Detroit had a chance for a dynasty...

[jdub1660]

Detroit has been one of those teams that teams have feared for that past 4 or 5 years. They've one 1 championship, but have made the ECF 3 or 4 years straight now...I was just humored to remember that they had drafted garbage Darko Milicic, and now I see that Dumars wants to reface his team since they can't seem to get a ring again. So the rumor is that he wants Melo...whom he had a chance to draft that year..but chose Darko instead, who has been tossed around from  Orlando to now Memphis. Too funny if you think about it. But what will happen to Detroit now. Every year or 2 they lose a key player to that championship. They lost Larry Brown. Then Ben Wallace. Then Flip Saunders. Now any of their  4 core players could end up in a different jersey next season, most likely being Rasheed. What possibilities do you see with trades and all for Detroit? Reasonable ones of course...   

[KungPoweChicken]

What about Billiups and Hamilton for McGrady? I have not checked to see if salaries match up so don't kill me if they don't. 

Why for Houston? Houston will get the PG and leader they desperately need in Billiups. They get a solid scoring two guard in Hamilton. They have Shane "The defensive stopper at the three" Then they have Scola at the four, and Yao at the five. This team would be scary out west.

Why for Detroit? Detroit gets the big time scorer they have been looking for. Also, it looks like Rodney Stuckey is ready for the starting gig. A lineup of Stuckey, McGrady, Prince, Mcdyess, and Wallace may be better than what they had before.

With all this being said, I doubt Detroit would pull the trigger on this deal. They give up an awful lot, and outside of McGrady, that team would not be able to throw the ball in the ocean.

I would really like to see this deal get done for Houston though. I would really like to see those players playing together.

[jdub1660]

Billups can't leave though. He's too good for Detroit. I think Dumars has to find a way to rid himself of Rasheed and make use of Prince in a trade. Maybe Rasheed/Prince to LAL in exchange for Odom/Radmanovic.

Lakers - Fisher, Kobe, Prince, Sheed/Gasol, Bynum/Gasol
Pistons - Billups, Hamilton, Radmanovic, Odom, McDyess

The only problem I see already is Sheed or Gasol or Bynum coming off the bench. Maybe a 3rd team could get involved?
Throw around Rasheed, Prince, Radmanovic, Odom, Marion, Blount...

Lakers get Marion, Prince - adds a star to your bench and makes a scary starting 5
Pistons get Blount, Odom - spreads the floor and adds leadership to the team along with refacing the team
Miami gets Rasheed, Radmanovic - Adds offense to the team and spreads the floor for Beasley to grow and dominate

[wdleehi]

Billups can't leave though. He's too good for Detroit. I think Dumars has to find a way to rid himself of Rasheed and make use of Prince in a trade. Maybe Rasheed/Prince to LAL in exchange for Odom/Radmanovic.

Lakers - Fisher, Kobe, Prince, Sheed/Gasol, Bynum/Gasol
Pistons - Billups, Hamilton, Radmanovic, Odom, McDyess

The only problem I see already is Sheed or Gasol or Bynum coming off the bench. Maybe a 3rd team could get involved?
Throw around Rasheed, Prince, Radmanovic, Odom, Marion, Blount...

Lakers get Marion, Prince - adds a star to your bench and makes a scary starting 5
Pistons get Blount, Odom - spreads the floor and adds leadership to the team along with refacing the team
Miami gets Rasheed, Radmanovic - Adds offense to the team and spreads the floor for Beasley to grow and dominate

Terrible trade for Deetroit.  They get worse in both spots.  That add two guys the Celtics took out in the playoffs.


Detroit lost their chance when they replaced Brown with Flip. 

[Roy Hobbs]

So, in hindsight, who would have been the best option for Detroit: Carmelo, Bosh, or Wade?

I think in terms of skills, Bosh is probably the best fit for their roster, but he's too brittle.  I think Wade might be the second best option, because he would have been the ideal 6th man for a couple of years, before pushing Rip or Prince to that slot.  However, I guess there are the same durability concerns.

I think skills wise, Carmelo is actually the worst fit of those players.  He doesn't do much other than score, and I'm not sure that he's such a great teammate.  He has been healthy, though, which is something the other two options can't say.

[wdleehi]

So, in hindsight, who would have been the best option for Detroit: Carmelo, Bosh, or Wade?

I think in terms of skills, Bosh is probably the best fit for their roster, but he's too brittle.  I think Wade might be the second best option, because he would have been the ideal 6th man for a couple of years, before pushing Rip or Prince to that slot.  However, I guess there are the same durability concerns.

I think skills wise, Carmelo is actually the worst fit of those players.  He doesn't do much other than score, and I'm not sure that he's such a great teammate.  He has been healthy, though, which is something the other two options can't say.

Yep.  Bosh was the best fit.



But then, would they have traded for Wallace?  Without Wallace, no title. 

[zerophase]

So, in hindsight, who would have been the best option for Detroit: Carmelo, Bosh, or Wade?

I think in terms of skills, Bosh is probably the best fit for their roster, but he's too brittle.  I think Wade might be the second best option, because he would have been the ideal 6th man for a couple of years, before pushing Rip or Prince to that slot.  However, I guess there are the same durability concerns.

I think skills wise, Carmelo is actually the worst fit of those players.  He doesn't do much other than score, and I'm not sure that he's such a great teammate.  He has been healthy, though, which is something the other two options can't say.

if wade was a 6th man for many years... what a waste of his talent that would've been. he probably wouldn't even have made an all-star game. oh man, that gives me chills thinking about it.

[Roy Hobbs]

So, in hindsight, who would have been the best option for Detroit: Carmelo, Bosh, or Wade?

I think in terms of skills, Bosh is probably the best fit for their roster, but he's too brittle.  I think Wade might be the second best option, because he would have been the ideal 6th man for a couple of years, before pushing Rip or Prince to that slot.  However, I guess there are the same durability concerns.

I think skills wise, Carmelo is actually the worst fit of those players.  He doesn't do much other than score, and I'm not sure that he's such a great teammate.  He has been healthy, though, which is something the other two options can't say.

if wade was a 6th man for many years... what a waste of his talent that would've been. he probably wouldn't even have made an all-star game. oh man, that gives me chills thinking about it.

Well, John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, and Manu Ginobli were / are all 6th men, so it wouldn't have been the end of the world.  He would have still been seeing about 30 minutes per night.

[Jon]

I don't think Detroit ever had a chance at a dynasty.  To me, they're the '90s Knicks, Pacers, Jazz, Heat, Sonics, etc. that got lucky one year and won a title.  As happy as I was to see them beat the hated Lakers in '04, the Lakers more self-destructed than anything.  It was apparent then that they would not be repeating. 

They are everything you'd want to teach a youth league team.  They play tough defense and they share the ball.  However, while they share the ball, they have no clear cut dominant scorer to that can will their team to victory.  That's why they lost the LeBron and the Cavs two years ago; that's why the Celtics behind the star power of Paul Pierce beat the Cavs in game 7 this year.  Billups is very good, but not on the same level as a Pierce/James; Hamilton gets most of his points off of screens; and Wallace is way too inconsistent. 

As for the draft, you could make the argument that if they got Melo then they would've had the guy to get the big basket when they needed it.  Maybe.  Though I'm not convinced Melo is all that great.  He lacks a great outside shot, he plays little defense, and is not all that team oriented.  What he may have provided on offense, he might have negated with his defense and lack of intangibles. 

In either case, if Dumars dismantles, I think it's the right move.  Detroit is clearly inferior to Boston right now and is too old to outlast them. 

[Moranis]

Brown wanted Melo so that is who they would have drafted had it not been Darko, who was DUmars' choice.

Had they drafted Melo I don't think they make the trade for Rasheed, though that means they might have also kept Okur long term.  Actually had they kept Okur and let Sheed walk they might have had another title thrown in as Okur was younger and getting better and certainly isn't the head case that Rasheed is. 

[hoopaddict06]

I don't think Detroit ever had a chance at a dynasty.  To me, they're the '90s Knicks, Pacers, Jazz, Heat, Sonics, etc. that got lucky one year and won a title.  As happy as I was to see them beat the hated Lakers in '04, the Lakers more self-destructed than anything.  It was apparent then that they would not be repeating. 

They are everything you'd want to teach a youth league team.  They play tough defense and they share the ball.  However, while they share the ball, they have no clear cut dominant scorer to that can will their team to victory.  That's why they lost the LeBron and the Cavs two years ago; that's why the Celtics behind the star power of Paul Pierce beat the Cavs in game 7 this year.  Billups is very good, but not on the same level as a Pierce/James; Hamilton gets most of his points off of screens; and Wallace is way too inconsistent. 

As for the draft, you could make the argument that if they got Melo then they would've had the guy to get the big basket when they needed it.  Maybe.  Though I'm not convinced Melo is all that great.  He lacks a great outside shot, he plays little defense, and is not all that team oriented.  What he may have provided on offense, he might have negated with his defense and lack of intangibles. 

In either case, if Dumars dismantles, I think it's the right move.  Detroit is clearly inferior to Boston right now and is too old to outlast them. 

First off, Pierce is not on the same level as Lebron James. Second, why are you even comparing Billups to Lebron James? He is a point guard, not a small forward. It's like comparing Chris Paul to Shaq. Chancey Billups is still a top point guard in the league, and he isn't the first option on Detroit's offense, Richard Hamilton is. Hamilton is also one of the top mid-range shooters in the league. As for you saying Detroit didn't win because they don't have a dominant scorer doesn't make sense, because how else have they been a top team in the league the last six years? How did they win a title and make two Final appearences? There was no dominant scorer, unless you consider Ben Wallace as one? 

I'm sorry but you just aren't giving that team enough credit, you can't just put Boston on a completely different level because they won the title this year. Give me a break, Boston almost lost to Atlanta and Cleveland. And to say Detroit is inferior to Boston and is too old to outlast them is foolish. You really got to know a team before you make statements like that. Rodney Stuckey, Aaron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, and Jason Maxiell are all going to be solid players in this league. This is why Joe Dumars is considered such a great GM, once guys like Billups and Rasheed start to slow down he has these guys to take over. As you can tell I'm a huge fan of Detroit but I also have a lot of respect for Boston, you just need to give other teams a little more credit.

Rodney Stuckey http://youtube.com/watch?v=HGp8HioDJGY
Amir Johnson http://youtube.com/watch?v=k1CqtnnPtSs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hxLXmKSukCE
Jason Maxiell http://youtube.com/watch?v=HEFNHxWwBws

[zerophase]

I don't think Detroit ever had a chance at a dynasty.  To me, they're the '90s Knicks, Pacers, Jazz, Heat, Sonics, etc. that got lucky one year and won a title.  As happy as I was to see them beat the hated Lakers in '04, the Lakers more self-destructed than anything.  It was apparent then that they would not be repeating. 

They are everything you'd want to teach a youth league team.  They play tough defense and they share the ball.  However, while they share the ball, they have no clear cut dominant scorer to that can will their team to victory.  That's why they lost the LeBron and the Cavs two years ago; that's why the Celtics behind the star power of Paul Pierce beat the Cavs in game 7 this year.  Billups is very good, but not on the same level as a Pierce/James; Hamilton gets most of his points off of screens; and Wallace is way too inconsistent. 

As for the draft, you could make the argument that if they got Melo then they would've had the guy to get the big basket when they needed it.  Maybe.  Though I'm not convinced Melo is all that great.  He lacks a great outside shot, he plays little defense, and is not all that team oriented.  What he may have provided on offense, he might have negated with his defense and lack of intangibles. 

In either case, if Dumars dismantles, I think it's the right move.  Detroit is clearly inferior to Boston right now and is too old to outlast them. 

First off, Pierce is not on the same level as Lebron James. Second, why are you even comparing Billups to Lebron James? He is a point guard, not a small forward. It's like comparing Chris Paul to Shaq. Chancey Billups is still a top point guard in the league, and he isn't the first option on Detroit's offense, Richard Hamilton is. Hamilton is also one of the top mid-range shooters in the league. As for you saying Detroit didn't win because they don't have a dominant scorer doesn't make sense, because how else have they been a top team in the league the last six years? How did they win a title and make two Final appearences? There was no dominant scorer, unless you consider Ben Wallace as one? 

I'm sorry but you just aren't giving that team enough credit, you can't just put Boston on a completely different level because they won the title this year. Give me a break, Boston almost lost to Atlanta and Cleveland. And to say Detroit is inferior to Boston and is too old to outlast them is foolish. You really got to know a team before you make statements like that. Rodney Stuckey, Aaron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, and Jason Maxiell are all going to be solid players in this league. This is why Joe Dumars is considered such a great GM, once guys like Billups and Rasheed start to slow down he has these guys to take over. As you can tell I'm a huge fan of Detroit but I also have a lot of respect for Boston, you just need to give other teams a little more credit.

nice to see that a detroit fanboy has taken the effort and registered on a boston celtics forum.