/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/17134215/20130111_pjc_bs5_155.0.jpg)
Here's a fun little look into GM-speak. Just yesterday, Dumars answered a question about Jennings and Rondo thusly:
Joe Dumars open to whatever moves make Detroit Pistons better | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
Question: Until you guys are settled at the point guard spot, you guys will be linked to every point guard on the market. Correct? (The question was referring to a rumor about Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings and rumors about offering Brandon Knight for Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo).
Answer: (sighs) Unfortunately, yes. But I’m telling you we haven’t had conversations with what’s being reported out there. I can flat out tell you that we haven’t conversations with those teams about that.
I love the sigh. Yeah, it is so hard to listen to made up trade rumors even though your team clearly is in a win-now mode and in need of an upgrade at point guard.
Fast forward just one day later. Well whaddayaknow?
Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com on Tuesday that the Detroit Pistons have agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that will net Jennings, a restricted free agent, a new three-year contract worth in excess of $25 million. The Bucks will receive guard Brandon Knight, forward Khris Middleton and center Viacheslav Kravtsov, two sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard.
A couple of things here. First of all, either all this miraculously came together last night or this morning, or that was a nice little show Joe put on. Of course he's got plausible deniability because he was talking in vague generalities about "what's being reported out there." Ok, so the reports didn't have all the particulars correct, but you can bet he's talked Jennings' agent and the Bucks themselves in more than the last 24 hours.
The Rondo stuff I still feel like was a short conversation. They were not giving up their young bigs and the Celtics weren't giving up Rondo for less than one of them plus sweetener. I'm sure that Joe and half the league called Danny about Rondo once Pierce and Garnett were dealt, but I really doubt that any conversations got very far.
Then again, you never know. Sources tend to be planted by teams and agents for one purpose or another and GMs don't really have any motivation to be forthcoming with information. So we're all just left guessing until the next Woj-bomb.