The addition of Brandon Knight to the Pistons’ roster further adds to the logjam that is the Pistons back court. Now I’m in no way saying that the Pistons should have passed on Knight. They shouldn’t of. It was amazing that he was still there at 8 and Joe Dumars did the right thing by jumping at the opportunity to bring a talent like Knight on board.
However this is something that I discussed the other day that with the addition of Knight someone may be the odd man out in terms of the crowded back court. Not to mention a player from the crowded back court can be used to get big man.
But who is going to be the odd man out?
If you ask Drew Sharpe of the Detroit Free Press he believes that the likely sacrifice will be two-guard Ben Gordon.
Here is what he has to say on it…
One definitely must go, with Knight ordained as the new point guard and Joe Dumars still believing Rodney Stuckey is salvageable with another new coach — especially now that he’s liberated from lead-guard responsibilities.
Gordon becomes the more likely sacrifice. An amenable separation seems the best solution for a match that never really had a chance at working.
The new collective bargaining agreement — whenever that comes — likely will include a one-time contractual amnesty. Teams can buy out one toxic contract with no salary-cap ramifications.
It’s similar to what the NHL did when it returned from its seasonlong interruption six years ago; the Wings escaped Derian Hatcher’s multiyear deal.
Hamilton would be a popular candidate. He has two more years at a $21-million guarantee, and many have soured on him following last season’s insurrection. Amnesty also could bring an end to Charlie Villanueva’s tenure as a conscientious objector to defense. He’s owed $21 million over the next three years.
If you ask me Sharpes article didn’t make much sense. First he points out that basically the logical choice for the team to seperate from from Gordon is because it really never had a chance at working. Well a big reason why it hasn’t worked so far with Gordon is in large part because of the logjam in the back court! The Pistons were stuck with a plevy of scorers including Rip Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey (whose really a hybrid guard), Austin Daye (who can be used as a two-guard in addition to a small forward) and Will Bynum.
Second, Sharpe brought up that with the new CBA in the NBA hopefully coming this summer, teams may be given the opportunity to wipe out a bad contract on the team. So if that’s the case then wouldn’t Joe knock out Rip’s or Villanueva’s bad contract instead of Gordon who can still be a vital piece to this teams future?
Ben Gordon should be the starting two-guard on this team. Period.
Source: Detroit Free Press