Detroit Pistons second round draft choice guard Rickey Paulding, a Highland Park native who attended Missouri, is living in his childhood bedroom again while working out with the Pistons.
“Everything is going well so far, I sometimes have to pinch myself that the Pistons are really where I work now,” Paulding, 21, said. “I grew up loving the Pistons, watching all those guys like Isiah (Thomas), and Joe Dumars playing on TV. They were my team.
“Now, I see Joe walking around at the practice facility and it gives me like a thrill to see him in person. I’m working for him now. He’s really my boss.”
Paulding was drafted at No. 54 by the Pistons, picked because the team liked his hustle and athletic ability from his days playing at Missouri.
Via Joanne C. Gertsner of the Detroit News
Detroit Pistons
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The Pistons had until Thursday to match Utah's offer but officially let nothing else stand in the way yesterday when they waived their right to match the six-year, $50-million offer sheet Okur signed with the Jazz this month, leaving Okur free to play at Utah next season. The move became a foregone conclusion when the Pistons agreed to contracts with forwards Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace.
"It was nothing more than a formality," team vice president John Hammond said Monday. "After signing Rasheed and Antonio, we had no room to sign Mehmet."
Last week, Okur told the Zaman newspaper in Turkey that he was happy to be going to the Jazz.
"I had a really hard term last year with the Detroit uniform," he said.
Via Detroit Free Press
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The Jazz's losing streak has been broken in the free-agent market.
Mehmet Okur, one of four restricted free agents from another team to sign with Utah over the past two summers, will become the first one to actually join the Jazz on Tuesday. The Detroit Pistons have waived their right to match Utah's six-year, $50-million contract offer to Okur, an NBA source said Sunday, allowing the Jazz to add the 6-foot-11 center to their roster a couple of days early.
The Pistons' 15-day matching period would have lapsed at 10 p.m. MDT Thursday, and Detroit president Joe Dumars had made it clear that he had no intention of trying to slash his payroll in order to free up the salary-cap space necessary to retain Okur. Allowing the Jazz to sign the Turkish center before the deadline is apparently a courtesy being extended by Dumars to Okur, agent Marc Fleisher and the Jazz. Pistons coach Larry Brown is a close friend and former boss to Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz's senior vice president of basketball operations.
Via Phil Miller of the Salt Lake Tribune
Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons
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Pistons Jul 2004 Archive
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Yahoo! | Jul 21, 2004
'Ronald Dupree signed a two-year contract with the NBA champion Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
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Yahoo! | Jul 21, 2004
Rasheed Wallace who pushed the Detroit Pistons to championship level is coming back.
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ESPN | Jul 15, 2004
The Detroit Pistons will take home ESPY awards from sports network ESPN for Best Team, Best Upset and Best Coach/Manager (Larry Brown) when the July 14 show is broadcast across the nation July 18 at 9 pm.
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The Detroit News | Jul 15, 2004
The Pistons have just signed another player to their roster.
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New York Times | Jul 14, 2004
By 12:01 AM tomorrow morning, the Los Angeles Lakers could be without the league's most dominant big man and its most deadly perimeter threat.
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ESPN | Jul 13, 2004
Carlos Delfino, Detroit's first-round pick in the 2003 draft, has agreed to a contract, agent David Bauman told ESPN Insider Chad Ford.
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George Sipple and Perry Farrell of the Detroit Free Press | Jul 12, 2004
Antonio McDyess played for Larry Brown as an Olympian and now he'll play for him as a Detroit Piston.
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Tommie De Riemaecker of RealGM.com | Jul 12, 2004
The Detroit Pistons are expected to name University of North Carolina men's basketball assistant coach Phil Ford as an assistant coach to Larry Brown this week.
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The Detroit News | Jul 11, 2004
The NBA champion, Detroit Pistons, have made it a priority to re-sign their star forward Rasheed Wallace, thus returning the same, unbeatable team that cruised to the 2004 NBA title.
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Tommie De Riemaecker of RealGM.com | Jul 11, 2004
The deal offered to Phoenix Suns free agent forward Antonio McDyess may have a safety net of sorts after all for the Detroit Pistons, who are targeting the injury-prone former All-Star to replace Mehmet Okur, who signed an offer sheet with the Utah Jazz this week.
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Chris McCosky of the Detroit News | Jul 11, 2004
The Pistons fell short of a perfect run at the Minnesota Pro Summer League, losing the finale Saturday to the undefeated Charlotte Bobcats, 78-74.
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ESPN | Jul 10, 2004
According to one of David Aldridge's sources, free agent forward Antonio McDyess is close to a deal with the Detroit Pistons that would pay him $30 million over five years.
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Detroit Pistons News Release | Jul 9, 2004
Rickey Paulding scored all 19 of his points in the second half, helping Detroit to a 64-61 come-from-behind win over Toronto on Friday afternoon at the Minnesota Summer League.
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Tommie De Riemaecker of RealGM.com | Jul 9, 2004
The Detroit Pistons have named Garfield Heard an assistant coach for the 2004-05 season, the team announced today.
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Perry Farrell of the Detroit Free Press | Jul 8, 2004
Mike Woodson takes a championship ring, nine years as an NBA assistant, 11 years as an NBA player -- and Larry Brown's brother -- to Atlanta today, where he officially will be introduced as the Hawks' new head coach.
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Joanne C. Gertsner of the Detroit News | Jul 8, 2004
Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter doesn’t know what his basketball future holds.
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Chris McCosky of the Detroit News | Jul 8, 2004
The Pistons came into this week with a modest goal for their summer league team.
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Detroit Free Press | Jul 8, 2004
"Dennis Rodman used to play for the Bulls.
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FOXSports.com | Jul 8, 2004
In their first face-to-face meeting since Detroit won an NBA title, Pistons’ president Joe Dumars sat down with his star free-agent power forward and a good conversation.
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Chris McCosky of the Detroit News | Jul 7, 2004
In Rickey Paulding’s first act as a Piston, he dove to the floor and rescued a loose ball which led to a fast-break basket.
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Tommie De Riemaecker, RealGM.com | Jul 7, 2004
Even an NBA Championship and a chance to continue to tutor under one of the game’s most legendary coaches don’t seem to be enough to keep the Detroit Pistons’ coaching staff filled.
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New York Times | Jul 7, 2004
Isiah Thomas knows it’s a long shot but it won’t stop him from making the trip anyway.
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ESPN | Jul 6, 2004
The Atlanta Hawks have reached terms to make Detroit Pistons' assistant coach Mike Woodson their new head coach.
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Detroit Free Press | Jul 5, 2004
Mehmet Okur will carry the Olympic torch in Istanbul, Turkey today, and he will marry a Turkish model Wednesday.
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ESPN | Jul 5, 2004
Mike Woodson has accepted an offer to become the Atlanta Hawks' new head coach, ESPN.
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DetNews.com | Jul 5, 2004
The Pistons may have to replace two assistant coaches on Larry Brown's staff before next season.
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FOXSports.com | Jul 5, 2004
Even though the Philadelphia 76ers may only be able to offer free-agent power foward Rasheed Wallace the mid-level salary cap exception, they have something unique to give Rasheed if he signs with them: A chance to play for the city he grew up in.
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New York Times | Jul 4, 2004
Born in Alabama, Ben Wallace has grown into a man that all basketball fans know.
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Detroit Free Press | Jul 3, 2004
If and when Mehmet Okur signs to stay in Detroit, the Pistons can still ink their top priority free-agent, Rasheed Wallace, to a long-term deal.
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ESPN | Jul 2, 2004
"The Pistons have offered free agent center Mehmet Okur a six-year, $40 million contract to stay in Detroit, according to a league source.
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New York Post | Jul 2, 2004
On the first day of the start of the free-agency period, the Knicks announced their summer league roster.
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New York Post | Jul 1, 2004
The Nets' coaching staff is filling out as team has hired John Kuester from the world champion Detroit Pistons.
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Perry Farrell of the Detroit Free Press | Jul 1, 2004
Even as the champagne flowed in the Pistons' locker room the night they won the NBA title, Mehmet Okur was adamant about wanting to remain with the organization.
