Could we turn this frog into a Prince?

Editor’s note:  I don’t think Carlos Boozer is a frog at all, but I just had to go with the clever headline on this one.

According to the Boston Globe, this summer Kevin O’connor called Joe Dumars and offered Carlos Boozer for Tayshaun Prince and was rejected.  It made sense at the time.  Prince seems to be one of the last guys from the championship team that the Pistons can build around moving forward, now that Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace have moved on, and Rip Hamilton is gaining in years.

But now, I would like to revisit this scenario.  If you google Tayshaun Prince and trade, it will bring up a handful of stories from the last week or so.  In fact, on Tuesday, Tayshaun Prince was scratched from the lineup against the Orlando Magic, causing many to feel that a trade was in the works with Prince and Jason Maxiell going somewhere.  And on top of that, the Pistons beat the, then undefeated Magic without one of their stars.  Many Piston fans are now lighting up the message boards talking about trading Prince and I wonder if the Jazz would be willing to make that same offer from last summer.

Why the Jazz do it:

I have no idea if the front office is listening, but notwithstanding the monster night Boozer had against the Spurs, a good portion of the fanbase still wants to see Boozer traded.  If the front office traded Boozer, no one would be able to say that they didn’t try.  If the Jazz were able to obtain Prince, they would be getting a productive player back in the deal and wouldn’t be trading Boozer for pennies on the dollar.  Also, it frees up time for Paul Millsap and Andrei Kirilenko to play power forward and gives the Jazz an extra versatile wing player.  Prince is among the league best in perimeter defense and is a sharp outside shooter.  Prince is a career 37% shooter from three, but is even deadlier from 15-20 feet.  Do you think the Jazz could have used Prince against Dirk Nowitzki the other night?  Or how about guarding guys like Kobe Bryant, Brandon Roy, or Carmelo Anthony in the playoffs?

Why Detroit does it:

The Pistons desperately need a low post scorer and rebounder.  During the summer, the Pistons could use Charlie Villanueva’s new signing as an excuse for not needing Boozer.  But Villanueva ins’t a true low post presence and has only averaged 11 points and 5 rebounds in 27 minutes a game.  Newly signed Chris Wilcox is tallying 1 point and 3 rebounds in 10 minutes and Jason Maxiell 3 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes.  Even with a slow start, Boozer is outplaying all of those guys combined stats wise.  But more importantly, the Pistons would save more than $11 million next season by trading Prince.  They could either re-sign Boozer or else be big spenders in one of the best free agent summers in recent years.  Which makes you wonder what Dumars was thinking by signing Ben Gordon and Villanueva this summer.  If the Pistons had not paid one of those guys and then traded Prince for Boozer, they could be the team this summer that the Knicks wish they could be and they would be able to pay two free agents this offseason.  But if they traded Prince, they would have a shot at a big free agent this next season.

Why the Jazz don’t do it:

They believe that Boozer gives them the best chance to win this season and they want the flexibility of having his salary come off the books this summer.  Perhaps the front office believes that Boozer against the Spurs wasn’t an anomaly.  I just threw up in my mouth.

Why Detroit doesn’t do it:

They believe that Prince is still in the future plans and aren’t willing to give him up for what may turn out to be just extra cap space next summer.  They would probably much rather shed Rip Hamilton’s contract.  Or else they don’t covet Boozer as a player, or believe that they will be front runners to sign him next offseason.