Chris McCoskey of the Detroit News reports that Rodney White intends to make the Pistons regret trading him. White was traded to the Nuggets in exchange for Don Reid, Menk Batere and a first round pick.

"I'm definitely going to get the last laugh when it's all over with," said White, the ninth player taken in the 2001 draft. "The team here (in Denver) thinks I can become an All-Star. Now, it's just me living up to that. We are going to have our ups and downs, but I am going to be able to play my basketball game and be relaxed."

Pistons president Joe Dumars defended the deal. "When you have a young talent like that," Dumars said, "either you develop him, give him some minutes and you suffer through the growing pains with him. Or, the kid has to be willing to be patient and wait his turn. He was in a situation where he didn't really want to wait. He wanted to be on the floor and play. We were in a situation where we have a competitive team."

"We feel like we are going to be one of the teams that make some noise in the East this year. So we didn't want to have any dual agendas. It was best for us to make the move," Dumars said.

White feels the Pistons never gave him a chance. "I played 16 games last year and the majority of that was garbage minutes," White said. "No one knows what I was capable of."

The Pistons gained some cap flexibility in the deal with Don Reid, whose contract ends after this season. The draft pick is reportedly the Bucks? 2003 first rounder which was obtained by Denver last season. Batere may never see any time in a Pistons uniform.

"I talked to his agent in Beijing for about a half-hour," Dumars said, referring to Bateer's agent, Xia Song. "We are talking about whether it is worth it for him to come here or worth it to us to move him someplace else. We haven't decided yet." Dumars already has talked to all three Texas teams -- San Antonio, Houston and Dallas -- about a possible trade. "They all like him, but they're in the same position that we are," Dumars said. "They all have 14 players on their roster and when you get to 15, you are stuck."