according to ASB, the Pistons will contact Ben about coming back to Detroit.
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according to ASB, the Pistons will contact Ben about coming back to Detroit.
I'm also with Fool on this one. I think Ben is done. He's not as quick as he used to be and he's not as versatile as he used to be. Remember how much complaining Ben did on the 2005-2006 team? Can you imagine how much complaining he's going to do this year when we have one of the younger teams in the league? Ben doesn't want to rebuild in perhaps his final season.
Ben is one of my all-time favorite Pistons, in spite the way he left. I have great memories of him as the face of the franchise. But let's keep him as a memory.
Ben isn't done. He isn't the DPOY anymore, but he's fully capable of 10 boards and 2 blocks per game in starter's minutes.
And Ben has long since been dealt a slice of humble pie. He's seen the other side of the fence and it isn't as green as he thought it would be. He was wrong to bitch before and I'd say he knows it now.
I think he just wants to go to a place where he can be ben again, and fans won't constantly get on him for not scoring points or making FTs.
Kstat - I love your basketball IQ, but I'm going to disagree with you on that wholeheartedly. And if he's out there long enough to grab 10 boards, the offense that he contributes won't be worth it. He was okay to have out there in the good ol' days when his defense was so dominant it didn't hurt us. And his legs were good enough that he was good for a couple alley-oops per game. But now his "average to good" defense isn't worth his "awful to titanic" offense.
I'd say the opposite is true- we have so many weapons at the 1-4 spots, that his lack of offense is going to hurt us less.
All this team is missing is a guy that can rebound and defend the basket a little. They don't necessarily need another offensive player.
I think you could pencil him in for 30 minutes a game, and he'd stabilize the defense enough for all the firepower to matter.
30 MPG? I'm only interested in him for 20 MPG a night.
I'd really only be interested if he plays 30.
Ben is a starter. He isn't suited for the bench.
Brace yourselves...McCocksy is actually saying it is POSSIBLE....
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...buyout-by-Suns
Joe D/ hasn't commented on shit lately. He's usually pretty open about dropping names of potential targets.Quote:
Could Ben Wallace return to Pistons after buyout by Suns?
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
Auburn Hills -- Add another name -- a familiar name -- to the list of candidates to bolster the Pistons' thin frontcourt.
Former Piston Ben Wallace accepted a $10 million buyout from the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. If he clears waivers, he will be an unrestricted free agent.
Wallace indicated at the end of last season that he would consider retirement because of his age (35) and lingering injuries. But, according to sources, Wallace is considering trying to play at least one more season and has reached out to the Pistons.
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He still owns a home in Oakland County.
The Pistons have $3.5 million still available under the salary cap. In taking the buyout, Wallace left $4 million still on the table in Phoenix. (The final year of his contract was worth $14 million.)
Most likely, the Pistons would offer Wallace the veteran's minimum ($1.3 million, which does not count against the cap), and still have the $3.5 million to spend on a younger big man.
Pistons president Joe Dumars, who is considering several options, would not comment on the possibility of bringing Wallace back.
IMO, he's trying to work a major trade.
I don't see how you're getting 15+ million for next year, Chris. If you deal Max for an expiring, that clears up $5 million. If you let Kwame walk, that clears up $4 million. Bynum will also be expiring at $800k. We have ~$3.6 million in cap space. That adds up to $13.4 million. Even if the cap doesn't decrease, we'll have Rip, Gordon, Villanueva, Prince and Stuckey all needing a raise, which adds up to around $4 million. That leaves us with $9.4 million to sign a starting C, a backup C, a backup PF, and a backup PG.
And we still haven't taken into account our rookie contracts and the raises that they'll bring next offseason. That will eat up a few more million.
As for Wallace, he played 56 games last year and started 53 with 23.5mpg. He put up 6.5 boards and 1.3 blocks, so if he could keep up that pace for 30mpg he'd be at 8.3 boards and 1.6 blocks. Not quite 10 and 2, K. Sorry. He also averaged under 3ppg, shot 44% which is pretty terrible for a guy in the post, and shot an abysmal 42% on his FTs. All of these numbers have been slowly decreasing since his first season with the Bulls.
Look at how he wore out as the season went on!
November
43%FG, 50%FT, 7.3REB, 1.6BPG, 2.9PPG on 24MPG
February
27%FG, 37%FT, 6.0REB, 0.7BPG, 1.7PPG on 23MPG
He could be decent off the bench in a defensive role, getting 20-25mpg at most. If you bring him in as your starter and try to give him 30mpg, he's going to wear out and you'll be left with nothing at C.
RIP+Tay+Stuckey = $23,798,760
+ Gordon + Charlie = $41 mil.
Add in the rookies from this year and Bynum and you're looking at 45-46 mil.
We don't know what the cap would be, but that is 13-14 mil probably in space. That's without moving RIP, which I'm sure we could do.
I'm also betting that some of the SF's would be let go or traded (they won't all stick here).