ESPN, the Pistons are apparently trying to nail down contract talks with him, but they don't seem to be going well so far.

They can re-sign him to a big-time deal, they can get him to sign a $3.85 million tender that would allow him to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, or they can sign-and-trade him to another team.

If you're asking me, I say go for the latter.

He hasn't shown enough to be worth a big-time contract, but they would be foolish to let him stay for the year and walk away without getting anything back in return.

A sign-and-trade is the best option. He still has value, and the Pistons would be wise to use it to bring some valuable pieces back to this rebuilding franchise.