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Detroit Pistons

The World Champion Detroit Pistons have the 34th pick in the Usenet Mock Draft. In the real draft, the Pistons pick at 54. Their GM is Craig Simpson who selects
Beno Udrih, PG, Slovenia

Introduction

The 2004 NBA Champions - Detroit Pistons. Boy was that unexpected. The 2004 Pistons were defined by their defense, great chemistry and great coaching. They took that and some timely shooting and won the championship.

Team President Joe Dumars made some bold choices for the 2004 season. First they fired Rick Carlisle and hired Larry Brown. Then they passed on Carmelo Anthony and took Darko Milicic instead. They also took Carlos Delfino with their second first round pick and let him play in Europe this year. Some of those moves worked out great and some are still under review.

Gone from last years team was Jon Barry (FA), Michael Curry (Trade), Danny Manning (Retirement), Don Reid (FA), Clifford Robinson (Trade) and Pepe Sanchez (lord knows). In their place came Bob Sura, Tremaine Fowlkes, Darvin Ham and Darko Milicic.

In addition, Chucky Atkins, Zeljko Rebraca and Sura, were traded to get Rasheed Wallace (A big thank you goes out to Danny Ainge for making that trade possible), and Humbert Davis was traded to New Jersey. Those deals not only helped bring the 2004 title, but cleared cap room for resinging R. Wallace and/or Mehmet Okur.


Current Team Roster/Status

2003-04 Roster (from http://www.espn.com)

NO. PLAYER           POS.  HT.  WT. BORN          COLLEGE 
 1  Chauncey Billups  PG   6-3  202 Sep. 25, 1976 Colorado 
41  Elden Campbell     C   7-0  279 Jul. 23, 1968 Clemson 
24  Tremaine Fowlkes  SF   6-7  212 Apr. 10, 1976 Fresno State 
 8  Darvin Ham         F   6-7  240 Jul. 23, 1973 Texas Tech 
32  Richard Hamilton  SG   6-7  193 Feb. 14, 1978 Connecticut 
10  Lindsey Hunter    PG   6-2  195 Dec. 3,  1970 Jackson State 
 7  Mike James        PG   6-2  188 Jun. 23, 1975 Duquesne 
31 Darko Milicic      FC   7-0  250 Jun. 20, 1985   
13 Mehmet Okur        FC   6-11 249 May 26,  1979   
22 Tayshaun Prince    SF   6-9  215 Feb. 28, 1980 Kentucky 
 3 Ben Wallace        PF   6-9  240 Sep. 10, 1974 Virginia Union 
30 Rasheed Wallace    FC   6-11 230 Sep. 17, 1974 North Carolina 
34 Corliss Williamson SF   6-7  245 Dec. 4,  1973 Arkansas 

Stats (from http://www.espn.com)

NAME          GP  GS  MIN   PTS  OFF  DEF  TOT  AST   STL BLK   TO  A/TO   PF TECH 
R. Hamilton   78  78  35.5 17.6  1.0  2.6  3.6  4.0  1.32 0.22  2.7 1.48  2.8 0.1 
C. Billups    78  78  35.4 16.9  0.4  3.1  3.5  5.7  1.08 0.10  2.4 2.36  2.3 0.1 
R. Wallace    22  21  30.6 13.7  1.5  5.6  7.0  1.8  1.09 2.05  1.3 1.38  2.7 0.3 
T. Prince     82  80  32.9 10.3  1.1  3.6  4.8  2.3  0.77 0.84  1.5 1.61  1.8 0.0 
M. Okur       71  33  22.3  9.6  2.3  3.7  5.9  1.0  0.51 0.89  1.4 0.68  1.9 0.0 
B. Wallace    81  81  37.7  9.5  4.0  8.4 12.4  1.7  1.77 3.04  1.5 1.12  2.0 0.2 
C. Williamson 79  0   19.9  9.5  1.1  2.1  3.2  0.7  0.38 0.25  1.4 0.50  2.6 0.0 
M. James      26  0   19.7  6.3  0.3  1.9  2.2  3.7  1.00 0.04  1.6 2.32  1.7 0.0 
C. Atkins     40  0   18.8  6.2  0.2  1.1  1.2  2.4  0.48 0.03  1.2 1.98  1.5 0.0 
E. Campbell   65  27  13.7  5.6  0.8  2.4  3.2  0.7  0.32 0.77  1.0 0.71  2.1 0.0 
B. Sura       53  0   13.3  3.8  0.6  1.4  1.9  1.7  0.70 0.17  0.7 2.28  1.6 0.0 
L. Hunter     33  8   20.0  3.5  0.4  1.6  2.0  2.6  1.18 0.18  1.0 2.50  1.4 0.0 
Z. Rebraca    21  2   10.6  3.1  0.9  1.4  2.3  0.2  0.24 0.43  0.6 0.31  2.1 0.0 
D. Ham        54  2    9.0  1.8  0.9  0.9  1.7  0.3  0.24 0.15  0.6 0.52  1.2 0.0 
D. Milicic    34  0    4.7  1.4  0.3  0.9  1.3  0.2  0.21 0.44  0.4 0.54  1.0 0.0 
T. Fowlkes    36  0    7.3  1.2  0.5  1.0  1.5  0.4  0.25 0.08  0.3 1.17  1.0 0.0 
H. Davis       3  0    7.7  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.0  0.3  0.00 0.00  0.3 1.00  1.3 0.0 
TOTALS        82  ---  --- 90.1 12.4 30.4 42.8 20.8  8.04 6.95 14.4 1.44 20.3 0.5 
OPPONENTS     82  ---  --- 84.3 12.0 28.7 40.6 19.0  7.91 5.00 14.7 1.29 22.9 0.5 

Pistons Leaders 
NAME          FGM FGA   FG% 3PM 3PA   3P%  FTM FTA   FT%  2PM 2PA   2P% PPS*  FG% 
R. Hamilton   6.8 14.9 .455 0.2 0.9  .265  3.8 4.4  .868  512 1098 .466 1.18 .462 
C. Billups    5.0 12.8 .394 1.7 4.3  .388  5.2 5.9  .878  262  661 .396 1.32 .459 
R. Wallace    5.5 12.8 .431 1.0 3.1  .319  1.7 2.5  .704   99  212 .467 1.07 .470 
T. Prince     4.1  8.8 .467 0.7 1.9  .363  1.3 1.7  .766  281  566 .496 1.16 .507 
M. Okur       3.5  7.6 .463 0.3 0.7  .375  2.3 2.9  .775  233  494 .472 1.26 .480 
B. Wallace    3.9  9.2 .421 0.0 0.1  .125  1.8 3.6  .490  314  740 .424 1.03 .422 
C. Williamson 3.8  7.6 .505 0.0 0.0  .000  1.8 2.5  .731  304  602 .505 1.25 .505 
M. James      2.3  5.7 .401 0.8 2.1  .364  1.0 1.2  .844   39   92 .424 1.12 .469 
C. Atkins     2.2  5.9 .374 1.1 3.3  .323  0.8 1.1  .721   46  105 .438 1.06 .464 
E. Campbell   2.1  4.8 .439 0.0 0.0  .000  1.3 1.9  .685  138  314 .439 1.15 .439 
B. Sura       1.3  3.3 .410 0.2 0.7  .250  0.9 1.3  .696   62  137 .453 1.15 .436 
L. Hunter     1.5  4.3 .343 0.4 1.5  .280  0.2 0.2  .625   35   93 .376 0.82 .392 
Z. Rebraca    1.0  2.6 .407 0.0 0.0  .000  1.0 1.3  .786   22   54 .407 1.22 .407 
D. Ham        0.7  1.4 .493 0.0 0.0  .500  0.4 0.6  .600   36   73 .493 1.28 .500 
D. Milicic    0.5  1.9 .262 0.0 0.0  .000  0.4 0.7  .583   17   64 .266 0.74 .262 
T. Fowlkes    0.4  1.3 .313 0.0 0.2  .125  0.4 0.5  .722   14   40 .350 0.92 .323 
H. Davis      0.0  0.7 .000 0.0 0.3  .000  0.0 0.0  .000    0    1 .000 0.00 .000 
TOTALS       33.5 77.0 .435 4.1 11.8 .344 19.0 25.3 .753 2414 5346 .452 1.17 .461 
OPPONENTS    32.1 77.8 .413 4.3 14.4 .302 15.7 21.1 .744 2277 5198 .438 1.08 .441 

Salaries

I'd like to give credit to Patricia Bender and her excellent NBA resource site at http://www.dfw.net/~patricia

Detroit Pistons           Date    # of      total 
Player                   signed   years     salary     misc          FA
Tremaine Fowlkes ...... 10/28/03    1      minimum                  '04
Darvin Ham ............  9/23/03    1      minimum                  '04
Lindsey Hunter ........   8/8/97    7    $19 million                '04
Mehmet Okur ...........  8/21/02    2    $2.1 million               '04
Rasheed Wallace ....... 9/27/95    3+6  $6.8mill+$80mill            '04
Elden Campbell ........  7/26/03    2    $8.4 million               '05
Mike James ............  7/25/03    2      minimum                  '05
Tayshaun Prince .......   9/2/02    4     $4,541,153    rc    t-opt '06
Ben Wallace ...........   8/3/00    6    $30 million                '06
Chauncey Billups ......  7/17/02    6    $33.7 million        p-opt '07
Darko Milicic .........  9/12/03    4    $16,815,062    rc    t-opt '07
Corliss Williamson ....  7/24/01    6    $31,500,000                '07
Richard Hamilton ......  8/12/03    7    $62 million          p-opt '08 

rc = rookie contract, 1st round picks from 1995 and on are signed to 3 year contracts at a set range, with for picks from 1998 and on with a 4th year at the team's option

t-opt = team option year(s) (if team chooses, player will be under contract for another year)

FA = year player becomes a free agent (year = summer of) [Note: For players who have less than 3 years of experience (most noteably, rookies), the players are restricted free agents - their team can match any offer made to the player. 1st round draft picks who have completed the 4th year of their rookie contract are also restricted free agents.]


Current Team/Player Breakdown

Guards

Billups, Chauncey G 6-3 202 9/25/76 Colorado

Billups is a very lucky man. The Pistons were the perfect fit for him in that he does not need to be a true point guard to be effective. Billips is not a great shooter or passer, but he does both good enough to be effective. He also showed some real maturity this year in his dealings with Larry Brown (who was admittedly very hard on Billups). He took the criticism and made himself a better player and leader.

Hamilton, Richard G/F 6-7 193 2/14/78 Connecticut

Hamilton really had a coming out party in the NBA playoffs. He had a very good year overall, but once the playoffs started he showed that he was a special player. Always on the move, he forced the other team to spend a lot of effort covering him (even when he had an off night). As an example, Kobe Bryant was usually worn out by the end of the games from all the chasing he did on Hamilton. When they signed him to the $62 million dollar contract last year, I thought that they over paid. Not so anymore...

Hunter, Lindsey G 6-2 195 12/3/70 Jackson State

Hunter returned to the Pistons after a serveral year absence and did a great job as a backup point guard. Hunter provided good leadership and outstanding defense. I'm not sure if he will be back with the Pistons (since he is a FA), although I suspect that he will.

Delfino, Carlos G 6-6 215 8/29/82 Skipper (Italy)

Delfino was drafted in the 2003 draft and kept in Europe for a year. For the most part this looked like a great move. Delfino played a lot and really well in Europe whereas he would not have played much for the Pistons. However, after the struggles of Darko and Okur, Delfino is said to be concerned and might not come to the NBA this next year afterall. Dumars went and spoke to him and seems to be convinced that he will be a Piston next year.

James, Mike PG 6-2 188 6/23/75 Duquesne

James came over from Boston as part of the Rasheed Wallace. James never really fit in with the Pistons and hardley played in the playoffs.

Forwards

Wallace, Rasheed F/C 6-11 230 9/17/84 North Carolina

When Rasheed Wallace came to the Pistons, there was two schools of thought concerning the trade: the first school was that Wallace was the missing piece. The second was that Rasheed would screw up the close team that was already in place. Well, no doubt that the former was the correct observation. Wallace found the perfect home in Detroit. He was not needed to be a dominate player or a team leader. He was expected to play defense and fit in. He did both. Rasheed is a free agent, but I expect that he will re-sign with the Pistons. If he does not, he is a fool :-).

Prince, Tayshaun F 6-9 215 2/28/80 Kentucky

Prince can be a bit maddening at times. He can look like a future NBA all-star sometimes and other times, just take up space. You don't know when your going to get a 16pt - 8 rebound game from him, or a 2pt - 2 rebound game. He is always a solid defender (his work on Kobe was remarkable, and lets not forget perhaps one of the top 5 defensive plays ever - his block on Reggie Miller). However, it is the offensive end where Prince needs to become more consistant. Brown at times durning the season, threated to bench Prince because he would just not shoot the ball. Because of Ben Wallace offensive limitations, the Pistons really need Prince to average about 15 ppg to keep the other team honest. When he does that, the Pistons are a much better team. One must also comment on the mature way that Prince handled the Anthony thing. A lot of young players would have wilted under all the "they should have picked Anthony" comments that he heard all season.

Williamson, Corliss F 6-5 245 12/4/73 Arkansas

Williamson's game has slipped a good bit in the last couple of years. Once the NBA's 6th man of the year, he is now almost an afterthought in the Pistons roation. He is still signed for next year and was not taken by the Bobcats in the expansion draft so I expect that he will be back next year. Not really big enough for PF and not quick enough for SF as a front line player, he has thrived being to strong for second line players.

Fowlkes, Tremaine F 6-7 212 4/10/76 Fresno State

Fowlkes did not play much and is a FA, I don't expect him to come back

Ham, Darvin F 6-7 240 7/23/73 Texas Tech

Ham did not play much and is a FA, I don't expect him to come back

Centers

Okur, Mehmet C 6-11 249 5/26/79 Turkey

To be honest, I'm not a big Okur fan. I never quite saw what I kept hearing from Dumars. He is a nice player, but he does not like to play inside, is not a good rebounder and is not a great shotblocker. He is said to want to go somewhere where he can play so I expect that Okur will be somewhere else next year.

Wallace, Ben F 6-9 240 9/10/74 Virginia Union

Wallace is my favorite player in the NBA. A very hard worker who is the best rebounder I've seen. He is an excellent shotblocker and the best defender in the league. Larry Brown challenged him to be more of a scorer. Although he is still not a great (or even good) offensive player, he did improve to the point where he was at least involved in the offense and had some very good games.

Coaching/Front Office

The Pistons have arguably the best coach and GM in the league. Larry Brown has always been a great coach and finally has a NBA title. He is a teaching coach that stresses teamwork and passing, looking for a better shot. He is hard to play for and was very tough on Billiups and Okur. His not playing Darko showed that he is not afraid of bad PR for the GM. How good Darko comes in the next couple of years will show if he really is such a great teacher.

What else can be said about Dumars. When he got the job, he talked about bringing another NBA championship. I have to admit that I had many doubts that he would be able to do that. The success of the team has kept him from really being critized for his draft picks. Although the drafting of Prince was a great late round pick, he struck out with Rodney White (traded after just one year) and taking Darko over Anthony would have been an Albatross around any other GM's neck. His ability to make trades is what really sets him apart from other GM's. Getting Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins for Grant Hill may have been a "face saving" trade at the time, but it ended up turning around the Pistons. Getting Williamson brought in some toughness. Trading Stackhouse for Hamilton was a bold stroke that showed just how good he is at evaluating talent. I'll hold off on Darko, I don't think that Anthony would have fit in as nicely in Detroit and I think that Dumars understood that and that factored in the decision to take Darko.


Team Needs

Detroit really has no need (assuming that Rasheed Wallace resigned and Delfino comes over). Now if they lose both Wallace and Okur, they will be serious need for a C/PF type player. If Delfino does not come, they will need a backup guard who can shoot.


My Selection

Beno Udrih, PG, Slovenia

This is a need pick (assuming that Delfino does not come). Hunter is a FA and James did not work out well. They also could use another shooter coming off the bench and Udrih is a very good shooter. In the real draft, the Pistons have the 54th pick and no chance of getting Udrih.


Others considered

Delonte West, PG, St. Joe's

A undersized SG who I did not think could really play point

Trevor Ariza, SF, UCLA's

It is said that his stock is rising, but he really is not ready and I don't think that the Pistons would want to deal with an immature kid.


What will the Pistons do?

Sit back and not even worry a lick about the draft :-).