From ESPN’s Mark Stein

“It’s believed that the Pistons, as of Thursday, have Rasho Nesterovic and Chris Wilcox ahead of Drew Gooden as their next free-agent targets, since it appears that they can’t assemble an offer sheet rich enough for Glen Davis to keep the Boston Celtics from matching.”

My thoughts..they are Centers, a position Detroit desperately needs to fill.

“Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg posted on his Twitter account that former Hokies standout Deron Washington has signed a guaranteed contract with the Detroit Pistons, who selected him 59th overall (second round) in the 2008 NBA draft.” Via Daily Press.com

Now there is more….. Our guru Dave Dial gives us the juice.

“Moves like that(signing players like Washington to guaranteed contracts) are often made when one team has to send back a certain amount of money back in a trade. For example, if Detroit is $4 million under the cap after signing Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva and were to get involved with the Hornets in a trade for Tyson Chandler, the Pistons would have to send back a certain amount of salaries in order to make it work.

Chandler makes $12.2 million dollars, and the Pistons might be $4 million under the cap so a straight salary dump couldn’t work. Stay tuned…

{Update: I’ve been informed that there is a 30 day waiting period when you sign a second-round pick before that player can be traded.}”

Detroit Bad Boys adds even more….suggesting Rip could be on his way out.

Now with the quickness in which this is all happening a girls’ head is spinning. I can’t even sleep without waking up to some rumors or possible trades.  I have been locked to Twitter for the past few days to send out the info as quickly as I get it no matter where I am, so do some following.

We have audio with Joe Dumars from Matt Dery of 97.1 The Ticket. Diesel asks the burning question…

Head over to 97.1 The Ticket and listen to the embedded audio under top headlines.

Thanks to Matt for always keep us up to speed.

Danny Ainge weighs in about the Celtics-Pistons trade rumor.

Via Boston.com

“When asked about the rumor this morning during a press conference at the team’s facility in Waltham, Ainge did not offer a denial of the specific report, but strongly indicated he does not expect to deal Rondo, the remarkably talented but erratic 23-year-old point guard.

“We love Rajon and I’m not going to comment on which rumors are true or not true,” said Ainge, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations. “We love this kid and I don’t anticipate trading anyone from our core.”

“If you look at a trade rumor and if you think it makes us a better team and helps us to win a championship this year, that’s the first criteria that any trade rumor has to pass — that it has to help us win the championship this year,” he said.

As Wojnarowski noted in the Yahoo report, it is not unusual for a GM to have someone else in the front office float a trade on his behalf, just to provide some level of deniability if a rumor becomes public. To a degree, that’s the approach Ainge took today.

“We’re certainly not doing anything this year to get a draft pick that’s a developmental project that is going to prevent us winning a championship this year,” Ainge said. “I’ve had many conversations. But a rumor that said lower-level executives are talking about a trade rumor pretty much means it doesn’t really have any merit or any value, if it’s not being discussed at the top.“

I’m starting off by saying this is stricktly rumor. It’s coming from J. Gamble, the same guy that said Sheed would Retire if he didn’t get 8 million a year. Until his “sources” are confirmed, take this for what it is.

“My sources say that Rasheed Wallace and the Cavs are beginning talks on a two-year deal worth about $10 million per for the services of the former Piston. The move and negotiations were inspired by Dwight Howard’s dominant performance over Cleveland’s big men in the Eastern Conference Finals.  And Wallace will be brought in for that very purpose, to neutralize Dwight Howard next season and help the Cavs get over the hump.” Via Slam Online

For what it’s worth a newspaper in Canada is reporting that Detroit is making a push for Tracy McGrady.

“And, speaking of major trade possibilities, there’s a blockbuster brewing in the NBA, too.
The Detroit Pistons, we hear, are making a big pitch to the Houston Rockets for perennial all-star Tracy McGrady.” Via The Metro News Hat Tip MLive

I have always been skeptical of reports of “we hear,” especially when they come out of a paper less likely to break the big story. What kind of scoop does a paper out of Toronto have that nobody else does other than the fact the McGrady played for the Raps back in the day?

UPDATE: A Sherrod Blakely of MLIVE

“A report out of Detroit indicated the Pistons were close to getting a deal done that would land them Houston’s Tracy McGrady.

Sources I spoke with this morning confirmed that the story is not true. In fact, the two teams haven’t had any type of talks with each other in quite some time. Last I checked, telepathic deals aren’t allowed in the NBA.

Maybe this rumor was planted to get both sides talking again.”