Ben Wallace:Prepared To Test Free Agent

[awmyplace]

Update:Wallace will likely test the free agent market when it begins July 1,the
Detroit Free Press reports.

Recommendation:Wallace's biggest contentstion with the Pistons is lack of offensive involvement Pistons.Pistons coach Flip Saunders rally plays with Wallace as the main option.Wallace is likely to command atleast 10 million a year for four season.If the Pistons do not resign Wallace,the only teams that have the cap room to avoid have a sign-and-trade are Chicago,Atlanta,
Charlottle and Toronto.

[Melmart1]

You are an embarassment to female sports fans everywhere. Actually you are just an embarassment, period.

[Obstructed_View]

Is that English?

[mike detroit]

I are preparing to test free agent

[female sports fan]

You are an embarassment to female sports fans everywhere. Actually you are just an embarassment, period.


exactly!

[NBA Junkie]

He'll wind up in Chicago if he doesn't re-sign with the Pistons.

[1Parker1]

You are an embarassment to female sports fans everywhere. Actually you are just an embarassment, period.

Did I miss something?

[awmyplace]

You are an embarassment to female sports fans everywhere. Actually you are just an embarassment, period.

I'm not embarassment to female sports everywhere.I'm not embarassment peorid.

[Rip-Hamilton32]

lol well you should be..please just stop talking.

[emo serb]

Did I miss something?
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44772
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44731
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44424

[Bob Lanier]

Ben will be meeting with the Bulls today. :(


AUBURN HILLS - Two NBA officials confirmed Friday night that Detroit center Ben Wallace, considered by most to be the top free agent available this summer, is scheduled to meet with the Chicago Bulls in Chicago today (http://www.mlive.com/pistons/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1143564006297030.xml&coll=1). Teams can begin negotiating with free agents today, but they can not sign players to contracts until July 12.

The Bulls are one of the few teams that will have enough salary cap space to sign Wallace, who as an unrestricted free agent can sign with any team he wants.

[East Coast Babe]

I don't know how well he would fit here, but Charlotte is nice! lol! We could use him if he will still play like Ben!

[KFRebel]

The original poster's sig is laughing at her.

[td4mvp21]

I are preparing to test free agent

:lol :lol :lol

[Quadzilla99]

This is an interesting related article from the Detroit Press.

_________________________
Pistons
Big Ben sweepstakes begin
Teams can begin wooing Wallace

July 1, 2006

Email this Print this BY KRISTA JAHNKE

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Roster update

The Pistons have about $47.5 million committed to players next season. The salary cap was $49.5 million last season. The new cap will be released this month and should increase by at least a couple of million dollars. Who's signed for next season:

STARTERS 2006-07 salary
PF Rasheed Wallace $11.4 million
SF Tayshaun Prince $9.5 million
SG Richard Hamilton $8.9 million
PG Chauncey Billups $6.4 million
BENCH 2006-07 salary
F Antonio McDyess $5.9 million
F/C Dale Davis $3.5 million
G Carlos Delfino $1 million
F Jason Maxiell $970,000

UNSIGNED

C Ben Wallace: Unrestricted free agent.

G Lindsey Hunter: Unrestricted free agent. Could retire or come back to Detroit for another year.

F Amir Johnson: The Pistons almost assuredly will keep him.

G Alex Acker: Restricted free agent.

G Tony Delk: The Pistons expect him to become an unrestricted free agent by taking the player opt-out option in his contract.
Early this morning, Ben Wallace's phone -- and that of his super agent Arn Tellem -- most certainly started ringing.

At 12:01 a.m., Wallace was scheduled to become the highest-profile player in this summer's free agent crop, and at least one team -- the Pistons -- must have placed a call as soon as possible to see what it would take to get Wallace back.

From today until July 11, teams can negotiate with free agents. Agreements can be made and on July 12, new contracts can be signed.

In the next 11 days, anything is possible. If a team is really interested, it will fly Wallace in, woo him with expensive dinners and visions of being a defensive catalyst and an important piece of the offense. They'll promise championship contention, lots of money, a long contract.

That's why as much as the Pistons hope to bring back Wallace, a four-time defensive player of the year and the face of the franchise, they are also prepared to move in another direction if the price tag is set too high.

"You have to have contingencies in a situation like this," Pistons team president Joe Dumars said, "because everything is not in your hands. So you better have contingencies. If everything was in our hands, if this was a restricted free agent, you could sit here and plot out, here's A and here's B. Here's what we'll do. But when it's someone else's call at the end of the day, it puts you in a position where you have to have more than one plan."

There are basically three scenarios that could play out. Wallace could accept the Pistons' offer, which is expected to start at near $10 or $12 million for four seasons. He could sign with one of four teams -- Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte and Toronto -- that have space under the salary cap. Or the Pistons could arrange a sign-and-trade with another team, giving them something in return for Wallace.

Tellem has yet to speak publicly about Wallace's desires, so it's impossible to gauge how much money or how many years he is hoping to get for his client. If he wants a max contract, it would cost $14 to $17 million a season over five or six years.

Throughout last season, Wallace said he wanted to stay in Detroit. But he didn't hire one of the NBA's toughest, most successful agents for nothing, did he?

After the Pistons lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, Wallace was coy about where he'll be next season, saying everyone knows where his heart is -- in his chest. But the next day, he said losing before reaching the team's goal of another NBA Finals appearance didn't sour him on the Pistons.

"Nah. I mean, it is what it is," Wallace said. "I thought we had a great opportunity to win another championship, but we blew it. It's not going to change my mind about where I want to be or what I want to do."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060701/SPORTS03/607010364/1048/SPORTS