http://www.sportando.net/eng/europe/greece/42581/panathinaikos-pursuing-ben-wallace.html

Please go.

I'd rather have Big Ben on the roster than Daye or Middleton

I'd rather have Big Ben on the roster than Daye or Middleton

Hoping to win an extra game or two?

Big Ben will get the fans into the games in a way that neither Daye nor Middleton is likely to.

If we need Ben to get fans into the game then we're in more trouble than I thought

Drummond, Monroe, Prince, Stuckey, Knight, Maxiell, Jerebko, Daye, Maggette and Bynum should be able to get the crowd into the game...

or we can turn to the British Invasion (English and Middleton) and hope for the best :)

Would have rather kept Macklin.

i love ben. but there's no way he's a 'draw' anymore. he's old and rapidly breaking down. i don't want to watch that. i'd much rather watch younger, more athletic players with room for growth and potential. i don't see any reason to have ben back on the roster. we're at 15 now and i'd actually like to create a spot for yancy gates- a legit big man with a legit post game and good rebounding skills. if we could dump j-max or package any other players to create a roster spot, it would make a hell of a lot more sense putting kids like him on the roster, as opposed to a guy who is well past his prime.

Yet we didn't amnesty Nova which would have opened up a roster spot for Gates?

Sometimes I wonder if Joe gives a flying fuck anymore

i love ben. but there's no way he's a 'draw' anymore. he's old and rapidly breaking down. i don't want to watch that. i'd much rather watch younger, more athletic players with room for growth and potential. i don't see any reason to have ben back on the roster. we're at 15 now and i'd actually like to create a spot for yancy gates- a legit big man with a legit post game and good rebounding skills. if we could dump j-max or package any other players to create a roster spot, it would make a hell of a lot more sense putting kids like him on the roster, as opposed to a guy who is well past his prime.
For someone whose jersey will appear in the rafters, whose bobblehead will draw fans, whose jersey is probably still selling, you make room for him.
And that the advanced stats show Big Ben is still a decent player for the minutes we give him:

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2012/4/5/2927926/advanced-stats-snapshot-wins-produced-game-splits-visualized

We have more-pressing dead weight on our roster.

Agree we have more pressing dead weight than Big Ben

but if you have 4 leaks in the dam you don't repair one and leave the others.

We should have used the amnesty on Nova, we should let Big Ben walk, we should de dangling Prince and Daye (maybe we are?)

If a player is not part of the long term solution then they are part of the problem.

Better to fill that roster spot with someone who may (or may not) become a problem solver instead of retaining a problem piece IMO

but who would ben take minutes from this year? monroe, slava, drummond, jerebko.....all 4 of those guys should get decent minutes between either PF or C. if they don't, we are stagnating and not developing them. then you've still got j-max (who while i would love to dump him, i'd give even him minutes over a declining, rapidly aging ben who will struggle to stay healthy)

so we sacrifice a promising young player like gates let's say, simply to create a roster spot where ben can possibly play a couple minutes a night? makes no sense to me. the fans will come IF they see a young, energetic, competitive, exciting group of young players who can be part of a future winning team. THAT is far more likely to inject enthusiasm and optimism in the fans as opposed to an old 'has been'. sorry, i love ben but that's all he is now. let's be honest! the year after hill left, we had a losing season but the fans loved the team because of the potential they could see on the floor. ben was part of that THEN but he can't be part of that now. he was breaking down last year how on earth is he going to do through yet another 82 games season?

what he offers the organization as a whole is not worth the roster spot it would cost a young player. even if we freed up a couple of spots through a trade (i don't disagree that we should move some of the players mentioned) i would MUCH rather give that spot to yancy gates.

i'd adopt the old bill walsh philosophy- it's better to let a player go a year too early than a year too late. it's already too late for ben and with limited roster space and the direction this team is trying to go, there's nowhere for him in detroit anymore.