I know Tayshawn has his spot, but then the rest of it seems up in the air.

Dupree is a "defensive specialist", which I guess means he doesn't score much.

We don't know yet what we have in Evans.

Same goes for Delfino, reports say that he prefers playing the SG, but I don't think he has the speed to cover most of the SG in the league. His size may help him in that respect, but I think chances are that he'll be slated for the SF spot.

Then there is J-Max, the PF mentality, but a SF's size.

I hear grumblings of Darko at the 3, that's what he wanted to do when he was drafted, but LB wanted him to be the next Vladi Divac. Maybe he'll see some action at the 3 as part of a big line-up, but I figure that's about it for Darko at the swingman.

Did I forget anyone?

As I see it it'll be:

Prince
Delfino
Evans

With Dupree the odd man out, and J-Max as the 3rd PF.

So how does everyone else think this will shake out?

__________________

I think Delfino isn't tough enough on "D" to play the 3 nor can he abuse any of the elite SFs in the East.

I think Evans will be the primary backup at SF regardless of his lack of height. The brother is just plain athletic and strong.

Here's the "official" current depth chart;

PG, Billups, Arroyo, Hunter
SG, Hamilton, Evans, Acker
SF, Prince, Delfino, Dupree
PF, Wallace, McDyess, Maxiell, Johnson
C, Wallace, Milicic, Davis

My honest opinion is none of the above.
I think those guys are stop gap solutions until Joe can work his deal before the deadline.

If I had to make a choice it would be SF by committee.
Evan's until he can't stop someone.
Delfino vs slow footed players...
Dupree against athletes with some size...
Jmax against big tough SF's (Corliss etc).
And just see what shakes out.

I'm not ready to put Darko at the SF spot unless he shows he can stay with SF's and hit more than 20% from the perimeter.

Where'd the "official" depth chart come from? Just curious.

It's the official "Hoopshype" depth chart. But I should've used the word official in tandem with HoopsHype. There are a wide variety of depth charts out there. Many haven't been updated in th last 8 weeks so I didn't include those. But for conversations sake I include a smattering of different sites and how they see it.

Depth Charts
They’re all over the map. I checked at least a dozen sites. Some have charts, some just have rosters. Some roster sites have Delfino at the Guard position, others have him at Small Forward, (one has him at PF RealGM). http://pistons.realgm.com/profiles.phtml

I generally use HoopsHype for charts and salaries. http://hoopshype.com/depth_charts_central.htm

They use the same one I already posted.
PG, Billups, Arroyo, Hunter
SG, Hamilton, Evans, Acker
SF, Prince, Delfino, Dupree
PF, Wallace, McDyess, Maxiell, Johnson
C, Wallace, Milicic, Davis

Excite Sports & MSNBC have both Delfino and Evans listed at the SG.
MSNBC also has Acker under the Guard with no PG or SG affixed. Same with FoxSports. There are also numerous sites that list DMC at the Forward position, while others list him at F/C.

Below is the Detroit News Chart
http://www.forecaster.ca/detnews/basketball/depthchart.cgi?Det

PG, C-Note, Arroyo, Hunter
SG, Hamilton, Evans, Dupree, Delfino, Acker
SF, Prince, McDyess, Johnson
PF, Wallace, Milicic, Maxiell
C, Wallace, Davis

ESPN hasn't plugged in Evans yet and they still carry Campbell.
ESPN.com http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/depth?team=det

PG, Billups, Arroyo, Jenkins
SG, Hamilton, Hunter, Delfino
SF, Prince, Dupree, Ham
PF, Wallace, McDyess, Maxiell
C, Wallace, Campbell, Milicic

I guess it all just depends on who is doing the .......

__________________
"Most of the arguments to which I am party fall somewhat short of being impressive, knowing to the fact that neither I nor my opponent knows what we are talking about." Dangerfield

PG: Cnote, Arroyo, Hunter
SG: Rip, Delfino, Acker
SF: Tay, Evans, Dupree
PF: Sheed, Dyess, Jmax, Amir
C: Ben, Darko, Davis

You can make a case for Acker at point too with his good showing in summer camp, he could bump Hunter or even Arroyo for backup if he shows up with the handles, the defense and the ability to direct the offense.

Evans will most probably be slotted at the three-spot, JMax could get spot minutes as well when we go with a big lineup.

Delfino is too small and too slow for playing the three, so he stays at SG.

Darko can shuttle between PF and C positions, taking some minutes from both Sheed and Ben but not into Dyess' playing time. Jmax is there as well.

Well, it's a team I'd like to have going into the season, all in all, especially if the rookies pan out and know their roles and buy into the system.

Just to shake things up:

Billups, Acker
Prince, Rip
Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell
Ben, Dyess
Sheed, Darko

Now why. Between Billups and Acker, you always are keeping a fairly solid defender in the game, and a point guard quite effective at driving toward the basket. At 6-5 and with a 7-1 wingspan and athletic, Acker is quite effective in scoring on those drives.

At shooting guard, Prince just about equalled Rip in scoring for the 2nd half of last season. And Prince of course shoots a pretty high percentage. On defense, no comparison at all. Tay has simply become our best shooting guard. As a gaurd, Tay simply has better ball handling skills. Hey, Rip is a pretty fine player, he just ain't as good as Tay.

Now, at small forward, Amir Johnson earns the starting spot mostly on the strength of rebounding. Seriously good rebounding, with great ability to put the ball in the hoop after collecting the rebound. On fast breaks, he is going to make us remember Dennis Rodman, how he sped down the floor ahead of everyone else for a Rodman Ram. The rest of his defense? His inexperience will keep him in foul trouble a lot, but it won't hurt us any since Rip and Tay between them can play a ton of minutes. Amir will also do a lot of scoring, shot blocking, and good decision making. He knows his basketball.

Jason Maxiell could get the backup minutes at small forward. Similar to Corliss in size (very heavy for a small forward but short for a power forward) his youth and fresh legs will make him far more effective than Corliss was on defending other small forwards. And if switched onto a power forward or center, he will have the bulk and that 7-3 wingspan to hold his own there too. Maxiell will command double teams on the offensive end. But the other team will have some hard choices about who not to watch. The other four guys out there with Maxiell will be Acker, Rip, Dyess, and Darko. Nobody you can afford to sluff off of at all.

Power forward and center some other time.

I don't know if I can support any lineup with our current set of players that has Rip coming off the bench. I applaud you for your sense of adventure, but I'm not feelin' that move my friend. Let's not forget that an added bonus to having Hamilton on the floor is that the opposing 2 better be in some tremendous shape or he won't last very long. Chasing Rip is a defensive weapon all in itself.

Carlos Delfino can indeed play the SF spot. Aside from all his faults one thing he is very good at is rebounding. He can get off the floor and his hands are huge and sticky enough to be a wide rec. Those things are important when it comes to playing SF. We all know that the boy is an exploiatation waiting to happen on D , but he's not afraid to stick his nose in the mix and come up with loose balls and rebounds. It's because of those qualities that I believe he is more suited for the SF spot than the 2 guard spot. Offensively he's a driver (especially along the baseline). Put aside his height and watch where he's most effective on the floor and you'll se it's in the area where the Sf/W player plays.