Detroit's built to win now with guys like Rip, Prince & 'Sheed who aren't getting any younger and recently they really went all-in bringing AI on board. They have a few young big men with promise behind Wallace yet I think they might benefit greatly by adding a proven quality big man to their mix to help them for the rest of the season and into the playoffs (losing McDyess really hurts them). Even with AI they don't have enough to win it as presently constructed IMO. I mean, why pull the trigger on the AI trade if you're not prepared to do some more tinkering? Lee could be that guy for them, esp. now with him putting up the bigger numbers in the wake of the Zach trade. As for us, I really like a lot of their young pieces - some of their young guys would make excellent building blocks and could even come in right away and contribute with expanded minutes.

A few scenarios that might work with the Pistons:

(1) A resigned Lee for Jason Maxiell and Aaron Afflalo.
(2) Malik Rose and Lee (current salary) for Kwame Brown, Amir Johnson and Afflalo. Then let Detroit worry about resigning Lee.
(3) Our Denver 2nd rounder for Afflalo.
(4) Lee (current salary) for Afflalo, Will Bynum and their 1st rounder next summer (currently hovering around the 24th, 25th spot).

Dumars might look at Lee as a more productive experienced frontcourt reserve over the young options he has in place right now. Meanwhile, Maxiell or Johnson would be the more traditional big men that we've lacked for sometime and desperately need. Both are factors on the defensive end, whereas Lee, for all the good he brings, isn't. Either guy with increased PT on the Knicks could really blossom into something special. Maxiell's only averaging 17 mins./game for 6.6 ppg, 4 rpg and 1 bpg. But last week against Milwaukee at the Palace in 29 mins - 13 pts, 8 rebounds with 6 blocks. Plus, the salary extention Maxiell just got (what was it 4 yrs. 20 mil?) makes a lot more sense to me than the money Lee and his agent are asking for. Amir Johnson's even younger and more raw than Maxiell but he's even taller and has a ton of athleticism. Afflalo's really got everything you could want in a young 2. He's big enough (6'5"), is strong and athletic and shoots it well from the perimeter. Battle-tested playing for one of the top collegate programs in America going deep into the tournament every year. He was the #1 guy on UCLA teams that just couldn't get over the hump against Florida, once in the championship game in '06 and again in the final four in '07. Will Bynum has off-the-charts athleticism and can get to the rim to score and distribute. Not a great jumpshooter though (think Aaron Brooks or a bigger version of Nate Robinson but w/o the jumper. Maybe a smaller version of Smush Parker, again w/o the perimeter game as of yet). Still he's young and has promise. Kwame Brown's just a throw in to make a deal work if we included Rose, but he's big and would serve us well for the next year and a half. Comes off the cap just in time for 2010 FA in the event he does nothing for us. Now if I were Dumars, I'd want to hold onto my young guys, but you never know. There's some pressure to win there now.

------------------------------------------

The Magic really have ZERO quality big man depth behind Howard. D. Lee would be a PERFECT fit for the Magic. How 'bout a resigned Lee (where he takes something in the $7 mil. range the first year to make it work) and Anthony Roberson for Courtney Lee, Tony Battie and their next two first rounders the next two summers.

We could probably get a better deal but this wouldn't be terrible esp. if Walsh/D'Antoni secretly don't want anything to do with bringing D. Lee back at his price anyway. We'd get a young 2 for the future in Courtney Lee who can play, Battie's a throw-in to make the deal work but gives us a little size to compete now (he's gone by 2010 FA) and those two back-to-back 1st rounders the next two drafts will ensure we have some building blocks coming in - would be good to get a 1st rounder back two summers from now when Utah takes ours from the Marbury trade. Roberson might interest them - not only are they thin with some muscle up front but they're thin behind Jameer Nelson as well. As good as they are with their Howard/Hedo/Lewis attack, unless they get some immediate help in certain areas, they aren't winning a thing down there.


[Edited by - finestrg on 12-05-2008 3:09 PM]

1) A resigned Lee for Jason Maxiell and Aaron Afflalo.

Maxiell just signed a 4 year $20 mil extension tho... i don't think they'd be interested in trading that type of value contract for D Lee who will likely command a lot more... plus Maxiell plays defense & blocks shots, something Lee doesn't do... Afflalo's pretty nice & does have a nice J from the perimeter & some size tho, i agree w/u there... personally i think if we're gonna trade D Lee we need to do it now & try to get a high draft pick for him instead... if we wait til the season's over then Lee can pretty much dictate where he wants to go at that point... he has no obligation to agree to a S&T.

i would try to target Amir Johnson & Afflalo from DET... Johnson's young, can grab rebounds & is a lively body down low & blocks shots at a nice clip... him & Afflalo could fill some holes we need filled on this team & grow w/the team going forward.

[Edited by - TMS on 12-04-2008 4:25 PM]

We could rebuild this thing rather quickly if our braintrust puts their thinking caps on. Say we did the following:

1 - Make a sensible trade involving Lee going to a team for a decent 2-guard and some frontline help (say we orchestrate a S&T with Detroit for Brown, Johnson and Afflalo OR for Maxiell, Afflalo and Walter Herrmann).

2 - Tank and grab Hasheem Thabeet in the first round. Then grab Taj Gibson from USC or maybe Jarvis Varnado from Miss. State in the 2nd round.

I personally love the Detroit scenario - every piece would be of some value to us. Brown comes in and helps right away then is gone in time for 2010 just like the few other players we've acquired recently - he's basically included to balance out Lee's incoming salary, nothing more. We get the active athletic big for the future in Amir Johnson for frontcourt depth and get a legit 2-guard to move forward with in Afflalo. Losing both Brown and Amir Johnson might leave them a little thin inside behind Rasheed Wallace, so maybe something else like Maxiell, Afflalo and Walter Herrmann for a resigned Lee could be worked out instead. Detroit, a win now team, would greatly benefit from Lee's production and have enough depth left over where parting with Johnson or Maxiell, Herrmann or Brown AND Afflalo shouldn't be a problem ('Sheed, Maxiell and Lee OR 'Sheed, Johnson, Brown and Lee would be fine up front and they'd still have a nice 3 guard rotation with Rip, AI and Stuckey - Stuckey seems to be ahead of Afflalo on their depth chart right now).

I'm not as high on Thabeet as some people are around here (he's disappointed a little the few times I've tuned in expecting him to dominate lesser competition and it just hasn't happened - just seemed slow afoot getting up and down the court, a little disinterested at times and not all that advanced on the offensive end of the floor) but there's no arguing that at that size he'll contribute at the next level. Never gonna be mistaken for Olajuwon, Ewing or the Admiral but he'd come in and be a natural rock defensively as well as a factor on the glass in the Mutumbo mold - and that could be lowballing it - hopefully there's more to him than that. I kinda like Taj Gibson for the same purpose - 6'9" 225 lb. PF's averaging almost 16 ppg on 55% FG - mostly on dunks but he can step out and hit from mid-range - over 11 rpg and almost 4 bpg good for 4th in the NCAA behind Jarvis Varnado, Thabeet and some dude named Larry Sanders from Virgina Commonwealth. Gibson, a product of Brooklyn NY, really has stepped up his game in OJ Mayo's absence. Could turn into a more defensive-minded Drew Gooden possibly. Varnado's a little more raw - he's about 3 years younger than Gibson but he's already averaging a double-double and leading the country with over 6 blocks a contest. Both Gibson and Varnado need to put on a few pounds of muscle (both are in that 6'9"/220 range, Varnado might actually be a little thinner) but for what we'd need them to do, they'd make nice acquisitions in the 2nd round. Our whole frontline would go from the joke of the league to one of the more feared frontlines from a defensive standpoint in the entire NBA.

1 - Duhon (would need to find more help here though)
2 - Afflalo/Robinson
3 - Chandler/Gallinari
4 - Amir Johnson or Maxiell/Taj Gibson or Jarvis Varnado
5 - Hasheem Thabeet
----------
Curry
Jeffries

That wouldn't be a bad core at all - we'd just need to add a few more role players, maybe even find a way to subtract Curry and Jeffries along the way. I'd be interested in coming to play with that squad if I were LeBron, Bosh or Amare. With that type of core, I could see Joe Johnson possibly being an even better fit than Amare or Bosh as a second guy to pick up in addition to LeBron if everything works out like we hope.


[Edited by - finestrg on 12-06-2008 11:41 AM]

Lee for Stuckey and a 1

FYI Since the trade Lee has had 7 straight double doubles, averaging 19.4 pts, 14.4 rebounds on 57.7% shooting.

Posted by VDesai:

FYI Since the trade Lee has had 7 straight double doubles, averaging 19.4 pts, 14.4 rebounds on 57.7% shooting.

Nice numbers but there's the flip side of the coin - ask yourself, is he or will he really become one of the top PFs in the game or is he role player material? Does he/will he ever hold his own against the top PFs in the game? Is a guy who plays no defense with an unreliable jumper and no post moves really worth 8-10 million a season? I like the guy, but I'm not prepared to answer 'yes' to any of those questions. When you consider the rebuilding process, flipping him for a couple of good pieces that are salary controlled through 2010 might be more beneficial than breaking the bank to keep him. Damn salary cap - it's ashame because in a perfect world I'd love to keep him here and add to him (I love homegrown players). But it is what it is....


[Edited by - finestrg on 12-05-2008 12:17 PM]

No Detroit trade scenario should include Stuckey. That's Joe's pet/protege/mini me/son/future point guard. They've been grooming him for years and want to keep him and Rip around along with 2010 piece for a long time. They're not giving him up.

Posted by King1:

That is why it was stupid not to trade him before he became a RFA. Now your in the same situation as Zach everyone knows your trying to get rid of him because you cant afford to lose him for nothing. Now the agent has all the leverage and note the Knicks.

That's why it is likely Lee is used to get rid of Curry or Jeffries.