More Possible Pistons Trades

The off-season in NBA basketball is almost as fun as the regular season.  For Joe Dumars, it’s everything.  When asked if he was going to make some major moves this summer, Joe responded with the now famous answer, “You’re damn right I will.”  The Pistons don’t have the cap space to sign a free agent, so a trade should be in the works.

I’ve previously said that they should go after Elton Brand.  Here’s some other names that I think Joe might try to trade for:

Carmello Anthony.  Denver is in the same boat as Detroit, in that they’re as good as they’re going to get, and they need to make a major deal to shake things up.  Pistons could offer Chauncey (or Prince) and Rasheed for Anthony and someone else to make the salaries match up.  If this happened, the Pistons would look to then trade Prince for a big man.

Gilbert Arenas.  Washington proved throughout the regular season that they could play without Agent Zero.  Something tells me, with both Arenas and Antawn Jamison due for new deals, that they would be willing to part with Arenas if they could get something good back in return.  That’s something the Pistons have a surplus of.  An Agent Zero-Man In The Mask backcourt would look real nice, as would Arenas paired with Billups or Stuckey.  Washington lacks quality big men, so the Pistons could offer Chauncey or Rip plus Rasheed.

Zach Randolph.  Spartan fans find this intriguing.  You could basically trade Rasheed straight up for Randolph because their salaries are close.  Plus, the Knicks would appreciate Sheed’s expiring contract with the financial mess they have going on over there.  I know, Randolph has been accused of being lazy, unmotivated, and a ball-hog, but look where he’s played – Portland and New York.  You put him on a veteran team like Detroit, give him the hunger of playing for a championship and not just for boosting his stats and you could have a good match.  This would be a gamble on Detroit’s part, but I think it would be an interesting one worth taking.  It would certainly address the Pistons’ need for a dominant low-post scorer.  When Zach is on his game, he’s basically unstoppable although when he’s not, he’s a liability.

Jason Richardson and Emeka Okafor.  Larry Brown is going to coach the Charlotte Bobcats next year.  So sending his buddy Rasheed there is probably something that LB is lobbying for to fellow Tar Heel Michael Jordan.  Pistons could also send Hamilton and receive Jason Richardson and Emaka Okafor in return.  That would leave them with a three guard rotation of Billups, Stuckey, and J-Rich, with Prince, Jason Maxiell and Okafor down low.  Okafor’s 25, Richardson is 27, so that would give them some good youth and athleticism.  I like this deal a lot, although Hamilton is one of my favorite players and it would be hard to see him go.  But J-Rich is sweet and still entering the prime of his career.  I still don’t understand why the Warriors traded him to the Bobcats in the first place for like the 8th pick in last years draft.  This might be one of the more likely trades to happen.  Oh, and if the Pistons end up with a throw in for this trade, I’d love it if they could somehow pick up Earl Boykins.  Earl is one of my favorite players of all time and the most amazing college player I’ve ever seen.  Boykins played for my alma matter, Eastern Michigan University. 

Of course, there’s a bunch more players I’d love to see the Pistons get, but these are some names that are actually realistic.  It’ll be fun to see how it all shakes out.