If you care as much about the Pistons as I do, you have a million thoughts running through your mind right now. Sheed and Darko for KG? Maybe in NBA 2K7 on XBOX 360, but in real life?

Unless you are living under debris from Wilma or still swimming around New Orleans, you must have heard that ESPN.COM has just reported, " … talk that made its way around the league over the weekend that the Detroit Pistons were willing to ship a package including Rasheed Wallace and Darko Milicic to Minnesota for Garnett.

Dumars insisted he had not been in contact with the Wolves regarding Garnett, and McHale also dismissed the rumor, which came as executives from others teams were trying to gauge whether the Timberwolves would seriously consider dealing the franchise player who has been with Minnesota throughout his entire 10-year NBA career. A source insisted Detroit’s offer of Wallace and Milicic was real, adding that the offer was made through another Pistons official so that Dumars could maintain deniability in case the players came to him for an explanation."

The way I see it, Rasheed Wallace is the glue of Detroit. He provides the emotion and tenacity that pushes the Pistons into the realm of greatness. Fortunately, I think there is no way Joe D would ever allow Sheed to drift into the hand’s of another squad. The Detroit Pistons are built like an intense game of Jenga, every piece rests on each other. I guess we can just keep our fingers crossed for now and hope that our crew sticks together. Although I am clearly an enourmous Sheed fan, I am first and foremost a Detroit Pistons fan. And, although I would like to see Sheed go as much as I would like to sit in a locked room with Bill Walton, it is not a bad thing to choose between Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett. I haven’t mentioned the fact that Darko is part of the trade because, similar to his presence on the court, he remains irrelevant.

Cheer up people. The glass is half full. My Need4Sheed is as bad as yours, but I would never hesitate to bet on Garnett.

BILLY BILLUPS ’05