Is Rodney Stuckey really that good?

by | Jul 15, 2008 | 38 comments

With all the trade rumors lingering in Piston land and the declaration by Joe Dumars that everyone but Rodney Stuckey is available for trade, do you really think Rodney is ready?

I have read plenty of trade rumors and scenarios where Detroit could send Chauncey Billups packing. Words like Chauncey is “irrelevant”, or “expendable” now that Stuckey has emerged on the scene. Are they giving Stuckey too much credit or not enough to Chauncey?

Since when is it OK to expect a second year player with less than a half of a season, who is more suited for playing the two, be expected to take the place of an elite All Star point guard?

Don’t get me wrong, I love everything I have seen of Stuckey thus far, but I am not sold just yet with him running the point. No denying that he did a heck of a job during the Orlando Series when Chauncey was down as you can see from this video.

Are we really ready for a Piston team with Hot Rod at the helm?

I’m leaving this one up to you with a poll.

38 Comments

  1. Steve

    Stuckey is god.. i forgot who billups is? lol

    Reply
  2. thereal

    nat u ask if this kid is ready??was brady ready when he took bledsoe place…what about tay was he ready when he started over micheal curry, when he was the captain of the time, was he ready….come on nat u need to give chauncey da boot…it’s all about change…chauncey is the leader of this team and i cant think of a performance since the 04 finals where chauncey has had a break out game in the playoffs…leaders lead by example and it shows by the lack of intensity and urgency chauncey plays with unfortunately rubs off hus fellow teammates…….it seemed like the team had a extra shot of youth drink when stuckey was in the game in the playoffs he pushed that team and lead by example…..if you think about some of our greatest leaders have sometimes been the youngest and the old heads feed off there example….King David in the bible…JFK….Barack Obama…theres millions more…my take is that the young people r our leaders of tomorrow…so get ready Detroit

    Reply
  3. blaze5611

    thereal makes some great points.. i dont agree with give chauncey the boot.. he has given us alot but he is also the player with the best trade value.. i love the brady comparison and i would even say back in 2004 chauncey wasnt ready to lead a championship, but he did and got finals mvp… i’m not sayin thats what stuckey will do but i just think he has the potential to be great and starting will bring him along much more quickly… with that said i voted real deal but not ready

    Reply
  4. Natalie Sitto

    I absolutely see your point TheReal, my vote was choice #3 he’s the real deal but he’s just not ready. Had I seen more maybe I could say yes.

    My problem is who would be Stuckey’s backup?

    If he’s put to the test and he’s got to take charge I wouldn’t be upset. I think he would do a fine job. Hell, I haven’t been happy with Chauncey’s performances in the playoffs but I wouldn’t give him the boot either.

    Reply
  5. xxbriixx2

    This is absolute crap. There kicking Chauncey to the curb like he did absolutly nothing for us. Stuckey is good but I don’t think he is better than Chauncey. Chauncey deserves so much more credit than he is recieving. People that are kicking Chauncey to the side don’t know anything about the Pistons and they are not true fans.

    Reply
  6. A

    Chauncey has at least 2 elite-level years left. We will DEFINATELY take a step down at PG if we trade him and start Stuckey.

    Stuckey has shown flashes and has his head on straight, but even if you look at his playoff numbers they are underwhelming; the guy struggles to shoot 40% from the floor. His third or fourth year is when he’ll make the jump to being an elite PG, if ever.

    In the mean time, Chauncey is still a top PG. If you look at his shooting efficiency and his low turnovers, I think he was second only to Chris Paul at PG last year (and maybe under Deron Williams too). He’s our best player in terms of production.

    We should get someone GOOD for him if we give him up. Maybe take a chance on a young center like Bynum or Biedrins.

    If we trade Chauncey for Al Harrington or McGrady, I quit.

    Reply
  7. mobius909

    stucky needs to learn to take care of the ball and make layups… maybe chauncey’s better basketball videos will help, LOL!

    also, do we make the same mistake that we’ve made so many times in the past… get rid of a guy way too late so we get nothing in return for him?

    Reply
  8. gMac

    The question is irrelevant!
    It’s all about who else is on the team.

    That retarded Gibson guy beat us in the ECF raining those 3s.

    Celtics won it this year with Rondo.

    Reply
  9. thereal

    I know joe d is trying to get someone’s first or second best player but wouldn’t it make more sense to just go after a teams first or second bench players. If Houston (not a tmac trade) is trying to make a run for it, i would think they would want a guy like Chauncey who could have his way with all those pg’s in the west,I’m not talking about a t mac for Chauncey trade, but more on the lines Battier and Bobby Jackson.Both teams would benefit, and i think both players would fit right in the system.Battier is a hard nosed defender who can shoot the trey and post up. Jackson is a vet pg who can possibly start or come off the bench.Both these players make about 6 million which is close to Chauncey’s 11 million so the trade would work.Plus Battier would be back home and how cool would that be for Adidas to have both there, top marketing players on the same team, just a thought

    Reply
  10. gMac

    Why do you want to keep Tayshaun if you get Battier?!
    Battier is more valuable to Houston than Tayshaune is to us.

    Reply
  11. thereal

    another thing you guys have to remember.. were not asking stuckey to be the star of the team but strictly run the offense and play d… yea we know stuckey plays the 2 but doesn’t billups play the 2 also? stuckey is a big man’s type of pg, flashy and slashy..the kid can slash down the cup and draw 1 or 2 defenders which could mean easy dunks for dyse or max…he can push the ball up and create shots for other players on the team, which is what a pg suppose to do….if he gets out of control believe me i think he has enough vets plus our coach to yank his chain a little bit….

    Reply
  12. thereal

    why keep tay well maybe because if battier came (which he probably wont) tay will have something he hasn’t had since 04 a good backup.Battier and tay.. come on pick ya poison on d..tay was know were to be found in the ecf because look who he was checkin… the damn finals mvp pierce was lights out just amazing…. and if hayes was to dare step out on the court against pierce..well lets not even go there…look at that bench all defensive stoppers Jackson,Afflo,Batteir,Max,and Theo all players who can hold there on…

    Reply
  13. The Fluidics

    I think with Stuckey it’s more a matter of potential than anything.
    He was off the table because Joe sees what he will be, as opposed to what he is right now, or even this season. Of all of Joes drafts, Stuckey has the most upside, the brightest future, as of now.

    I also agree, next season is not the one. Keep Chauncey around for a while. Even if Chauncey is moved, I’m not sold on starting Stuckey. However, 2009-10, watch out.

    Reply
  14. mobius909

    lebron
    kobe
    paul
    stoudemire
    howard

    how bout that?

    Reply
  15. dirge

    People are neglecting the fact that this isn’t a question of is Stuckey better than Billups. He obviously isn’t. It isn’t even entirely a question of will he be better. It’s a part of the price of remaking a team.

    Dumars needs to find the most value if he wants to alter the core of the team. Prince is young and has fairly high value. I think Rip is well regarded, but is seen as a guy that is the first or second scoring option for any team he’d play on. Rasheed is in the last year of a contract, and is more valuable as an expiring contract OR a team making that final push without giving up too much than he is as a standard trade bait.

    Billups has a lot of trade value right now, and he’s most likely the only player Dumars can use to pry another dominant player away from an other team. Furthermore, Stuckey is a LOT closer to being a starter than any player save Maxi, and Maxiell has less potential, in most people’s opinion.

    This translates to Detroit being able to get the most for Billups and give up the least in terms of their backup.

    Can Dumars trade for a consistent low-post option without moving Billups? Maybe if he opts to get rid of Rip AND Prince, or a team wants one of those pieces AND Sheed’s big expiring contract.

    I don’t know if Dumars is going to pull a trade, but I still see Billups as the most likely player to be moved unless something really miraculous happens and they get a team like the Grizzlies desperate to dump payroll (Gasol trade). I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

    Ultimately, Stuckey wouldn’t be on par with Billups immediately, but he has a good chance of turning into the floor leader the team needs. Meanwhile, it’s possible the remaining core members are joined by a real impact player that fills a bigger hole–say, a low-post option.

    Reply
  16. Richie

    I’m on board for the 3rd choice too. I’ve said it a couple times before. Stuckey’s fantastic and an exciting young player for us. However, we’re all under the Stuckey limelight right now because he was our shinning star during Eastern Confrence Finals. He does bring a speed/slashing presence to the team that gets everyone excited, but to say that he’s better than Chauncey is just ludacris. Billups is one of the most efficient players in the league and I’d much rather see him retire as a Piston, helping Rodney along as he gets more and more minutes. If someone told Stuckey that he was better than Chauncey, I’m prety sure he’d shoot them down in a hartbat.

    Reply
  17. blaze5611

    i agree that chauncey is better than stuckey by far… but i really feel that stuckey will come along if we give me solid minutes… just like when joe d told chauncey you are our starting pg and chauncey stepped up and started playing at a higher level… its not like chauncey was a proven starter when he came to detroit.. the only reason i think chauncey will be traded is because he has the highest value.. i know all of you really like chauncey and i do also and will always be a fan no matter where he plays… i think the only trade that would upset me is if we trade sheed and don’t get near equal value because i feel that would be a waste but i really wouldn’t be upset no matter who gets traded as long as we get equal value..

    Reply
  18. darth48076

    Why are people tripping that Stuckey can become the Starting PG next year? Did people forget that Joe Dumars became the Starting SG in his Second year in the League? Also how is Stuckey NOT ready for the gig? Dude Produced in the Playoffs in the Semis and the ECF DURING HIS ROOKIE YEAR!!! Only thing that Stuckey is missing from his early career is a NBA finals appearance. Hes been seasoned with every thing else. Hes more then ready. Christ have any of you guys been watching the summer League? Man among boys.

    ONE!

    Reply
  19. darth48076

    one more thing… who was the starting PG for the Cavs during the 07 season? Daniel Gibson. WHo was this years starting PG for the Celtics? Rondo. Are those guys better then Stuckey? NO! Put Stuckey at the one and get another (or two) explosive players on the roster and we are waving another banner at the palace in two years. TOPS

    Reply
  20. Steve

    Stephen A Smith on ESPN jus reported live that he has spoken to T-MAC and he wants to play in detroit and the talks are very strong right now!!!!

    Reply
  21. Retrokidz201

    Pleeeeazzzz steve man.dnt b kidding.where did yu hear that

    Reply
  22. Richie

    Darth, don’t get carried away.
    Stuckey played some very good games in the playoffs, and he’s done very well in the summer league. But that’s simply not enough to compare him to Hall of Famers like Joe Dumars. I’m excited about him too, but I think the answer is in balance, not throwing your entire team on the back of a ood young player and kicking his superior predeccesor to the side. Anyway- I think that the a battle of minutes, and maybe ever starting position between Chauncey and Stuckey is a great problem to have.

    Reply
  23. darth48076

    you say that now about Joe Dumars now.. How ever back then in 1986 people where saying the same thing then as they are now saying about Stuckey. TRUST ME! Joe D came from McNesse state and shined in his rookie year that he beat out John Long, Kelly Trapuka and Vinnie Johnson for the starting 2 spot. People were mad. A lot of people asked how can Jack start a 2nd year guy over John long and Kelly? Look at what happened. Granted the Pistons was bounced in the first round in that season, but the very next season (joes 3rd year) they made it to the ECF and eventually won two titles. Stuckey already been able to produce in the playoffs and even on the road in a hostile environment. Dude has had accelerated his game due to the post season experience. Trust me, Stuckey is ready.

    Reply
  24. palaceprince

    steve, i doubt that that is true becasue i have been watching ESPN and they are saying nothing about it. Don’t make up rumors that you want to happen. it’s like the person last year that said he got Chauncey’s autograph on his receipt. anyone remember that?

    Reply
  25. Dominic

    Don’t get me wrong I love Billups but the fact is we have 6 starter caliber players. Put stuckey on the grizzlies put him on the T-Wolves put him on the Blazers and he’s a starter. Hell put him in Boston and he’s a starter. NBA history tells us that when you have 6 starters you combine two for a superstar. It’s not uncommon and is a good route for us. Since Billups is in Stuckey’s position he is the unfortunate trade candidate as is Rip. it is nothing against Billups if we had drafted Thorton and he became wat stuckey is, Tay would be the one out. It is the best route for the team. Alot would argue to keep Stuckey on the bench like the Microwave. It’s desirable but unpractical. If we do that we lose all trade value we have in Billups. We keep Chauncey until Stuckey surpasses him and we keep Chauncey on the bench and he becomes Sam Cassell (though far less uglier) If we do a trade now we will be far better for it. I would love to keep the core together but NBA business-wise it is not smart to keep aging players on the roster while they still have trade value

    Reply
  26. James

    Steve is some what right. Steven A. Smith was on ESPN and he did say the Pistons have interest in T-Mac and that T-Mac would be intersted in coming here. He did not say talks were strong or even that talks were on going. He also said nothing about the Rockets and whether they would be willing to trade T-Mac.

    Reply
  27. Steve

    thanks james u seen the same shit, palaceprince dont fuckin speak on me sayin i make shit up u dont know what i saw and what i heard.

    Reply
  28. Altan

    OFF TOPIC but clippers jus got camby

    PG- Baron Davis
    SG- Shaun Livingston/Eric Gordon
    SF- Tim thomas?
    PF- Al Thornton
    C- Marcus Camby

    hmm if only the pistons were this good 🙁

    Reply
  29. blaze5611

    okay heres a question…. how come the clippers were able to trade a future round draft pick for marcus camby and we cant even get anything going our way.. this is aweful… imagine if we could have gotten camby for near nothing!!!…. we would have
    billups
    rip
    tay
    sheed
    camby man

    god damn then we wouldnt even have to lose any of our players wow i’m kinda pissed about this

    Reply
  30. detpistonsfan

    I think it’s because we cant take on the salary without shipping another salary. We would be over the salary cap. That’s why we need to give up a player or two to get playes in a trade. The Clippers got a lot of cap space after the lost Brand.

    Reply
  31. blaze5611

    yeah i guess that makes sense i just was not thinking strait because i really would have liked to see camby in a pistons uni…

    Reply
  32. Richie

    It’s simply not fair to hold Rodney Stuckey to Joe Dumars expectations. It’s not fair to do that with anybody. The fact that Joe was able to hack his way through the rotation into a championship starting spot in the 80’s doesn’t mean that Stuckey will (and certainly doesn’t mean we should expect him to) be able to do the exact same thing.
    Everyone’s talking about how the team needs to win a championship NOW, NOW, NOW, but the fact is that Stuckey’s game has throngs of improvement to go before he reaches Billups’ level. Everyone is focused on his slashing ability and forgetting that Billups is superior regaurding: post game, 3 point threat, DEFENSE, and assist:turnover efficencey.
    I remind you that I’m just as pumped as everyone else about Rodney. However, saying that Rodney is better than Chauncey is foolish and saying that Stuckey will be the next Joe D, just based on him scoring a few points in the ECF is insane. Most of all, those expectations are unfair for him.

    Reply
  33. Dominic

    Richie, Nobody is saying Stuckey is better than Billups we’re just saying with the emergence of Stuckey we now have more flexibility in the trade department. Where we were once restricted from trading our starters due to the lack of a suitable backup we now have a starter caliber player in Stuckey so that allows us to move players around. It’s the ebb and flow of basketball movement

    Reply
  34. xxxriphammyxxx

    There is no way we can call the team contendors next year if we trade Chauncey and start Stuckey. That would make us better for the future. If we traded Rip and started Stuckey, we would still be legit contendors.

    Reply
  35. palaceprince

    okay steve maybe steven a. smith did talk about t-mac but as james said there was nothing that said talk was going on between the two parties. that was what got me mad. i know that the pistons had interest thats no secret but to go off and say talk was getting very strong is lying and thats what I care about. So obviously you heard wrong

    Reply
  36. Steve

    Palaceprince, i could make up anything i wanted and u wouldnt do shit cuz ur a little gayshaun prince lovin bitch, oooooo ur mad? what u gonna do about it puss? maybe i did hear wrong they said talks were on going, but the fact remains T mac is better than ur little GAY GAY and billups combined and i bet that makes u cry to sleep at night huh? i bet when i said that u ran into ur room and slammed the door and cried while looking at a picture of ur little tay tay. dog dont speak on me n come at me with bullshit.

    Reply
  37. Dan

    I strongly disagree that Stuckey is more suited to the 2 than the point. The only thing that makes him more suited to the 2 is his size. His skill set suits him to the point. He isn't a great jump shooter who moves well away from the ball to get open shots like Hamilton or McGrady. But he is great at creating his own shots with the ball, and shots for other players. He can drive to the basket at will, shooting over big defenders in the paint, he passes the ball as good or better than Billups, he's faster than Billups & he handles the ball very well with few turnovers, like Billups. Would you rather have Stuckey & Billups or Stuckey & Hamilton at the guards? If Stuckey is going to be a superstar, which I think he could be, you have to start him now. He may not be ready to lead the team, but he doesn't have to lead. We have plenty of veteran players to do that. All he has to do is play, and as much as possible. Stuckey, Hamilton, Prince, Rasheed & Maxiell is the best lineup available (pending who we get in a trade) and those are the players that need to start. McDyess will be a great spark coming in off the bench, Hunter & Dixon are fine back ups to Stuckey.. Afflalo & Amir will be strong contributors and don't be surprised to see Cheick Samb & Walter Sharpe get significant playing time. Those 2 are going to be good.

    Reply
  38. Dan

    I’d like to see Will Bynum get a shot as Stuckey’s back up. Assuming Hunter plays another year, I wouldn’t mind that at all. Hunter would be the primary back up in the playoffs of course.

    Reply

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