Unverified Rodney Stuckey twitter account tweets about wanting out of Detroit
There is some danger in citing Twitter accounts of celebs if they aren’t verified, and this one for Rodney Stuckey is not verified by Twitter. But in October, Jonas Jerebko‘s account, which has been confirmed as the real Jerebko, tweeted this:
"follow @himon1 the real Rodney Stuckey RT’ it"
Pistons.com writer Keith Langlois follows the account, and I assume he wouldn’t if it was a fake. Pistons beat writer Vincent Goodwill has also retweeted that account in the past, so I would lean heavily towards it being a real account. And if anyone can confirm whether or not these are Stuckey’s feet in the picture the account tweeted, then I think we can say with certainty that it’s him.
So, anyhow, this account which may or may not be Stuckey offered the following Tweets tonight (screen-grabbed because I assume they might get deleted or someone will pull the ‘my phone was hacked card’).
On wanting a fresh start:
Retweeting a fan’s comment to him about the (sorry) state of the Pistons:
Earlier today, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press tweeted that Stuckey and the Pistons were not close on a contract. Stuckey was also clearly unhappy at times last season, although it’s not clear if that was a result of John Kuester’s coaching or the organization as a whole. If those tweets are really Stuckey’s, it makes sense. He essentially has no leverage if he truly doesn’t want to be in Detroit. He could take the qualifying offer, play this year for the Pistons and become and unrestricted free agent next year. But doing that risks injury or his value going down before he’s signed a long-term contract. If he gets an offer sheet elsewhere that isn’t astronomical, the Pistons will likely match, in which case he’s stuck in a place he might not want to be long-term. So an option for players in that situation is often to simply try and convince the organization that they’re so unhappy they should just let them go. I remember a few years back when Charlie Bell of the Bucks signed an offer sheet with Miami and begged the Bucks not to match. They did because Bell (at the time) had some value and they didn’t want to lose him for nothing. The Pistons are in the same boat with Stuckey. Whether or not he’s still in their long-term plans, and I would bet heavily that he might not be, they’re certainly not going to let a young player who, if he signs a contract that is fair, would be a potential trade chip down the road.
And again, just to stress one more time, there’s a slight chance that this account isn’t Stuckey’s despite their being some fairly credible and ample evidence that it is. The Pistons just jettisoned one player who didn’t want to be here earlier today in Hamilton. If Stuckey does, in fact, want to play elsewhere, the Pistons should oblige him.
UPDATE: I just read Keith Langlois’ recap of today’s practice. Joe Dumars spoke with reporters afterwards. I thought this was pretty funny considering what transpired tonight:
"Dumars said he would resume negotiations with Leon Rose, agent for restricted free agent Rodney Stuckey, late Friday night. He said there is “always the possibility” that another team would throw a large offer sheet at Stuckey, but he displayed little alarm that negotiations would grow acrimonious. “It’s Stuck’s first negotiation,” he repeated a few times, shrugging his shoulders."
Obviously.