Detroit Rock City Presser - 2001

[TrayWithAnA]

Hello and welcome. We are here to discuss the offseason of your favorite DETROIT-based NBA franchise, the Pistons.

Gonna start off with a few quick hits. Essentially had two major acquisitions this season.

1) The draft brought us a little luck as we drafted 4th overall. Although management was a huge fan of Jason Richardson and Joe Johnson, we decided to select Tony Parker for what seemed at the time to be huge upside. We felt he was the best on the board at our pick, and while post-TC has nerfed some of that upside, we are still very excited to have Tony on the team.

2) we spent most of the draft engaging in trade talks with half of the league. While some deals were close to happening, it was a surprise choice by the Knicks to add Jason Terry to the trade block again that prompted us to finally take the plunge. While we gave up a few picks for Terry, he filled our other need at Guard and already shows signs of being a future star in this league. Along with Posey and Parker, Terry solidifies the future of our teams backcourt.

We took a few serious runs in RFA and UFA round one, but not staying focused on acquiring cheap talent and aiming for a few home runs means our team is very much still rebuilding.

TC hit us like most of the teams but most of our young players still showed improvements. While it is disappointing a lot of our guys lost potential, there is still room for improvement.

We'll likely do two paid training this offseason, but we are still deliberating on who and what that might be.

Opening up the floor now for questions.


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[logpmess]

In regards to the acquisition of veteran big men Dikembe Mutombo and Matt Geiger, what capacity do you plan to use your veteran talent during this season?

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: Al Harrington will be an RFA next season, but still seems a bit far behind in terms of realizing his potential. What's the status on his value to, and place on, the team?

[TrayWithAnA]

In regards to the acquisition of veteran big men Dikembe Mutombo and Matt Geiger, what capacity do you plan to use your veteran talent during this season?

Matt Geiger is now the best center on my team so he will likely start. Al Harrington may get some spot starts when we're running an outside focus but we're afraid the league may think we are throwing games with that lineup. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised.

Dikembe doesn't have much of a role here except for the occasional appearance when our guys get into foul trouble.


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[TrayWithAnA]

Random Reporter: Al Harrington will be an RFA next season, but still seems a bit far behind in terms of realizing his potential. What's the status on his value to, and place on, the team?

We really love Harrington here and will do whatever we can to keep him around. That being said, he is now the #4 young guy on our team and won't be extended a deal to guarantee he stays. We just don't have the financial outlook to support it. If he accepts a reasonable deal next offseason, we will likely match. What a "reasonable deal" is is up for debate and will depend greatly on his overall performance this season in his role.


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[coltsguy510]

Can this team compete in a weak eastern conference?

[TrayWithAnA]

Can this team compete in a weak eastern conference?

Maybe. We really don't know how well the backcourt is going to carry the frontcourt. I'm pretty sure we'll be late lottery bound but we could sneak in for a first round @$$whooping.


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[42PhD]

Dr. Rocker of the Cleveland Rocker: Congratulations on the team. You seem to have a good foundation. What is your main position to focus on for an in-season trade?

[WigNosy]

This team has been floundering ever since Steve Smith was traded away. Does any player currently on your roster strike you as the kind of face-of-the-franchise leader that can bring direction the way Steve did?

[Conroy]

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, with 5 core players under the age of 24 and on cheap contracts for the time being. Have you thought about throwing some money at older players or potentially acquiring highly paid veterans? With 20 Million Dollars in cap space could that possibly be what this team is missing?

[IamQuailman]

Awarded 5 points! Thanks for your contribution!