But Pistons owner William Davidson isn’t going to pocket that money, in all probability. In fact, it merely allows Dumars another chance to invest it. What it really means is that the Pistons will now have the salary-cap flexibility next summer to pursue a quality free agent – and still have enough left over, perhaps, to re-sign Jarvis Hayes if both parties see the wisdom in extending their relationship.

Before the Mohammed trade, the Pistons were going to be about $5 million below the luxury-tax threshhold next summer. Now they’ll be about $10.5 million below the threshhold.

Translation: It opens the door a little bit wider for Chris Webber to return.

Now – make no mistake – that wasn’t the reason this deal was consummated. It’s a pleasant by-product of the deal, that’s all.

And, remember, the Pistons’ roster stands at 15 – they needed to waive good-guy veteran Ronald Dupree to get to the NBA limit after swinging the 1-for-2 trade – which means if they were to sign a veteran free agent, they’d have to waive somebody.

If Webber were to be signed, it would be in a niche role. He wouldn’t be a starter and he would not replace Jason Maxiell as the top frontcourt reserve. He’d become, essentially, what Elden Campbell and Dale Davis and Mohammed were before him – the veteran big guy with six fouls to give and a specific skill set to offer on nights where the matchup would favor the Pistons.

Except he’d be a nice upgrade over those other guys.

Bottom line on Webber: It might happen or it might not and it certainly isn’t going to happen anytime soon. But the chances went from a long shot to a reasonable possibility with this deal.

Brezec’s career plateaued the last few seasons in Charlotte, but he’s a very long guy – listed at 7-foot-1 – who can shoot it especially well to 20 feet and is only 28. Indiana hated losing him to the Bobcats in the expansion draft four years ago and he averaged in double figures his first two years in Charlotte.

Herrmann, also 28, has a little of the feistiness of Argentinian national teammate Andres Nocioni in him and proved himself a terrific perimeter shooter over the final quarter of last season when the Bobcats moved him into the starting lineup ahead of rookie Adam Morrison. For whatever reason, he didn’t click with first-year coach Sam Vincent, but Dumars always sees the player beyond the circumstances – witness the transformation of the careers of Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, et al, after middling success elsewhere.

Neither one is going to get significant minutes here, but each is a veteran who’s had both international and NBA experience and – and this is an important consideration – understands the importance of finding your niche within a team through their national team experience.

If not for the expiring contracts of guys like Bob Sura, Lindsey Hunter, Chucky Atkins, and Zelijko Rebraca, the Pistons would not have been able to pull off the Rasheed Wallace trade at the deadline in February 2004 – and I think we all remember how that worked out.

Now, what’s the likelihood of a player of that magnitude hitting the market and the Pistons having a match? Not very good. But significantly better today than before Friday’s trade.

The holidays will be very happy around Five Championship Drive.