I think Josh Smith is the answer for this roster, he's learning how to put it all together. Will he re-up with Atl? Can we get him via trade this year (a la Deron Williams/Melo)? Would Atl take CV, Daye and our #9 pick for Smith? Would he sign here in the summer of 2013? I really can't imagine John Henson, Perry Jones III or Austin Rivers helping us as we move forward.
well, this team is not moving forward. It is likely to acquire a mediocre or even only a bad big in a mediocre draft. One more year of Monroe's contract is going to have passed and if CV, BenGo or Stuckey get hot once playoff chances have passed, we will see more of the same next year. I know I sound overly optimistic, but as long as JoeD is the GM, I have no reason to find a bright side.
Vernon Macklin averaged 14 pts and 14 rebounds for the Mad Ant. You can still watch games on the nbdl website so i went ahead and watched some games to see what we could expect from Vinnie Mack. What sticks out most is he doesn't get up and down the floor very fast. I mostly watched FTW vs Idaho Stampede and Mikki Moore was able to push him way out the key when they posted him up. Moore is an NBA calibre player even if teams would rather invest in younger bigs. By the time Macklin had 14 rebounds and 12 pts, Moore had 8 pts and 3 rebounds. The Ants worked Macklin in the post a good amount where he showed some ugly but effective 2 dribble drives with a lefty hook at the end. He had one poster put back that was awesome but NBA guys do that almost every game. He grabbed a lot of rebounds but you'd never know it. He was alone most of the time the ball bounced to him. Positioning is a skill so I shouldn't take that away from him. There may be more playing time but I wouldn't expect too much.
Excluding Greg Monroe, Vern Macklin is the only Piston big with any kind of upside. Wallace (retired), JMax (average) and Villanueva (can't even make the Dominican national team). I'm down for re-signing him. He's a good value.
***BREAKING NEWS*** Jason Maxiel has decided to play out his horrible (for the Pistons) contract and remain with the final year of his deal. Hopefully, he'll be 4th on the depth chart of Pistons big men.
1. Knight, Bynum 2. Stuckey, English 3. Prince, Daye, Singler, Middleton 4. Maxiell, Jerebko, Macklin 5. Monroe, Drummond Drummond is going to be an interesting storyline to follow and I think he'll contribute sooner than people think. He just has to make up for the weaknesses in the team and he seems to fit the bill right out the gate. I'm most interested in Singler. If he improves his jump shot, he'd be great off the bench. I like this off ball movement. I think he's going to make a lot of things easier for his teammates. After that, I want to see Macklin parlay his Mad Ant success in the NBA. I have a feeling Drummond won't stay on the court very long with Amir like foul collection so its good to have backup size. The other thing is seeing how much better Knight will get. I think his individual skill set will improve but I want to see him make big strides in running the team. Its going to make for an interesting summerleague.
If the plan isn't to play Drummond along side Monroe, than what's the point. I realize that the kid is young but I firmly believe that you gotta get him up to speed quick as possible, even at the expense of winning games. I see it more like this: PG: Knight, Will Bynum SG: Stuck, English, Magette SF: Jerebko, Singler, Tay, Middleton PF: Monroe, JMax C: Drummond, V-Mack Street Clothes: Daye Amensty: Charlie
Last season we played .500 ball after a 4-20 start and we bring back the same team minus ben Gordon. Gordon NEVER fit here, I said before that I preferred Will Bynum as the 3rd grade off the bench, cheaper and doesn't need 30mpg to be effective. I think our guard rotation is set and consistent, English may bring an Afflalo type of game to the table, length, strong defense and a good open shooter. Drummond is a project and a gamble, however we have enough money to spend in free agency this summer to accommodate his learning curve.
This season I see a god 8 man rotation: PG: Knight/Bynum SG: Stuckey / Maggette SF: Tay / Maggette PF: Monroe / Jonas C: Drummond / Monroe Somehow, someway ....... Max will play his way into this rotation.
When have we ever stuck an 18 year old project in the starting line up at the very start? I was just roughing guys in but to me it makes sense to bring Drummond behind Monroe considering who we have.
