Pistons deal Williamson for Coleman and McCaskill

[MavsFanFinley]

Pistons deal Williamson for Coleman and McCaskill

By LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer
August 4, 2004

DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Pistons acquired Derrick Coleman and Amal McCaskill from the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade Wednesday for Corliss Williamson.

Essentially, Philadelphia got rid of a player it didn't want, and NBA champion Detroit picked up considerable salary-cap space for the future.

``We feel like this is a good trade for our team and our organization as we move forward,'' said Joe Dumars, Pistons president of basketball operations. ``Corliss Williamson was a very special guy to have on the team for 3 1/2 seasons. We thank him for all of his efforts here on and off the court and we will miss him.''

The 76ers made it clear they wanted to deal Coleman, who has two years and $9.5 million on his contract. If the Pistons want to release him after one season, they will owe him $2 million.

By moving Williamson, with $18 million and three guaranteed years left on his deal, the Pistons will have more money to make moves in a year or two. McCaskill was a free agent, who signed a new contract before being traded.

Even though Coleman was vilified by Sixers fans and former team president Pat Croce, he became a favorite of Larry Brown, who now coaches the Pistons.

The 37-year-old Coleman played in just 34 games last season while he struggled to stay healthy. The 6-foot-10 center averaged 8.0 points and 5.6 rebounds.

In 14 years, the Detroit native has averaged 16.8 points and 9.3 rebounds, but has scored in double figures in just one of the past four seasons. Coleman is expected to provide depth behind Ben and Rasheed Wallace. McCaskill might have to compete to even be on Detroit's roster when the season starts in November.

Williamson, entering his 10th season, was a solid reserve for the Pistons. The 6-7, 245-pounder averaged 9.5 points and 3.2 rebounds while playing both forward positions. He was the NBA Sixth Man of the Year two seasons ago.

Williamson could play a significant role in Philadelphia, where his knack for scoring will help Allen Iverson when he is double-teamed.

Sixers GM Billy King praised Williamson's physical toughness and interior scoring ability.

``He's somebody you can put down on the block and he can score,'' King said. ``That's something we really have not had in a while.''

Last season, Williamson shot better than 50 percent and appeared in 79 games -- 31 more than Coleman.

The trade continues the Sixers' reorganization of their roster under new coach Jim O'Brien, hired in April after a disappointing 33-49 season following Brown's departure for Detroit. Brown was replaced by Randy Ayers, fired 52 games into the season and replaced on an interim basis by Chris Ford.

The Sixers traded point guard Eric Snow to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kevin Ollie and Kendrick Brown, drafted athletic Andre Iguodala and will make promising second-year guard Willie Green a starter in an effort to build a more up-tempo roster.

With Williamson gone, rookie Carlos Delfino and free agent Ronald Dupree will have more of an opportunity to play at small forward behind Tayshaun Prince.

If McCaskill makes the Pistons, he will be on his fifth team in five years. In 59 games last season, the 6-11 center averaged just 1.9 points and 2.3 rebounds.

[MavKikiNYC]

Coleman and McDyess.

These can't BOTH be contract moves--McDyess was a FA this year, so Dumars/Brown went out of their way to acquire him.

What are they doing taking in these old, broken down, over-the-hill PF/Cs?

[GP]

What I thought was strange was the Phillies GM actually thinks that Corliss is a better post player than Coleman. What is Corliss a small 6'7" without any lift? Coleman may not be a lot of things such as in shape, a team player, or whatever, but he is a damned good post player. He can score on just about anyone and he can defend too. His attitude is just so rotten.


edit: bad grammar

[EricaLubarsky]

Detroit realized that Elden Campbell sucks. ...



I don't understand it but they have a nice array of players at the PF/C

Rasheed/Big Ben/Coleman/McDyess

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally posted by: GP
What I thought was strange was the Phillies GM actually thinks that Corliss is a better post player than Coleman. What is Corliss a small 6'7" without any lift? Coleman may not be a lot of things such as in shape, a team player, or whatever, but he is a damned good post player. He can score on just about anyone and he can defend too. His attitude is just so rotten.


edit: bad grammar

They just wanted DC gone in the worst way, like we wanted Walker gone.

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally posted by: GP
What I thought was strange was the Phillies GM actually thinks that Corliss is a better post player than Coleman. What is Corliss a small 6'7" without any lift? Coleman may not be a lot of things such as in shape, a team player, or whatever, but he is a damned good post player. He can score on just about anyone and he can defend too. His attitude is just so rotten.


edit: bad grammar

I'd say Williamson has more left in him than Coleman, even though it was probably going to be tough for him to get any minutes on the Pistons. I can see Detroit wanting to trade contracts, but it looks like they're making a concerted effort to go after PFs who are damaged goods--and I don't get it.

Coleman is 37, and I haven't seen much sign of life from him for at least 5 years. Obviously Brown liked him in Philly, but just looks like he's filling out his roster with non-contributors.

Detroit is in pretty good shape for now though.