Rumors swirled around Pistons players as the NBA’s trade deadline approached but as Thursday came and went, the Detroit roster went unchanged. Stan Van Gundy spoke with Aaron McMann of MLive about the club’s lack of activity.
“Look, we’re not real happy with how we’ve played up to this point overall, but we still do have a young group,” Van Gundy said of the now 28-31 Pistons.. “And as much as you would like the progress to be steadily up hill, it’s not always. That doesn’t mean that you lose faith in your guys.”
The Pistons have struggled since starting guard Reggie Jackson returned to the lineup in early December, previously he had been recovering from a knee procedure and Ish Smith had stepped in to man the point. Over the course of the past month, Jackson’s name has been linked to the Timberwolves in a possible two- or three- team trade, potentially involving the Knicks.
“You don’t want to get that deal fever where you just want to make a deal so badly that you end up making a bad one,” he said. Considering that Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, two names that came up as possible trade candidates at the deadline, are just 23 and 24 years old respectively, patience may still pay off.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Though 2014 second-overall pick Jabari Parker will miss the remainder of this season and part of next season recovering from a torn ACL, his second drastic injury in the past three seasons, the Bucks didn’t consider dealing him at the deadline, tweets Stephen Watson of WISN 12 News. “Absolutely not,” general manager John Hammond told Watson, when asked explicitly.
- It’s not clear whether the Bulls will embrace a rebuild or continue to push to win now and the continued presence of Rajon Rondo in the lineup embodies the organization’s indirection, Nick Friedell of ESPN writes.
- After a pair of 10-day contracts with the Hornets, former Pistons guard Ray McCallum – one of the last cut by the Pistons during training camp – is back in the D-League with Detroit’s affiliate in Grand Rapids. The point guard is averaging 17.8 points and 7.5 assists per game with the Drive so far this season.
Sixer likely to offer Max to KCP if they don’t come away with Monk in the draft. Will be interesting to see if the Pistons match.
Whoever ends up with him for money like that will immediately have one of the most overpaid players & worst contracts in the sport. He’s a nice role player but he’s not a star and will never be one.
These max contracts are getting out of hand, you had to be at least a A level player to get a max now C level players are getting these big time commitments
Sixers like Jonathan Isaac and may look to draft Isaac to fill the void left from dealing Ilyasova and Noel and then sign Pope to a max deal.
KCP is a 3 and D player, they should re-sign him, Jackson will get going also. They need to open up some minutes for Ellenson, he has really good skills and is a legit stretch 4. Their SF situation is the problem, they have Morris,Harris, and Stanley. They have to throw Stanley at the 3 and see how the kid performs with more minutes, he would make them so much better on defense.
Why is SVG drafting so many wings, BPA I guess, with no way to properly give them minutes to develop. Stanley, Darren and Michael, while already having KCP and Bullock and Morris. Two more draft picks this year and with one of them probably being a wing and where do you get the minutes from. Big problem brewing.
The Milwaukee Bucks should sign Terrance Jones (PF) for the rest of the year, and cut Rashard Vaughn. (SG) Jones at least can shoot and score. Vaughn looks lost every time he takes the court. It also wouldn’t hurt to actually play S, Hawes (C) who they received in a trade. And, play A. Toupane (SG/SF) who they signed to a 10 day contract. Hopefully J. Kidd will also be gone next year!!