Goubot

Hamilton's overall numbers are down this year, but a lot of that is because he had a weak start of the season. Since then, his production has been on par with the rest of his Pistons career, and his percentages have even been higher. There isn't any real evidence that other players have figured him out, really. It would be nice to have someone in the starting lineup other than Billups who can reliably get to the line.

I think that Stuckey in his current role is perfect for now. I don't see him as much of an option at shooting guard, especially as a starter. He's been at his best running the offense of the second unit and creating for himself if need be. He's not great playing off the ball with Billups because his jumper is weak and his strengths are marginalized.

David Thorpe recently wrote a piece saying that Stuckey should work to play like Deron Williams, who punishes smaller guards inside. I think he'll eventually be able to play with a similar level of toughness, but he's not there yet, and he probably won't be doing that against shooting guards.

David Lee is a good piece, but I'm not convinced that he's much better than Maxiell, if at all. He's a better rebounder and hits the offensive board enough that he gets points on tip-ins (which explains his high percentages), but he's an inferior defender. I'd take the David Lee of last year over Maxiell this year since that was just crazy efficiency and rebounding, but he may have been over his head there. Lots of Knicks fans like Lee and they have a GM who isn't a complete idiot now (meaning that he should recognize that Lee's one of the only Knicks worth keeping around), so I doubt they bite on this.

I'm sure that, if it came down to it, the Pistons could get better value for Rip anyway.