Future of the Pistons

With the hopes of the current season quickly dissolving, Joe Dumars must quickly shift his attention to what is going to benefit this team and franchise most in the current future.
The two biggest options that need to be weighed are:

1. Stand pat, play out the season and look to rebuild soley through free agency. This option is becoming less attractive as the season goes on as well. With the Pistons continuing to struggle, the main stars of the free agent class are going to find Detroit a less attractive option for their blooming careers. It is not a big television market, the state is in economic turmoil, and the Pistons have never been an attractive landing spot for NBA players.
The Pistons without a doubt will have money to attract talent, but the best of the free agent class has been rumored to have both Miami and New York as their top landing spots. New York and Miami have two things that Detroit cannot change no matter how much money they offer. TV spotlight and terrific weather with tremendous night life.

2. Start letting it be known that both expiring contracts belonging to Rasheed Wallace and Allen Iverson are both open to the market in trade possibilities. If you can aquire good talent through unloading expensive contracts, I am more apt to attack this route. In a situation like this the Pistons could make a deal with a team like Washington looking to unload players like Antawn Jamison because their team is losing. Jamison is making only 9 million a year, which is far less than the almost 14 Rasheed makes or the 20 Iverson makes. The Pistons could bring in a player like Jamison for the next 3 years and still have plenty of cap space to bring in another player just below the Lebrons and Wades of the NBA.

New Kid on the Block

From MLive.com and Pistons' Beat Writer A.Sherrod Blakely...


During a recent interview, Joe Dumars was discussing the Detroit Pistons' free agency goals as well as the potential look of his team next season, when, in mid-sentence, he just stopped talking.

Outside his office, 7-foot-1 center Cheikh Samb was making one long jumper after another. He had strung together at least seven in a row before Dumars gathered his thoughts and spoke of a conversation he had with Rasheed Wallace about Samb.

"We got a running joke with him (Samb) and Rasheed that when camp starts, who is the best shooter," Dumars said. "Rasheed already told me, he said 'Joe, I know I got something on my hands with Cheikh.'"

Impressive shooting range is only part of Samb's game that has blossomed at a rate the Pistons did not envision when they traded Mo Evans to the Los Angeles Lakers for the rights to Samb, a second-round pick in 2006.

Detroit anticipated keeping Samb overseas for a couple seasons, and then maybe bring him to the United States for additional seasoning in the Development League.

However, Samb's learning curve has exceeded such modest expectations, creating a very real possibility that the 23-year-old might crack the Pistons' regular rotation next season.

In addition to playing well during his time in the D-League, Samb also has impressed team officials with his work ethic this summer.

"This kid just loves, I mean loves to be in the gym," Dumars said. "You don't really find that too much with big guys. He has room to get better, obviously. But we definitely like what we see in him now."

Apparently, so did some other teams who inquired about Samb's availability.

Dumars said he has no intentions of trading away the young big man who will get an opportunity to showcase his skills beginning Friday night as Detroit's summer league team plays the Los Angeles Lakers' summer-league entry.

The competition Samb will see this summer is similar to what he faced in the D-League last season when he averaged 10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and four blocked shots in 19 games.

But at the rate he's progressing, Samb's D-League stints may be less than they were as a rookie.

More opportunities may come his way this fall, especially being the only true center on the Pistons' roster.

Dumars said it's too soon to tell exactly what role Samb will play with the team this season.

"I know I got a 7-foot-1 kid that's coming, in a hurry," Dumars said.

Pistons win 50th

With Detroit's 110-105 win over the Phoenix Suns on monday night, the Pistons have won 50 or more games for the seventh straight season. I believe this is a direct testament to the great job Joe Dumars has done here in his 7 seasons as General Manager. Under Dumars the Pistons have won 1 NBA title, 2 conference titles, 5 division titles and made 6 playoff appearances. He also won Executive of the Year in the '02-'03 season.