UNDER CONTRACT: F Corey Maggette, G Rodney Stuckey, F Charlie Villanueva, F Tayshaun Prince, F Jason Maxiell, F Jonas Jerebko, G Will Bynum, F-C Greg Monroe, G Brandon Knight, F Austin Daye, F-C Vyacheslav Kravtsov, G Jonny Flynn, G-F Terrence Williams
DRAFT PICKS: F Kyle Singler (2011), C Andre Drummond, F Khris Middleton, G Kim English
FREE AGENTS: G Walker Russell, C Ben Wallace, G Damien Wilkins
MOVES: Before the draft, the Pistons made a move driven by finances, trading Ben Gordon – one of their better players – and a first-round pick to Charlotte for small forward Corey Maggette. From a personnel standpoint, the deal makes no sense. Detroit already has Tayshaun Prince, Jonas Jerebko, Austin Daye and rookies Kyle Singler and Khris Middleton who can play small forward. But Gordon has two years left on his deal and Maggette has one; next summer, the Pistons will have considerable salary cap room. GM Joe Dumars also added Ukrainian 7-footer Vyacheslav Kravtsov with a three-year, $4.5 million deal; he may be able to hold his own as a backup center. Right before camp opened, the Pistons also signed Jonny Flynn and talented but troubled swingman Terrence Williams to non-guaranteed deals. They are no-risk, possible-reward moves because both will have to beat out someone with a guaranteed deal.
TO-DO LIST: The Pistons had no cap room this summer and were perhaps the league’s quietest team in the offseason; when they signed Flynn, it was their first move since the moratorium. They figure to be much more active next summer, when Maggette, Jason Maxiell and Will Bynum come off the books. The trio also could be used as trade bait. Another cap-clearing move could be the use of the amnesty clause on Charlie Villanueva, who will have one year at $8.6 million left on his deal, or buy out Prince, who will have two years and nearly $15 million left on his absurd contract. The coaching staff also has to extract some production out of Daye, who regressed badly last season and can become a restricted free agent next summer.
PROJECTION: There is the semblance of a foundation being built, but promising youngsters Greg Monroe, Brandon Knight and Andre Drummond are surrounded by disaffected veterans such as Prince, Villanueva and Maggette. Coach Lawrence Frank has to make sure that this season is about development and not some postseason pipe dream. This is a bad team that is positioned to possibly get better next summer, and Pistons fans will have to be patient.
(RELATED: What grade did the Pistons get?)
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An F? Seems a bit harsh. We were a young team under a new coach and game-plan last season with no off-season to prepare. There were times that we were playing .500 ball despite those circumstances. We took home the best center prospect, and signed another who has played well over-seas. We add English who I honestly believe will have as big of an impact as BG did which is not saying much. (one of our best players? Ben Gordon was awful, he is completely one-dimensional and could not even shoot the ball well for us. He also has one of the nastiest contracts in the league. Maggette, on the other hand, can attack the lane like few others in this league, and can play defense. He’s also expiring (with Maxiell, and my guess is CV will be amnestied at that time). Then we have all sorts of cap space to play around with, with a core of Knight, Stuckey, Monroe & Drummond. I think a lot of teams would like to be in that position. You failed to mention Kim English, who could easily come in and shoot 40+ from the field in limited minutes and put points on the board. That was Ben Gordon’s role here.
After re-reading your column, we are saying a lot of the same things. But I’m not sure how you arrived at an F?
We all luv JoeD, but he has to go. A never ending string of bad decisions has got to end. That 1st rounder(lottery) for Maggette will be lethal to Detroit. Knight is a below average PG, can’t understand hype around Stuckey the flow killer. Tay just wants to collect his paycheck and the others play like they’re all confused. There is no light at the end of this tunnel and we’re trading away future #1’s. Pray for the Pistons, they’re gonna need it.
They can’t use the amnesty provision on Prince. His new deal was signed at the start of last season.
You are correct, sir. My bad. He was a free agent on July 1, 2011, which is the day you must be under contract (and still with that team) to be an amnesty candidate. It is fixed. Thanks for your attention.