as of midnight...

[b-diddy]

ben wallace is officially a FA, and technically no longer a piston.

this is probably the most important day of the rest of his life. he is the undisputed king of the FA class.

here are the 5 teams under the cap this year:

hawks (18.2 under)
bobcats (24.6)
bulls (17.5)
NO/OK (16.9)
raptors (12.9)

(LAC and jazz have slightly more than the MLE in cap space)

[Kstat]

raptors and bobcats will be targeting Peja.

Hawks will be targeting al harrignton.

NO/OK will be targeting no one, their owner is george shinn.

Bulls will likely go after a cheaper and younger joel pryzbilla. They arent dumb enough to pay ben $15-18 million when he wont make them a contender in the years he has left in his prime.

Ben will take Joe's $12,000,001 (highest on the team) offer and either be happy with it or test the waters and realize its the best offer he has.

[b-diddy]

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/stories...030.xml&coll=1

ben's in chicago today.

[Kstat]

Good.

I dont want any complaints from him if chicago offers less than we do.

If they want to offer $15-17 million, god bless ben and I hope he has a great life.

I will say, this definately seems like an arn tellam strategy to try to make joe nervous by visiting a division rival on day 1. I hope Joe doesnt buy it.

[Kstat]

My only wish, if we do lose ben to chicago, is that we dont sign and trade for chicken chandler.

letting him walk OK, trading for any other player on chicago's roster OK.

Being stuck with Chandler's contract for the next 6 years would pretty much kill our chances of ever getting another title out of this group.

[Matt]

scary time to be a Piston's fan....

[Kstat]

scary time to be a Piston's fan....

Not to me. I can see positive possibilities in any scenario not involving tyson chandler.

Letting Ben go outright would sting a little, but it'd also give joe more flexibility to work some magic and get someone else, as well as ensure chauncey will stay a piston.

I'm not saying I want ben to go, but if the reality is he wants $15+ million, it's better than the alternative.

[Pharaoh]

Why would the Bobcats target Peja?

Why would Atlanta try and re-sign Harrington, when they have enough young forwards and have other needs?

And while I agree NO might target no one, I think the ownership situation in Atlanta is worse.

[Matt]

scary time to be a Piston's fan....

Not to me. I can see positive possibilities in any scenario not involving tyson chandler.

Letting Ben go outright would sting a little, but it'd also give joe more flexibility to work some magic and get someone else, as well as ensure chauncey will stay a piston.

I'm not saying I want ben to go, but if the reality is he wants $15+ million, it's better than the alternative.

there's reason to be optimistic....but there's equal reason to be worried, imo.

i think the way things went down at the end of the season (w/ the off-court drama) makes me more scared than i should be. if we had fizzled out of the playoffs and there was no rumors of dissention, i'd be a little more confident.

the uncertainty has me a little worried. slappiness aside, i do trust that Joe D will make the best of whatever happens.

[Kstat]

What's there to be worried about? Ben stays or Ben goes. It's simple as that.

As long as we dont get saddled with a huge-ass deal, im ok with the outcome.