<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Monday, May 26, 2003 Dumars vows roster moves Pistons president says team likely will become younger for next season By Chris McCosky / The Detroit News Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News Pistons rookie Mehmet Okur (13) will compete for a starting job next season, possibly relegating Cliff Robinson to the bench. AUBURN HILLS -- If you know Joe Dumars at all, if you have been paying attention to the last couple of summers, you know that he will not be content to let the Pistons rest on the laurels of another 50-victory season and subsequent trip to the Eastern Conference finals. You know there are going to be upgrades and changes. "Stand pat? I don't think so," Dumars, the Pistons' president, said Sunday. "Last year, we traded our best player (Jerry Stackhouse); I don't think we'll be doing that this year. But looking to add? I think our track record shows the last three years, we'll be looking to add significantly." He said he expects at least a 25 percent turnover in personnel. "I don't think you can stand pat in this business, unless you've got a dynasty, like Shaq and Kobe," he said. "If not, you've got to constantly push and prod and get the most out of your team. That's my mission now." For starters, Dumars said, the team likely will get younger. Among the players not expected to return include veteran free agents Jon Barry, Danny Manning and Don Reid, even possibly Michael Curry and Hubert Davis, although both still have a year left on their contracts. This year's rookies, Tayshaun Prince and Mehmet Okur, will be vying for starting roles next season, possibly sending veterans Curry and Cliff Robinson to the bench. The Pistons are also expected to draft 17-year-old Serbian forward Darko Milicic with the second overall pick. "We could very well be younger," Dumars said. "When you do that, you're not looking at what happens in November and December. Your goal is the playoffs. New Jersey took a step back in the regular season, but they're a stronger team than last year. "I'm prepared for us to be in that position." Dumars said he will focus his energies on fixing the team's two most obvious weaknesses -- rebounding and scoring. "There has been an on-going evaluation all year," Dumars said. "Obviously, rebounding has to be a concern, it's glaring. A lot of nights, Ben (Wallace) has 15-to-20 rebounds and next-closest guy has three. That's too wide a disparity. That's something I'll have to address. Some of it can be addressed inside, Okur and some of those guys can rebound better. "And scoring. You always have to look for guys who can put the ball in the basket. I'll be looking down that road this summer." To do so, Dumars will have at his disposal the mid-level salary-cap exception, which is expected to be between $4.8 million and $5 million. He can use it to sign one player, as he did with Chauncey Billups last summer, or split it up among two or three players. "There are two guys I'm looking at," Dumars said. "One is a perimeter guy, one is a big guy." Among the free agents who might fit the bill include big men Jerome Moiso and P.J. Brown from New Orleans, Rasho Nesterovic from Minnesota and Kenny Thomas from Philadelphia; and perimeter players Corey Maggette and Eric Piatkowski from the Clippers, Jason Terry from Atlanta and Voshon Lenard (Detroit Southwestern) from Toronto. Dumars also could go the trade route. The team is over the salary cap, but has plenty of room under the luxury tax. After the Pistons were swept out of the playoffs by the Nets on Saturday, Dumars delivered a message to his dejected players. "Any time you can repeat as 50-game winners, win the division again and make the conference finals, it's a very good year," he said. "But we're disappointed because we felt we were good enough to get to the Finals. "As I told the team, tip your hats to New Jersey because they did it the way it's supposed to be done. That's a hard lesson learned. I told the guys, 'You just ran into a team that was more determined and more focused and was ready to move on more than you were. Now that you tasted that, you understand that, at that level, how hard you have to play.' "I told the guys, 'I plan on us being back, so get ready. That's our goal. Let's take another shot at this thing. Work hard this summer and come back and be more determined.'" Bob Wojnowski contributed to this report.</div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "raptors21":</div><div class="quote_post">I think Voshon would be great off the bench</div> Nah,he would not help us anymore than barry or atkins does...and besides he is old now...joe wants to go for a few young guys...mainly for the starting 5..i would like NVE here in Detroit...he would certainly help us alot with scoring...and i know billups is our starter..but having nick either coming off the bench or starting he would help alot.
