I was listening to Mike and Mike this morning, also on talk radio yesterday with B Mitch here in D.C.

They both are hearing that Mike James will be dealt to the Pistons for Nazr Mohammed. Also stated that it will be a whirlwind of trades this week.

I feel so sad for Nazr. I can hear KG screaming at him already.

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I don't know that I'd characterize the Mike and Mike report as being all that definite. They were talking to Chris Broussard from ESPN.com, and he did mention Nazr for Mike James as one of the top trade possibilities, but I don't think he was totally sure it would happen. Though I didn't hear what they said about it on the Brian Mitchell show (ex-Redskin kick returner, aka B-Mitch).

Pistons have a log jam at PF and C, and the Pistons need guy off the bench who can be a real spark. I hope the trade happens, it would be a bad move for the Wolves though. If Pistons do get Mike James, I hope he is fine with his role off the bench.

Ditto Himat. I think he has a couple of years left on his contract also. I hope he enjoys playing in a backup role to CBill unless he leaves via free agency.

Let's assume for a minute this happens.

Outcome 1

The Pistons win the title. They would likely re-sign Billups and deal James away in the offseason or force Hunter to retire early.

Outcome 2

The Pistons come up substantially short in the playoffs (Conference Final loss or earlier). They might look to do a sign & trade for Billups, or follow the above possibilities (trade James, Hunter retirement).

James isn't a horrible starter, but he's definitely not a top 10 PG. Maybe just getting in with a starting lineup of Prince, Rip and Wallace surrounding him. I'm not sure.

It is definitely insurance if Billups gets an offer and the Pistons are not prepared to match it. Lessen the blow, so to speak.

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

Thank you for another great season!

In response #2, why wouldn't they try to re-sign Bllups? There are not that many good PG's in the league. Besides, MJ is a good spark off the bench and it won't take too many minute away from others.

Perhaps a lesson learned for Joe D with Ben walking last summer...

Because the Pistons are generally considered cheap by the fan base, and somehow they always have a plausible reason why they are not cheap.

Until they actually deal out a huge contract to someone, people are going to wonder what their financial commitment to keeping big name players in town is.

I'm not saying that Billups is not worth a big contract. The catch is finding someone who is willing to take on such a big contract.

I have more info coming on this next month, but consider that when people casually talk of maximum deals, they usually have no idea what that means in dollars.

A max deal for Billups this offseason would start at $17,437,000.

If we're talking about next year, we don't need a top 10, $17 million point guard. All we need is a guy who can play some defense, bring the ball up, dump it into the post, and watch ROY candidate Unko Debunkalogo go to work.