Rodney Stuckey was a Detroit Piston for many years. These days he’s playing for an Indiana Pacers team that is on full struggle mode.
But you could say his best years were in Detroit, since their championship year in 04 they made six consecutive Conference Finals. Then the trade went down. Stuckey spoke to the Detroit Free Press, labelling the Chauncey Billups trade the beginning of the spiral for the Pistons.
The move came early in Stuckey’s second season with the Pistons and, when asked to look back, that’s the moment he would change.
“I wish they wouldn’t have traded away Chauncey, to be honest with you,” Stuckey said. “I wish they would’ve took the San Antonio Spurs philosophy of keeping all their vets and get younger guys around their vets and doing it that way. You see how successful they are.”
You get many answers when you look for the key moment that led to the Pistons’ current state of ineptitude.
The Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva signings in the summer of 2009. The Josh Smith signing in 2013. The drafting of Darko Milicic in 2003.
For Stuckey, all of those moments pale in comparison to Nov. 3, 2008 — the day of the trade.
Darko was a dumb Draft. Of course they didn’t know that at the moment in time but the fact there was so much talent that year, makes that Draft unforgettable.
“After Chauncey left, that’s when everything went downhill. Chauncey was the glue that held everything together and held everyone accountable,” Stuckey said. “When you trade away that you see what happens. Everything was just a domino effect after that. If I’d say one thing that would be my thing.“
Stuckey has something here. If they did go by the Spurs system, they’d be in a way better position than they are now. I’d personally like to hear this from Billups stance. What does he think about the Pistons downfall? Was his trade the beginning of the spiral? I think Stuckey is right.
