Two Flips in Detroit?

When Ben Wallace jumped ship to join our Central Division rivals the Chicago Bulls, Dumars’ quest to solidify the bench took a major hit. Whether the MLE was enough to lure a big name free agent to Detroit or not, with Ben leaving, the opportunity was no longer there. Gone from the picture are scoring threats such as Al Harrington, Bonzi Wells, Mike James, and the like. Instead, Nazr Mohammed is brought in with the MLE to fill the void. But the question still remains, who can the Pistons sign to improve their bench?

Detroit has a few routes they can take, such as a sign-and-trade, or offering the LLE. One name I hear being thrown around for a sign-and-trade is Al Harrington. But lets be honest, realistically, getting Al Harrington would be near-impossible. It would take a miracle for Dumars to pull that deal off, as Detroit has little to offer besides Dale Davis.

Another name being mentioned is Brevin Knight; but I fail to see why Charlotte would part ways with Knight for Davis when both are on expiring contracts, and Knight is far more productive at this point. Maurice Evans’ contract would have been pretty useful right about now.

Because of the limited options with a sign-and-trade, a more realistic approach would be using the LLE to sign a free agent. A name that has been thrown around a great deal lately has been Flip Murray of Cleveland. I’m sure NBA fans remember the tear Flip Murray was on when he filled in for an injured Ray Allen a few seasons ago in Seattle. Flip averaged around 20 points per game, and was being called the “Steal of the Decade,” by numerous NBA personnel, such as Rick Carlisle, while filling in for Allen.

Other names being mentioned are former Piston Chucky Atkins, and resigning Tony Delk. It would have been nice for Mr. D to allow Joe to trade some cash for a late first round pick in the draft so Joe could grab one of the Michigan State boys, but that’s a story for another day.