Posts tagged Tayshaunprince at FanHouse

That fair-faced German-Argentinian striker, Walter Herrmann, apparently will snub the Old World and return to the NBA -- the Pistons, more specifically -- based on a report on an Argentine news site translated by Detroit Bad Boys, and since confirmed by the Detroit Free Press.

Herrmann had an unimpactful 2007-08, getting buried by Sam Vincent in Charlotte before getting buried by good players in Detroit. So why would the guy return to the Pistons, with guys like Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton and even Amir Johnson and Arron Afflalo competing for minutes in the swing positions? Well, that shake-up Joe Dumars promised is still queued up, and Prince remains at the head of the exit list as one of the more desirable players for outsiders.

Herrmann will likely not start at any point in his NBA career. That's a bit too bad -- he could be a 20-point scorer on the right team (like a pre-Caron Butler Washington, or as the small forward in Sacramento). Herrmann has an absolutely outrageous jumpshot, he's smart with the ball, and (at the two) he's a good rebounder. As Watson notes at DBB, he also has enormous hands, which helps all of the above.

If nothing else, like Kwame Brown, he provides either capable minutes as a back-up, or an extra trade chip to make salaries work. He'd be more secure in Russia or Greece, but it's hard to fault a guy who is most certainly an NBA-caliber player for staying in the league.

When Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed that one of the blockbuster sign-and-trade offers on the table was from an "Eastern Conference big dog," a lot of Pistons fans began to wonder if Joe Dumars was finally ready to make his long-awaited move to break up the core.

At the moment, that does not appear to be the case, as both A. Sherrod Blakely of Booth Newspapers and Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press report today that the Pistons and Hawks have not spoken in several weeks. Blakely speculates that a deal could still happen if the Pistons were willing to part with Tayshaun Prince, but even if the Pistons agreed, a deal might not be so easy.

What exactly is the problem? For one, most armchair GMs are forgetting the fact that Atlanta won't be able to get dollar-for-dollar back in any sign-and-trade deal for Smith. Since it's all but certain that Smith's next contract will include at least a 20% raise, he'll be a Base Year Compensation player, meaning the Hawks will only be able to accept 50% of the first-year value of his contract back. In other words, if he signs a contract worth $12 million a year, it'll only count as $6 million in a trade. (Dave Dial of MLive's Full-Court Press explains the nitty gritty details.)

Just like last summer, the Bulls are going nowhere in their negotiations with Luol Deng and Ben Gordon. In theory, each player has a bit more leverage than they did a year ago considering they're only 12 months removed from unrestricted free agency, but they're both coming off sub-par seasons, and with the Grizzlies being the only team left with more than the mid-level exception left to spend, there aren't any would-be suitors capable of forcing Chicago's hand with an offer sheet.

That said, it's not yet set in stone they return to Chicago. If the Bulls become convinced there's no hope in signing them to an extension, they might consider a sign-and-trade. And should that happen, HOOPSWORLD's Bill Ingram thinks a division rival will come calling:

The Chicago Bulls would ideally love to keep Luol Deng, but with negotiations going the way they're going it's likely the Pistons get serious in talks with Chicago. Tayshaun Prince would come back in trade and he's a veteran who could make life easier for new head coach Vinny Del Negro. Prince isn't exactly a vocal leader, but he knows how to win and he's all business.

Such a move could work out for both teams. Prince may not be a vocal leader in terms of screaming on the court or providing interesting soundbytes to the media, but he's one of the most analytical players in the game who can frequently be seen during games telling players where they need to be on the court, whether he's in the game or not.

On Monday, USA Basketball announced its men's roster for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Here's who will represent the U.S. this summer:

Carmelo Anthony (F - Denver Nuggets)
Carlos Boozer (F - Utah Jazz)
Chris Bosh (F - Toronto Raptors)
Kobe Bryant (G - Los Angeles Lakers)
Dwight Howard (F/C - Orlando Magic)
LeBron James (F - Cleveland Cavaliers)
Jason Kidd (G - Dallas Mavericks)
Chris Paul (G - New Orleans Hornets)
Tayshaun Prince (F - Detroit Pistons)
Michael Redd (G - Milwaukee Bucks)
Dwyane Wade (G - Miami Heat)
Deron Williams (G - Utah Jazz)

The biggest surprise is Boozer being taken over Tyson Chandler. This would've been a small team even with Chandler on board, but now the U.S. only has one legitimate center (Howard). This is obviously a team that's going to press and push the ball up the floor, which is risky but certainly plays to the United States' strengths.

More to come (USAB is holding a conference call at 12:30 PM ET today) but for now, I just wanted to get the official lineup out there.

From the pages of this year's edition of "Trade Rumors That Seem To Spring From The Ether And Return As Quickly" comes a lovely bit of speculation regarding Carmelo Anthony. There have been whispers and insinuations for a few days about Melo potentially being traded to Detroit for some set of pieces.

Combine that with Woody Paige and his WACKY ANTICS(!) and you've got yourself a legitimate piece of buzz. Except Paige's proposal, involving, among others, Anthony, Marcus Camby, Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince (yes, all of them) doesn't work according to the cap rules. Nor according to logical thought (a far fetched concept in NBA GMs, I know, but we're talking Dumars, here). Not according to Melo's agent. It does not work on a train, it does not work on a plane. It does not work with the freight, it does not work with BAC of .148. It will not work, Woody You Are, it does not work, not by far.

It seems that more and more the trades that involve two teams talking to each other repeatedly almost never fall through. Conversely, big trades that just "spring up" like the Shaquille O'Neal trade or even the Pau Gasol heist are much more effective. But if you're a fan of the "where there's smoke, there's Carmelo Anthony" approach, throw this one on the pile, see if it lights.

Notes from a trip to the NBA Playoffs.

Will losing in the Eastern Conference Finals for the third straight year cost Flip Saunders his job? He was asked about his job security just two questions into his post-game press conference last night, but he was in no mood to discuss it.

"That's not a question to answer right now," he said. "[I'm] just thinking about the game and the loss. I'm sure that's something Joe [Dumars] and I will sit down and evaluate."

For what it's worth, Flip has at least one influential supporter in the locker room as Tayshaun Prince deflected some of the criticism frequently directed at the coach, saying that tonight's game was "a prime example" why it's not always his fault since Saunders put his players in position to win before they failed to execute down the stretch.

The Pistons are against the cliff, now. They're at home, but they no longer have the luxury of any more "off games." The switch has to be "on' from here on out. And with the Celtics smelling the Finals, pushing this back to Boston will be difficult. But if anybody has the experience to kick this brutal series back to seven, it's the Pistons. In another of our continuing series, here's our look at 5 things to keep an eye out for tonight in Pistons-Celtics, Game 6.

1. Pierced Lung: Paul Pierce provides the oxygen for this Celtics squad. When his stroke is in rhythm, it's all over but the shouting. In order for Boston to end this thing, Pierce has to get more into a scoring role and concentrate less on other areas. The Celtics can live with Tayshaun Prince going a little nova if they can counter with Pierce, a la Game 7 from the Cavaliers series. What can't happen for the Celts, and what the Pistons need is ...

2. You Don't Know Rip: Rip Hamilton and his offensive versatility is on display late in May. Again. And the Pistons' season hinges on his ability to carry them. Again. And he still won't get enough of the credit. Unfortunately, Rip's got an elbow issue and won't be close to 100%. With the elbow injury, Hamilton's post game is going to be limited with how much he uses his elbows to create space. The Pistons' season hangs on Hamilton and his elbow tonight.

It's the Eastern Conference Finals matchup everybody predicted at the start of the season. Even though the Celtics took the long way, they're finally here, thanks largely to Paul Pierce's heroics last weekend. Tayshaun Prince, who's probably been Detroit's MVP through the first two series, will be assigned with cooling off Pierce tonight, though he'll likely get a lot of help from his teammates.

Will Boston be tired after playing 14 games in the first round? Will Detroit be out of sync after sitting for a week? It won't take long to find out. The game starts at 8:30pm on ESPN, but you can tune in right here as I live-blog the festivities below.

And then there were four. In the latest of our continuing series, we look at the Eastern Conference Finals, Game 1 tonight between the Pistons and Celtics. Be sure to stop by later for our LiveBlogs, both of the game and the NBA Draft Lottery.

1. Someone's Going To Emergency, Somebody's Going To Jail: Buckle your seatbelts, kiddos. This is going to get rough. One is a jersey-popping, pre-game fireworking, major market BullGod featuring a maniacal screaming Hall of Fame power forward that periodically blacks out, a franchise player they call the Truth, who is False about 40% of the playoff time, and the ghost of Ray Allen. The other is the old street gang. The one that's been running the block for a decade, and has no intention of giving up its turf. These two teams don't like one another. At all. The Celtics whooped and hollered when they beat Detroit in the regular season, and Detroit didn't take kindly to it. The Celtics just don't take kindly to anyone. This is going to be physical, intense, and downright mean. Watch for the techs, starting tonight.

2. Truth Versus Tay: Multi-talented, defensive, intense small forward. Both teams can stake the claim to having one of these on the roster, and just like last series, both have their hands full. Both did good jobs against superstars (though Paul Pierce obviously had a much tougher task and didn't require double teams) in the last round and both came up big when their teams needed them. Tayshaun Prince has the defensive edge with his freakishly long arms but Pierce has the offensive edge with a startling array of moves. Most of the pundits agree, it comes down to this matchup for the series.

In case you haven't seen this highlight a dozen times already, here's Tayshaun Prince's block on Hedo Turkoglu last night to seal the Pistons' win over the Magic and clinch Detroit's sixth straight appearance in the Conference Finals.

Rip Hamilton talked about the block after the game. "That was awesome," he said. "I didn't even see who blocked the shot, to tell you the truth. The only thing I'd seen was Tay flexing. I went up to Rasheed and I was like, 'Uh, who blocked that shot? It must be Tay, huh?' He was like, 'yes.' It was incredible. That's something that Tay does, and we needed that because it was a big shot."