Pistons free agency rumors/media speculation (Offseason 2009)

[shags]

I'm trying to see how they had enough cap up front for that signing bonus (10 mil due in the first week).

The signing bonus is spread across all 4 years of the contract ($1.4 million each year), but paid up front, obviously. The contract also calls for 80% of the salary to be paid up front as well.

[Zekyl]

The signing bonus is spread across all 4 years of the contract ($1.4 million each year), but paid up front, obviously. The contract also calls for 80% of the salary to be paid up front as well.

That paid up front part may be what gets them Millsap. Do the Utah owners want to pay that much money up front? Forget about salary cap, luxury tax, and all that jazz. That's real money coming straight from their pockets right away.

[Glenn]

Jens (Cologne, Germany): I don’t understand why the league set it up so that teams under the cap can’t use their biannual and mid-level exceptions but teams over the cap can. There was a price for getting so far under the cap (trading Chauncey, then having to renounce Rasheed). Teams like Boston, Cleveland and San Antonio are loaded with big contracts and well over the cap but they can sign good players like Wallace and McDyess. There is a clear disadvantage for teams that are rebuilding.

Langloistat: The rules are the rules. The exceptions were added for capped-out teams so that there could still be some player movement possible even when most teams are over the cap. One of the goals of the CBA is to reward teams who’ve done a good job drafting and developing players by giving them built-in advantages to retain their own player. That’s why teams can sign their own free agents for six years and other teams can sign them for only five, and they can give their own free agents annual 10.5 percent raises and other teams can give only 8 percent hikes. This was the Pistons’ shot at retooling on the fly without having to crater like most teams do. Joe D probably hopes he won’t be in position to get so far below the cap again for many years. What I really like about how he used the cap space is he got two young players with plenty of growth potential in Gordon, 26, and Villanueva, 24. And next year, when there are more quality free agents on the market than there will be big-money deals available – a byproduct of the likelihood the cap is going to fall significantly and cut into the cap space most teams had projected – the Pistons are going to be a very attractive team with a very young core that will put them in a very good spot to land a desirable player with their own MLE.

Rick (South Lyon, Mich.): Why would Joe D be interested in Glen Davis? Don’t we already have that in Jason Maxiell? Shouldn’t they be targeting a center who has skills that Kwame Brown doesn’t have?

Langlois: Not sure why having Maxiell precludes a run at Davis. Maxiell is a defender and offensive rebounder. Davis is much more a skilled big man who can score inside and out to 18 feet. He’s a bigger body, not as athletic. But even if he had the same skill set, the Pistons simply are in a position of needing another big body. Davis is one of the better big bodies still available, though teams aren’t going to be able to low-ball him and steal him from Boston.

[Zekyl]

We don't have anywhere for information on current Pistons and the offseason...

Kwame Brown, C, Detroit

The Pistons made the first moves of free agency by agreeing to deals with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva right away, but they've yet to replace Rasheed Wallace, who is off to Boston.

The strength of the Pistons for the last several years has been their balance and their ability to put five guys on the floor that can all shoot the ball from the perimeter. Without Wallace manning the five, that ability is gone, but the additions of Gordon and Villanueva make the Pistons more potent at the other four positions.

Brown obviously hasn't lived up to his No. 1 pick status, but he's turned into a good low-post defender and solid role player. He won't be asked to score much, but that role will be bigger this season

[Zekyl]

Lee hasn't signed any sort of offer sheet yet has he? I just realized that his name hasn't been floating around at all. If we got him, we'd definitely still need a C. Lee is solid against PFs, especially the athletic sort, but he gets handled by big physical guys. That's exactly what CV does, right? We'd have no depth at C if we used Kwame to get him, and I don't think NY is doing a S&T for Max.

Reason #1 we can ignore Lee:
NY doesn't want Maxiell and we wouldn't trade for Lee without moving Max. Our only other option would be Kwame and that would leave us with 3 PFs and no C.
If we somehow convinced the Knicks to do Lee for Max and a 1st, I'd be shocked. We'd absolutely have to move Rip for a C, since we'd have no cap room left. Either that or we'd be starting CV at SF and moving Prince for a C.

Reason #2:
Villanueva is our starting PF. I'm fully convinced that when Dumars brought him in and talked to him about signing here, he told him that he'd be the starter. I could be wrong and he could have just said "you'll get X minutes without a problem and a chance to be our starter, plus we're bringing in Gordon" but I'd guess he starts for us.
We're not starting Lee and CV. A guy like Dwight Howard, with no real post game, would annihilate us based on size alone.

[BIG BEN'S FRO]

Agreed. That all said, I will be sorely disappointed with our C position if we address it by using it to net a $3.6M rather than using it with Kwame or Max or even Bynum to net us someone much better. 3.6M is 7.2 in savings if teams are over the tax as well as the extra 10% in trade value.

[BIG BEN'S FRO]

Would you want to offer big Baby a deal starting at 3.6M x long term? Would he accept it? Would Boston Match?

Actually I just saw another possible move of Kwame and cap space for Jeff Foster. Indy already has Murphy and Hibbert long term and Foster is signed for another season after this one. Just to get out of his deal and save 2 mill, I think they do that one. Foster is definitely serviceable.

[Zekyl]

No. Maybe. Probably.

[Cross]

I really hope Big Baby is not part of our future.

At 6'9, he can't play center. We already have Maxiell. Would Boston match? Probabyl not

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

I really hope Big Baby is not part of our future.

At 6'9, he can't play center. We already have Maxiell. Would Boston match? Probabyl not

I agree, I honestly don't see any upside in signing an undersized buffer state like Glen Davis, and I'm puzzled as to why there's even been rumors suggesting Joe is even entertained at the idea of signing him.