Diesel in the Motor City: Could Shaquille O'Neal become a Piston?

¹²³ · Feb 18, 2009

I’m taking a break from my current story of the Mt. Rushmore of Detroit Sports to weigh in on a hot topic that has broken today.

I was driving home from class when I turned on 97.1 The Ticket to hear the rumor surrounding the Detroit Pistons. With less than 24 hours until the NBA trade deadline, the Phoenix Suns are entering desperate hours in their hopes to deal unhappy forward Amare Stoudemire.

There is no doubt the Pistons have shown interest in the 26-year-old power forward for obvious reasons. He is a low-post presence that this team has lacked for many years, or at least until Rasheed Wallace decided to become Jason Kapono and only shoot three-pointers. He is just entering the prime of his career and sometimes, a change of scenery and a fresh-start is just what a young player needs to rejuvenate his mojo.

But there was a problem the Pistons were having trouble getting around. The Suns are trying to trim payroll and get younger, and any deal that would have included Detroit almost certainly would have needed to include Rodney Stuckey, whom Joe Dumars does not want to part with. With Steve Nash, Grant Hill and Shaquille O’Neal on the Suns’ roster, three of their top-four players are 35 or older. The window has almost certainly closed on this group. And because Stoudemire has grown disgruntled in Phoenix, he has become their lone asset on the market. He is a free agent after next season, adding him to that incredible 2010 class. So, they feel there is more than a good chance he could simply walk away and leave them holding nothing in return.

The new rumor coming out Auburn Hills has the Pistons sending the expiring contracts of Wallace and Allen Iverson, plus journeyman Walter Herrmann and his gigantic hands -- they look like Bob Lanier’s size 22 feet -- to Phoenix for Stoudemire, Matt Barnes and the Diesel himself, Shaquille O’Neal. Yes, you heard me, Shaq, the Big Cactus, the Big Aristotle, Superman, Shaq Daddy…..and any other nickname I may have left out would be suiting up in a Pistons uniform.

At first I was unsure how I felt about this. I mean, isn’t the reason Stoudemire is upset in the first place because Shaq is stealing his minutes and stats inside? So why bring an unhappy superstar if you need to bring the reason he is unhappy in the first place? But I did some more thinking and came to the realization that this would be one of the best deals Joe has ever made, for a few reasons.

First, the reason the Pistons were wary of trading both A.I. and ‘Sheed was because of their nice contracts that would position the team to be a player in the ’10 free-agent spending spree. But both Shaq and Stoudemire are coming off the books after ’09 also, so that evens out. At 36, O’Neal is probably finishing out these last two years and calling it a career, but there is a very good chance that Stoudemire could enjoy his time here and decide to sign a long-term contract before we ever get to 2010.
Second, this would completely sure up the backcourt logjam this team has had since trading for Iverson. The Pistons could now move Richard Hamilton back into the starting lineup along with Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, Stoudemire and Shaq, and keep Antonio McDyess in his more comfortable role of being a sixth-man coming off the bench.

Third, Detroit is going nowhere with A.I. and Wallace. They have sunk back down to the sixth-seed and are staring a first-round playoff exit in the eye. If they make this trade will it spring them back to the top of the Eastern Conference? Probably not, but they would become a very, very dangerous team and if they gel right, could be hitting their stride at the right moment.

And finally, the Pistons would be getting back to what they do best, becoming a half-court team with a big front-line who can rebound, defend and everyone would finally know their role. There would not be anybody wondering each night how many minutes they will play, when they will get into the game and where on the floor they should be. Stoudemire may enjoy teaming up with guys like Stuckey, Hamilton and Prince, and feel that the long-term benefit just might be worth signing here. Shaq is no longer the dominating force he used to be, but he is still the biggest man in the NBA and very capable of putting up 15-20 points and eight-10 rebounds per game, and would cause other teams in the East to get in major foul trouble that could be a difference in a seven-game series.

If this deal does happen and it doesn’t work, leaving the Pistons on the outside looking in come May and June, so what? They would be in the exact same position they are in now. No championship with a ton of money expiring prior to 2010. But if it does work, this team gels, Stoudemire likes it here and signs, they make a long playoff run, Joe Dumars would have pulled off another extraordinary move.

But Shaq in a Pistons uniform, that just sounds weird to say. Nowhere near the level of putting hated men like Ron Artest or Claude Lemieux on a Detroit team. But this is the same man we’ve loved to boo for the last decade.

So the Diesel, Superman, Big Cactus, Big Aristotle and the Daddy may be coming to Motown. The only question is, which nickname would we call him?
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Link

JE · Feb 18, 2009

http://sportstwo.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1894323&postcount=3

By the looks of things, I identified Shaq to the Pistons as a possibility about two weeks ago. Glad to see the pundits catching up.

¹²³ · Feb 18, 2009

JE said: ↑

http://sportstwo.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1894323&postcount=3

By the looks of things, I identified Shaq to the Pistons as a possibility about two weeks ago. Glad to see the pundits catching up.
Click to expand...

Nice, JE.

But as you said I still think this is very unlikely.

Big Frame · Feb 18, 2009

I am thinking if any deal gets done, we would bring Shaq in. Plus he is exactually what we need

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