Palace Picks: Fourth of July Edition

Every Day, Pistons Palace brings you the reading material you need before you start your day at the office. We bring you the morning’s Palace Picks — Detroit Pistons Links from across the web to get you ready for the day.

Happy Fourth of July! We’re glad you stopped by on this holiday and remind you to thank a veteran on this great American holiday as well as enjoy the greater things about being American.

For me that’s grilling hot dogs, and keeping up to date on the free agency market.

Don’t forget the grilled corn!

Here are your 4th of July Palace Picks.

Let’s start with some must reads this fourth of July. The key to today for most will be seeing the fireworks blast off just after dusk. For us here at Pistons Palace, the key is grilling for all three meals today. The key to grilling is not sacrificing flavor with ease of doing business.

FanSided’s Jack Jorgensen has a tutorial on how to get your charcoal grill started and keep it going. The key is in the coals man — the key is in the coals. Also, it’s a process where you need to be patient.  FanSided also has a must read this holiday from Phil Watson, who brings us the 10 greatest victories in American Sports.

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Now on to the NBA! A ton of free agency moves have hit a standstill — let’s recap the latest from the Pistons.

What makes the Isaiah Thomas situation so interesting is that the Kings signed Darren Collison yesterday to a three year deal with what looks like a promise to be a starter. The Kings envision Thomas coming off the bench as a sixth man.

Thomas sees himself starting for a handful of other teams.

I respect the Kings trying to accumulate talent, but I’m a bit confused at their approach. Yet do they really plan on matching deals? The Sacramento Bee reports that the Kings are willing to match any offers at 6 million a year or lower.

The Pistons are rumored to offer 8 million a year. It’ll be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

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Switching gears to the Summer League, Vince Ellis at the Free Press takes a look at five things to watch in Orlando starting Saturday.

"Van Gundy has already challenged power forward Tony Mitchell, selected in the second round of last year’s NBA draft, to show more. His chance starts Saturday vs. the Houston Rockets."

Pistons Palace will profile non-contract players to watch in the Summer league later today. Until then, you can check out the Pistons Orlando Summer League roster as well as the Pistons schedule throughout the week long tournament.

Speaking of Summer League — 2nd round pick Spencer Dinwiddie won’t play in Summer League, but he will be heading to Orlando to soak it all in. Detroit Sports 105.1’s Matt Dery talked with Dinwiddie during the week — a good interview with a confident point guard to be.

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Keith Langlois has a great article today on the Pistons website about Andre Drummond’s growth and how Stan Van Gundy and Brendan Malone are playing major roles in how he trains for the upcoming season. Drummond is also playing a major role for the younger Pistons on the roster.

"“It’s crazy,” he said. “Just going into my third year, feels like I’ve been here forever already. I feel like I’ve been here through it all. Having Spencer being here just shows how far I’ve really come. For him to look up to me in a sense and to ask me questions, it’s like, wow, either I’m doing something right or they really believe in me.”"

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And finally, Vincent Goodwill with the Detroit News has an interesting piece on how the Pistons organization is severing ties with the franchise’s glory days. Even though those are the days Stan Van Gundy wants to get back to.

"At this point, the only proof the Pistons have won championships lies in the banners at The Palace and the practice facility. The two franchises that participated in the last two NBA Finals, the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat, have reminders of the groundwork that’s been laid all through their respective buildings. Former Spurs star David Robinson is prominent, and Sean Elliott is a team announcer.For the Heat, a relatively young franchise, former mainstays Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning are always around and hold positions, but keep in mind, it was the franchise that many believed banished loyal employee Van Gundy after 12 years."

Goodwill’s main issue is with the declining of Chauncey Billups’ contract and the letting go of former player development coach Rasheed Wallace. Wallace had exactly one season of experience — with two different coaches guiding him separate directions.

The Billups move is clear business decision to free some cap space for someone that will actually play next season.