The Problem is He Should !

Joe Dumars recently shot down rumors listed in a New York paper that he would listen to offers on Rasheed Wallace saying he had no interest in trading the power forward. This is in stark contrast to Dumars’ statement this summer that every player other than Rodney Stuckey was available for the right price. The reason Sheed has since become untouchable probably has to due with his expiring contract and the money the Pistons will have to spend on free agents. The problem with that thinking is it hurts the Pistons present and future, as this current Pistons roster can not contend for an Eastern Conference title let alone an NBA title.

I will start by addressing the current problems with this roster, that a Wallace trade might fix. It is obvious to even the biggest Pistons homer that this team is not even close to catching the Celtics or the Cavs. Part of that has to due with Dumars’ foolish decision to promote a rookie head coach with only one year of any coaching experience in Michael Curry. Part of it is also due to the roster being old and not strong enough inside. If people really paid attention to the last 2 conference finals losses by Detroit they would see a team that was bullied inside by below average NBA players in Drew Gooden and Kendrik Perkins. The reason is simple Detroit lacks a strong inside presence and even mediocre big men can exploit them. Stars are always going to be stars in the post season so teams can’t allow other people to have career numbers against them. A Rasheed trade could easily shore up the Pistons’s front court weakness. Take the Los Angeles Clippers for example, their trade with the Knicks has left them with a surplus of big men. Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph, and Marcus Camby all play the same position and the same style. The Clippers are going to be desperate to unload one of these guys and Rasheed’s outside game as well as his expiring contract could be enough to entice them. Randolph and Camby are most likely going to stay put but Kaman is available. Kaman is a walking double double, and unlike Sheed he does his damage inside. His presence underneath would further space the floor for Allen Iverson, Rodney Stuckey and Rip Hamilton. Kaman also is not going to command the max out deal that some other players would, leaving money for free agents. Kaman would make the Pistons much more viable in the playoffs than this current jump shooting roster is.

Now to the future problems that keeping Wallace causes. Everyone got all excited when the Pistons pulled off the Iverson trade because of all the money his expiring deal along with Wallace’s will open up for the big free agent class of 2010. The problem with that thinking is it is simply a pipe dream that any of those guys will sign here. Detroit has never been considered a destination city for NBA free agents. Even guys from the area have spurned the Pistons before. Chris Webber, and Juwan Howard both passed on Detroit to cash big paychecks elsewhere, and Grant Hill has turned the Pistons down twice once as the team’s own free agent, and once last season when he picked Phoenix. Even less talented players such as Tim Thomas have shown they don’t want to come here. NBA stars want to play in major markets where endorsement deals and a lifestyle they enjoy are more prevalent. The also tend to sign with warm weather teams whenever those teams are contenders. So sticking it out with Sheed in hopes he can take you on one last run and then be replaced by Chris Bosh or Lebron James is foolish thinking. It also shows your fans that you don’t feel you can contend for two more years which is a dangerous way of doing business in today’s economy. The fact is, it will be easier for Detroit to improve this roster via trade than it will be free agency and Sheed is their most tradeable commodity. Furthermore a Wallace trade that improves this team now, makes them more attractive to some of the free agents they might actually have a shot at down the road. For example trading Wallace and some other pieces like Amir Johnson or Kwame Brown and adding Kaman could make the Pistons more attractive to their former player Memhet Okur. Blending Okur’s strong outside game with Kaman’s inside punch is much more likely to happen than luring Dwayne Wade to town.

Dumars is faced with 2 choices, choice one is his current plan to stay the course with this team, hope Curry’s coaching improves and this team makes a finals push, before chasing big name free agents. Choice two is to move Rasheed and land a better inside presence now, thus increasing this team’s chances to win a title now and build for the future. Based both on the afore mentioned history of free agents not coming here, and the current struggles with this team I consider choice one to be foolish. The best chance for the Pistons to win, is to use team’s desire for an expiring contract and a marketable star to improve his roster via. Trade. If Dumars fails to do this, and this team fails in the post season, this whole franchise could fall apart. Furthermore Dumars has fired 4 coaches as president of this team. George Irvin, Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown, and Flip Saunders. He gambled by putting his guy Curry in charge this time. If he fails to win a title now and fails to add marquee players in 2010, Dumars should be the next man fired.