FanHouse Kwamebrown

So, you may or may not have seen the feature we did for the NFL Draft in which we took every single team and decided who the worst draft pick in the history of that franchise was. And it was so awesome and fun to do (and totally not time consuming at all) that I decided to roll it out for the NBA as well.

So, for every NBA team, we give you a horrible draft pick -- either a straight bust, or player picked ahead of another player who was far better, etc. -- and then a snarky reason as to why said pick was the worst in franchise history. Your suggestions in the comments, please. And happy draft day!

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Vinny Del Negro needs to stop watching X-Files before games. How little does the Notorious V.D.N. trust his bench? He basically played a six-man rotation Tuesday against the Pistons, with seventh man Lindsey Hunter and burning man Tim Thomas each getting four minutes off the bench beyond Brad Miller's 23.

Derrick Rose missed his first game of the season with a bruised wrist. Kirk Hinrich filled in well, scoring 24 points (on 23 FGAs) and totaling eight assists. Tyrus Thomas was a beast for Chicago, with 18 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the "lig." Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Another loss during this downturn would have hurt Boston, no matter how much fans deny worry. Orlando lurks, pressing for the No. 2 seed in the East; the Magic desperately, I assume, want to avoid the Pistons ... which makes the Celtics pray the Magic meet the Pistons. (Sorry, playoff fever.) So a loss to Miami hurts. A loss to Miami with Dwyane Wade sitting out? Pain ain't the word.

A report from the Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Pistons faced the Rockets on January 25.

As the Pistons muddle along trying to figure out how best to use their surplus of perimeter players, an unfortunate consequence has been the mishandling of their talented frontcourt.

Rasheed Wallace's numbers have taken a dive after he's been overused and left on an island defensively, and players like Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell have had their roles change drastically from one game to the next.

A report from the Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Pistons faced the Mavericks on January 23rd.

When Michael Curry went from smallball (featuring three guards and Tayshaun Prince playing out of position at power forward) back to a more traditional lineup, the question on everybody's mind was how Rip Hamilton or Allen Iverson would handle being bumped to the bench.

Everyone, that is, except Curry himself. "I wasn't worried about if Rip wanted to come off the bench or Allen wanted to come off the bench. We just made a decision on what gives us the chance to be at our best," Curry said while announcing the move earlier this week.

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

* "Walking down a hallway by the Pistons locker room at halftime, spied Kwame Brown coming out of the press room with a full bag of popcorn. Seems he'd ducked in to grab some food put out for the grunts and others." -- Toronto Star, via Basketbawful.

Michael Curry announced the end of smallball in Detroit, revealing to reporters following today's practice that he's decided to replace Rip Hamilton from the starting lineup in favor of a traditional power forward. Amir Johnson will get the nod on most night, but Kwame Brown will be used against bigger opponents.

Rasheed Wallace will continue to man the middle, while Tayshaun Prince, who had been playing out of position at the four, will be allowed to shift back to his natural position of small forward. Rodney Stuckey and Allen Iverson will start in the backcourt. The move should reap immediate benefits for the Pistons, who have struggled to adequately rebound and defend with the undersized three-guard lineup.

After hinting as much yesterday, Michael Curry confirmed today that Rodney Stuckey will join the starting lineup. He's replacing Kwame Brown, bumping Allen Iverson to off-guard, Rip Hamilton to the three, Tayshaun Prince to the four and Rasheed Wallace to center.

I'm not sure a three-guard lineup will work on a regular basis, but it's certainly worth a shot. Stuckey has turned the corner in his last six games, averaging 12.5 points (.476 FG) and 6.5 assists in just under 25 minutes a game. The offense seems to flow better when he's in the game as Iverson can focus on scoring and Prince doesn't have to play out of position.

Offensively, Hamilton's role shouldn't change, and in fact he may have an easier time shedding bigger players trying to keep up. The same goes for Prince, who should have a mismatch drawing bigger defenders out to the wing. The concern will be on the defensive end, though it's worth pointing out Prince has already had a career year crashing the boards with 6.6 rebounds a game.

The Pistons have known for two weeks that Antonio McDyess wanted to return, but NBA rules prevented him from making his intentions official until today.

Assuming Detroit's putrid performance of late (they've lost three of their last four, including their last two against teams with losing records) hasn't given him cold feet, he should sign his new contract today and be in uniform and available to play Tuesday in Washington.

While the Pistons are still figuring out how best to utilize their backcourt with Allen Iverson in the mix, Michael Curry indicated before Friday's game that he doesn't think McDyess' return will require any type of transition.

"I think the biggest adjustment is when you have guys that are dominant scorers as far as [having] a lot of plays that are ran for them while the ball is in their hands," Curry said. "I don't think that's the case for Dyess. He'll pick right back up what we're doing defensively and offensively. He's just going to play his role. It doesn't take a lot of time adjusting with a guy like that."

A young lady named Alana -- who you may remember from around these parts -- did an interview recently with Rasheed Wallace about his nicknames for various members of the Detroit Pistons. And he has one for everybody (although, oddly, I feel like they all either involve "dark" or "thin", but that's neither here nor there). The highlight of the whole thing though, is when Miss G asks him about Allen Iverson loving Michael Jackson and 'Sheed rips off a "hee-HEE".



I mean, really, that was good enough to qualify for a South Park episode. And it's worth noting too that Wallace really and truly does sound like someone who will end up coaching in the NBA, his reputation be darned. Also, someone loves Kwame Brown? Surely you jest, Sheed.