Gordon has been an enigma since relocating to Detroit. Entering last season Gordon was largely considered a consensus top 30 player entering the prime years of his career. Pistons General Manager believed that by adding Gordon, the team would demonstrate the same offensive punch that delivered an NBA championship in 2004, the same year Gordon was delivering championships to Connecticut at the college ranks. 

It appears that the Pistons will again stumble into the basement of the Eastern Conference equipped with a star-studded cast of players who continue to present chemistry issues in the Motor City. But while the Pistons seam to be on the cusp of implosion, there is however hope that some of these stars bounce back. 

Ben Gordon’s career low 11.6 points per game is staggering, but a deeper look at the 27 year old’s secondary stats show some underlying value. His 85 percent from the free throw stripe is above his career mark and his 40 percent from three point land is also encouraging and in only limited action off Detroit’s bench Gordon has been incredibly effective rebounding the ball to the tune of over 3 per contest and shooting the ball at a career best 46 percent. 

The trade deadline will surely provide a situation where either Richard Hamilton or Rodney Stuckey will pack their bags for greener pastures and thus giving Gordon the starting role he deserves. Gordon’s hefty contract makes him nearly impossible to trade considering very few contenders have the cap space to take on his salary.  

There was once a time when New York fans chastised Knicks’ General Manager Donny Walsh for squandering their only two draft picks in the 2010 draft. The sense was that second round pick and Syracuse guard Andy Routins would be the role playing sharp shooter than would entice LeBron James to MSG but the selection of Stanford’s Landry Fields was—well, a disappointment. 

Flash forward to the 2011 calendar year and rookie Landry Fields has a starting role on the resurgent Knicks. The Long Beach native won’t blow anyone away with his 10.3 points per game or his 7.4 nightly rebounds. Fields does find himself among the league leaders in field goal percentage among wing players at 51 percent and ranks third among all rookies in minutes played. 

Fields has brought instant credibility to a Knicks team that that needed a quintessential “glue” guy and the young versatile forward has provided the spark New York desired. Mike D’Antoni’s system rewards players who run the floor and offer the multidimensional aptitude that made players like Shawn Marion and Raja Bell.