Stan Van Gundy still hoping to keep Greg Monroe

[insidehoops]

The Pistons

[Aussie Dunker]

I know it has no legs, but a rumor has started of a double S+T between Bledsoe and Monroe.

Suns already have Dragic, and just signed Isaiah - so you can understand why they are not willing to give Bledsoe a max deal... Monroe would fill a huge hole in that offense.

Bledsoe to the Pistons - would love it, if we can find someone to take Jennings...

And further, I was reading up on how the Blazers were apparently REAL close to pulling the trigger on a Batum for Monroe move... Damn it,

**I don't want Monroe gone - I just don't want both Smith and Moose together again**

[Nastradamus]

Monroe for Batum would have been sick

Bledsoe for Monroe is a pipe dream. Phoenix has the cap space to sign both. They have no motivation to do a sign and trade. They don't need Moose bad enough. If we match, we match. They might throw us Markief Morris to appease us if we're lucky. Phoenix is the worst place he could go. He needs to get interest from a team with no cap room.

[Aussie Dunker]

Yes Amen to getting Batum,

And even though Bleacher Report are a bunch of scrubs, would you guys pull the trigger on any of these potential Josh Smith moves?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2136513-5-teams-that-would-be-good-fits-for-potential-josh-smith-trade

I feel like a might do the first one, Green is a better SF than smith (Not better player, but better SF!) and would Monroe would be a better PF with Green at SF rather than Smith - meaning we improve at both positions. Plus a first rounder is always nice...

The Bennett and Thompson one is interesting......

[Nastradamus]

The first two and Sacramento make sense. Phoenix would laugh, so would NO.

[Aussie Dunker]

The first two and Sacramento make sense. Phoenix would laugh, so would NO.

Wait... You think Eric Gordon has more value than Smith? I wouldn't do this trade, at all...

[Nastradamus]

Wait... You think Eric Gordon has more value than Smith? I wouldn't do this trade, at all...

NO has Anderson,Asik and Davis up front, so maybe laugh wasn't the right word, but they have nowhere to play Smith.

[Aussie Dunker]

NO has Anderson,Asik and Davis up front, so maybe laugh wasn't the right word, but they have nowhere to play Smith.

Ahh yep - I see where you were coming from... I like the front court rotation they have, Asik and Anderson pretty much completely opposite game styles that can allow Davis to shine as a true superstar... They did very well here, if they can get that Holiday / Gordon / Evans / Rivers back court sorted, they will be a very devastating team in the years to come...

[Nastradamus]

When they had Holliday-Gordon-Evans-Anderson-Davis all together on the floor last year, they were statistically dominant.

[Nastradamus]

Didn't know where to put this, but found it interesting.

Augustin - 11th among all PGs in TS%

Meeks -5th in TS% among all SGs

Martin - 15th in TS% among all SFs


Butler was something like 46th, an improvement over Smith,but nothing special.

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2014/7/18/5915921/true-shooting-percentage-and-stan-van-gundys-free-agent-selection

Shows you that SVG had a plan at least.

[Aussie Dunker]

Yeah he sure did, we will see if it pays off...

In other news, hating how Aminu was had for 2 years for 2 mill.... This was a guy we were seriously looking at taking instead of Monroe in that years draft...

I would have loved that contract - he is a great athlete and still just 23.. Not a shooter, but showed glimpses of elite defensive potential...

I mean, 2 mill for 2 years... Come on,

[Nastradamus]

He's been terrible his whole career, he's not better than Jerebko and we can't afford to add non shooters on the perimeter. No interest at all.

[ZMonkey11]

Yeah he sure did, we will see if it pays off...

In other news, hating how Aminu was had for 2 years for 2 mill.... This was a guy we were seriously looking at taking instead of Monroe in that years draft...

I would have loved that contract - he is a great athlete and still just 23.. Not a shooter, but showed glimpses of elite defensive potential...

I mean, 2 mill for 2 years... Come on,

I'm in agreement. To have that type of defender for 2 mil a year. A great player to take off the bench if you need to put some pressure on the other team. I'm sure he's a better option than Cartier Martin. I don't even know when Martin is going to get PT on this team. I'd rather have a better defender come off the bench than the stock pile of shooters we have going.

Shooters:
Meeks, KCP, Butler, Martin, Singler, Datome, Jerebko, Augustin.

Defenders:
KCP, Smith, Drummond.

Quite the disparity.

[Nastradamus]

None of Drummond,SMith,Monroe space the floor. If you have two of those guys out there, the other 3 need to be shooters. Much like the Clippers.

[ZMonkey11]

None of Drummond,SMith,Monroe space the floor. If you have two of those guys out there, the other 3 need to be shooters. Much like the Clippers.

You can only have 3 other players on the court if 2 of those guys are out there. Much like every other team in the league.

[Nastradamus]

You can only have 3 other players on the court if 2 of those guys are out there. Much like every other team in the league.

Which is exactly what I said..........

[ZMonkey11]

Which is exactly what I said..........

My point is you have a set rotation with complimentary plug and play players. Rotations usually don't go outside of 10 players, max. The Pistons have shooters, they don't have defensive players. So why waste a roster spot on a player that is a shooter you probably won't use often.

Depth Chart:
PG - Jennings/Augustin/Bynum
SG- Meeks/KCP/Singler
SF - Smith/Butler/Singler/Martin/Datome
PF - Monroe (hopefully)/Smith/Jerebko
C - Drummond/Monroe/Gray

Your point being you need to put shooters around 2 post players for spacing. The Pistons have too many shooters at this point. Martin will be a situation plug and play shooter, but when? He's buried in the depth chart.

Get a more defensive minded, athletic player instead for plug and play situations.

So once again, the disparity between our shooters and our defensive players is large and we should have went for Aminu because Martin doesn't make sense.

[Nastradamus]

My point is you have a set rotation with complimentary plug and play players. Rotations usually don't go outside of 10 players, max. The Pistons have shooters, they don't have defensive players. So why waste a roster spot on a player that is a shooter you probably won't use often.

Depth Chart:
PG - Jennings/Augustin/Bynum
SG- Meeks/KCP/Singler
SF - Smith/Butler/Singler/Martin/Datome
PF - Monroe (hopefully)/Smith/Jerebko
C - Drummond/Monroe/Gray

Your point being you need to put shooters around 2 post players for spacing. The Pistons have too many shooters at this point. Martin will be a situation plug and play shooter, but when? He's buried in the depth chart.

Get a more defensive minded, athletic player instead for plug and play situations.

So once again, the disparity between our shooters and our defensive players is large and we should have went for Aminu because Martin doesn't make sense.

Agree to disagree I guess. For one, I don't expect Smith to play any SF. Wishful thinking maybe, but its how I see things shaping out given the signings. I don't expect Datome to be a factor.

Like I said, you need 3 shooters on the court at all times, so that means you need 6 or 7 shooters at least. Jennings isn't so much a shooter, but he can hit a 3 at a respectable rate at least, unlike a Stuckey or Bynum. Without Martin, one shooter goes down and your whole strategy is screwed. SVG has been very good at coaching defense, even with below average defensive talent(Nelson,Turk,Lewis etc.)

Martin is a very efficient shooter. I think he fits in very well and will battle Singler for PT. He's also first man up in case of any injuries.

I just don't see a scenario where Aminu gets on the floor. Its like having a worse Josh Smith at SF.

[Aussie Dunker]

^^ Try telling Jennings he isn't a shooter haha,

In all honesty - Aminu is still just 23 years old, was a top 10 draft pick and has supreme athleticism and size for his position. With good coaching surely he could be a factor in this league...

And isn't the contract 2 years for 2.1 million total - meaning 1 million per year???... It is just so damn cheap, too cheap to not take a flyer on him in my opinion... Under SVG I think Aminu could be a valuable asset~

[Aussie Dunker]

And furthermore, if you look at the wing players in our division...

Lebron / George / Wiggins / Parker / Giannis...

A supremely athletic wing defender kind of makes sense if we are dealing with guys like this...

[Nastradamus]

^^ Try telling Jennings he isn't a shooter haha,

In all honesty - Aminu is still just 23 years old, was a top 10 draft pick and has supreme athleticism and size for his position. With good coaching surely he could be a factor in this league...

And isn't the contract 2 years for 2.1 million total - meaning 1 million per year???... It is just so damn cheap, too cheap to not take a flyer on him in my opinion... Under SVG I think Aminu could be a valuable asset~

I just don't see the fit. We saw how clunky things got when you put a non shooter on the floor with 2 of our big 3 at the 4 and 5.

[Nastradamus]

According to Hang Time Blog's John Schuhmann, the Pistons are the only NBA team which signed four free agents who ranked in the top 20 in 3-FG% last season: Jodie Meeks, D.J. Augustin, Caron Butler and Cartier Martin

"Of the 70 available free agents who attempted at least 100 threes last season, those four ranked 11th, 12th, 15th and 18th respectively in 3-point percentage, all shooting better than 39 percent,"

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/nba/rumors/

[dd24]

I think Aminu is just a role player in this league. It was a good contract but I'm not upset about not going after him. He's not going to take this team to the next level.

[Aussie Dunker]

If our second unit consists of something like:

Dre / Moose
Jerebko
Aminu
KCP
Augustin

There is enough shooting to allow it not to be clunky. I just think he was worth a flyer for 1 mil rather than butler for 5 mil or whatever we paid for him... Just adds some rangey defense, by far the best contract in the off-season in my opinion... He is pretty much making the same as Car-Martin...

[Nastradamus]

Best contract of the offseason? The guy has never done anything. Lets not get crazy.

Now if Smith had been traded, I would have liked the fit more.

[Aussie Dunker]

Best contract of the offseason? The guy has never done anything. Lets not get crazy.

Now if Smith had been traded, I would have liked the fit more.

Top 10 draft pick, 23 years old, 1 mill per season - great wing defender... With the ridiculous inflation of contracts being handed out all off-season, this is an absolute steal of a contract...

[Aussie Dunker]

I do get what you are saying, he hasn't done much I know. But he has had 2 x 20 rebound games as a wing player - that is pretty special. And still at 23 has quite a bit of upside, hence being a top 10 pick.

I am not saying he is a star, or even a starter. All I am saying is that in a league where potential gets heavily overpaid - and even role players get heavily overpaid - 1 mill per year is the absolute lowest of the lowest contracts...

[Nastradamus]

I get it. I do think its a great fit for Dallas behind DIrk and Parsons. I had a similar feeling about the Ed Davis signing by LAL.

[Aussie Dunker]

Yeah Mavs are quietly shaping championship level depth - just signed enforcer Ivan Johnson to back up Chandler - allows Wright to back up Dirk - Aminu to back up Parsons - Jefferson to fill the role Carter played... Just a bit weak at point guard though...

Yeah love the Ed Davis signing - but then signing Boozer undoes it...

[dd24]

Boozer for a few million makes sense to me. The thing that doesn't make sense about it is the Lakers are pretty bad. They should have put together the worse possible team they could and tried to go after some young talent. They lose their first round pick this year if it isn't top 5..... My guess is Phoenix could have a top 10 pick.

I don't see Dallas as a contender. I do like most of their team. Without a true PG they can't contend though. I don't think Ellis is a PG in the NBA. Maybe they're hoping he can fill that position but it's going to be tough.

[Nastradamus]

I think they can get away without a great PG. Dirk,Parsons and Elliss are going to have the ball so much of the time. I don't love the fit of the particular PGs they have though. Otherwise I really like the way that team is constructed though. They'll probably miss Carter in that 6th man role though. Parsons to Marion is a huge upgrade and Chandler is a decent one as well. They could win anywhere from 45-55 wins IMO.

[Aussie Dunker]

^ Jefferson can somewhat cover the Carter hole, vetran outside shooter - just doesn't have the ball handling VC had...

Ellis and Parsons will combine for about 11 or 12 assists each game together, two of the better passing players at their respective positions...

Felton and Harris... Pressure is on, if one of those dudes can be serviceable then it is a scary deep team... But if they both flop (huge chance they could) then they might have to push Ellis as PG quite a bit...

[dd24]

It may really be true that Monroe doesn't want to play with Smith on the roster:

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/01/report-greg-monroe-doesnt-really-have-a-great-interest-in-going-back-and-playing-with-the-pistons/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

It sounds like the team did look at sign & trades for him but there haven't been good enough offers. I just wish we could trade Smith!!

[Nastradamus]

^ Jefferson can somewhat cover the Carter hole, vetran outside shooter - just doesn't have the ball handling VC had...

Ellis and Parsons will combine for about 11 or 12 assists each game together, two of the better passing players at their respective positions...

Felton and Harris... Pressure is on, if one of those dudes can be serviceable then it is a scary deep team... But if they both flop (huge chance they could) then they might have to push Ellis as PG quite a bit...

There's a very large gap between Carter and Jefferson. Carter was a 6th man of the year contender(and arguably should have won based on analytics) while Jefferson probably doesn't crack the rotation.

[Aussie Dunker]

^^ I totally agree with you, but i'm coming from the angle that with the addition of Parsons - that role VC played last year will not need to be as ample, therefore Jefferson should be able to cover that reduced role to an extent...

But I am with you - VC is sneaky valuable in his twilight years, still think he has 3 or 4 years left in the tank of doing what he did last season...