It's been a while since the Detroit Pistons haven't been near the top of the league. Their players buy into the team concept, they play good defense, and they are consistently well coached and well managed from the front office.
Which is why I was surprised to see that Joe Dumars decided to trade for a mercurial shoot-first guard with a less-than stellar playoff record. They jettisoned their team leader and a guy who has proven himself time and time again in the playoffs for a guy who has never been a leader, never played defense, and most likely won't win a championship before he retires.
Then I thought about it. Joe Dumars obviously knows something that we don't. After all, he's made a career out of making moves and taking chances that look ridiculous at the time. Chauncey Billups had played for half of the teams in the NBA before Dumars picked him up. Ben Wallace never averaged more than 5 points and 8 boards when Dumars grabbed him off the scrap heap in 2000. Tayshaun Prince would blow away in a light breeze and yet Dumars had the foresight to make him a first round pick.
So here's why this works out well for the Pistons:
1. Rodney Stuckey. This guy could start on a lot of NBA teams right now, and without Billups around he'll get the chance. Iverson is more of a shooting guard, and that's how the Pistons will use him. That leaves the door open for Stuckey to come in and run that offense.
2. Billups' contract. He's got a good $34 million and three years left on it, and as we saw in last year's playoffs against the Celtics, he's not the same player he was in past years. He got worked by Rondo and looked like he was running in ski boots compared to the fleet-footed Rondo. Iverson's contract will come off the books at the end of this season, and the Pistons have to be looking longer-term. With that money, they can go after free agents in 2009 and 2010.
3. 2008 Eastern Conference Finals. Hey, they weren't going to win with Billups anyway, so why not dump the contract? This move wasn't made for this year's Pistons. Chances are good that they're going to win 45-50 games anyway, make it to the East Semis or even the Finals, and lose in 6 games in similar fashion to last year. They're just not good enough to compete with the Celtics.
What about Chauncey Billups? My specialty is the East, but I will say that I think it worked out well in their favor too. They got a battle-tested, traditional point guard who will get the ball to their young stars without worrying about getting his. He'll play solid defense and generally stay out of their way.
Who knows what will happen, but I will say this - I'm glad that Chauncey Billups is out of the East.
