As I perused the Portsmouth Invitational commentary, I came across Kyle O'Quinn, a player I apparently missed during the NCAA tournament this year. Just like every year since Art, I try to find a big in the 2nd round that I'd love to see us draft. This year, my cart is being hitched to the horse of Kyle O'Quinn. So why Kyle O'Quinn? Well what first struck me was his overall frame, but what sealed the deal was his ability to wear his emotions on his sleeve...something the Pistons have missed out on since Roscoe was around. In all seriousness, the following column will present what I believe to be a great argument for going after O'Quinn with either of our 2nd round picks.

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Let's do this in a form of questions:

1) Was an Ellis/Jennings backcourt really the vision that John Hammond had for his team?
2) Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown are going to replace Andrew Bogut (injured or not)?
3) Is this really all that Bogut is worth?
4) Is John Hammond turning into Joe Dumars?
5) Would Ben Gordon + Maxiell + a swap of 1st rounder not be more valuable to Hammond than Ellis, Udoh, and Kwame Brown?
6) WHAT THE FUCK?

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With all the chatter about John Hammond fielding calls for Bogut, it got me thinking...how fucking awesome would it be to have Bogut and Monroe starting in our frontcourt? Pretty freaking awesome right? But do we really have much to give them? Not really on our own, but what if you included another team that is looking to add some scoring on the outside without having to give up too much? I would normally just provide the ESPN Trade Machine but unfortunately you can't add TPE's in trade scenarios so here goes:

Milwaukee receives:

Ben Gordon
Jason Maxiell
Vernon Macklin
Detroit's 2nd Round Draft Pick in 2012
Detroit's 1st Round Draft Pick in 2013 (Top 5 Protected), unprotected in 2014

Why Milwaukee does this: Bogut's injuries have prevented him from ever being a consistent contribution to his team. While he's a great Center when he's playing, he simply hasn't played that much with the Bucks trainers looking after him. Ultimately, I don't see him netting out his value in Milwaukee and I think Hammond recognizes that as well. The biggest reason Milwaukee does this is to shed Stephen Jackson whose about as likely to be traded as Rip was last year. One could argue that Hammond and Dumars friendship would lead them towards trying to help each other out, and I think ultimately this would help Hammond get out of a lot of salary commitment while also gaining a player that head coach Scott Skiles has played well with in the past. Maxiell is showing that he can provide meaningful minutes as a F/C and Detroit's 2nd rounder in a deep draft this year will net some good talent prospects. Vernon Macklin won't be playing much in Detroit, but he still offers value in "potential." Lastly, our 1st round pick in 2013 rounds out a pretty robust offering for effectively one player that Milwaukee deems useful.

Detroit receives:

Stephen Jackson (1 year remaining)
Andrew Bogut (2 years remaining)
LA's 1st round draft pick
LA's Odom TPE

Detroit acquires a SG with 4 KOs, and a career in-line with what BG has done thus far. More importantly, Jackson would come off the bench and not be a defensive liability like Ben Gordon. Jackson is an expiring contract next year so we also cut a year off the commitment we're making to BG. Meanwhile, the allure of pairing Bogut and Monroe in the frontcourt is as sexy as a Bynum/Gasol frontcourt. Detroit continues to shed salary by moving Tayshaun and Bynum to LA for the Odom TPE and their 1st rounder. Our hope being that LA's 1st round pick this year will counterbalance the loss of our 2013 pick going to Milwaukee.

LA receives:

Tayshaun Prince
Will Bynum

The idea that LA could add a veteran SF that can actually contribute on offense and isn't a headcase is appealing in and of itself, but their apparent interest in Bynum would just sweeten the deal. Giving up nothing more than this year's 1st rounder (somewhere in the mid 20s most likely) to re-load for the remainder of Kobe's career should be a no-brainer. Whoever they'd draft with that 1st round pick is unlikely to contribute in a significant way over the waning years of Kobe's career whereas Tayshaun could bond with Kobe in the fact that they're both likely to retire at around the same time.

Conclusion:

Joe Dumars talks about not making trades just to make trades and that making a move needs to address a current and/or long-term issue with our team. This trade would do exactly that. Bogut would finally get us a defensive presence inside and his health concerns should be less of an issue with Arnie Kander looking after him. The cost of taking on Jackson's contract is worth it as we could easily still amnesty CV at the end of this year and his expiring will be worth the trade next season. Ultimately, Detroit is giving up more than either of the other two teams but doing so to get building blocks for the future and players that will net great results in the short and long-term.

Now your thoughts.

In 2008-2009, the Oklahoma City Thunder were quite mediocre. Despite a promising young rookie guard, a budding superstar, and an overrated SF, the team started off the season under PJ Carlesimo with a 1-12 record before showing him the door and handing the team over to Scotty Brooks. The team ultimately finished the season a far more respectable 22-47 under Brooks but somehow ended up with the 3rd overall draft pick (probably one of the biggest differences between now and then is a .282 win rate won't be nearly bad enough to have the 3rd most ping pong balls) where they took the now Beardiful James Harden.

For the purposes of this post, I'm going to go ahead and ignore the Carlesimo period for 2 reasons: the first is that by removing these 13 games from their schedule we get to a more comparable total games number between the 08-09 Thunder and this year's Pistons and the 2nd being that Scotty Brooks and Lawrence Frank are both relatively short, young, gingers (at least I'm pretty sure Brooks is a ginger)...coincidence? Probably.

So where are these magical comparisons that will give us all hope for the future? Well here we go...Brooks started off his tenure as coach going 4-20. In his next 15 games, his young team rattled off a respectable 8-7 record (compared to our 9-6 record previously) while have multiple games against some of the weaker teams in the league that year including wins against the Pistons, Nets, Warriors and Grizzlies.

Now if we start digging into league rankings between the two teams, the comparison becomes a little closer. Across team shooting statistics, the Thunder were ranked 26th, 28th, and 9th for FG%, 3PT%, and FT% respectively. Thus far, Detroit is ranked 24th, 22nd, and 9th. Pretty comparable.

Total points scored, the two teams are only 1 off with OKC ranking 24th and Detroit ranking 23rd. While Detroit ranks 24th in Turnovers, OKC was 30th. This and the differential in rankings between steals, blocks, and TRB are the widest gaps in the two teams relative rankings for their respective seasons, where OKC was 13th in steals to Detroits 24th, and 22nd in blocks to Detroit's 30th. Of course this just reminds us how desperate we are for blocks, dunks, and rebounds.

So what does all of this TELL us aside from our need for blocks and dunks? Nothing. Pretty much absolutely nothing. But for me, the point of this exercise was not to try and prove that the Pistons of today will evolve into the Thunder of today in just a few more years...it was to keep that burning fire alive in my Pistons heart and soul that anything could happen next year, and that just like the Thunder turned it around with 2 key young players, so could the Pistons.

And, sure, I realize that there are plenty of differences too...OKC's salary situation back then was far better than where we are right now, their fanbase was completely reinvigorated by a recent move to a new city, and perhaps most importantly, their GM has made some incredibly intelligent trades and drafts that have greatly benefited the team over the past 2 years. Well all of that and Kevin Durant anyway.

So cheers to keeping the fire alive fellow fans. Its been a long time since Dumars did something brilliant, but he has done something brilliant before so who knows, maybe it could still happen again...

So much good basketball on today I simply don't know what to do with myself!

On today:

Florida vs. Kentucky (Davis, Gilchrist, Lamb)
North Carolina vs. NC State (Zeller, Marshall, Barnes)
Baylor vs. Missouri (Rasheed Wallace...er I mean Perry Jones III)
Duke vs. Florida State
Michigan vs. Cock Suckers
Michigan State vs. Cheeseheads

To some degree, this weekend is just as big as any weekend during march madness as far as evaluating some of the key players we'd like to see in a Pistons uniform next season...

Just perusing the interwebs today and it seems the Lakers are indeed in the hunt for a SF and/or a PG. More importantly they have an $8.9M TPE from the Odom trade. With the Lakers likely to make a push in the playoffs, they'll be looking for a more serviceable SF than Metta World Peace.

Trade Idea

Tayshaun Prince to the Lakers for the Lamar Odom TPE + Dallas's 2012 1st round draft pick via Los Angeles

Detroit does this for two reasons - The first is that Tayshaun really doesn't deserve to play his final years in Detroit but it makes sense that he'd want to "stick around to see better days come". By trading him away, we give him the option of saying, "I never quit on that franchise" while allowing ourselves to part ways amicably by sending him to his hometown.

The second reason is that we have no need for a high usage veteran whose "intangible leadership" seems to be missed on guys like Monroe who it seems already knows how to lead by example and is already far more vocal than Tayshaun.

Los Angeles does this for two main reasons as well - The first is that the Ron Artest signing was atrocious and his numbers are amnesty-worthy. By trading for Tay, they've got their starting SF through to the end of Kobe's career. The second reason is they're unlikely to get another SF that fits into what Mike Brown wants better than Tayshaun. He's used to being the 4th option on offense, is willing to play hard-nosed defense, and doesn't mind deferring to other shooters on the team. Giving up an extra late first rounder isn't too much of a cost considering the value they'll get out of Tay for the next 4 years.

Other trade ideas?

As I think I've already established, its never too soon for Pistons fans to discuss the draft. One of my favorite series from the previous two seasons has been our "Draft Day Dreams" series where someone from the community evaluates and provides a collection of analysis on a player that they're particularly interested in. In traditional Boourns fashion, I'm skipping the 1st round and going straight to a player currently projected late in the 2nd.

Currently Projected: 2nd Round, Pick 21
Selected with: 2012 2nd round draft pick from Houston (top 40 protected)

Basic Info

School: Iona
Year: Senior
Position: Point Guard
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 180

Statline: 13.4 points, 10 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 49% from the field, 41% from 3PT, 82% from the line

Overview

In an effort to find my Art Parakhouski of the 2012 draft, I stumbled upon Scott Machado while reading up on other potential point guards coming out of the NCAA this year. Machado is leading the NCAA in assists this year after finishing 2nd in assists the year before. While still under the radar of national scouts, Machado is putting forth a ridiculously efficient season that is a huge step up over his previous three seasons of mediocre shooting.

While we all hope for Anthony Davis in the 1st round, I'm praying for Machado with the draft pick we acquired from Houston. With Houston smack in the middle of the pack, their top 40 protected isn't likely to be invoked this year giving us their draft pick to use.

Highlights

12 Games of 10 assists or more
6 Games of 14 assists or more
3:1 Assist to Turnover Ratio
Against St. Joseph's: 33 Points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals while shooting 56% from the field and 67% from beyond the long line
Against Purdue: 14 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds
Against WMU: 17 points, 15 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and a block
He pushes Iona to the 4th highest points per game in the NCAA at 83.2

Why

Joe Dumars loves his guards and unlike the last 37 that he's drafted, this guy actually passes the ball! Using our 2nd of 2 2nd round draft picks on this guy is sure to net value this late in the draft. That said, if Iona makes the big dance and/or we see a number of underclassmen hold off on entering the draft due to the depth expected in the 1st round, Machado could elevate his status to late 1st round/early 2nd round. If he's available with our first pick in the 2nd round, and Joe Dumars isn't stupid and drafts a guard in the 1st, I still think we should look his way early on in the 2nd.

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Pistons vs 76ers coverage

The Situation:

With the Pistons fighting for every loss, DBB is left without a game thread. So The Boourns, better known for his intentional walk of Prince Fielder in AAA Little League Baseball 18 years ago steps up to ensure a proper forum for buffoonery.

The Pistons (4-16, Last in Central) are taking on one of the more surprising starts in the NBA in the 76ers (13-6, 1st in Atlantic). While the only game I've seen the Sixers play this year was a prior win over the Pistons, I get the feeling that Doug Collins has this team playing "the right way". They feature 8 guys averaging at least 9 points a game, and their scoring leader is their 6th man in Lou Williams.

As a team, they sport an almost 4:1 Assist to Turnover ratio, most of which is driven out of Andre Iguodola and Lou Williams (Holiday leads the team in assists, but also leads the team in turnovers). Iguodola is producing all over the floor with 13 points, 6 boards, and almost 5 assists to go along with 2 steals per game.

Needless to say, the Pistons could have their hands full with the defensive tenacity that the Sixers have played with thus far.

Keys to the Game

Feed the Moose

You wouldn't think Monroe would be bothered too much by either Hawes or Brand, however both are playing spectacular defense with D-Ratings of 91 and 92 respectively. Getting Moose going could ultimately help balance the floor and allow for cutting and driving lanes.

Move the ball from side-to-side!

Pistons aren't going to get easy buckets against the Sixers and they're about to embark on an exhausting schedule with 7 games in 9 days and their first triple header of the season starting on Monday. Moving the ball through crisp passes can keep our young legs a little more fresh rather than depending on isolation and drives to the basket.

Minimize Turnovers

Against a team as defensively gifted as the Sixers have been this year, our only hope for keeping it close is to limit turnovers and play efficient basketball

Questions of the Game

Who will be the scoring threat off the bench tonight? Daye broke out against Miami and then Maxiell against the Hawks...will Jerebko give us the necessary spark to keep it close?

Figured we'd get one of these out there. Since I probably talk as much about non-basketball related topics as I do the Pistons, I figured I'd post something to get us started. Here is Willa after getting a chance to play in deeper snow (like 4 inches, which is enough to send people running to the grocery store and buying weeks of batteries and canned goods).

She and Mosa got a chance to romp at the park with a bunch of other dogs taking in the snow day. Mosa got his first catches of the frisbee post-eye removal and hasn't lost a step (just an eye).

Off-Topic Question of the Week: What is the last movie you saw, book you read, and/or game you played?

Hey there Minnesota fans, stopping by from Piston's blog site DetroitBadBoys.com to ask a question of you all. In general, we feel the Pistons are in desperate need of another legitimate (in size and definition) big and it seems you guys have plenty. With Pekovic getting very few minutes, what would it take to make a trade work between the Pistons and the Wolves for him based on your value of Pekovic? Is there anyone (excluding Monroe, Jonas Jerebko, and Knight) that you guys would be interested in?

Understandably, the Pistons don't have much to offer, but maybe something along the lines of Maxiell + a 2nd rounder for Pekovic?. Max has one less year left than Pekovic so at the worst he'd be an expiring for you guys next season/be easily bought out at the end of the season.

Anyways, I wish you guys the best of luck in this season. I can only hope we end up with a better draft pick than you :-).

So I'm perusing the various roundball blogs and sites and stop by hoopshype.com. To my excitement, they've already started discussing the 2012 NBA draft.

Now either Hoopshype is playing a cruel trick on us or they've finally plugged directly into Joe Dumars psyche...as you'll see in the link above, drafting 4th overall, the Pistons will select Harrison Barnes, a small forward out of North Carolina over Jared Sullinger who they have slated at 5th overall going to the Hornets. Here's what they have to say about Barnes:

We saw Barnes gradually improve as his freshman year progressed, wisely picking and choosing his spots on the floor. With good size and a high, clean release on his jumper, Barnes should excel at the next level in catch and shoot situations. As a slasher, Barnes shows good body control and a soft touch when shooting on the move in the paint. His free throw attempts per game show his reluctance to use his strength to attack the basket. His high basketball IQ and strong character make him a GM's wet dream and a potential cornerstone at the small forward position for all his suitors.

A franchise cornerstone with high character that excels in catch and shoot situations? Just the player we need to back up Tayshaun for the entirety of his rookie contract before heading elsewhere and excelling...

I don't think I really need to say much more...here's to Harrison Barnes as our next 3rd string SF!!!

Seriously though...I'm really hoping we somehow luck into Drummond or Davis...

Hey all,

Off Topic post I know, but since a good number of you are close enough where you actually know his full name (Mosa T. Aloysius P. McFluffyStuff Burns), I figured it was easier to do this than to just comment in one of the Pistons related posts. Anyways, as you know Mosa has had issues with his eye over the past month and we're hopefully through all of that now as he came out of surgery this afternoon. He ultimately had to have the eye removed but since he couldn't see out of the eye to begin with it shouldn't affect his frisbee catching too much and he's still a better shooter than Austin Daye.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the well wishes. Mosa and I definitely appreciate it greatly. You're more than welcome to follow Mosa on Facebook as he has his own Facebook page and I'm willing to bet he's the only Mosa Burns on Facebook. Huge thanks to MFMP's wife who sent Mosa a care package that has certainly made his road to recovery easier.

Here's Mosa, Post-Op:

Elections were held and ballots were counted (for those of you who missed the opportunity to vote, sucks to be you) and after numerous recounts (total of 1 votes submitted), I, The Boourns have been elected by the DBB faithful to post a weekly trade thread. It seems the credentials I put forth during my campaign - my long-standing tradition of unrealistic trades, 8000+ comments, and almost 90 fanposts - has led you all to put your faith in me to generate some of the most entertaining and utterly pointless conversation we Pistons fans may have this season. Specifically, theoretical trades that 999 times out of 1000 never actually happen. But that's the pessimistic view. That 1 in a 1000 moment when JoD pulls the trigger on a trade that a DBB faithful proposed months earlier is worth all the pointless discussion in the world. I humbly accept the appointment and hope that my daily dose of 22 oz beers will not prevent me from performing my duty to its full extent.

With that in mind, there have been some interesting trades this week. Specifically:

• Clippers trade MFAFA, The Ugly Caveman, and The Better Gordon + Kahn's 1st round draft pick for Chris Paul
• Rudy Fernandez and Corey Brewer to Denver for a Walter Sharpe (2nd round draft pick for those not keeping score at home)
• Minnesota traded Lazar Hayward to the Team Formerly Known as the Sonics for 2 conditional Walter Sharpe's and a Robert Vaden who after waving to fans in Minnesota was promptly waived by Kahn.

With the real world trades out of the way, its on to NBA Imaginationland...

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Apologies to those of you in Championship Land if I'm breaking a rule on fanposts. I know that many SBNation sites prefer non-sports related posts to remain either unseen or in the fanshots section but I have a tendency to be wordy (as already evidenced) and am hoping to get some good answers quickly since I make my way to your neck of the woods tomorrow and will be there for one night only. So I ask of you, Mavericks faithful, to guide me to a steakhouse or Texas BBQ location that you feel best represents what Texas has to offer. I'm staying in an area called Las Colinas and will have access to a rental car so so long as its within reasonable drive time, I'm open.

Also, I'm a huge fan of food, barbecue, and steak. To help narrow this down a bit and maybe make things a bit more fun, I'd love to hear why you feel your spot is the best/favorite cut of meat/meal at your location.

Thanks for the help in advance and more importantly GOOD LUCK TO THE MAVS THIS SEASON!

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first hypothetical trade thread since the end of the lockout. The following trade is based on the roomers that with the Lakers pulling out of the CP3 trade market, the Warriors and Clippers are now leading the way as far as what New Orleans is after (Eric Gordon/Monta Ellis). Since the Clippers would have to give up Eric Gordon to get CP3, they'd also be in need of a new shooting guard:

New Orleans sends Chris Paul to LA Clippers
Clippers send Mo Williams, Eric Gordon, a 2012 1st and 2nd rounder to New Orleans, send Chris Kaman to Detroit
Detroit sends Ben Gordon to the Clippers, Austin Daye and a 2012 2nd rounder to New Orleans (we could throw Maxiell in as well heading to New Orleans without having to add more players to the deal)

New Orleans gets a starting point and shooting guard in Gordon and Williams, plus upside in Daye. They get 3 draft picks to re-build in what will be a very deep draft. If Maxiell is thrown in as well, they get some backfill for David West's departure.

The Clippers shed the unnecessary Kaman, acquire Paul, and backfill with a shooting guard to replace Eric Gordon. They retain Eric Bledsoe off their bench and become a guaranteed contender in the Western Conference. DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin should counter-balance the weakness in defense for the Clippers backcourt with BG.

Pistons move 2 bad contracts in Gordon and Maxiell, receiving a solid temporary solution for the year in Kaman. We move Daye and a 2nd rounder as a penalty for the mistakes we've made in the past. This leaves us glaringly weak at SG, however, there are still SGs to be had in free agency (Crawford and Afflalo, or Redd could be a bargain given the injury) and we still have Stuckey, Knight, and Bynum available as a 3 guard rotation.

This should give us considerable flexibility going into the 2012 free agency period and would also allow us to amnesty CV at the end of the season.

Now your thoughts/trade ideas...

Geek Cards needed for entry...

I've been playing for the past 2 weeks or so.  I've got a level 30 Battle Mage and I just created some insanely good Daedric armor and a war axe.  It is easily the best game I've played in like ever.  I'm specializing in single-handed, destruction, heavy armor, as well as smithing and enchanting.  I've played somewhere around 40 hours and only about 5 of that has been spent playing the main questline.

It is easily my most favorite game to talk about and I have a bunch of co-workers also playing.  Good times.  Whose with me?

Rather than contacting Kriz directly via email, I figured it'd be easier to just post a couple questions to get it started and when she has the chance can come in and answer.  So I have 3 questions for you:

1)  Have you ever been to El Junque Rainforest and if so what is the coolest thing you saw while there?

2) Dinner with 3 Pistons players or coaches past or present, who would you pick?

3) What is the average air speed velocity of an unladen Swallow?

Now your thoughts.

I hope I'm not stepping over the line here because that would make me a habitual line-stepper but I just got done with my fantasy football draft and haven't seen too many posts on P.O.D. related to fantasy football rosters, match-ups, etc.

In any event, I know the majority of our attention is devoted to the only team that matters, but do people generally talk shop on here with regards to their fantasy teams?  If so, is there already a standard process/post that's created?  If not, am I the only one interested in bouncing ideas/roster decisions off of my fellow P.O.D.ers? If there is interest and no prior process exists, I wouldn't mind having an open thread for folks to pose questions and as such I am creating this post.  P.O.D. vets, just let me know if I've already become a habitual line-stepper here...