This is a completely different team with Jose Calderon!

Forgive me for being a desperately hopeful fool, but I’m kind of starting to have faith in Joe-D again. I know the wins haven't come yet, but this is a completely different team with Jose Calderon. At the start of the season, I was hoping we’d tank and get a high pick. But this team I’m watching right now – I think this team’s going to make the playoffs and give a high seed a serious run. And with all the cap space we’re going to have this summer, if it’s spent well, we could go to the ECF next season. I’m sort of reminded of that first competitive team we had post-Grant Hill, with Ben, Uncle Cliffy, Curry, Stack and Chucky.

First of all, Calderon is incredible. He reminds me so much of Tony Parker. It’s rare to see a guy who’s capable of running an offense so well. His IQ’s off the charts. He’s so good with the ball in his hands. He’s such a great passer. He takes such great care of the ball. And he does it all at full-speed on the run. AND, he can shoot lights out from outside!!

Brandon Knight looks soo much more comfortable at the two-guard. It’s like his chains have been unleashed. He’s so skilled, and without the responsibilities that come along with being a point guard, he’s showing it. He’s an incredible athlete. He’s a good ball-handler. He’s a good passer. And now, when he doesn’t know what to do, he can just camp out at the three point line and be and demand a defender.

Singler’s not the greatest athlete in the world, but he can run, and he’s showing that he has great fast-break skills. Drummond, we all know, is probably the most athletic true center in the league. Monroe’s a hell of a player too, and I think we’re going to be able to find a way to fit him in.

When I look at our team out there now, I see five guys who are giving tremendous effort on defense; and I see an offense that is being operated incredibly well. I’m not going to get into predictions – I never in a million years would’ve guessed that Calderon’d be the answer – but I’m unbelievably excited by the possibilities of what we could do with all our cap space this off-season!!

I will say…1) I think we should resign Calderon; 2) I think we should amnesty Charlie-V. His offensive game might fit into our new offense (really well, actually), but I just can’t stand to see him on defense, and I’d rather see that cap space used elsewhere; 3) I think we should trade Stuckey for whatever we can get. His ability to take it to the rack on the fast break would be a great asset in this offense, but he’s just not smart on that end. I don’t like his defensive attitude or effort. I don’t like his demeanor in general. I’d rather see us do something else with his cap space. 4) I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Max and Will brought back at the right price (which is quite low for me). But it’d of course be as an afterthought after exploring all other options with our cap space. 5) Don’t think I really even need to mention that Maggette’s gone.

Fortunately for us, we have a half year rental and we will be in a good position to make him permanent if we like what we see. Way better than having to commit long term to him without seeing how he fits in. We can take a nice long look at his defensive shortcomings and whether or not he makes up for them enough to justify a long term deal. Offensively, he's a no-brainer. We can also hopefully see whether Drummond erases those defensive shortcomings and makes them irrelevant. In that case, he's worth more to us than the market and we should be able to win the bidding.

And getting to play with this team won't make him look as good as he is to outside observers hopefully. Negative showcasing to some extent.

It does look like we are finally building a team. I agree with most of your points, although, if Charlie gets on a good workout plan during the offseason, he could be a good defensive player.

Couldn't disagree more, I think he looks completely lost as a SG, the kid has ALWAYS played the point and now he's had it taken away from him, when that happens people don't breath a sigh relief. I think Brandon can be a very good Off The Bench Combo-Guard who backs up both positions, because I don't think he's good enough to start in this league.

I agree, no way the Pistons would have gotten off that potential game tying 3 point attempt with Knight or Stuckey at the point like they did last night. The shot didn't fall, but it was grrrrrreat look.

He appears to at least give great effort on D. Not the biggest, strongest, or most capable defender...but the effort / attitude goes a long way. I'm not even sure I'd describe him as a below-average defender (based on limited observation).

Maybe if he sees a good hypnotist as well.

How much of him have you seen alongside Calderon? I'm genuinely curious.

He might've been a point guard his entire life, but I thought he looked completely lost as a point guard in the NBA. For an NBA point guard, he came up short in a lot of areas. For an NBA two-guard, he's well above average in almost all of those areas. I've thought he's looked incredibly comfortable with less responsibility at the two thus far (especially on the break).

I love Calderon. He is a real competitor.

I have said this before but I think Knight can do well at the 2 spot. He is a good spot up shooter, and a good athlete. We should be able to get him to run around and lose his man for the 3 balls. With Calderon/Knight/Singler we have a good enough outside presence to run Moose next to Drummond - it was a piece we were missing.

I like how vocal Calderon is, he's directing the troops all the time.

Calderon has always been a very good offensive player. His main problem is that he's one of the five worst defenders in the league, at his position. It's really hard to watch him sometimes because of that. He's good enough offensively that you have to start him. He's so bad on the other end that you're constantly looking for his replacement. That was his situation in Toronto for eight years. That will be his situation here.

This is a fun team to watch. However, a first round playoff series would be ugly. Miami, New York, Indiana, Chicago (with Rose back), would be 4-5 game affairs. This team needs time and tweaking before it's ready for prime time.

I agree with those that say this team isn't ready now. They're not.

Roscoe had good points about leadership. Just watching him help players up, pat them on the head, coach on the floor. When the ball goes out of bounds, he isn't looking at Frankie for advise, he's setting up the offense. 4 year contract.
And in a perfect world Drummond will make up for any d shortcomings.

I really like Jose, but a four year contract? 3 years 18-20 million feels about right to me.

I'd be going with a 3 year one as well, only because his defense will only get worse. But he might not be willing to accept that.

Also, lets be real here, he is worth $8m a year.

I'm still waiting to see how bad he is on D. It seems like someone who's so quick, smart and hard-working couldn't be that bad...but I'll have to wait and see I guess.

You haven't watched him play D in his first two games as a Piston? How did you come up with this thread idea if you haven't seen him play yet?

You're probably right. That might be the market price for him. If I was running the Pistons, I would let him walk before I gave him that money.

And also see what David West has done to the Pacers.