jakebernatyo said:

since this team is absolutely horrid defending on the perimeter, wouldn't it make sense to go after a proven wing defender like ariza? he's gonna be on the trading block soon with porter coming back and webster playing well. do we have the pieces to get a deal done?

ideally, i'd love a deal like, jerebko, bynum, and singler for ariza whose contract is expiring giving us a little more flexibility to retain monroe.

jennings, ariza, smith, monroe, and drummond with chauncey, stuckey, KCP, and gigi off the bench looks much better than what we have...

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greenbeerd13 said:

Money aside, we also get a solid player who has size, can defend and knock down the 3. I like the idea, but I doubt those 3 guys you suggested are enough to get him. Singler's play at the moment is horrific.

Guys like Ariza are appealing to contenders as well, most of whom likely have more to offer than we do, but I supposed we can still hope...

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everyoneneedsasmil said:

While Ariza seems like a pretty solid option, I'm not sure the team would do it. Right now they should already be playing all 96 minutes of the frontcourt by staggering Smith-Monroe-Drummond. The three together have been a train wreck on both sides of the court. This is been a painfully obvious issue since we signed Smith in the first place. If Cheeks can't figure that out by now, I doubt the addition of Ariza would change his ability to make better lineups.

I think the best case scenario is finding a high end package for Monroe or Smith.

Two deals that seem to makes sense:
Josh Smith to Orlando for Arron Afflalo and Tobias Harris. Smith is easily the best player in the deal, though Afflalo is shooting great so far. Harris is still hurt, but would eventually take over at SF. Afflalo fits Detroit's needs perfectly as an above average defender and elite shooter. Harris is young and played well at the end of last year. Orlando opens up a starting spot (and tons of minutes) for their future focal point Victor Oladipo. As well, they turn the PF spot from a train wreck (starting Jason Maxiell) to a strength.

Greg Monroe to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw. San Antonio spent significant money extending Tiaggo Splitter last year to be their heir apparent to Duncan. Unfortunately, he hasn't shown the actual ability to carry any significant offense. Enter Greg Monroe, a 20-10 young PF/C who could legitimately take over for Duncan after retirement (which could very well be this summer) alongside Splitter and a host of quality wings. Kawhi has already been reduced to a backup this year due to the more steady play of Bellineli, but is still an elite defender who should regain his 3 point stroke in time. Diaw is something of a throw in - he helps our rotation by taking minutes from our terrible backups bigs, and would be superfluous in San Antonio with Monroe on board.

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everyoneneedsasmil said:

While Ariza seems like a pretty solid option, I'm not sure the team would do it. Right now they should already be playing all 96 minutes of the frontcourt by staggering Smith-Monroe-Drummond. The three together have been a train wreck on both sides of the court. This is been a painfully obvious issue since we signed Smith in the first place. If Cheeks can't figure that out by now, I doubt the addition of Ariza would change his ability to make better lineups.

I think the best case scenario is finding a high end package for Monroe or Smith.

Two deals that seem to makes sense:
Josh Smith to Orlando for Arron Afflalo and Tobias Harris. Smith is easily the best player in the deal, though Afflalo is shooting great so far. Harris is still hurt, but would eventually take over at SF. Afflalo fits Detroit's needs perfectly as an above average defender and elite shooter. Harris is young and played well at the end of last year. Orlando opens up a starting spot (and tons of minutes) for their future focal point Victor Oladipo. As well, they turn the PF spot from a train wreck (starting Jason Maxiell) to a strength.

Greg Monroe to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw. San Antonio spent significant money extending Tiaggo Splitter last year to be their heir apparent to Duncan. Unfortunately, he hasn't shown the actual ability to carry any significant offense. Enter Greg Monroe, a 20-10 young PF/C who could legitimately take over for Duncan after retirement (which could very well be this summer) alongside Splitter and a host of quality wings. Kawhi has already been reduced to a backup this year due to the more steady play of Bellineli, but is still an elite defender who should regain his 3 point stroke in time. Diaw is something of a throw in - he helps our rotation by taking minutes from our terrible backups bigs, and would be superfluous in San Antonio with Monroe on board.

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greenbeerd13 said:

Tobias Harris is going to be a star, I'm not sure if the Magic are keen on trading him.

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everyoneneedsasmil said:

Keep in mind that even Tobias Harris' explosion post trade last year looks pretty much like a normal Josh Smith year minus the elite defense. Even if we assume that is a new level of play for Harris (which is unlikely), Smith has proven to be better for several years now.

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greenbeerd13 said:

I didn't say he was better than Smith now. He wouldn't need to be because we would also get Afflalo in the deal.

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everyoneneedsasmil said:

I know. I thought you were trying to say that Orlando wouldn't trade him, and I was just pointing out that Orlando still easily gets the best player in the deal. While Afflalo as an elite shooter is perfect for our needs, he's not actually an elite player. He generally tries hard on defense, but is unathletic by NBA standards. He's only above average defensively. Also, while he's had several big games in the last few years, he's not generally a guy who can create his own shot effectively.

Josh Smith is actually very good at basketball, often one of the top 15 most positively impactful players in the league. It hard to see that on the Pistons because we are so absolutely ill-suited to utilize him. But a team like Orlando, who has needs all over the place, is perfectly happy to utilize whatever elite skills Smith does have while letting the rest of the roster shore up his weaknesses.

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tomdalton22 said:

You are on crack! For a PF he is an inefficeint scorer, a terrible free throw shooter that plays good defense. He has never been a top 15 player in the league and it is evident in that he didn't get a max offer when he was a FA. I don't think there were many teams interested in him.

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