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Pistons Mailbag - Thursday, August 6, 2009




Pistons.com editor Keith Langlois answers your questions about the Pistons and NBA. Click here to submit your questions - please include your name, email address and city/state on the form.

We reserve the right to edit your question for the sake of brevity or clarity.

Nate (Phoenix): Seeing as I no longer live in Detroit, how can I get to see the two rebroadcast specials on the Chuck Daly and the Pistons’ Summer League recap?

Langlois: You can click on the link provided here to see the August broadcast schedule on FS Detroit. I’m not sure there’s a way to see them anywhere else, but if you have access to satellite TV – or know someone who does – the regional cable networks are available as long as they’re not televising programming subject to blackout restrictions.

Saul (Dewitt, Mich.): Any chance the Pistons can acquire Shane Battier from Houston? Could a trade of Maxiell for Battier be worked out?

Langlois: It doesn’t quite work on a salary-for-salary basis under cap rules, Saul. Other than that, I have no idea what Houston would think of that deal. The Rockets definitely have a need for frontcourt help with Yao Ming out for the year and no other real big man on the roster, but Maxiell wouldn’t seem a good fit. They really need a long, athletic type. They already have Maxiell types in Joey Dorsey, Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry. I’m a huge Battier fan, though, and I’m sure he would like to come home to play for the Pistons at some point.

Matthew (Sarasota, Fla.): Wouldn’t Ben Wallace be better served going elsewhere to finish his career as a No. 5 big man? The expectations of the casual fans who don’t realize he’s lost a step will be tough on him here since they remember him from the glory days.

Langlois: I think they would be less than even casual fans if they would expect a 35-year-old to have the same bounce in his step as the guy who won all those Defensive Player of the Year awards. As for how he would be best served, that’s completely up to him and what his desires are at this stage. Savvy veteran big men are always on the wanted list of title contenders, which explains why Rasheed Wallace wound up in Boston and Antonio McDyess in San Antonio, two of the five teams that go into the 2009-10 season as legit contenders. And the other three – Orlando, Cleveland and the Lakers – were all rumored to be interested in at least one of the two. But Big Ben, those close to him have suggested, hasn’t been truly happy since he left the Pistons three seasons ago and maybe what serves his needs best at this point is a return to the place he experienced his greatest NBA successes. He knows the culture of the organization and I’m sure, on some level, it bothered him that a segment of Pistons fans viewed him negatively for leaving as a free agent, even if Joe Dumars and the entire organization understood perfectly that the money Chicago offered made it nearly impossible for him to choose otherwise. Coming back to finish his career here, as opposed to chasing a ring somewhere else where he has no connection … I can see the attraction. And I think the vast majority of fans would understand the Wallace that they’re getting back would be a different guy than the one that helped win a championship.

Jake (Bowling Green, Ohio): I was wondering what our salary cap is looking like for next summer as it stands now. I know we have the mid-level exception back in play, but is there any other significant money for us to spend on free agents?

Langlois: By the very nature of the collective bargaining agreement, no. If you have a mid-level exception to use, it means you’re over the salary cap. And if you’re over the salary cap, then the MLE is by far the most significant chunk of money at your discretion. Just by doing a quick estimate, the Pistons are probably looking at having about $56 million committed for 2010-11 to 12 players – Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell, Chris Wilcox (assuming he picks up his reported player option), Will Bynum (assuming the Pistons make him a qualifying offer), Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko and the 2010 No. 1 pick (whose cap hold counts against their cap for that season). The danger for the Pistons is that the cap will come down to $50 million or so, which is at the low end of expectations for next summer, and drag the luxury-tax threshold along with it. And that could mean that an MLE contract would put the Pistons over the luxury tax and make for some tough decisions.

Henry (Southfield, Mich.): I know the starting five is pretty much set, but what will the rotation off the bench look like?

Langlois: I’m not even sure the starting five is pretty much set, though I think you can write it in stone that Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey are starters. Charlie Villanueva, because he’s the best scoring big man on the roster, probably has one frontcourt spot locked up. And probably because that gives the Pistons plenty of firepower in the starting lineup, my guess is John Kuester will go with Kwame Brown as the starting center because of the size and sturdy rebounding and defense he offers. But in tight games, Ben Gordon is going to be on the floor to finish games along with Hamilton and Prince, almost certainly. After that, it will be about matchups and hot hands. Will Bynum has a chance to push Stuckey for critical minutes at point guard. The Pistons could go small late in games with Stuckey/Bynum, Gordon, Hamilton, Prince and Villanueva. Or they could stay big with Villanueva and Chris Wilcox giving them their two best frontcourt scorers playing in tandem. And the three draft choices are wild cards. They’ll be competing with each other, to a degree, to establish a pecking order in training camp.

Christian (Woodbury, Minn.): I don’t see why the Celtics are so thrilled to have Sheed. He is clearly in decline as we saw last season. They make it sound like he will lead them to a championship.

Langlois: For where he’s at in his career and what the Celtics need, I thought it was a nearly perfect fit. (Though I would have loved to have been in the room with Danny Ainge and his staff when they debated the merits of going after Wallace or Antonio McDyess.) The Celtics know Wallace isn’t the player he was three or four years ago, but they’re not going to be asking him to give them 35 minutes a night, either. I suspect he’ll come off the bench – and I also suspect he’ll be on the floor in tandem with Kevin Garnett down the stretch of big games – and they’ll keep him to about 25-28 minutes a game. At that level, he should be terrific. And it will also help him greatly to have Garnett to take on much of the dirty work that fell to him since Ben Wallace left the Pistons. Boston got Wallace for a mid-level exception contract for three years. At that price, and for what he can still do, it’s a great signing. I don’t think anyone is contending that Rasheed will “lead” Boston to a championship, but adding him to the mix makes the Celtics as sound a bet as anyone to win it all next June.

Frank (Newport Beach, Calif.): How do you rate Jason Maxiell’s contract. Isn’t $5 million a year for a No. 4 big man too much?

Langlois: Interesting question, Frank. But I’m not sure I fully accept the premise that he’s the No. 4 big man. I think the lines are blurred this season. If I had to guess, I’d say Charlie Villanueva probably will wind up playing the most minutes of the four big men currently on the roster, but maybe not by much, and after that it’s anyone’s guess. They each offer something different. And if Maxiell plays consistently to his strengths, I don’t see any reason why he can’t play 25 minutes a night. If those are 25 good, consistent, efficient minutes, then, no, that’s not being overpaid at all. And the contract is flat at $5 million per year instead of stepping up at 10.5 percent a year. When it expires, Maxiell will still be only 30.

Nick (Toledo, Ohio): I’m very excited about the Pistons this year. I think the pickups of Gordon and Charlie V were great and in time will work out better than aging players like Billups and Sheed. I also think Wilcox is going to flourish in a winning environment. I won’t go so far as to say they’ll contend, but I think they’ll be quite a surprise.

Langlois: The playoff race is really wide open this year. The biggest improvement in the East will be in the middle of the standings, from the No. 4 seed through the back end of the playoff field. The Pistons will be right in the thick of that race. How quickly they can come together, given all the changes, will go a long way toward determining their record. Wilcox intrigues me. I think the Pistons are pretty confident about what they’re going to get from Gordon and Villanueva. But Wilcox has been in so many hopeless situations that it’s hard to judge him. He’s a former No. 7 overall pick who came to the NBA at 19 – with the Clippers. Lots of potential there. I’m not expecting him to suddenly blossom into an All-Star, but he surely has the capacity to outperform his contract.

Brian (Detroit): Who do you think will be the starting center – Wilcox or Brown? I prefer Wilcox, but looking at his measurements – 6-foot-10, 235 pounds – isn’t that too light?

Langlois: Take official NBA measurements, weights especially, with a huge grain of salt. Wilcox has been listed at 235 for years. Seeing him in person a few weeks ago after he signed with the Pistons, he’s thick and solid through the upper body. He’s not quite as bulky or tall as Kwame Brown, but it’s close enough. Only a few centers are going to have a significant size/strength edge on Wilcox – and they’re the usual suspects who have the same edge on 90 percent of the league’s big men.

Dan (Detroit): You said if we stay under the $57.7 million salary cap, Joe Dumars can’t use the mid-level exception now as in year’s past but can use it come summer. What’s different this year in Joe’s mind? What’s better come summer? Can we get someone next summer that teams using the mid-level exception now can’t get?

Langlois: Not sure, but I think there’s a misunderstanding, which doesn’t surprise me, because no matter how carefully worded salary cap explanations are, the subject matter is complex enough to inspire widespread confusion. I’ll try to make this simple. The NBA salary cap year runs from July 1 to June 30. On July 1, teams are determined to either be under the cap – and, therefore, cannot use cap exceptions like the mid-level and biannual – or over the cap. If they’re under the cap, they can spend up to the cap but not over it, except to sign players to minimum contracts that vary in amount according to length of service. So what was different for Joe D this summer was that the Pistons were under the cap and signed free agents to get up to the cap. He can’t go over the cap to sign anyone – again, except to a minimum contract – until next July 1. As for whom the Pistons can get next summer, it will be any player whose contract expires or who has the option to terminate his contract and become a free agent. And next summer’s free agent field should be deeper than this summer’s.

Hardy (Detroit): I like what I have seen with both Daye and Summers this past summer. Was it my imagination or did Daye look like a young, raw Kevin Garnett? Summers, on the other hand, is a more physical scorer who might give LeBron a few fits later on.

Langlois: Daye has been compared to more versatile scoring big men from Rashard Lewis to Lamar Odom. Garnett, even as a young player, was more explosive and sinewy than Daye is ever likely to be. Garnett doesn’t have Daye’s shooting range or ability to make plays off the dribble, at least based on what we saw in Las Vegas, but Garnett is nearly the ideal physical specimen to be a game-dominating big man defensively. Daye has the tools to develop into a good defender, but I expect it will be more in the mold of a Tayshaun Prince than a Kevin Garnett. Summers, as you perhaps read in the Pistons.com profile we did of him following Summer League, made an impression on Pistons personnel director George David for his willingness to defend James at his Skills Camp.

Rob (Windsor, Ontario): I know you’ve mentioned many times in the past few weeks that Joe D is not looking to trade Rip or Tay, but I’ve got to believe he’s still trying to improve this team even though it means parting with one or both. What do you think of trying to land a Josh Smith or Gerald Wallace?

Langlois: He gets up every morning with the intention of improving the team, Rob, but that doesn’t mean he’s actively shopping anyone and, in fact, he’s not shopping either player. He fielded several proposals earlier this summer, many inquiring about Prince, who at 29 and with only two years at a reasonable salary is obviously coveted. Josh Smith has a trade kicker that Memphis included in the offer sheet it extended to him a year ago that makes it very difficult for anybody to take on his salary. If you’re proposing Prince for Wallace, I don’t think that’s a deal that would entice the Pistons, even though Wallace is a solid player.

Mark (Royal Oak, Mich.): If Bruce Bowen decides to stay in the game, is there any chance he would want to come here and take the veteran’s minimum? We’d finally have a solid backup for Tayshaun Prince, add some instant defensive tenacity and ratchet up our 3-point game.

Langlois: A strong likelihood the Pistons stop at 14 after signing one more veteran to round out the frontcourt. If they’re committed to bringing Deron Washington to camp with a roster spot, it wouldn’t seem likely they’d bring in another wing defensive specialist. I think Bowen makes sense for a veteran team looking for one more piece, but it is worth considering why San Antonio – regarded as highly as any team in the league for its personnel decisions – was so willing to give him up and has been seemingly hesitant about bringing him back now that Milwaukee has waived him.

Martin (Burlington, Ontario): The Pistons’ Web site lists Jonas Jerebko as 6-foot-8 while I read multiple articles, including on Pistons.com, that states Jonas at 6-foot-10. Which is it?

Langlois: When Jerebko worked out for the Pistons, he measured in at slightly better than 6-foot-10 in shoes. He looked all of that during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where the Pistons played him at center so they could get good looks at all three of Jerebko, Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers. The roster on Pistons.com – and on the Web sites of all NBA teams, for that matter – are under the auspices of the NBA and NBA.com. When there are changes to be made, teams request them of NBA.com. We did request Jerebko’s height be changed and it was as of Wednesday.

Carly (West Bloomfield, Mich.): Didn’t we trade Amir for Fabricio Oberto? I was just looking at the roster and his name seems to be gone. What happened?

Langlois: The Pistons waived him. Joe Dumars was clear upon making the deal that the reason behind it was to clear more cap space. Only about half of Oberto’s contract was guaranteed, so trading for him and waiving him saved the Pistons nearly $2 million in cap space. Oberto has since signed with Washington.

P.J. (Winston-Salem, N.C.): How were the Lakers able to retain Lamar Odom? Especially after they used their mid-level exception on Ron Artest? I saw on ESPN that there were only a few teams going into the summer with cap space and the Lakers were not one of them. Their payroll is almost twice ours.

Langlois: He was their own free agent. They held his Bird rights. They can do whatever it takes to retain him, even if they’re over the cap. The Pistons could have been in the same position with their own free agents, Rasheed Wallace and Allen Iverson (but not Antonio McDyess, whose Bird rights they did not hold after his buyout from Denver), had they not renounced their rights to them. But if they hadn’t renounced their rights, they would not have gotten below the cap to sign Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva and Chris Wilcox.