ESPN: Chauncey Billups, the disposable superstar

Pretty good article. Not too much new in the article other than the way Joe and the coaches acted the day before the trade. I don't think Joe inticipated this trade destroying the teams chemistry.

Great historical read on Chauncey.

Need a similar write up on Sheed if he leaves, and of course not to compare situations, but a nice one on Daddy Rich

Piper saw it coming.
I guess if the trade died in the last seconds, like the A.I. trade years ago, they didn't want Chaunc feeling all lame duck.
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How long can a good story go on?

YES! Finally, someone who feels the same as I do!!!!

Right. He had to be outwardly humble in order to maintain the team chemistry at a high level. Odd, though, that even if Joe D. did not see that on his own, that somebody on the coaching staff would not have conveyed it to Joe. Since the team concept is so important to Joe, he surely would have wanted to know about Chauncey's critical role in keeping it together. Was there a complete failure of communication between Flip and Joe?

This is another reason why a guy like LB would have really been nice to have around. If CB was that critical to the team's chemistry and success, LB would know it, and he would make sure that Joe D. knew it.

The write up on Sheed will not be as positive. When Sheed finally leaves the Pistons, the press will crucify him. They are just waiting. Also, Chauncey has been very good to the press and has been a model citizen on and off the court.

My guess -- and it is only a guess -- is that writers will point to incidents that reveal he was, at times, a handful for Flip and Curry to coach.

Your description of Kidd is very apt. I like his backup, Barea, a great deal.

Berea is like a mini Steve Nash.

Have to agree with you. Trading CB for cap space is ok, as long as you use the space to get someone(s) just as good or better.

The problem is Joe hasn't signed a decent FA since Rip, hasn't made a good trade since Wallace, and has drafted a total of 2 players that started significant games for Detroit since he's been here (Okur started less than 50 games in 2 years with Detroit).

If Joe can't trade Tay and Rip, can't get a decent FA to sign, and botches the draft again, we could be watch this same group chasing for the lottery over the next 3 years.

IMO, this trade was a monumental mistake. It will continue to be. Nothing will make it not be unless LBJ or Wade decide that have to play for the Pistons or the cap space magically creates the perfect balance of players at the optimal prices.

The results of the Pistons season had he stayed with a new coach, un-injured, and a fantastic back-up PG are not set in stone, and i wish people would stop acting like it was.

This trade sucked. It sucks. The outcome sucks. The team chemistry is gone. We are now in the position where we have to blow it up and essentially start from scratch. It wasn't needed IMO. It wasn't necessary and i for one could have gone without the aggravation this year.

edited to add;

Fantastic.

I find that whole episode unreal. It reminds me when my 9th grade boyfriend dumped in at lunch and all of my friends surrounded and consoled me....i was crying and upset....then a couple of my friends start to cry too....lol

The only person unscathed in the mess is chauncey. Unless we hear something about him. It has more to the story. Why didn't Joe tell Chauncey about the trade?

People want to base the trade on what happened this past season when the future will tell if this was a good trade. If they got a dominant C like Chris Bosh to form a Big 3 with Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey then the trade will look a lot better.

Same goes with the roster. Yeah players like Sharpe and Amir might seem like failures now, but in a few years they might be [STRIKE]out of the league[/STRIKE] the 11th and 12th men on a mediocre team.

In both cases we got to wait to see how things play out and not go by what we see now. If we wait and see with out wallets then all the better.

Whatever you think about the trade, it does seem to me that the re-signing of Hamilton (3 days before the trade) was completely mishandled. There should have been what Henry Kissinger in a different context called a "decent interval" between the re-signing and the trade. Re-signing Hamilton at a time when the Pistons had to know the trade was likely -- or even certain -- was just bound to create bad feelings between the organization and Rip, and those feelings may linger. Indeed, other players on the team may well think less of the organization because of the way this played out.