By Warren Blatt Sep 12, 2007, 16:17 GMT
- It has been a very quiet offseason for president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons. However, the one move that the organization had to make during the summer was accomplished.
The Pistons, who have lost in the Eastern Conference finals two straight years, re-signed All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups to a lucrative, multi- year contract. Billups is the glue of the Pistons, and is the catalyst for everything that makes them successful.
Billups, who was the MVP of the 2004 NBA Finals, averaged 17.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and a team-best 7.2 assists in 70 games during the 2006-07 regular season. The 6-3 Billups, who has also spent time with Boston, Toronto, Denver and Minnesota during his 10-year career, has found a home in Detroit.
A two-time All-Star, Billups teams with Richard Hamilton to make up arguably the best backcourt in the NBA. By keeping Billups in the fold, Dumars has made sure that his squad will once again be one of the top teams in the East. The nucleus of Billups, Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace will try to get the Pistons back into the championship round for the first time since 2005, when San Antonio defeated Detroit in seven games to win the title.
Keeping Billups was a given, as the Boston Celtics have narrowed the gap in the conference and arguably returned to elite status with the acquisition of All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen during the summer. Detroit has appeared in the East finals five straight years, but has fallen to Miami and Cleveland the last two years.
With the emergence of the Celtics, Chicago and Cleveland, the Pistons need to prepare themselves for some tougher competition in the East. Getting back to the conference finals is definitely not a given anymore. LeBron James and the Cavaliers will be ready to defend their Eastern Conference title, while Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and the Bulls, who fell in six to Detroit in the semifinals in last year's postseason, keep improving and may be ready to make a jump to the next level.
Dumars did make some other minor moves this offseason. He traded Carlos Delfino to Toronto, signed free agent forward Jarvis Hayes and also re-signed forward Amir Johnson. But he didn't trade Wallace, and ended up keeping his team's core intact.
Having a quiet offseason may end up being the best thing Dumars could have done. He has shown his team that he is confident in its ability to get back to the finals, and still feels they are a force to be reckoned with in the East, no matter what moves the competition has made.
SIXERS MAKE A MOVE
Philadelphia's team president Billy King made a move that should help his club. The Sixers acquired forward Reggie Evans and the rights to forward Ricky Sanchez from the Denver Nuggets for forward Bobby Jones and center Steven Hunter. Philadelphia needed help on the boards, and that is what Evans will do for them.
The 28-year-old Evans is not one of those names that gets fans excited. However, he is a hard worker who is not afraid to get physical down low and has a knack for rebounding. Evans collected 7.0 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game last season, and averaged a career-best 9.3 boards as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics during the 2004-05 campaign. The 6-8 Evans is definitely a positive addition for the Sixers.
IS MARION ON THE MOVE?
All-Star forward Shawn Marion is once again popping up as the subject of trade rumors. A four-time All-Star, Marion, who can opt out of his contract after this season, registered 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in 80 games this past season for Phoenix.
Marion to Utah for forward Andrei Kirilenko has been rumored. Why would the Suns do that? Kirilenko is coming off a poor season and does not seem to have the type of offensive game that would fit with Steve Nash and the Suns.
The Suns, who lost in six to the Spurs in the West semis last season, should keep the nucleus of Marion, Nash and Amare Stoudemire together. They have some more runs left in them to get the franchise back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993.
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