Pistons First Media Session

[TrayWithAnA]

GM TWA: I get criticized often for not being good with the Media. I'm hoping that we can turn over a new leaf here with the first Pistons media session. Obviously, big news this off-season for us were the moves of Allen Iverson and Mark Jackson, and the drafting of future superstar, Kevin Martin. The focus of the team now is much more towards the future. Instead of scrapping to keep our heads above .500 with multiple cap laden pieces to our roster holding us back from really developing a championship competitor, it was time to blow it up and start over. What the move of Iverson and Mark Jackson has given us the chance to do is free up a large amount of cap space while acquiring multiple first round draft picks in what is shaping out to be one of the deeper drafts in this league's long 5 year history. Currently, Stephen Jackson and Kevin Martin are the cornerstones of this new Pistons franchise and with only three other players on salary after this season, it allows us to focus our efforts on a couple of key positions. All-in-all, I feel like this flexibility will only help mold us into a championship calibur franchise sooner.

Any questions?

[BallSoHard]

Bill Plaschke from the LA times here. With the past couple of seasons acquiring assets to win now still on your roster, along with the ai trade in acquiring cassell, you seem to not have a few pieces that don't fit. Do you plan on being more active this year on the trade front ?

Also, with Kevin Martins weaknesses on d, do you really consider him a cornerstone or a very good role player?

[TrayWithAnA]

Bill Plaschke from the LA times here. With the past couple of seasons acquiring assets to win now still on your roster, along with the ai trade in acquiring cassell, you seem to not have a few pieces that don't fit. Do you plan on being more active this year on the trade front ?

Also, with Kevin Martins weaknesses on d, do you really consider him a cornerstone or a very good role player?

We plan on being active in shopping Cassell when the 60 day hold passes. I think he could be a good fit somewhere, but unfortunately for him, his age and expiring contract really keeps us from getting too attached here. We think we can address the PG position in the off-season. That being said, we will be active in addressing a couple of very glaring needs on our team through trade talks. We can't rely entirely on the draft and free agency next year. We have to be prepared to entertain every avenue.

I refer to Kevin Martin as a cornerstone because he is the next biggest name on our roster as it stands. Haslem and Outlaw are splitting time at PF and while both are young assets, neither have the upside that Martin has. I think that Martin will need to move into a different role next year with a lot of new faces coming in through the draft and free agency.

[Xist2inspire]

Hello, J. Felders from SI.com speaking. Obviously Jackson is the cornerstone of your squad now. But if I may ask, what led you to decide on choosing him over your previous franchise player, Allen Iverson? Did Iverson's being in his contract year play a factor?

[Pelicans78]

Will Travis Outlaw be able to handle the PF position as he is only 190 lbs? Have you thought about signing some veterans to help him out?

[TrayWithAnA]

As of now, Outlaw will be backing up Haslem and Jackson. I think he should be able to manage that transition between the two positions fairly well. We will keep a close eye on it though in the first few weeks.

[TrayWithAnA]

Hello, J. Felders from SI.com speaking. Obviously Jackson is the cornerstone of your squad now. But if I may ask, what led you to decide on choosing him over your previous franchise player, Allen Iverson? Did Iverson's being in his contract year play a factor?

That was a huge factor. I wasn't sure that we had the room to add the depth we needed to compete again. Trading high on Iverson has freed up a lot of options in the future. We definitely wish Allen the best of luck going forward.

[Pelicans78]

Is your roster set now or are there some FAs you're looking at right now?

[TrayWithAnA]

Barring some sort of trade, the roster is set for this season. There is nothing available in free agency this season that immediately jumps out at us. Right now we have some inquiries out to other teams.