Pistons vs Wolves

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Brought this name up back at ESPN, but is Marion untouchable from Dallas? Nice expiring contract too.

[worldK]

Sjm - Dante can actually guard sf's decently. At least hes better than derrick williams. If you watch the games last season, adelman has dante guarding the opposing sf's when both he and dw are in the game together alongside a center. That tells me adelman has much more confidence in dante's ability to stay with 3's than dw.

Im with lip that dante is the starting sf by default. Were not going to be a top caliber team with dante there, he is a backup pf, but so is williams at this point. I really hope that williams can get better as ive said multiple times that williams breaking out and being able to play the 3 is our best hope for us to reach contender status with the current lineup. But williams has been disappointing this pre season as far as his ability to play the 3 and overall play in general.

[worldK]

Brought this name up back at ESPN, but is Marion untouchable from Dallas? Nice expiring contract too.

Marion would be ideal. However, I think dallas thinking they have as shot to make the playoffs and are making a push. Marion may only be available if mavs are not in playoff contention by trade deadline.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I think Flip is going to regret giving Pek that 5-year, $60 million deal. He is neither tough nor resilient. And even when not banged up this preseason, he plays like a guy who is just fat and happy having received his big guaranteed deal. I don't fault Flip for doing the deal. I would have probably fine he same. But I have a bad feeling about this. If we could trade Pek straight up for Batum, I'd do it in a heartbeat.[/quote
]
It's interesting to me that the league isn't on to Pek's softness based on the GM poll. Apparently large biceps and scary tattoos can obscure the truth. This is good news because Pek will put up good numbers, and if he is also perceived as being tough, he should bring great value in a trade. As soon as the Wolves are comfortable that Dieng can play meaningful minutes at center, Flip better be on the phone looking at starting SF options.

Who are some other SF possibilities other than Batum?

[mjs34]

Sjm - Dante can actually guard sf's decently. At least hes better than derrick williams. If you watch the games last season, adelman has dante guarding the opposing sf's when both he and dw are in the game together alongside a center. That tells me adelman has much more confidence in dante's ability to stay with 3's than dw.

Im with lip that dante is the starting sf by default. Were not going to be a top caliber team with dante there, he is a backup pf, but so is williams at this point. I really hope that williams can get better as ive said multiple times that williams breaking out and being able to play the 3 is our best hope for us to reach contender status with the current lineup. But williams has been disappointing this pre season as far as his ability to play the 3 and overall play in general.

World you'll have to forgive me if I don't jump on with Rick's thinking. Dante was guarding the 3's because he isn't strong enough to guard the PF's. I like having DC on our team, but Adelman uses him too much, just like he did with Luke last season.

DW is a better offensive player, and is just as good on D as DC is. DC is who will be five years from now. Maybe DW is as well, but we need to find that out. I am hoping we trade DW at this point, because I can't wait to see who the new goat will be according to Rick.

[worldK]

Sjm, I see where your coming from. Dw is the more talented player than dante no doubt about it. Whats frustrating about dw for us fans is that we all know and recognize his talents. But he hasn't been able to put it all together for a consistent stretch. I want him to succeed and he is crucial to us. I dont think rick is using dw as a goat, it is what it is. Dw just needs to step up.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

I think Flip is going to regret giving Pek that 5-year, $60 million deal. He is neither tough nor resilient. And even when not banged up this preseason, he plays like a guy who is just fat and happy having received his big guaranteed deal. I don't fault Flip for doing the deal. I would have probably fine he same. But I have a bad feeling about this. If we could trade Pek straight up for Batum, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Lip, I tend to agree, although i think that you overstated it a bit. Pek plays a more physical game than most when he is on the court, by playing as physical as he does, he will end up with more bumps and bruises than most players. He also doesn't seem like he excels at playing through pain. I expect Pek to average around 8 and 16 per game (with some pretty good man-on-man defense) around 60 games per season. is that worth $12 million per year? I guess.

Most importantly to me, most of the guys that are the "frequently injured" types don't seems to excel in the playoffs.

Also, to those that say that Brewer will start, I think that he will more frequently than others. Not because he is a starting SF in this league. Instead he compliments the 1st team players more than he does the second team players.

[Eitan]

Markkbu, I`m with you regarding Brewer. Brewer is perfect fit for our starting lineup (even after Bud will be back). He will give us defense and easy points (fastbreaks).

Donte shouldn`t be on our starting lineup.

I hope that Price will be on our team. I had enough from Shved, I think he doesn`t fit to this League.

Although I like Deng`s potential, he is not ready yet. I was very surprised by Turiaf in the preseason and think he should be the first backup center for us.

[bleedspeed]

If DC, Brewer, or DWill is our starting SF we need to make a trade. I would rather see Hummel or ShaBazz starting at SF then either of those 3. Shabazz would be my choice. Let him start the game and get in the follow. It doesn't mean he has to play more then 20 minutes and finish, but he seems like a logical longterm starter at the position. (starting to wish we drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo)

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Trade possibilities: Evan Turner, Trevor Ariza, ???

Who else is out there? It's tough even bringing up names.