The Detroit Pistons, looking to bolster their lineup with an infusion of youthful talent, traded the 2 time all-star along with seldom used reserves Brian Cardinal and Ratko Varda to Washington.
In return, the Pistons acquired shooting guards Richard Hamilton and Hubert Davis, along with forward Bobby Simmons.
In my opinion, this seems like a gamble for the Pistons. They won the Central Division last year and won their first playoff series since the bad boy days. The biggest strength of the team was their team chemistry. Everyone had a defined role and did their job well. Stackhouse provided leadership to the group and was usually the one to take the last shot when the game was on the line.
On the other hand, its hard to overlook the poor play in the playoffs last year. Stack shot a terrible percentage when his team needed him the most. Actually it wasn't uncommon for that to happen in the regular season. I began to get soured on Stack the last couple years when all I ever heard about from the media was his 20+ points a night that he scored. They fail to mention however that he launched 30+ shots to get those points.
So now the pistons have a new backcourt with Hamilton playing 2 guard and free agent Chauncy Billups at the point. An improvement talent wise for sure. It will be up to coach of thre year Rick Carlysle to make it all work together.
Overall I give the trade a thumbs up. I yearn for a return to the glory days of the bad boys and I don't think the pistons were going to get there with Stackhouse.