Looking ahead : Pistons Trade Assets
Written by mercury on Monday, December 18, 2006

This may be a little premature considering the team’s recent success and the deadline not being until February next year but with more players entering the trade pool after December 15th, let’s explore where we stand.

Disclaimer: It’s not about whether or not we should make a trade. It’s a valuable exercise to evaluate our assets as well as watch which players gain and lose stock as the deadline approaches.

Just for the sake of rating each player’s staying power we can separate them into three categories:

1. Most likely to be moved
2. Maybe if the price is right
3. Hard to move or is a valuable long term asset

(Click here to continue reading)

How is shooting guard easy to replace?
There's only about a half dozen SGs in the league that have Rips pedigree.
CB, Rip and Tay are untouchable as far as I can see. Maybe Tay not so much. The grass isn't always greener just because the stats might look that way.

Roscoe, I'm sure it's already been done multiple times, but could you explain in as few words as possible what rights we have to Samb and Acker?

Re: Samb

NBA Salary Cap FAQ

I'll cover Acker in detail later because it is a little more complicated.

So, next year, Samb will come back to the Pistons, and he will have 1 year left on the contract?

I can't believe how patched together the rules are for this stuff. It's like the tax code.

No. When Samb is done in Europe, the Pistons have his rights for one year. They can sign him to a two year deal which will likely be at the league minimum given their projected cap position.

I wouldn't hold my breath that he will come here. I think the recent article by Keith Langlois on Pistons.com was a byproduct of the franchise finally figuring out that fans want to see the kids play. Billups and Prince are great, but they are no longer interesting off the court.

__________________
To all of my friends, comrades and companions at PF.com

Thank you for another great season!

Samb is obligated to his current team through next year.
Langlois talks about this subject

TaShawn.

Here is the deal with Acker. He originally signed a one year deal. When it ended, the Pistons made him a qualifying offer. That kept him from being unrestricted and gave them the right to match any incoming offers as long as they had not spent the Mid-Level Exception (later used for Nazr Mohammed).

Because he did not sign a contract in the NBA, he's still our restricted free agent until next offseason. At that time, if the Pistons are interested in keeping him a restricted free agent, they will make another qualifying offer. Doesn't matter if he intends to stay in Europe.

Now by all accounts, he signed a two year deal to play in Greece with the second year as a player option. It is important to note that he is said to be making around $1 million USD and of course, there are likely some decent European fringe benefits like paid accommodations, transportation etc.

Every year until Acker returns to the NBA the Pistons can keep him restricted by making that offer. 5 years, 7 years doesn't matter.

Now when he does return to the NBA, based upon the current collective bargaining agreement, we make him a qualifying offer (if it is the start of a new offseason) and if he gets a better offer before he can negotiate a deal with the Pistons or TAKES the QO, we can match provided we have not already spent the MLE in that offseason.

This is called the Gilbert Arenas Rule. It would have been applicable to Mehmet Okur if it was around when he signed with Utah. A second round pick becomes a free agent. Under the base rules of free agency and cap economics, if his original team makes him a QO to put him in restricted free agency and someone comes along like Utah and throws a big dollar contract at him, and the original team is capped out, they wouldn't be able to match. Now the provision is that as long as they have not spent the MLE, they can negotiate with their OWN restricted free agent using the MLE as a starting point.

I realize this is wordy and complicated, so if anyone wants any clarification, please ask. I enjoy talking about this stuff and there are no dumb questions.

__________________
To all of my friends, comrades and companions at PF.com

Thank you for another great season!

I don't believe anyone will be traded by the Pistons prior to their winning the NBA title next June, unless the Pistons have a major injury before next June, but its fun to talk about especially on those dark dreary cold and snowy days and nights back East. I luv the Pistons and I luv So. CA even though today it is really Northern Mexico.