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Matt Dery: Trade Deadline May Be Quiet Again For Pistons

There is a lot that I know about the Detroit Pistons and how they are run. There is also a lot that I do not know because Joe Dumars and his staff have always elected to keep many matters "in-house" and in private. I have no problem with that at all. Some teams, including tonight's opponent the Rockets, are so public that their GM, Daryl Morey, is even on twitter. I highly doubt we will ever see Joe D posting any tweets in the near future. Dumars will be working the phones quite heavily this week, with the NBA trade deadline approaching at 3 PM on Thursday. But I do not believe anything major will happen and last night after practice, Tayshaun Prince made that pretty clear.

Tayshaun is in the last year of his deal. It appears to be a no-brainer to move him to a contender and maybe snag a draft pick or an expiring contract back. If a team has a trade exception, maybe just a pick. Prince told members of the media last night that he will not be traded. When pressed by TV reporter Jennifer Hammond, Tayshaun says that he knows he isn't being moved and basically squashed any talk of a trade. Strange because in his own words, Prince does not believe it is possible for the Pistons to make a run at the playoffs.
In most cases, teams that are out of it become "sellers" at the deadline, right?

The Pistons are not just any team. This organization has been notorious under Dumars for being extremely loyal to "his guys".
Sometimes, too loyal in my opinion. Veteran players like to play here because Joe takes good care of them. They screw up; it is always handled (as I said before) behind closed doors. Prince has been a model citizen on the court this season and has played his butt off.
He told me before the season that he was out to prove that last year was a down season for him because of injury and nothing else; I think he has made his point. Personally, I'd like to see him traded. I think he could help a contender and I also think it is time to finally move forward without the likes of the "old guard" around here. Again, easier said than done. (In a perfect world, you deal him to Dallas for the 10.6 million dollar expiring deal of the injured Caron Butler.
But, Caron says he will be back for the playoffs).

There are other issues. Prince plays hard every night, not everyone else on this team does. Tayshaun is also extremely opinionated and there may be a coach or two out there that doesn't want that in their locker room at the moment. Plus, the Pistons have to make every single move with such care due to the ownership situation and pending sale. It is very difficult. Extremely difficult to do anything right now and get approval from the very top. Tracy McGrady even called the team "dysfunctional" last night, so if you trade one of the "effort constants" then what?

See you at the palace tonight. Broadcast on AM 950 with our pregame show at 7.

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