By now, I’m sure everybody’s heard about the JR Smith incident that will get him benched for the regular season’s first seven games.
The circumstances are sad (in regards to JR), but Arron Afflalo will likely be allowed to take advantage of them.
Afflalo is the favorite to start in Smith’s spot during his suspension, according to the Denver Post.
The loss of Dahntay Jones and Linas Kleiza left a pretty damn big gap in the Nuggets rotation, especially defensively. Guess who fit right in? Our own Mr. Afflalo, who Karl practically picked …

This better not involve Greg Oden:
Portland is still trying to pry Tayshaun Prince out of Detroit in a three-way deal with Utah, but Pistons president Joe Dumars hasn’t shown an inclination to move Prince and extend Boozer’s contract, league sources say. Several league executives are dubious of Boozer as a $14 million-a-year player, which his agent, Rob Pelinka, has told teams it will take to sign him to an extension. Miami could be the suitor willing to pay it.
-Yahoo Sports

If there’s one thing that Joe Dumars needs to learn how to do, it’s be patient.
The Denver Post reported Sunday that the Nuggets and Pistons were arranging a deal that would send the Pistons’ Arron Afflalo to Denver to clear cap space, which brings me to my first point.
Afflalo’s paycheck this coming season would total all of $1.09 million. In the sports world, that’s pocket change. Not even pocket change. Walter Sharpe nearly gets paid that much, and the only time fans usually see him is during timeouts, where he …

I stumbled across an interesting little piece from the Orlando Sentinel yesterday. It was an article that assessed whether or not Rasheed Wallace would be a good fit with the Magic, if they were to sign him. As you may already know, Orlando-ites don’t exactly love Sheed (but who does?).
Regardless, in the amount of time it took for Magic fans to read the article, Rasheed did a complete 180 from a no-good cry baby to an impeccable team player and all-around great guy. Newly ordained Sheed-worshippers commented relentlessly, and 78% …

In some shockingly unshocking news, the Pistons dealt Amir Johnson to the Bucks for Fabricio Oberto in return.
Oberto didn’t even last 24 hours with Milwaukee, of whom he had just been dealt as part of the Richard Jefferson swap.
Oberto probably won’t be much of a step-up from Amir, who was the dictionary definition of “going nowhere” with the Pistons. Oberto did show signs of decency a couple seasons ago, but I only know that because he was on my fantasy squad.
Best of luck to Mr. Johnson, maybe the kid can …

If you haven’t heard about it, you would have soon:
“The Celtics offered Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo to the Detroit Pistons for a package that included Richard Hamilton,Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.”
Mind you, the trade was rejected.
First of all, this is from a reliable writer and I believe it really did go down. This isn’t the usual summer rumor mill garbage.
Second, I’ve seen a lot of negative reaction from Pistons fans and to be honest, it’s puzzling.
Sure, if this trade was offered to you in …

Yes sir, our former Mr. Big Shot back in the conference finals for a league-leading seventh season in a row! We sure miss him, right? Curse Joe Dumars for trading our beloved point guard, right?
Wrong. Chauncey Billups may be in the spotlight again, but that doesn’t mean we should have kept him.
I say this with due respect for Chauncey. He was a superb leader and floor general. But it was his time to leave Detroit. His passion for the Pistons had all but faded. Only a shell of his former …

The Pistons haven’t won for almost two weeks and the trade deadline is tomorrow.
A golden opportunity for all of that to change.
The Bucks left the Palace like so many visiting teams this season-victorious. The typical 4th quarter comeback attempt showed up right on schedule, but like so many times this season-it failed.
I’m all in support of Antonio McDyess moving into the starting five, but when the closest starter scores 14 points less than he does, it’s never a good sign. McDyess is on the floor for gritty rebounds and occasional …

“The Detroit Pistons will trade seldom-used guard Alex Acker to the Los Angeles Clippers for an exchange of future draft picks, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the trade hasn’t been announced.
The Pistons might stand pat before Thursday’s trading deadline, instead of trading Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace, despite its struggles this season.
If Detroit doesn’t make another trade, it will clear about $23 million in salary-cap space to make major moves this summer and in 2010 …

Devin Harris scored a career-high 38 points, going 20-24 from the stripe, as the New Jersey Nets downed the Pistons 103-96.
Harris scored 19 points in the third quarter alone.  He was aquired from Dallas as part of the Jason Kidd trade last season.
Allen Iverson scored 24 points in his Pistons’ debut and notched 6 assists and a steal.  He definitely looked like the AI I know, taking the ball to the rim and drawing double and triple teams, then kicking it out if he hadn’t already drawn a foul.  He …