Gordon, Villanueva Visit Detroit

[Jon]

so hypothetically, they have a team that consists of:

crap/FA LLE crap
crap/villanueva
prince/villanueva
hamilton/gordon
stuckey

man, i'm terrified of that team...

 they have to be looking to move Rip and Prince, or else these moves would make no sense.

that ray and rondo for tay and rip rumor had better not start resurfacing...

That wouldn't make sense either really.  They'd still have too many guards and not enough up front.  

[Drucci]

Well, I can understand why they want Villanueva, because Sheed is gone but why Ben Gordon? It would put Hamilton in a 6th man role and obviously he didn't like it at all under Curry's coaching.

I dont see Detroit trading Rip and Prince. If a trade happens, one of them will be gone but not both.

Anyway these moves are interesting for us because it should make BBD's re-signing easier, though it's true it might make the Cavs's chase of Sheed a problem for us. Still, I think Sheed would prefer Boston over Cleveland because of the talent of the roster, of his friendship with KG. Plus, if it's true that he doesn't want to go in a team with "egos", Cleveland isn't a good destination (LeBron, Shaq, Mo...).

Our biggest opponent for Sheed is San Antonio in my opinion.

[nickagneta]

Villanueva makes a lot of sense, as he replaces all of Rasheed's production (but none of his toughness) at about 1/3 the price.

Gordon, on the other hand, make zero sense unless they plan to trade Hamilton. Even if they do, Hamilton is a much better player.

This is a glad day for Celtics fans, Dumars just eliminated a potential source of competition.

But Villanueva, for all his size, is a SF at heart that might be able to defend perimeter PFs. Wallace was a PF/C. I just don't see how Villanueva does anything except give you offense at the position where you already have a defensive specialist in Prince.

[Who]

Detroit should sign Marcin Gortat.

Then sit out and wait for next offseason.

[hankfinkel]

I don't think either player is really the type of guy you build a team around.  If I were Dumars, I would have waited until next summer.

That being said, according to the article neither deal is done yet.  I'll be interested in seeing the financials.

At the time, no one thought Rip Hamiliton and Billups were the kind of guys to build around either.  Dumars looks like, if thise rumor is true, he is speculating in a very similar fashion here, even taking a couple UCONN guys carrying on Rip's tradition. Duamrs likely is taking himself out of the running for the big 2010 free agents, and instead try to build a team of good young players who don't get max money, go for depth of talent instead of one superstar.

Not sure if he'll strike lightning in a bottle again.  He's had the only championship squad in the past 30 years that did not have a top 10 talent on the team, so I would not count on it.  But he clearly has a philosophy.

[RAcker]

Was this visit in the daytime or at night?

Armed or unarmed?

[Fafnir]

Was this visit in the daytime or at night?

Armed or unarmed?

I don't know, but yahoo has it and says they could be signed sooner rather than later.

[biggs]

What is Joe's final plan here?

I'm assuming that charlie v at the 3 will put tyshawn on the bench. ok guess that makes sense.

Gordon starting means??? Rip at 3? Rip off bench?  Rip traded? I don't get that one. 

Who is their starting PF?  Not Rasheed. Maxiell?

I like their 123 of stuckey, gordon, and Charlie V for the future, but where does that leave there "now" team?

[Mr October]

Yeah I dont get this plan. Hamilton and Prince are better than Gordon and Villaneuva (IMO anyway).

They need to focus that cash on a quality big. IF they sign Gordon and Villaneuva, I think they're lining themselves up for 45-50 wins at best over the next few years, not championship contention.

Id hold that cash until 2010 and get a serious pickup instead of 2 lesser ones. But whatever. I just don't get it.

[perks-a-beast]

3 UCONN players on one team? Man, Donny Marshall just went from six to midnight.

[silvershamrocker]

3 UCONN players on one team? Man, Donny Marshall just went from six to midnight.

Hopefully he'll go cover the Pistons now...

[RebusRankin]

I don't get this. Is he going to sign Jake Voskul since they need a big man? Will Donnie Marshall come out of retirement?

[Michael Anthony]

Villanueva makes a lot of sense, as he replaces all of Rasheed's production (but none of his toughness) at about 1/3 the price.

Gordon, on the other hand, make zero sense unless they plan to trade Hamilton. Even if they do, Hamilton is a much better player.

This is a glad day for Celtics fans, Dumars just eliminated a potential source of competition.

But Villanueva, for all his size, is a SF at heart that might be able to defend perimeter PFs. Wallace was a PF/C. I just don't see how Villanueva does anything except give you offense at the position where you already have a defensive specialist in Prince.

When I said production versus toughness I was thinking scoring and rebounding versus defense, so I tend to agree with you there.

I am not sure why anybody on this blog thinks of Villenueva as a small forward. He is 6'11" and 240 pounds, and played 80% of his minutes at power forward and 20% at center last season.

[Who]

I am not sure why anybody on this blog thinks of Villenueva as a small forward. He is 6'11" and 240 pounds, and played 80% of his minutes at power forward and 20% at center last season.

Yeah, that was confusing me too. Villanueva is a power forward, it's his best position.

[D Dub]

I am not sure why anybody on this blog thinks of Villenueva as a small forward. He is 6'11" and 240 pounds, and played 80% of his minutes at power forward and 20% at center last season.

Yeah, that was confusing me too. Villanueva is a power forward, it's his best position.

He plays like a guard though.  I never see him in the paint and his favorite shot is the 3 ball. 

He's a power forward in the mold of Antoine Walker.