Empty the Bench

Yay! Another underwhelming campaign by the Minnesota Timberwolves, another NBA offseason, and another opportunity for the rumor mill to zero in on Kevin Garnett and the chance he will finally be moved outside of the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

For once, however, we’re willing to halfway buy into the current speculation getting legs around the Web. According to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, Celtics front-office “guru” Danny Ainge confirmed that he has at least spoken with T’Wolves GM Kevin McHale about acquiring the talented forward:

Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge acknowledged yesterday that he has talked with the Minnesota Timberwolves about a potential trade for Kevin Garnett. Ainge refused to comment about a published report that had the Celts shipping Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and the fifth pick in next week’s NBA draft for the All-Star forward.

Ainge added that based on conversations and calls from other teams, he has not heard a proposal that would make him part with the No. 5 pick. “A lot of people attempt to make trades for that pick that are one-sided,” he said. “So there’s nothing going on for the pick yet.”

Unfortunately for Ainge and the Celtics, they’ve done a poor job of masking their disappointment at free-falling down to five in the draft lottery. Teams know that while Ainge will get over it and take the best player available if they hold onto the pick, they have an increasingly disgruntled superstar in Paul Pierce who has no interest in any more seasons devoted to “rebuilding.” Pierce wants the team to move the pick for a proven veteran, and Ainge does not want to deal with a potential Pierce trade-demand headache (though ETB feels Pierce is the one who should be traded while his value is still high).

As for the Garnett trade rumor… who knows. Kevin McHale is not a good GM, and we have doubts that he’d be smart enough to swing a deal that we’ve been calling for for some time now (and we’re certainly not the only ones). The theorized proposal above seems like a good one for Minnesota: you acquire a future every-year All Star in Jefferson, a young kid with all kinds of upside in Green, an expiring contract from Ratliff, potentially Yi Jianlian with the #5 pick, and a total bonehead in Telfair.

From Boston’s standpoint, they acquire one of the best forwards in the game and… that’s it. I don’t know. The Celts would likely be fielding a starting lineup of Delonte West, Pierce, Ryan Gomes (or Wally Szczerbiak), Garnett, and Kendrick Perkins, with Tony Allen (if healthy), Rajon Rondo, and Allan Ray coming in off the bench. Is that enough to push Boston into legitimate contention in the East? We’re not so sure. But then, we’re equally not so sure this trade will ever go down, period. After all, we’re talking about Ainge and McHale here.

ETB had a conversation the other week about MLB closers, and we came to a general conclusion that the Detroit Tigers’ all-time leader in saves, Todd Jones, is very likely the “worst good closer” in baseball. Surprisingly effective, among the league leaders in saves, but probably has the most underwhelming stuff in the majors when it comes to closers.

You don’t see many of these guys succeed by just throwing strikes and hoping for the best. Okay, that’s a little unfair and oversimplifying what Jones brings to the table when he takes the mound. He’s got nice movement on his curve, some decent off-speed pitches, and, well, he throws strikes, something a lot of pitchers–closers or otherwise–frequently struggle with. For the season, he’s 1-3 with a 5.86 ERA, 17 saves (out of 21 opportunities), and just 14 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. Hitters are batting a collective .304 against him thus far; not exactly the kind of numbers you’d expect to see from a guy ranked in the top 10 for saves in all of baseball. Are you comfortable with him as your fantasy team’s primary closer? Didn’t think so.

Boy howdy, does this guy know how to create drama. Case in point: last night, Jim Leyland brings him on in the ninth inning with the Tigers up 9-5 on the lightweight Washington Nationals. Jonesy then quickly takes his team on his trademark rollercoaster ride, yielding three runs before facing Dmitri Young with no outs and two men on. To his credit, his closer mentality then took over: he fanned Young, forced Austin Kearns into a fielder’s choice, and got Ronnie Belliard to ground out, preserving the 9-8 win for Detroit. Despite the win, afterwards Jones was frustrated and fed up:

Jones didn’t accept the ready excuse for his difficult inning, saying he was perfectly ready to pitch. But he wasn’t happy, either, complaining about the way he thinks he’s perceived. “I’m sick and tired of everybody poking fun at me, or whatever,” he said. “I’m trying to get three outs every night. It’s not a laughingstock, it’s somebody’s career. I’m trying to get outs whenever I can. I’m a grown man. I know how to get outs. And everyone wants to make fun of me.”

Todd, you seem like a good guy, a good teammate, and despite what some of your stats might indicate at the moment, you’re a good pitcher, too. There’s a very simple way to end the jokes, or the poking fun at you, or whatever it is you call it: simply help reduce the heart-attack rate in the metro Detroit area by firmly closing the door on the opposing team at a minimum 90% of the time you get the opportunity to do so.

It’s widely understood that Peter Vecsey has been afforded incredible leeway to fabricate rumors and stir the controversy pot. Anything he “reports” should always be taken with a grain of salt, so until this potentially devastating development in Rashard Lewis’ impending free agency gains more traction elsewhere, remember: this is a Vescey Report. Proceed with caution.

In today’s New York Post, Vecsey claims that Lewis’ agent, Tony Dutt, may have screwed up paperwork that would allow Lewis to opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. File this one under the “Oops, My Bad” Department:

According to a lawyer privy to the language in Lewis’ contract, in order to void his obligation to the Sonics in 2007-08 and 2008-09, he had to do it in writing and deliver it personally or by registered mail either on the date of his team’s last game (regular season or playoffs) or on June 1, 2007 . . . whichever was later. Fastened to that stipulation is a five-day grace period; hence, June 5 was the cut-off date.

Late May reports (AP/ESPN) out of Houston, where Lewis lives in the offseason, quoted Dutt saying he’d officially alerted the Sonics in writing on Friday, May 25 (or maybe Saturday, May 26) his client had opted out.

Both days, bordering Memorial Day weekend, were cited by Dutt. He was unsure. But it sure wasn’t April 18, when the Sonics’ season ended in a rout by Dallas. And it sure wasn’t within the predetermined June 1 to June 5 time limit. If this argument is accurate, Lewis has forfeited colossal leverage.

Yikes. Now, let’s be honest: one way or the other, Lewis is guaranteed to make just over $10 million for each of the next two seasons if he’s “forced” to stay in Seattle. If this is simply a Vecsey non-issue, he’ll earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 – $14 million for the next four or five years. The moral of the story is that Rashard Lewis is going to be seriously paid.

And while he may be ready to move on, sticking around with the Sonics may not be the worst thing in the world, as he, Ray Allen, Chris Wilcox, and potentially Kevin Durant would make good things happen on the court. They wouldn’t be that far off from competing with the West’s big boys, at least on paper.

Still, if Dutt indeed messed this one up, he’s going to have one less client to worry about, and the words “ah, nuts!” will be heard echoing around a five-mile radius of his office.

**UPDATE** Via TrueHoop: “ESPN.com has looked into this and it appears that Lewis and his agent, Tony Dutt, did not “mishandle” the paperwork for his ETO (Early Termination Option) and he is indeed a free agent starting July 1.”

Oh, happy day. I participated in my first fantasy football draft of the season tonight (way too early, I know) and I’m already super psyched for the season. I ended up with a core of Frank Gore, Reggie Bush, Brandon Jacobs, Antonio Gates and Vince Young- Madden Curse be damned. As any experienced fantasy footballer will tell you, championships are won in the trenches with quality running back play so I’m extremely pleased with my squad right now. Then again, if you don’t feel comfortable with your team in the hours after a draft then something is wrong. With draft season starting, it’s time for ETB to start ranking and re-ranking players starting with those all-important running backs.

Today we tackle the elite running backs who are likely to fly off the board in your draft’s first round. For my money, these are also the top 11 picks out there. Sure, you could go with a QB or WR in the first round. You could also draft a closer or mediocre center in the third round of your baseball or basketball draft, too. I don’t advise it. Tomorrow we’ll get into some of the more sticky situations: guys involved in platoons, aging fan favorites, up and comers and the necessary handcuffs (kinky, no?). Make sure to keep checking back as we’ll be updating these lists regularly and with increasing frequency as camps break and the NFL season draws nigh. Let the debates begin Rudi Johnson, Travis Henry and Peyton Manning fans.

Tomorrow: RBs 12-22

1 Ladainian Tomlinson: He’s pretty good. I guess. Seriously though, if Tomlinson doesn’t go first in your league it’s time to make some new friends.

2 Steven Jackson: A lot of people worry that he’ll lose TD opportunities to the new weapons in St. Louis (Bennett, McMichael). Not me. Jackson won’t catch nearly as many balls, but this offense should roll all season long and he’ll get all of the goal-line chances. An absolute joy to watch, Steven may be the most gifted back in football. He has sprinter speed on the outside, pounds it inside well and should have no competition on the depth chart. The dude posted 2,334 total yards and 16 TDs last season. That’s sick. With a top pick all you want is a productive foundation that you can set in your lineup every week and forget about and S-Jax will fit the bill.

3 Frank Gore: Every year during draft season it’s extremely important to not chase last year’s stats. Gore had a monster 2006 seemingly out of nowhere and as a third-round pick he was the steal of the year. I finally like the direction that San Francisco is going on offense and Gore’s freakish skill set simply can’t be ignored. Alex Smith should be greatly improved this season, I’m a believer in the talent of Vernon Davis out wide and there’s little reason that Frank the Tank can’t repeat or improve upon his 2006 numbers.

4 Larry Johnson: The workload he’s endured over the last few seasons makes injury a serious concern, but there’s no doubt Johnson is a stud and the focal point of this offense. If Brodie Croyle is named the starter over Damon Huard there could be an adjustment period and the loss of a couple of Pro Bowl offensive lineman is going to hurt. Still, it’s hard to ignore a guy with 37 TDs in his last 32 games. In all likelihood Johnson will carry your squad all season long.

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Never thought we’d say this: we’ve actually kind of grown to appreciate Starbury, warts and all, during his stint with the Knicks. He’s still not a true franchise player, and never will be, but last year especially he did show signs of maturity (at times), and did step up his game to help keep the Knickerbockers in a vague hunt for the playoffs as late as March.

And now with rumors of Kobe Bryant welcoming a trade to New York, Marbury is making it clear–in a nonchalant, indirect kinda way–that he doesn’t want to be any part of a package that could bring Bryant to Madison Square Garden. The Lakers probably wouldn’t take him anyway, but you never know.

As such, last week the veteran point guard was in the NYC headlines for all the right reasons. He wasn’t whining about playing time or the coaching staff and he wasn’t praising his own talents–instead, Marbury pledged a series of $1 million donations to the NYPD, NYFD, EMS, and to New York City teachers:

Marbury said he is allocating profits from his $14.98 Starbury sneakers and upcoming children’s books to make $1 million donations to the NYPD, fire department, EMT and New York City teachers. “Being able to help those programs that would allow EMS to hire 2-3 people, if it saves more lives, I’m down for that,” Marbury said. “I felt compelled to do that.”

And so that makes two things we thought improbable: we kind of like Marbury, and Marbury is writing books for kids. Seriously, even though he’s got plenty of money to burn, we have to give it up for the guy. Hundreds of athletes have tens of millions of dollars wasting away in the bank, and to be fair, many of them do donate healthy chunks of cash to various charities. You could say this is some well-timed good publicity, but we’re not going to exercise any undue cynicism, and we’ll just accept these gracious actions at face value. It would take one conniving sonofabitch to do this for anything but altruistic reasons, after all.

Cheers to Marbury for giving back to his hometown, but we especially like the new “wrinkles” he put on his annual summer basketball camp this year:

Marbury has added a new wrinkle to his summer-long basketball tournament, with players required to read three books and write an essay. Marbury, who has two years and $42 million left on his contract, made a $10,000 donation to the Brooklyn Public Library two weeks ago.

We assume that John Grisham and James Patterson don’t count towards the requirement. If any of the summer-leaguers out there are reading this, might we recommend:

- Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
- The Quiet American, by Graham Greene
- The Gunslinger, by Stephen King
- Rule of the Bone, by Russell Banks
- American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

Athletes and motorcycles just don’t mix. Sadly, everyone in the Western world knows this simple fact except the group that it pertains to most–professional athletes. In just the last few years alone, we’ve seen:

- Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow basically throw two years on the field away after he tore up his knee and sustained other internal injuries when he popped a wheelie in a parking lot, hit a curb, and was thrown off the bike.

- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger nearly kill himself when he was riding a motorcycle without a helmet and was hit by a Chrysler at an intersection in Pittsburgh. He suffered multiple facial fractures, a 9-inch laceration on the back of his head, chipped and knocked-out teeth, knee bruises, and a broken jaw.

Apparently former Washington Redskins and New York Giants linebacker LaVar Arrington wasn’t keeping up with the potentially devastating consequences, i.e. jeopardizing your athletic career and millions of dollars, of riding a motorcycle. At the young age of 28, Arrington found himself rehabbing a torn Achilles’ tendon and looking for a job this offseason after the Giants released him. His injury, coupled with a lack of on-field production in recent years, was already going to be high hill to climb, but now it looks like a horrible motorcyle wreck will probably end his NFL career:

Free-agent linebacker LaVar Arrington was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in the Washington, D.C., area, the player’s agent told ESPN.com on Monday. Carl Poston said it was his understanding that Arrington suffered a broken bone in his arm, three broken bones in his leg, cuts and bruises. The injuries do not appear to be life-threatening. He is recovering at Prince George’s Hospital Center.

Now, just because Arrington is an idiot doesn’t mean we don’t sincerely wish him well in his recovery from this accident. Playing professional football takes a toll on the body enough as it is, and Arrington has been “blessed” with more than his fair share of injuries on top of it. But as a free agent, as a guy recovering from a major injury, Arrington had no business cruising around on a motorcycle, especially after what has recently happened to his peers. It doesn’t matter if the wreck was his fault or not–motorcyles and athletes don’t mix.

Everything is coming up ETB this afternoon. The dentist says “no cavities” (and gives us four tubes of Sensodyne–score!), the ATM dispenses $60 when we only requested $40 (and the receipt confirms the asked-for amount), and now two of our favorite athletes from the past year, Stephen Jackson and Pacman Jones, both make headlines and give us another opportunity to pay them the homage they so deserve. Next we’re waiting for a pig to fly by the office window so we can donate $1 million to the local orphanage.

And so here we have two updates on stories that broke months ago about two well-paid professional athletes flushing their lives/careers down the toilet in the name of keeping it real. Coincidentally, two strip clubs are the setting for these sordid stories. It almost sounds like a fable, doesn’t it?

We’ll lead with the lovable loser from the Golden State Warriors, Stephen Jackson, who was involved in a shooting outside a strip club last October while… wait for it… already on probation. Today it was announced that Jackson intends to plead guilty to criminal recklessness for bucking off a few rounds during the melee:

Stephen Jackson will admit to criminal recklessness in firing a gun outside a strip club and, if the plea agreement is accepted by a judge, pay a $5,000 fine and perform 100 hours of community service, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said Monday. In return, the Golden State Warriors player will have a one-year jail sentence suspended and a felony converted into a misdemeanor conviction, spokesman Matthew Symons said.

“The judge will either accept it or not accept it. I would be inclined to believe she would accept it, but that would be speaking for her, so I can’t do that definitively,” Symons said of the plea agreement.

Well why shouldn’t she accept it, Mr. Symons? At the end of the day, Jackson didn’t really do anything wrong. What, he fired off a few rounds in a crowd to help break up a fight he had absolutely no involvement in whatsoever? That, friends, is the act of a good samaritan, not a pea-brained criminal. We sincerely hope he does not have to serve any jail time or has his impeccable record tainted with a felony conviction. We want Stephen Jackson on the loose, roaming the streets, just itching to do something worthy of coverage on ETB. Judge Gifford, we trust you’ll make the right decision.

As for Pacman Jones, whose pursuit to break the Guinness World Record for “Most Visits to a Strip Club in One Year” is coming along nicely, he and his entourage had a run-in with Johnny Law last night at a–you guessed it–strip club in DeKalb County, GA. Appropriately enough, the name of the joint? Club Blaze. Amazing.

Suspended NFL player Adam “Pacman” Jones was being sought by police for questioning about a shooting early Monday involving members of his entourage after a fight at an Atlanta strip club.

Jones, his group and three other people got into a fight, apparently over a woman, at a club around 4 a.m., officer Ariel Toledo said. After everyone involved left the strip club — the three people in one car, and Jones and his entourage in three other cars — someone in Jones’ group shot at the car, and the others returned fire, Toledo said. Toledo said Jones was not present when the shots were fired.

Mmhmm. I’m not sure that “taking a piss” counts as not being present. As you may recall, Pacman has already been suspended for the 2007 season, which might not be such a good idea given all the spare time he’ll have on his hands. His attorney, Manny Arora, had this to say about the incident: “”Adam was not involved, they’ll tell you, in the shooting. His car wasn’t there or anywhere near the scene. They simply are just asking him … much like any other witness, if anything happened inside that might help them figure out who was involved.”

There you have it, folks: Pacman’s car wasn’t there, so he had nothing to do with anything. So move along, nothing to see here.

It started with Yao Ming, who after taking his lumps the first few seasons of his NBA career has developed into one of the top two or three centers in the game. In a little over a week, 6-11 countryman Yi Jianlian will be a likely lottery pick in the June 28 draft. Though it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not Jianlian eventually makes a comparable impact to what Ming has done for the Houston Rockets and Association in general, early reports are that Jianlian can run the floor, has athleticism to spare, and has yet to scratch the surface of his considerable talents. He’ll probably need a season or two to get up to NBA speed with his peers–especially physically–but we feel Jianlian will make whichever team drafts him very happy in time.

Of course, those aren’t the only two Chinese players to come overseas and play in the NBA–Wang Zhizhi was the first, but never accomplished much. 7-8 guard (just kidding) Sun Mingming has hopes of latching on in the big leagues, but for now he’s stuck in the International Basketball League with the Grand Rapids Flight, which should tell you a little something about his NBA prospects. Now, another Chinese player with NBA ambitions is starting to make a name for himself with scouts across the league, and again, it has a lot to do with his size: 21-year-old Sun Yue is listed as a 6-9 point guard. But though he has agreed to practice with the Washington Wizards, the Chinese national team coach, Jonas Kazlauskas, feels that Yue is nowhere close to being ready for the NBA:

“If you ask me which skill Sun needs to improve in terms of playing in the NBA, I’d tell you he needs an all-around improvement, because he is not strong enough to join the games there,” Kazlauskas said.

Kazlauskas is unhappy that Sun accepted an invitation from the Washington Wizards to practice with them ahead of this month’s NBA draft instead of working out with his national team ahead of the Asian Championships. And he went one step further last week by saying Sun was hurting his chances of playing at the Olympics while skipping national team duty this month. Kazlauskas also snuck in a final word.

“If you don’t want to accept the truth, how can you help the team to prepare for the Beijing Olympics?” he said. “This is not defamation, this is the reality that Chinese players have to face.”

Check out the rest of the article for more on Yue, who is compared to versatile Phoenix Suns combo guard/forward Boris Diaw in terms of size and playmaking ability. Now, we’ve never seen any game footage of Yue, we haven’t heard his name before today, and though this kid will very likely end up in the NBA within the next few seasons, we’ll trust his coach’s assessment that he still has a long ways to go (though some of his comments are obviously sour grapes at Yue skipping out on some national team duties).

But during these next few developmental years for Yue, is he better off playing against inferior competition in China, or against other young, upcoming players fighting to make the NBA? Coming over here and sitting on the end of the bench for three seasons, like so many Europeans do, doesn’t seem like the best solution. Sure, practicing against the best players in the world has its advantages, but the benefits of playing in real game situations cannot be overstated.

To us, this again brings to the forefront David Stern’s lack of planning and execution when it comes to the NBA Development League. More money should be put into it, more teams should then be founded, and it should work more like Major League Baseball’s minor-league system, which, you know, works. NBA franchises should not have to “share” a D-League team with other franchises–the legitimate question going through the minds of many NBA front offices is “why should I send two of my best prospects down there when I have no control over whether they play or not?”

The current relationship between the NBA and the D-League is flawed at best, and there’s so much potential for it to become symbiotic almost instantly, to establish a bigger NBA fanbase in D-League cities, and to truly become a proving ground for young, exciting talent. Yue should be honing his game in the D-League–now–but unfortunately it’s still mostly in shambles. That means that until Stern gets his D-League act together, Yue is better off staying in China and playing against a lot of guys whose only hopes of seeing NBA players up close is at Beijing during an autograph session.

- Professional football, the ultimate man’s man sport. A sport where muscle-bound gladiators strap on their coat of arms to battle under the Heavens in a trial of strength, endurance, and unmitigated might. A kill-em-all contest where the winner walks off the field bruised and battered and bloodied, but where victory cures all ailments. And so in this game of testosterone and virility, Minnesota Vikings fans are surely beating their chest with pride when their head coach, Brad Childress, refers to himself in all seriousness as “a mother hen.”

- Speaking of memorable off-season moments with head coaches, the Washington Redskins’ Joe Gibbs stammered with what sounded like sexually charged tension on Friday after tight end Chris Cooley arrived at mini-camp sporting the tightest rear end Gibbs could remember ever laying eyes on. Said Gibbs: “Chris is probably one of the best-trained athletes I’ve seen.” Gibbs could be heard humming ZZ Top’s “Legs” as he walked off the practice field and headed to the locker room for a long, long… long cold shower.

- The latest quarterback bound to suffer from the Dan Marino Curse in Miami, 37-year-old millionaire Trent Green, heads up SI.com’s Bucky Brooks’ list of 10 NFL players who are past their prime and not far from being sentenced to a field trip to the glue factory.

- The Sports Hernia has the latest scoop on ESPN’s next surefire columnist. Ladies, those sheets are satin.

- Eli Manning, New York Giants QB, still needs pep talks. The kid obviously has some talent, but has there ever been a player who has benefitted more from his family’s legacy?

- The Cleveland Browns did the home-viewing audience a huge favor on draft day this year when they finally ended ESPN’s Brady Quinn Saga by plucking him late in the first round. Quinn looks like he will be repaying their kindness with a hold-out that could push second-year pro Derek Anderson into the starting quarterback slot. Fun!

- A member of the Washington Redskins may have taken rookie hazing to a whole new level.

- Desperate for competition at running back–rookie Chris Henry and second-year cheesecake aficiando LenDale White are really the only viable options for the moment–the Tennesse Titans have offered Chris Brown the chance to resign. Their main competition for Brown’s services seems to be the Chicago Bears. Either way, don’t expect Brown to have much of an impact this season for either team (or your fantasy team).

- Every time we read or hear about former Detroit Lions head coach Marty Mornhinweg (now offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles), a few things instantly come to mind: his motorcycle charade in training camp, the infamous “I’ll take the wind” call in OT against the Bears, and of course, the Griswolds singing the Marty Moose theme song on their way to Wally World. Anyway, Mornhinweg says he will be a head coach again, even if it’s in youth football.

- Speaking of those lovable Lions, former defensive end James Hall, who was dealt to the St. Louis Rams this offseason for a fifth-round pick, felt the need to comment on his view of the franchise: “I just got tired of every two years rotating the coaching staff, guys going in and out, not really having any continuity on the team. Every year you come back and you try to put in the work and do what you’re supposed to do individually. And it gets hard when it doesn’t pay off for you during the season.”

It’s almost like the 2003 NBA Draft didn’t happen from the perspective of Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons. Gone is Darko “Mailing It In” Milicic, the #2 overall pick, and yesterday, the Pistons moved their other first-round pick from ’03, sending swingman Carlos Delfino to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for a second-round picks in 2009 and 2011.

Milicic accomplished little more than a few bad haircuts during his tenure with Detroit, and though the 24-year-old Delfino made some positive strides during the 2006/07 season–particularly with his overall hustle and man-to-man defense–he was never able to cement himself as a consistent threat off the bench who could always be counted on to produce. When he was on, he was capable of making an impact; when he was off, he resembled a high-school JV player.

Joe Dumars sent him off with this classic by-the-book quote: “We appreciate everything Carlos did for us while he was here, and we wish him all the best with Toronto.” Yep, it was clearly a sad, sad day for Dumars to depart with Delfino.

The three-year veteran from Argentina gets a new lease on life in Toronto, a team that’s building itself into a modern-day Baskin Robbins with something like 31 different nationalities on the roster (instead of ice-cream flavors. Our favorite was always the chocolate and peanut butter). He will likely come off the bench like he did in Detroit, competing for minutes with Joey Graham, Juan Dixon, and Kris Humphries. This likely means the end of Morris Peterson’s up-and-down career with the Raptors.

For Detroit, this move wasn’t so much about scoring two more future draft picks as it was freeing up cap space and a spot in the rotation for someone more reliable and/or a clearer future as a part of the franchise. One possibility could see 2005 second-round pick Alex Acker, a 6-5 shooting guard, return from Greece’s Olympiacos, where he averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 boards boards last season. Although he will be a power forward in this league, this could open up more minutes, by default, for Amir Johnson. These picks could become part of a larger trade package. But one very legitimate rumor making the rounds is that Joe Dumars will now make a heavy pitch to one-time Piston Grant Hill to sign for part of the team’s mid-level exception and return to the site of his glory days:

Friday’s trade cleared $1.86 million from next year’s books and opened a spot for a backup swingman. The Pistons have interest in speaking with at least one — former Piston Grant Hill — when he becomes a free agent from Orlando on July 1.

We could not confirm reports that Hill could be further persuaded to come back to Detroit strictly because he wouldn’t have to wear those *ugly* turquoise or teal or whatever jerseys the Pistons rocked for a spell in the 90s. There have been a lot of cries for this team to “get younger” in the wake of their embarassing playoffs loss to the Cavaliers, and they will with two first-round picks in the draft and Johnson and Jason Maxiell taking on more minutes.

But Hill would be a real nice addition behind Tayshaun Prince. Health will always be an issue, but unlike in Orlando, where he was heavily counted on to carry a good part of the offensive load and log more minutes than he really should be at this point in his career, Hill would play a complimentary role in Detroit, likely playing no more than 20-22 minutes a night. Last season, in averaging about 30 minutes per in 65 contests, Hill put up 14.4 points, 3.7 boards, 2.1 assists, 51% FG, and almost a steal a game. The Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs are also rumored to be interested in his services, but we feel his best option is with the Pistons, where he will be guaranteed consistent playing time.