MVN - Most Valuable Network

Detroit’s Big Move: Kwame Brown

Your mood may determine how you take the tone of the article headline. To be honest, I really don’t know how I feel about it. We have trusted Joe Dumars in the past with former lottery pick reclamation projects, but Kwame Brown?

The former number one overall draft pick in 2001 was dealt to Memphis from the Lakers last season as part of the Pau Gasol trade for his expiring contract. The contract with the Pistons calls for two years, $4 million per season with Brown holding a player option for year two. A bargain perhaps (at today’s NBA prices) but is this the end of the off-season shake-up?

Chauncey Billups was a lottery pick as was Richard Hamilton. Neither became all-stars until landing in Detroit. That is not to say the 26 year old Brown is going to become one either. For the price and the potential, it may be worth the chance. Michael Jordan was taken by Brown’s skill set when he drafted him in Washington, but we have seen Mike’s record as an executive.

Dumars on the other hand has had, for the most part, the magic touch. While the team is still approximately $10 million under the luxury tax limit, then may still have room to make a trade. It had better be something significant, or we can label this off-season summer just hot air.

Good move? Bad move? Like everyone else, get back with me, I could change my mind by lunch. High school players sometimes take years to develop and we do need some youth at the center spot. Is Detroit the place where Brown puts it altogether? Jordan once called Dumars one of the toughest defenders he had ever faced. Joe may have to defend this move as well, the same Jordan made in 2001.

Lets Go Joe!

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Talk is cheap.

The salary cap and managing it in the NBA is not. I get it. I know trades don’t fall out of the sky and everything we think would work is a lot of wishful thinking.

Team president Joe Dumars spouted off at season’s end about big changes, no sacred cows, and the time had come for a shake-up. Free Agency is here, the draft is done and time is of the essence. All talk, no action.

No Carmelo Anthony. No Baron Davis. No James Posey or Mickael Pietrus or James Jones. And so far, no Tracy McGrady. Talking to Carlos Delfino? What? This is a moody bunch of veteran starters and the level of their play after being bandied about in trade talks could be risking danger for new head coach Michael Curry.

Dumars has said he isn’t going to make a move for the sake of making one or anything that he would consider lateral. I don’t blame him, I trust him, but I and many fans are getting impatient. I see Philadelphia making some noise and Orlando making moves. Not good. Not when the Pistons are puttering.

I believe Curry will have the players respect on a personal level and he is a former head of the players association. But is this enough to bring his troops to war over a long and grueling NBA season? If changes are needed, they should get underway if they are going to happen.

The longer Dumars waits, the long any sense of chemistry or cohesiveness is delayed in its appearance and moreover, if rumors and offers abound, what does that do to the psyche of the vets?

The Vegas Summer League is underway which is a proving ground for the young players on the team. With Trent Plaisted and Deron Washington likely heading to Europe this season, that leaves Walter Sharpe and Cheikh Samb’s development at the forefront of priorities on that end.

Dumars has done little to disappoint and if patience is a virtue here, it is he who is displaying it and the fans who are restless.  Is it the quiet before the storm with a thunderous result about to happen? Or is the sprinkle of rumor going to torment the fans and stagnate the team this off-season.

Joe has talked the talk, so we know whats left.

Pistons Get Rolling in Vegas Summer League

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The cure for the NBA summertime blues? For the fanatic its the Las Vegas Summer League where those of us who have to go the off-season without the NBA title (again) can erase those bad memories and get on with the renewed fervor of next season’s hopes and promises.

We know as Piston fans that a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals is getting to be the standard, but leaving our season there is getting to be redundant.

While team president Joe Dumars has stated there aren’t any “sacred cows” amongst the veterans, Friday night’s opening game of the Las Vegas Summer League was his first opportunity to pour over the new prime choice young talent during their 84-73 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

While sifting through the expected rust, you could single out the standouts while noticing some of the promise of the newcomers. Guard Rodney Stuckey dominated the floor, seemingly getting to any spot he wanted, leaving himself with converting his only task.

While Stuck did not use the game to work on his three-point shooting, he went for 21 points on 6-16 shooting, working both the drive and the pull-up jumper equally. He added five rebounds and four assists, running from both guard spots.
While both Arron Afflalo (15 points) and Amir Johnson (5-5 FGs, 12 points) were a little overly aggressive on defense (you get 10 fouls before fouling out), they both made some strides on their respective weak offensive games.

Cheick Samb seems to be filling out that 7-0 frame with added muscle (up to 225 pounds) and working on his jump shot to become more of an offensive threat as well. His 3-12 showing means there’s work to be done, but he did add nine points and as many rebounds. Dumars is looking for him to be an asset soon.

The highlight for me was the chance to see the newest draftees, the ones who have been getting much criticism and have questions to answer. Each gave a good account of themselves and showed some flash. Walter Sharpe, the forward out of UAB got the start and showed excellent feet in and around the lane and passed the ball well.

His shot seemed hurried but smooth, so his 2-9 from the floor is a little misleading. He is agile and mobile, played good defense, both on-man and in the passing lanes, and will get more comfortable with more minutes.

“It feels good to get out there and do some positive things,” Sharpe stated, after finishing with eight points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists.

Trent Plaisted also played well after a shaky start and getting his feet wet. He ran the floor with ease and got out ahead of the pack, taking a pass from Stuckey and dunking. He got more acclimated as he played and scored 10 points (4-5) and grabbed five rebounds. I would have liked to seen more from the outside and off the dribble, but it was respectable for a first game.

Deron Washington has the look, but seemed to defer to everyone else out on the floor. He has the tools and his college stats back that up. In addition to his nearly 14 points per game last season at Virginia Tech, he averaged over six assists and rebounds well for his size. He gets an incomplete for this game and will get more opportunity in the upcoming contests.

Veterans Will Bynum and Derrick Allen played sparingly but solid and both could have been a little more aggressive going to the rim.  Kentrell Gransberry, a 6-9, 270 pound mountain looks to be a project, but is not awkward or plodding and seems to know what he’s doing around the basket. How much playing time he gets is up in the air, but Dumars agreed to take a look at him as his son is headed to South Florida to play and attend school.

The Pistons next game is Sunday versus the Clippers. With Jarvis Hayes leaving Detroit for the New Jersey Nets, the Pistons have more holes to fill and the door is open for these young players to walk through.

Piston Draft Review: Deron Washington

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This is the final installment of a three-part look at each of Detroit’s three 2008 draft selections.

Call me crazy (or any of the other names you may already have picked out), but the more I look over the players Joe Dumars drafted, the less I am disappointed.

Other than some diehard Piston fans I have talked too, most were not only surprised but appalled that the team selected Indiana power-forward D.J. White and then immediately traded him away to Seattle (oops, Oklahoma City) for a pair of second round draft choices. While we can all agree that the draft can be a crap-shoot, if the dice come up, the Pistons really have some solid young pieces in place, including Deron Washington out of Virginia Tech.

No. 59: Deron Washington, 6-6, 202-pound guard/forward, Virginia Tech.

Washington has the potential to be a valuable asset off the bench and spot starter for the club. His scoring and rebounding improved each season at the college level and his athleticism is unquestioned, a must for a two guard and small forward. He is an explosive finisher around the rim and is a YouTube.com highlight favorite. His 6.5 rebounds per game speaks to his versatility and complete game and is impressive for a player his size.

The interesting question to me is where he begins the campaign in 2008-2009. Is he destined for the D-League or will his skill set allow for Washington to join the parent club and contribute right away. With Walter Sharpe and Trent Plaisted taken before him, will the bench support all of the new and current young Pistons? All have to potential to be strong scorers, rebounders, and defenders while providing support at multiple positions.

Regardless the answer, the jury is still out on what the expectations for the team will be this upcoming season. Dumars is looking to shake up the starting five with a trade off some magnitude. With free agency starting, the chips around the league should start to fall and availability and opportunity will begin to present itself and we can only sit back and wait to see what happens.

On one hand, its kind of exciting and at the same time, maddening because we all want to know which way the team will go. First-year coach Michael Curry could have a veteran laden starting unit and the expectations that group has produced over the last six seasons, or a young squad who may be said to be ready to get to the playoffs, but really buying time to gel and grow.

Either way, I would expect these three selections from this season’s draft to be part of the Piston future and I for one am excited to see their play in the upcoming Vegas league.