There has been much clamoring in Sixertown about a particular native son, Rasheed Wallace. With the Detroit Pistons losing in yet another Eastern Conference Finals and head coach Flip Saunders getting the axe, does that mean the Pistons are finally disbanding and major changes are coming? Maybe not a complete dismantling but Joe Dumars certainly will make a move this off-season and put the entire roster on notice…
“I’m not going to sit here and make Flip the scapegoat,” president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said. “Everybody is in play.”
“There are no sacred cows here,” Dumars said. “You lose that sacred-cow status when you lose three straight years.”
“I’ll make a significant trade,” Dumars, declared. “… “We have a core group of guys here that for the first time in six years I’m letting teams in the league know I’ll do a deal. … I’m open for business.”
It’s comments like those that have peaked the Philadelphia fans interest and creative trade-machine juices to make a deal for Wallace.
Rasheed Wallace seems like the logical choice for Dumars being that he is often an on-court distraction with his lack of discipline and inconsistent performance. The last two years have seen Sheed’s overall production decrease substantially, and at 33-years old it stands to reason he won’t return to All-NBA form. With one year and just over $13.6M owed Dumars might want to trade him now to get some value in return.
But the question is: Should the 76ers be the team to make a play for Sheed? This post will serve as an open discussion for this hotly debated topic since I see you guys are already all over it. Here are some thoughts to kick things off.
- I think Joe Dumars will keep the majority of the core intact and is looking for one big impact trade that he thinks will get the Pistons over that hump again. Do the Sixers have what Dumars would want in a deal involving Sheed? What would you be willing to give up for this aging superstar? Fire up the trade machine; no fantasy deals, it needs to make sense, Joe Dumars isn’t a fool. RUMOR: ESPN reported that Dumars might make a play for Carmelo Anthony if Denver is really open to dealing him.
- What is the point of the deal? I think this is always an overlooked question. People hear a player they like and just say do it. Would we be doing this deal just to have Sheed for one season or do we extend him? If it’s just for one year, I assume we are trying to compete for the Finals next season. Do we really believe the Sixers would be a contender even with Sheed (remember Willie Green is still the shooting guard and Lou Williams the back-up PG)? This deal would probably eat up a good chunk of our cap space making it less likely we can get another impact player (shooting guard, shooter) to really move us into contender status. If we extend him doesn’t this bring up the same question marks we have about Andre Miller’s eventual contract situation?
- Finally, just like the Randolph detractors have pointed out do we really want to bring this type of personality on this team?
Let the games begin.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The 6ers need a strong veteran influence, not an inconsistent crybaby. Wallace has a lot of talent, but he also has even more issues. If he were to find himself, it may be worth the risk. But, until that happens, NO WAY!!!
Plus, DET will be looking for talent in return, full value. An offer of Evans, the 16 and cap space would never do it.
Pass… next question.
i’m not completley sure wallace would be traded to you guy’s even if you did put a great offer on the table. it has been rumored that the bobcats and suns are interested as well. the suns are dying to get rid of diaw’s contract and could possibly move barbosa as well. with gordon gericek emerging as a good scarer off the bench and the possibility of getting rush in the draft, those two players are expendable. detroit could either throw in lyndsey hunter or there 1st round pick and the deal would be done. the bobcats situation is a little bit trickier. the main reason their name has came up is because of the larry brown connection. also the fact that brown, mj, and rasheed all went to unc. the only deal that would make much sense is nazr mohammed, adam morrison, sean may, and a swap of their 2nd round picks for rasheed, or jason richardson and jared dudley for rasheed. now that i think of it, none of them would make any sense. if j kidd was still in new jersey i could see them working something out for one last run, but they are looking to get younger so you can call them out of it.
the fact is a team like phily that has a future shouldnt make that type of deal because it wouldnt get them any closer than they are now. i think they have a great future ahead of them if they can keep this group together. a team like the suns could make this deal because they only have one more year to make a run at the title.
piece of advice for phily, dont do it because it would destroy your future.
I’ll put in my 2 cents. I have no interest in Sheed.
The number one reason I would do the Randolph deal is to get the draft pick. The number two reason is that it won’t cost us very much to address two areas of need. I feel this deal has a pretty good chance at helping us take a big step forward.
Since the Pistons won’t be packaging a high draft pick with Sheed, it’s not worth it for him alone. Plus, I’m sure the Pistons will want more for Sheed than the Knicks want for Randolph. Overall, I think this deal is much more likely cause damage, both short and long term, than move us closer to contending.
Reasons why the Sixers should not even think about acquiring Sheed:
-He’s 33. Why would ANY team actively chase a 33 year old? Only a top 5-7 team in contention for a title could possibly be interested in him.
-His contract. 13 million for one season? Doesn’t make any sense…even if we treat him as just “an expiring contract”, let him go and had the extra cap space, I’m sure we would have already given up a talented player in return for that expiring contract. I’d rather hang onto talent then trade it just to free up some money we might not even be able to even use.
-His game: Now don’t get me wrong…I love his game, and Sheed’s bball IQ is pretty off the chart. He also has learned over time to mix his post and perimeter game effectively, whereas he used to just fall in love with the 3 point shot way too much.
That said, he has NEVER played up to his potential, actively shies away from the spotlight and relishes a glue-guy role, and most of all picks and chooses his spots to be motivated in, and rarely plays with the type of consistent fire and passion needed to be a reliable force in the NBA. Why on earth would we actively seek to add these traits to our team?
-Did I mention his age?! The only reason I like the idea of giving Zach Randolph a two year trial period is because he’s young, 26. If Zach were 33 there’s no way I’d make that trade. Sheed is 33, a whiny malcontent, and his career is definitely entering the twilight period already and just going down more. What’s the point in getting this guy?
Love him off the court, he has always sounded like a good hearted, and I’ll say “interesting” guy, but this just doesn’t make any sense for our Sixers.