Monday, November 3, 2008

Trade

Allen Iverson's a Piston for the season. Huh.

How about that? And Detroit plays Larry Brown's Bobcats tonight.

I'm not sure whether this puts Detroit in a position to re-take Boston as the East's elite team. Maybe, just maybe, it'll give the Pistons some new kick, new spark. But it also gives them a encouraging degree of free agency flexibility next summer if the Iverson-for-Billups/McDyess trade doesn't pay off in the short term. At the very least, it's a reason to pay closer attention to the Pistons at a time of year when the Lions are no longer watchable.

Bookmark and Share Posted by at November 3, 2008 4:30 PM to Sport
Comments

Oh man, I think that's just an awful trade for the Pistons. Maybe you're right: it's a move to stay competitive while also preparing for the free agent market. But they're definitely a worse team with AI.

Posted by: Mike G at November 3, 2008 6:26 PM

I've been going back and forth about it. I have really enjoyed watching Billups and McDyess as Pistons. Both are smart players and high integrity guys, as far as I can tell. But I also concur with most of the Pistonsland buzz over the past few months: nothing about this same old group of guys was going to challenge for the NBA title. They might make the Eastern Conference Finals again, but I had my doubts about whether they'd do much more than that.

I still have my doubts now that they have AI. But: whatever comes of this season, they're in a much better position to vie for some of the top free agents next summer, maybe Bosh or Wade (I doubt they'd have any shot at James). Even Carlos Boozer or David Lee might be available. So, are the Pistons immediately better? We'll see. It's one of those Dumars risks, which, even when they go as disastrously as the Darko Milicic draft pick, I still tend to get behind.

Posted by: Derek at November 3, 2008 9:05 PM