Joe seems to think he can get a team to give him a Tier I/superstar caliber player by packaging a starter or two. Besides, Melo, who is Joe going to target? Wade, LBJ, Bosh, Howard etc. Question is why would any team give up a young stud with top end potential to get mostly vets slightly south of their prime, maybe an exception in Tay and Rip? By making the statement that he is not looking for a teams 2nd or 3rd best player he is setting the groundwork to maintain the status quo. Melo is the only one I can see as possibly available due to issues w/ Karl. It seems more likely that a couple of starters are traded for equivalent value i.e. Brand, Davis. Are the Pistons starters so good that any team should be willing to be part w/ their best players. I think there is sense of over inflated worth. The trading season is still young but I just don't see any blockbuster deals over the horizon.

Well, they are going to be worth a lot less if he waits another year. Can't blame his for trying to get as much as he can but its not like we are the team to beat anymore.

I would give it some more time. We just had the draft and the FA period begins on what July 1. After teams are not "getting their guys" we will see more teams open to trades.

Absolutely agree. Joe D keeps thinking that this team is built on 4 1/2 superstars, when the reality is they are 5 really good players, that play exceptionally well with each other. No I in team to the extreme.

But isolated, how much does Tay help a team by himself? Rip? CB? Sheed? No where near as much as a Carmelo can do, yet Joe thinks he can make that swap. Our best individual that can lift another team is probably Stuckey, and he's the one guy that's off limits.

Predictions, no trades this year. JoeyD's asking is too high, other teams will be making deals around him, and we're starting next year with the same team and a different coach. Hopefully, our problem last year was with the coaching, and Curry can correct it. If it was the players...

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I agree with the above statements. As I said in another thread, Joe has painted himself into a corner with these guys and his big talk, but behind him in the corner is an unlocked door. He can say he tried to make deals but he wasn't going to just give away his guys.

Hey, why couldn't we get Jermaine Oneal? T J Ford? We could've done better than that.

I dont want O'Neals busted knees only playing 45 games for us. Let Toronto have him. Between Bosh and O'Neal they might have 2 good knees but I doubt it. O'Neals production has gone down even when he has played, he went from being a solid 20 and 10 guy to a 13 and 7 guy. I think Jmax can do better than that. Bosh is still getting better as a scorer but he shies away from rebounding and he has not played over 70 games the last 3 years either. Yes he can be great some nights he went for 40 a few times last year, but we would not be getting him in a trade anyway.

I agree the starters are not the elite players they or Joe think they are but they can be when they want to. I think all this team needs is 1 starter shipped off regardless of who it is. They have heard they are on the block but do they get it?

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" Either you play with a sense of urgency, or you will be leaving. It's that simple." Joe Dumars
Ok Joe it's time to prove it!!!!!!

And this door leads to our own selves farm system, because in way the league and market are running once whoever went into the pattern of no-superstar, win-by-team-work like we have been, by lucky or by will, for so many years, it will be hard to get a trade partner. Who would trade a star for a fraction of collective players who depend on each other to success.
Blame on Joe for straying from the mainstream if you like, which I won't.

But, how many GM's are saying the same thing about their top tier players, and what players they can trade to make their team better.

Some teams have injury prone all-stars and all star caliber player(s), or player(s) who don't fit their style, system or coaches expectations.

Joe D is not the only GM with player dilemna's.

You can conceivably take 1 or 2 of our starters, put them on another team resulting in that team becoming an instant contender for the title.

You can take someone like McGrady and put him on the Pistons team and he will be injury free (Ray Allen Syndrome).

A healthy McGrady would propel us right back to the title. An over the hill Billups for an injury prone McGrady is a healthy trade because one issue cancels out the other.

I like this post. In fact, I like this entire thread.

Except there's been almost zero information hinting at Billups being over the hill (last year was one of his more consistent seasons with his FG% among other things being extremely high for a guy who takes that many 3's) while every single possible thing about McGrady point to him being injury prone AND being over the hill (check out his shooting %'s, they're all going down every season--he shot under 70% from the free throw line...).

I understand that "theoretically" McGrady could shake off about 5 years of decline and injuries and become what he once was and that Billups could fall off the table even though there's little evidence he's near the edge, but "theoretical" isn't the same thing as likely.

Dont be so sure about Oneal and his health. His motivation has been in the basement ever since he made his mind up that he didnt want to play in Indiana. I personally feel that his "injuries" are not as debilitating as he let on while in Indiana.

People made the same assumptions about "half man half a season" Vince Carter.
LB wanted to trade Rip for him, and the forum thumbs down'ed it because Vince was an injury waiting to happen that would never be the same again.

Shortly thereafter we got treated to this:

YouTube - Vince Carter Dunks Over Alonzo Mourning

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIj1QpZMlPE