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Category: Pistons

McGrady rumor has no legs

Since when does a one-sentence, non-sourced note from a non-NBA writer in a secondary publication up in Canada warrant such buzz? The Pistons and Rockets are not having on-going discussions about Tracy McGrady. There is no deal. Nothing is remotely close. Joe Dumars hasn't talked to the Rockets in several weeks and the Rockets have made it clear they have zero interest in trading T-Mac.

Dumars has talked to numerous teams, that's his job. He's trying to improve his team. He has made inquiries about McGrady. Nothing ever came of it and he hasn't gone back in over a month.

On a different note, I am happy that Jarvis Hayes has gotten another deal. He will sign a two-year deal with the Nets. He is one of the all-time good guys in this business. Had he been able to play defense even a little bit, he would have been here a whole lot longer.

Category: Pistons

Pistons update

As of 5 p.m. on Monday, everything was fairly quiet on both the trade and free agent signing front, as far as the Pistons are concerned. Don't hold your breath waiting for Corey Maggette to sign here. Joe Dumars has done his due diligence and made the proper inquiries, but it's highly unlikely he will wind up in a Pistons uniform.

Maggette wants more than the mid-level exception, first of all. The mid-level will be worth between $5.5 million and $5.8 million. If he has to "settle" for the mid-level, it sounds like his first choice would be Boston or San Antonio. His only real hope of getting more than that will be if Golden State fails on its bid to steal Elton Brand from the Clippers -- which seems likely. With Baron Davis leaving, the Warriors are suddenly awash in cap space. So, if Brand goes back to the Clippers, the Warriors could make a play for Maggette. If that scenario happens, perhaps -- and again, this is a big perhaps -- the Pistons could get involved with the Warriors.

Stay with me here: The Warriors have been trying to unload Al Harrington (two years left worth about $20 million) and they need a point guard. The Pistons could offer Chauncey Billups, but they would want a lot more than Harrington back in return. The Pistons have NOT discussed this scenario with the Warriors, and they have never been overly infatuated with Harrington. So, depending who else came in the deal, this might be too much of a lateral move to excite Joe Dumars.

Lateral moves or worse have pretty much been all he's been offered for his four core players thus far. And Dumars has made it clear he's not interested in making lateral moves. Unless something much bolder comes out of the blue, it is becoming more and more likely that the core group will return for one more run. We'll see.

As for free agents, James Jones, the swing man from Portland, seems like the most probable signee. What I didn't realize at first, though, was that he opted to leave $3.1 million on the table to get out of Portland. He's going to want more than that to start. If he gets $4 million or more from another team, the Pistons probably would bow out.

I am still keeping my eyes on James Posey and Josh Smith. Now, there is no earthly way the Hawks should let Smith go. Philadelphia can offer him between $11 million and $12 million to start. The Hawks can easily match that. If, for whatever reason, they don't, then a sign-and-trade comes back into play and the Pistons would be trying to get involved with that. But that's a real longshot. Posey is intriguing. Teams, especially those already with lofty payrolls, can't afford to give a full mid-level to a reserve player, even one as accomplished as Posey. It doesn't look like the Celtics are going to offer him a full mid-level (especially if they land Maggette). I doubt the Pistons would offer him the full mid-level, either, but that could change. I am not throwing in the towel on Posey just yet, though that too is a long shot.

Category: Pistons

About Posey

You are seeing a lot of talk about the Pistons and free agent James Posey. Of course, the Pistons would love to add Posey to their bench, but it's not likely to happen. Posey is looking for, and deserves, at least a full mid-level exception -- which is a deal starting at $6 million a year. The Pistons, as we reported Monday, aren't looking to give out their full mid-level to one player.

Now, if Joe Dumars exhausts all the possible trade scenarios and doesn't get anything done, and Posey is still available, he could certainly re-think his position on giving out the full mid-level. But right now, I wouldn't hold your breath on Posey being a Piston.

Category: Pistons

CDR talks back

My friend and colleague Dave D'Alessandro from the Newark Star-Ledger talked with Chris Douglas-Roberts on Monday. Apparently, Chris has a bit of a chip on his shoulder after falling to No. 40 in the draft. He doesn't appear to be in the mood to take any blame for it, never mind he wouldn't work out for teams at the back end of the first round, including the Pistons, who asked twice.

Here is a snippet of CDR's presser:

How upset were you at dropping to 40?

"Ooof. That first day I was extremely (upset) - extremely. I'm pretty sure anybody in the world knows how I feel to be under-appreciated. That's all it was. But once I looked at the situation and once I looked at where I was picked, I looked at it in a positive way. Because it's a blessing to be here (New Jersey). I could have ended up on the Lakers, you know? Somewhere like that, where there's no playing time. So being here is great for me. I looked and over all it's great. Being picked 40 is horrible, and I don't know what people are thinking, but overall I'm happy."

Chip on your shoulder?

"Big. Big chip. Big. That's the biggest motivation I have. Getting picked 40, I'm gonna write a book."

Where did you think you might go?

"Oh, I was, like, 15 to 25. And it just so happened that some teams I didn't work out for had 25 to 30, and I didn't workout (for them)... that's how it happens. That's just how it happens. Why? I still don't know why. But that's yesterday's news. You have to be mentally strong to be in this business, and you have to form amnesia. And that's with anything in basketball. You make a mistake on the floor you can't let it affect the next four trips down the floor."

You know they are upset at you in Detroit?

"Oh, yeah. They are. They are."

So why did you turn down their workouts?

"I didn't. That was. ... I don't know where that came from - it was the same with Memphis, they said I turned their workout down and I didn't. Detroit said I turned theirs down and I didn't. But that's yesterday's news."

Why did your agent not schedule a workout with the Pistons?

(Long pause) "Too close. Too close to home."

So, there it is. Some semblance of truth. First he says he didn't turn the Pistons down, then he acknowledges his agent never set up a workout with the Pistons. Then finally it comes out - he didn't want to play in Detroit. Too close to home. Same reason he left the state to play at Memphis. You can't be mad at him for that. You just kind of wish he'd come clean and say that up front.

But you know how these things work out, right? First time the Pistons play the Nets, CDR's going to post a career-high. Always works out like that.

Category: Pistons

Nothing to Davis rumor

Pay no attention to the report out of Oakland that the Pistons and Warriors talked about a deal that would send Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups to Golden State for Baron Davis. That deal was a total fabrication, nothing of the sort was ever discussed.

Category: Pistons

About Billups for Anthony

Have the Pistons and Nuggets talked about the possibility of trading Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince for Carmelo Anthony? Yes.

Are the talks recent and on-going? No.

Is the deal dead? Not quite, but nearly.

Here's the deal (this will be on the detnews.com website in a more formal manner later on tonight): Two weeks ago, Nuggets vice president Mark Warkentien called Pistons president Joe Dumars. A story had leaked out of Denver that the Nuggets were interested in Billups. Warkentien called initially to apologize for the information leak, but in the process, asked Dumars what it might take to pry Billups away. Dumars said, straight-up, Anthony.

They talked about that for a bit. Prince was added because, obviously, Anthony plays Prince's position. But in the end, Warkentien said the Nuggets weren't looking to move Anthony. He asked if Dumars wanted Marcus Camby or Allen Iverson. Dumars said no. If the Nuggets wanted Billups, then he wanted Anthony. That's where it ended. Two weeks ago.

But, the rumors persisted. In the meantime, Anthony started to get upset. He had his agents confront Warkentien about the rumors, which led to the reports Saturday night that the Nuggets "vetoed" the proposed trade.

Now, come on. You can't veto a trade that never got beyond the preliminary discussion stages. You can't veto a trade that you initiated. But, Warkentien and the Nuggets are trying to mollify and reassure Anthony that they still love him. If that means spinning things a certain way, then so be it.

So where do things sit? Anthony's agents -- Bill Duffy and Calvin Andrews -- are meeting with the Nuggets on Monday. Part of the meeting will be to discuss Antony's latest DUI arrest. The other part will be to discuss Anthony's future with the team.

I suppose there is a chance the meeting could go bad -- maybe the Nuggets threated to punish Anthony for the DUI or something -- and the Nuggets decide that they want to trade Anthony. More likely, though, the Nuggets will declare their love for Melo and announce to the world that they are not trading him.

Category: Pistons

Sullivan back?

The Newark Star-Ledger reported today that assistant coach Pat Sullivan was leaving the Nets to join Michael Curry's staff. If true -- I will get confirmation soon -- it's a great hire. For one, he knows this team. He was an assistant here during the Larry Brown era. For another, he was Rasheed Wallace's roommate at North Carolina. The two have a great relationship.

Joe Dumars said he wanted a mixture of veteran coaches and young energetic coaches on Curry's staff. Sullivan, now with five seasons under his belt, is all three -- veteran, young and energetic.

BREAKING NEWS: Flip is out as Pistons coach

The Detroit Pistons say Flip Saunders won't be back next season after leading the team to three straight Eastern Conference finals appearances. The team made the announcement Tuesday in a news release with president of basketball operations Joe Dumars saying he feels it is necessary to make a change despite Saunders' successes. In his three seasons, the Pistons were 176-70 in the regular season and 30-21 in the postseason, but they lost in the conference finals each year. Saunders had a year left on a four-year deal that he signed in 2005. He replaced Larry Brown, who won a title in two trips to the NBA Finals

Category: Pistons-Celtics, EC Finals

FINAL: Celtics win, 89-81, win series, 4-2

Now the question becomes, what happens to this Pistons team? Is it now time to break up the core? Do they keep coach Flip Saunders? If they do make trades, who goes? Who stays? They'll probably look back on Game 3 as the key to this series. Had they won that game, things would have been a lot different. But they did not, and the Celtics did what they did for most of the season. Hard to believe the Pistons couldn't force a Game 7, as Atlanta and Cleveland did, but the Celtics clearly felt they had more to gain at this point -- a trip to the Finals against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. What a shame -- the end of an era.

Category: Pistons-Celtics, EC Finals

Celtics 85, Pistons 79 with 1:05 to go

It looks really dire right now. The Pistons can't make a shot and aren't protecting the ball. That was a killer, letting Rajon Rondo swipe it away from you, Tayshaun. It's not over yet but it's smelling like it now.