The Pistons have known for two weeks that Antonio McDyess wanted to return, but NBA rules prevented him from making his intentions official until today. Assuming Detroit's putrid performance of late (they've lost three of their last four, including their last two against teams with losing records) hasn't given him cold feet, he should sign his new contract today and be in uniform and available to play Tuesday in Washington.
While the Pistons are still figuring out how best to utilize their backcourt with Allen Iverson in the mix, Michael Curry indicated before Friday's game that he doesn't think McDyess' return will require any type of transition.
"I think the biggest adjustment is when you have guys that are dominant scorers as far as [having] a lot of plays that are ran for them while the ball is in their hands," Curry said. "I don't think that's the case for Dyess. He'll pick right back up what we're doing defensively and offensively. He's just going to play his role. It doesn't take a lot of time adjusting with a guy like that."
McDyess came off the bench his first three years in Detroit before moving to the starting lineup last year. Curry revealed in training camp that he wanted McDyess to return to the bench, and he hasn't changed his mind. "I'm not going to start Dyess," Curry said. "Same thing as the beginning of the year – if I start Dyess, it puts Dyess and Sheed, both our scoring bigs, in the starting lineup.
"It don't make any sense, we'll be back in the same position where we're trying to figure out who can come off the bench and provide that scoring punch in the front court. What we need Dyess for is to be that scoring punch so that we can reduce Rasheed's minutes and we can continue to spread the floor for [Rodney] Stuckey when he comes in the game, as well."
Rasheed Wallace is playing more than 35 minutes a game this year, the most since arriving in Detroit at the deadline in 2004, and it's starting to show: he's failed to crack double-digits in scoring four times in the last seven games.
Getting McDyess back will help, and while he'll certainly take minutes away from Kwame Brown, Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson, he may make them more productive when he shares the court with them. Curry hasn't been content pairing any of the young bigs together, saying Friday "not even in practice have they played good without" Wallace or McDyess on the court.
