Where Do Pistons Go From Here?

Now that the draft is finally complete, Joe Dumars still has a TON of work to do.

The backcourt is rounding into shape now, with some quality reserves finally in place with Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo. Lindsey Hunter will probably be back, Flip Murray will be dealt one way or another, and Alex Acker is still up in the air.

The obvious areas for improvement are two big ones: to find a backup for Tayshaun Prince, and get a younger athletic center. Finding the backup for Tayshaun shouldnt be that hard you would hope. Grant Hill is a very strong possibility. If the Pistons dont land him, dont be surprised to see Dumars go after Mo Peterson. Getting an athletic center will be hard. The Pistons are kind of hampered by the Nazr Mohammed deal. Dale Davis and Chris Webber are free agents, and will probably move on. So how many good centers are on the market? Uh, none. The best is Mikki Moore, the former Pistons. I think everyone can agree he is not the long term answer.

I think the biggest surprise could be Rip Hamilton being traded. It may not be popular around here, but I believe he is the one guy Joe could ship out, as he isnt afraid to do something drastic. Rip's value is as high as it will ever be. He isnt the type of players that can take games over, and needs to rely on others to create his offense. He also can force the offense too much when frsutrated (which happens more and more), and is totally ineffective when trying to take someone one on one.

One team that could be a great trade partner for Rip is the Denver Nuggets. He would fit in perfectly with Iverson and Anthony, and the Pistons could get some much needed frontcourt help from Denver. Maybe either Nene or Marcus Camby, packaged with a young SF like Linas Kleiza could get a deal done. That would allow the Pistons to plug in the big man they sorely need, while having options in free agency along with Stuckey and Afflalo to replace Rip. Just throwing it out there.

Some other thoughts from draft night:

-New York is a boom or bust team. They have a ton of guys now who need to shoot the ball a ton, with Marbury, Richardson, Crawford, Z-Bo, and Curry. I dont know how there will be enough basketballs to go around. This team could score a ton of points, but will also play exactly, oh, i dont know, zero defense. However, if they focus well enough, they very well could be a playoff who scare some people next April.

- Boston is a total mess, thanks to Danny Ainge. Does this guy ever have a plan? He blew up a team that made the Eastern Conference Finals, to re-build only to get a team that now will be able to reach the 2nd round at its peak? It was a bad fit with Pierece and a bunch of young guys before, but now its Pierce and Allen with a bunch of young guys. Weird.

- Have fun seeing Portland or Seattle in the Finals a lot in the years to come.

- Anyone seen the Atlanta Hawks new uniforms? Go to www.hawks.com to check it out. I actually like the new uniforms, although they were pretty good before. I liked the red, and too many teams go to blue now too. Lets just cross our fingers and hope the 76ers are the next to change their uniforms.