Why Did the Pistons Trade Chauncey Billups?

[BanditHiro]

never understood why they would trade him for iverson.

[Xevious]

Cap space, Iverson was expiring. The team as is wasn't getting back to the finals anyway.

[ffadicted]

Cap space, Iverson was expiring. The team as is wasn't getting back to the finals anyway.

They sure spent it well...

[Muser]

Ben Gordon really fucking sucks

[fo'shizzle]

for Ben Gordon and Charlie "Eye-Brow" Villanueva, son

[Bob Lanier]

Why not?

[JamStone]

Chauncey Billups had hit a point with the Pistons where he looked like he lost a step and was on a steep decline for his career, and the collective complacency and lack of motivation of the team had stagnated that core to the point where a major move needed to be made. In an interview, Billups himself admitted as much and said he wouldn't have played the way he has the last two seasons had he still been in Detroit.

That said, it has still turned out to be a very bad trade and it doesn't look like it will get better any time soon for the Pistons. If the Pistons truly believed they needed to break up the core, they probably should have tried to move Rip Hamilton instead of Chauncey because it turns out Chauncey was really the heart and soul of that team. Obviously, what they did with the cap space they got from trading Billups hasn't turned out very good either up to this point.

Sucks but can't do shit about it now, especially as a fan. Hindsight sure is 20/20. I was all for the Billups-Iverson trade at the time.

[Pelicans78]

I thought the trade made sense as well last season since the team didn't seem capable of getting back to the Finals. They had alot of cap space, plus they expected Stuckey to take over. I think firing Flip Saunders was a bad move because their last two coaches have just sucked balls. Plus signing Gordon when they already had Hamilton signed plus a soft jump-shooting motherfucker like Charlie V sealed this team's fate.

[Thunder Dan]

because Joe Dumars is a great GM. He traded Billups so he could get in the running for Charlie V and Ben Gordon. He struck gold

[Cane]

Because Detroit turned into a shitty franchise.

[DAF86]

I think what Dumars tried to do is to make the lightning strike twice.

He formed an elite team by putting toghether a group of good talented guys but that weren't considered stars prior to their Pistons days and now he tried to do the same with the signings of Gordon and Villanueva.

It's the only semi-logical conclusion I can come up with of such horrible signings.

[Pelicans78]

I think Dumars just vastly overrated Gordon, Villanueva, and perhaps Stuckey.

[z0sa]

I think the problem lies with the conception of the team both Pistons management and fans had. This was a still very talented team that had a long streak of going deep into the playoffs, and those extra games are worth a lot of money.

Besides, I would NEVER have traded Billups, that dude was a Piston for life in my book. He finally found his home.

[JamStone]

Joe Dumars had become extremely overrated as a GM. He's not nearly as good as some people thought about 3-4 years ago. But, having said that, he's still one of the better GMs out there. And, when he does make mistakes, he generally acknowledges them fairly quickly and addresses them. His poor draft picks, Rodney White, Mateen Cleaves, Darko, he moved all of them within 2-3 years of drafting them and got draft picks for them. when he's made bad signings, he would address them as well. He was able to move Nazr Mohammed who still had 3 years left on his bloated MLE contract.

Dumars probably does think he's smarter than he is. He was extremely "lucky" more than anything with the way guys like Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups turned out for just the MLE, completely outperforming the contracts they got when they first signed.

The thing with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, they do look like pretty bad signings. But, look at last summer's free agents. They were among the best free agents available. I think Dumars probably was trying to hedge his bets because he didn't think he'd be able to sign one of the big name free agents this summer. He should definitely take some slack for it anyway. But, that's what my guess is as to what he was thinking. He got two what he perceived as quality players who were still very young and about to enter their prime. For all of Charlie Villanueva's faults, he's still making just barely above the MLE. With better talent on the team and a more comfortable role for him, I still think he could end up being a good signing. I didn't like the Ben Gordon signing at all at the time and don't now. But I will defend his season with the fact that he really struggled with his injuries and came back before he should and Coach Kuester has misused him pretty much all season long when he was available.

The Pistons are shitty right now. Plus, they have a disinterested owner, Bill Davidson's widow, who will probably sell the team. Dumars hasn't made any real good personnel moves in probably 5 years. So, we're looking at a pretty bad stretch for several years. It really does suck. But oh well. This is the time you're tested as a fan. And these are the times that make winning and being legitimate title contenders all the more sweeter.

But for now, all you fans from other teams should absolutely make fun of the Pistons and Pistons fans. We're in total suckage mode right now and for the near future. So bad we don't even deserve a Lol Pistons. We're expected to suck.

[JamStone]

I think the problem lies with the conception of the team both Pistons management and fans had. This was a still very talented team that had a long streak of going deep into the playoffs, and those extra games are worth a lot of money.

Besides, I would NEVER have traded Billups, that dude was a Piston for life in my book. He finally found his home.

Just my opinion, but had Billups stayed, the Pistons would not have made another ECF anyway with that core. They'd be a second round out at best the previous two seasons. And then the rebuilding process begins much, much later. Billups doesn't play the way he has in Denver had he remained a Piston.

While it was a bad trade for the Pistons, it was actually a good trade for Chauncey's career. And you can see the respect Dumars gave Chauncey by trading him to his home town team. It's been reported that Dumars would not trade Billups to any other team. He sent him to his home and to a good team.

[z0sa]

Billups doesn't play the way he has in Denver had he remained a Piston.

While it was a bad trade for the Pistons, it was actually a good trade for Chauncey's career. And you can see the respect Dumars gave Chauncey by trading him to his home town team. It's been reported that Dumars would not trade Billups to any other team. He sent him to his home and to a good team.

It's speculation of course, but a different trade (IE Rip or Tayshaun) could have fired that team up again IMO.

[JamStone]

I said as much in my other post.

However, looking back at the time, Billups had kind of imploded in the 2007 and 2008 post seasons, not Rip. Billups looked done or very close to being done. Tay's value wasn't as high as Billups. And, Dumars had a guy he felt was ready to take over at Billups position, Stuckey.

It's easy to say they should have traded Rip or Tay now. Not so easy back then when the situation called for moving Billups as making the most sense... again, at the time.

[Darthkiller]

he did the right thing trading billups. but then turned around and gave Rip an extention and spent the cap space on 2 bench guys.

[Thunder Dan]

they won't ever regret giving Ben Gordon $55,000,000

that's a bargain

[Thunder Dan]

they gave Ben Gordon $55,000,000 when they already had a Ben Gordon on the team. Now they have 2 undersized, shoot-first guards, and no point guard

[Kobe Molested Me]

Cap space, Iverson was expiring. The team as is wasn't getting back to the finals anyway.

The team was 6-0 to start the season before they traded Billups. They were pretty damn good and imo could gotten back to the finals.

[Ghazi]

The team was 6-0 to start the season before they traded Billups. They were pretty damn good and imo could gotten back to the finals.

4-0 actually, I believe.

Not a significant enough sample size.

Everyone on that team regressed significantly.

I don't think the difference between Iverson/Chauncey was worth 15-20 wins. They would maybe have just been the 4th best team in the East if Chauncey stuck around

[Kriz-Maxima]

That team was done, they weren't gonna contend for a championship again, and they were stagnant and lazy. I had no problem with trading Billups, I had a problem with the Billups trade being accompanied by an extension to Rip (and to Maxiell) and then most of the money the Billups trade freed up was spend on a back up for Rip. I honestly believed that when Gordon was signed it was because they had a taker for Rip lined up, but such was not the case.

And if I remember correctly the Pistons were 2-0 with Billups and 2-0 without Billups before AI arrived.

[Findog]

Why Did the Pistons Trade Chauncey Billups?

So they could blow all their cap space on Charlie Villeaneuva and Ben Gordon?