Do they have everyone fatored in yet? We should be around 62 mil or so. Plus still have to sign a couple of 3rd string bench guys to fill out the roster. That should put us at about the league median in team payroll.
You guys aren't going to believe this, but the Pistons would like to add a young big man to the team to fill out the roster, but now that Joe is done signing his band of misfits he has no money left to do so. That is shocking!!! http://detroitnews.com/article/20111218/SPORTS0102/112180349/1127/More-Pistons-moves-likely
Nick Young has accepted the Wizards' one-year, $3.7 million qualifying offer, Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports. Why couldn't JoeD do this with Stuckey??
On paper ...yes. Seven footers (even lousy ones who can't catch a pass or secure a rebound) don't grow on trees. Average *Off-Guards are a dime-a-dozen. Kwame would be our best big-man defender as soon as he signed (actually Ben still might be better but...) The league is full of SGs who have the ability to play the position as good or better than Rodney for the same or less money. I'm sorry but I just can't get my head around the fact that Joe has spent over $8 million a year on Rodney Stuckey. I can't believe that I'm actually going to type this but I strongly believe that the 2012 Detroit Pistons, as currently constructed, would be better served by paying Kwame freaking Brown $7 mil per year than giving $8 mil per year to Rodney Stuckey. *I'm refusing to refer to Stuckey as a "Shooting Guard" until he can add some range and improve his shot.
Without Stuckey right now we'd have a backcourt of Bynum, Knight, and Gordon. With no player over 6'3". Possibly the smallest/worst defensive backcourt of all time. With Gordon's recent awful play, Bynum being Bynum, and a rookie... Fact is, we needed another decent guard. Stuckey was the best available who is of an age where he won't be 35 by the time we add a few more pieces (I would rather have Afflalo, but Denver would have matched). Up front we've got Monroe, Jonas, Maxiell, Charlie V, and Big Ben. Which is not great by any means, but it's not missing depth, it's missing a big time talent/shotblocker next to Monroe. That's not Kwame Brown.
I have no problem with signing Stuckey. I have a problem with the amount that he was signed for when Joe decided to bid against himself.
I'm with BDL here. Stuckey signing was fine, for <$5 mil a year. Not for over 8. And the thing is, we didn't HAVE to sign Stuckey. He was under contract. If we hadn't signed him, and he blows it up this year, would he have gotten more than $8 mil next year? Probably not, probably would have gotten about that.
I'm going to disagree with this statement, based on Stuckey's inability to show us any reason for signing him....
Man you guys really, really, really don't like this guy. I'm not a slappy, and I thought his demeanor last year was horrible, but I'm not ready to give up on him yet. When Devin Harris went to NJ, Lawrence Frank had him posting career highs. Stuckey's numbers, like it or not, have improved every year. He can't shoot 3-pointers and isn't a true PG but he is still capable of playing the PG position and has excellent size and is a good defender. Past his rookie year he's never had a real coach or someone who can teach him the game. We signed him to a movable contract at a fair price and would not have gotten anyone better for that money. I think he's going to have a much better year than everyone expects and won't have attitude problems. I hope I'm not wrong.
The amount means basically nothing to anyone but Gores and Rodney considering we're locked into a couple of worse contracts until the deal is up. It's not like the Pistons are going to attract some great free agent talent that is better than Rodney even if we did have the money. As for joe bidding against himself, that is assuming quite a bit. Rodney was a restricted free agent and Joe made it publicly known that he wanted to keep Rodney around. Teams generally do not like to have their money tied down waiting for an offer sheet to be matched. Not all "interest" is made public as well. Look at Afflalo. There has been very little talk about him. You think there aren't teams interested in him? Sure there are, but not all teams announce everything to the public. Fact is, the deal is roughly on par with what players similar to Stuckry in age/ability are getting. Everyone is overpayed.
I think I'm still mad at the guy for taking Ben Wallace's number 3. I hope you are right. So far, I think Stuckey is an OK guard, but not really great. Honestly, I would rather the Bulls sign Stuckey for $8.4 million per year, and the Pistons sign Hamilton for $5. There. I just opened up another can of worms.
I do like your post. Thanks for noticing that some of us place little value in Stuckey. You have listed his skill set in a reasonable fashion. You also pin his future on hope..........and discuss the coaching situation as being detrimental.........thanks
Is there a dislike button on this thing? There does seem to be a school of thought here that thinks Stuckey has not gotten a fair shake in DET. I do not agree with that. To me he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth only he now uses the spoon to smoke crack rocks. Devin Harris could play when he was in Dallas. Most people thought NJ got the best player in the deal at the time. Stuckey averaged 15 points a game!
