Someone please give Paxton the executive of year award already.
Thanks for 6 great years Ben. You came to our team and everyone scratched their head trying to figure out why in the we'd want you in the sign and trade w/ Orlando. You achieved far more than anyone would have ever given you credit for. Congrats on the big pay day! You deserved it!
I wish him the best.
But all in all, I find myself a little releived. I think this is actually the best thing that could have happened.
If Ben decided to stay at 4 / 49.6 we would have been strapped. Next year Sheed and Ben each would be recieving over 11 million. Rip would get 9. Tay should receive somewhere between 8-9?. Dice is looking at 6 Chauncey is going to be another 6+ guy. That's 52 million minimum. And that doesn't include our other 9 roster spots.
Ben is on the decline. He really was not worth the 48 offered by Dumars. It was mostly back pay for years of being played under value. That is not smart.
He is too one dimensional of a player for that much money. His stats have gone down for three consecutive years ( in Minutes, blocks, rebounds & free throw % ). Why should that trend stop now?
What happens in three years when he easily could average 6 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block? Is that a stat line that deserves 12 million?
It's sad to see him go. But a large part of me is quite happy.
Joe can hopefully get a big that can offer 15 - 20 minutes of decent play.
We will play Dice more. We'll utilize Davis (7 points and 9 boards in 30 minutes w/ Indy at the end of 2005). You'll see Jason Maxiell (Baby Ben) in the rotation. All 3 of those guys can give 20 minutes of GOOD play.
Will it be Ben Wallace defense? Of course not. But we are shifting to a new style of play anyways in the NBA. More offense, less defense. We've all seen it coming. Defensive rule changes & refs giving the superstar whistles.
One possible positive to this is that Sheed may play more at the center position now. He will be forced to be under the basket. His post game is awesome ... but he's relied too much on his perimeter skills. Now he will get the ball under the bucket.
And don't forget that we still have 4 of the "best starting 5" No way in do I think we're now all of a sudden a crap team. The East is not all that terrific. No reason why we can't get back to the ECF. Will it be tough? sure but I think you will see much more focus and determination form the other guys. Time to drop the iness and play ball.
It's too easy for those guys to rely upon Ben all the time. They KNOW Ben is back there defensively so they're not as worried when they let their guys get past them. They know they'll have to buckle down individually now.
I honestly feel that we are much better off for the future now. We may stumble at times this year, but I think we'll be fine.
Bens at ude and commentary about wanting the ball was getting on my nerves.
All this Ben left because of Flip is getting on my nerves.
Did he love Flip? Probably not. I'm sure he didn't see eye to eye with him all the time. But there is NO FREAKING WAY he left because he didn't like Flip. That is soo 4th grade. And by the slim chance that was his resoning, I'd tell him to get his baby ass out of the lockerroom. Ben is notorious for being a grump with his coach's . He argued with Carlisle and LB aswell. It's nothing new.
It's time for something a little new for the Pistons. I'm excited about this year. I trust Joe D to figure out a way to make us as compw ive as can be.
And I guess I can now say "I told you so" to Joe D about the stupid move of getting rid of Darko last year.
Oh, and good luck to you Ben on becoming an offensive threat in Chicago!!!!!
This post sounds bitter, but at the same time I agree with almost all of it. Ben was enormously overrated and the Pistons won't miss him too much in the long run, and certainly not after the '07 season.
Someone please give Paxton the executive of year award already.
Ben overrated? uh,...... okay......
Pistons are lottery bound.
No bitterness. I truly love and appreciate what Ben has meant to us. Yes I am a little miffed that HE CHOSE TO LEAVE. But that's his right. I suppose my post comes off a little strong because I feel the need to dispell all the doomsday thoughts that are prevailing at this time.
I would have loved to sign Ben to a 2 year deal as high as 15 per year. I just think he has little value after 2 years, and will seriously hurt us at that point.
Aaaawwww poor himat
NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Although I am not a Pistons fan, I think this was an excellent post.Thanks for 6 great years Ben. You came to our team and everyone scratched their head trying to figure out why in the we'd want you in the sign and trade w/ Orlando. You achieved far more than anyone would have ever given you credit for. Congrats on the big pay day! You deserved it!
I wish him the best.
But all in all, I find myself a little releived. I think this is actually the best thing that could have happened.
If Ben decided to stay at 4 / 49.6 we would have been strapped. Next year Sheed and Ben each would be recieving over 11 million. Rip would get 9. Tay should receive somewhere between 8-9?. Dice is looking at 6 Chauncey is going to be another 6+ guy. That's 52 million minimum. And that doesn't include our other 9 roster spots.
Ben is on the decline. He really was not worth the 48 offered by Dumars. It was mostly back pay for years of being played under value. That is not smart.
He is too one dimensional of a player for that much money. His stats have gone down for three consecutive years ( in Minutes, blocks, rebounds & free throw % ). Why should that trend stop now?
What happens in three years when he easily could average 6 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block? Is that a stat line that deserves 12 million?
It's sad to see him go. But a large part of me is quite happy.
Joe can hopefully get a big that can offer 15 - 20 minutes of decent play.
We will play Dice more. We'll utilize Davis (7 points and 9 boards in 30 minutes w/ Indy at the end of 2005). You'll see Jason Maxiell (Baby Ben) in the rotation. All 3 of those guys can give 20 minutes of GOOD play.
Will it be Ben Wallace defense? Of course not. But we are shifting to a new style of play anyways in the NBA. More offense, less defense. We've all seen it coming. Defensive rule changes & refs giving the superstar whistles.
One possible positive to this is that Sheed may play more at the center position now. He will be forced to be under the basket. His post game is awesome ... but he's relied too much on his perimeter skills. Now he will get the ball under the bucket.
And don't forget that we still have 4 of the "best starting 5" No way in do I think we're now all of a sudden a crap team. The East is not all that terrific. No reason why we can't get back to the ECF. Will it be tough? sure but I think you will see much more focus and determination form the other guys. Time to drop the iness and play ball.
It's too easy for those guys to rely upon Ben all the time. They KNOW Ben is back there defensively so they're not as worried when they let their guys get past them. They know they'll have to buckle down individually now.
I honestly feel that we are much better off for the future now. We may stumble at times this year, but I think we'll be fine.
Bens at ude and commentary about wanting the ball was getting on my nerves.
All this Ben left because of Flip is getting on my nerves.
Did he love Flip? Probably not. I'm sure he didn't see eye to eye with him all the time. But there is NO FREAKING WAY he left because he didn't like Flip. That is soo 4th grade. And by the slim chance that was his resoning, I'd tell him to get his baby ass out of the lockerroom. Ben is notorious for being a grump with his coach's . He argued with Carlisle and LB aswell. It's nothing new.
It's time for something a little new for the Pistons. I'm excited about this year. I trust Joe D to figure out a way to make us as compw ive as can be.
And I guess I can now say "I told you so" to Joe D about the stupid move of getting rid of Darko last year.
Oh, and good luck to you Ben on becoming an offensive threat in Chicago!!!!!
Guess the two Wallaces are once again apart.. and the Pistons dynasty in the East is well over.. tough break for them
4 years, 60 MILLION, "bulls", 4 years 48 million "pistons"
, this signing hurts the bulls longterm! Way too much money, wallace makes tim duncan money! its outrageous
The Pistons have a chance to get out of the first round next year ONLY if Rasheed is playing within fifteen feet of the basket, and Flip has shown zero ability to make that happen.
are you kidding me??
they went from mediocre to toilet status!
1 fluke le in the 2000s and they are a dynasty??? lets get real
And you just went from being an annoying bug to a full-fledged piece of .are you kidding me??
they went from mediocre to toilet status!
Actually, every report I've heard was that Chicago's offer is $52 million over four years.
4 years 60mil...15 mil for a horrible offensive player...no moves....horrible at the line (worse than Shaq lol) who can play D and rebound? If the Bulls don't win it all this upcoming year this was a BAD move...he'll be 33+ and declining....
Big Ben headed to Bulls
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
Ben Wallace, the face, the 'fro and the foundation of the Detroit Pistons the past six years, will be wearing a Chicago Bulls uniform next season.
"I appreciate everything Detroit did for me and my family,” Wallace said Monday night, confirming that he will sign a four-year deal with the Bulls on July 12, the first day free agents are able to sign new contracts. “They gave me an opportunity to make a name for myself and we had an opportunity to win a championship together.
This is always going to be a special place.
“This is just one of those things. When you get a chance to sign a deal of a lifetime, it's tough to let it go.”
The Bulls, who initially made no offer when general manager John Paxson and coach Scott Skiles came to visit Wallace on Saturday, apparently upped the ante considerably on Monday. They offered Wallace a four-year deal starting at $14 million, which would make the total value of the contract just under $60 million.
The Pistons' initial offer to Wallace was a four-year deal worth $49.6 million, starting at $11.5 million. Even though that offer would have made Wallace the richest player on the team, Wallace was disappointed.
He was further disappointed when he was told the Pistons wouldn"t raise their offer more than $12 million to start, which would have raised the overall value to $51.8 million.
Pistons president Joe Dumars confirmed the news late Monday night, but didn’t want to make any comment. Wallace’s agent Arn Tellem and Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson also confirmed the news.
“Man, to me, this is still, like, unbelievable (that he’s leaving Detroit),” Wallace said. “I talked to Joe. There are no hard feelings and this was nothing personal. He understands how these things go This is all just part of the business.”
It was still a tough blow for the Pistons. Not only are they losing Wallace, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year, but Dumars also wasn’t able to work a sign-and-trade deal to get some sort of compensation for the loss.
“We tried to work out a couple of deals,” Wallace said. “But there was nothing that Joe felt would work. He didn’t just want to take back players that he didn’t want or players that he felt he was just going to have to turnaround and move. They just couldn’t get the guys they wanted.”
One option the Pistons were hoping for didn’t materialize. They had hoped to maybe get Tyson Chandler back from Chicago as part of a sign-and-trade. However, it appears the Bulls are going to trade Chandler to the New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets in exchange for P.J. Brown. While Chandler has five years and $54 million left on his contract, Brown’s $8 million will come off the books after next season.
It was that deal that helped pave the way for Wallace’s signing.
The Pistons, meanwhile, will have to scramble to pick up the pieces. Two mid-level free agent centers are still available, Portland’s Joel Przybilla and San Antonio’s Nazr Mohammed. But with Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, Jason Maxiell and Dale Davis still under contract, the Pistons might not go there.
“Ben’s had six great years here,” coach Flip Saunders said. “But we’re part of an era in the NBA with the salary cap and the luxury tax and the collective bargaining agreement where players move around. You never like to lose a player that’s been instrumental to your franchise.
“We’ve got to see how everything plays out and go from there. Your team has to constantly adapt. Ben
brought a lot of things for us. With him gone, we’re going to have to adapt in the areas where his strengths were. In other areas, we might be better.”
You can expect the Pistons to go with a smaller, quicker, more offensive lineup next season, perhaps with Tayshaun Prince playing more of a hybrid forward role similar to Phoenix’s Shawn Marion.
Saunders made it clear that his relationship with Wallace had no impact on his decision to leave.
“No. What it had to do with was money, which is the case 99.9 percent of the time,” Saunders said.
“It has to do with finances.
Dumars knew that losing Wallace was a distinct possibility. He made it clear in his post-season address that if some team was willing to throw big money at Wallace, the Pistons were going to have to let him go.
Despite all that Wallace has done for the franchise -- he is the Pistons' all-time shot blocking leader and fourth-leading rebounder - the Pistons couldn’t justify paying Wallace, who will be 32 in September, in excess of $20 million when he was 35 years old.
Still, you couldn’t say the Pistons low-balled Wallace. Dumars told Wallace repeatedly the last couple of years that when it was his time, he would make Wallace the highest paid player on the team. That’s what the Pistons' offer to Wallace would have done.
Dumars kept his promise.
The Pistons in 2000 gave Wallace, an unknown journeyman at the time, a six-year deal worth $30
million when nobody else would have paid much more than the minimum. Now, the Pistons are offering him another $50 million. That would be $80 million for 10 years of service to a great defensive player who has never averaged more than 9.7 points a game.
It’s hard to view that in total and say the Pistons are being cheap.
Monday was a tough day for Dumars. Wallace was like a son to him. He was the foundation upon which Dumars built this championship team. He had tried to come up with a salary number that would reward Wallace for that, but not severely damage the team’s salary structure moving forward.
Remember, Dumars was the last man standing from the previous championship era of Pistons basketball. He was there when the Pistons hung on too long to past-their-prime stars Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas. Those were some of the most painful years of Dumars’ career, and he knows it took the Pistons more than a decade to recover.
He wasn’t going to repeat that mistake.
Wallace has some good years left, there’s no question about that. But he may not have any great years left. His days of grabbing 1,000-plus rebounds in a season are probably over. While he can still dominate a game on the defensive end, he hasn’t shown the ability to do so consistently, night after night like he once did.
He was essentially not a factor in the last two playoff rounds this season. He never looked older than he did against the Heat. Dumars had to throw that into the equation.
Wallace’s stubbornness and petulance got the better of him on occasion this season. His refusal to enter a game in Orlando in April is only one example. He had several blow-ups in practice, as well, and hasn’t gotten along real well with any of his last three coaches.
Dumars had to throw that into the equation, as well.
Also, it is clear the game is changing. Tough, physical defense is being legislated out of the game. Commissioner David Stern wants to facilitate more offense and to do that, the league officials have drastically reduced the amount of physical contact a defender can use both on and off the ball.
This negatively impacts Wallace two ways. It reduces his effectiveness on defense, and it puts
his offensive deficiencies in a harsher light.
But Dumars still kept his promise to Wallace. It just wasn’t enough. Now the Pistons will have to do battle against Wallace four times a season in the Central Division.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...DATE/607030394
Last edited by Pistons < Spurs; 07-03-2006 at 09:55 PM.
hey dude! its not my fault if big baby decided to move on and forget about det-riot,who can blame him???that city is a torture chamber,especially the palace of the burned hills
Man, at least the Maverick trolls came up with some original material once in a while.hey dude! its not my fault if big baby decided to move on and forget about det-riot,who can blame him???that city is a torture chamber,especially the palace of the burned hills
NO MO' 'FRO? Ben Wallace expected to head to Chicago
July 3, 2006
BY KRISTA JAHNKE
Pistons center Ben Wallace is expected to agree to a four-year contract with the Chicago Bulls sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning, according to a person close to the negotiations who asked not to be identified because of the talks’ confidential nature.
Wallace’s deal with Chicago is expected to be worth close to $60 million. The Pistons had offered him a four-year deal worth about $48 million. Wallace, an unrestricted free agent, cannot sign a contract until July 12.
The four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year has played for Detroit since 2000, when he was acquired from Orlando in the Grant Hill trade.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...EWS99/60703020
I'm so mad, and upset right now
I don't think it's fully sunk in yet
its cool,im just having a little fun with the depressed pissed on fansfunny,how their city is also asosciated with depression!
How the would Flip know?Saunders made it clear that his relationship with Wallace had no impact on his decision to leave.
It's a less harsh smear campaign than I'd expected, although I'm sure the rationalizations will get more and more biting as the offseason goes on.
I'm so mad, and upset right now
I don't think it's fully sunk in yet
aaawww poooor criminals...
lmao
Ben Overrated? That is truly hilarious. The fact is the pistons are a jump-shooting team and have always been under Joe Dumars. The only player that seem to care, without any iota of being selfish, did his job and was unconcerned his own personal glory. That includes consistently grabbing offensive rebounds, being quicker against players 2-5 inches taller than him = steals, positioning, and hustling all over the court to ensure that Detroit is in a good position to win. That means he plays with heart all the time.
Wallace/Mcdyess rarely play any power post up offense. When they got the ball they are setting up for their turnaround jumper 90% of the time. Billups gets over confident with his jumper and jacks them up time after time. He wants to live up to the name "Mr. Big Shot" Mr. Big shot time is never a lay-up. That has always been the case. Hamilton is a rhythm jump shooter. With a good defender on him, his ass is owned. That is truth. Prince - I like a lot. The problem is: he doesn't ever live up to his potential in the playoffs. He always seems to choke in during the game and especially in crucial situations. He was a bog surprise in his first playoff games, hitting three after three but it has been downhill from there.
The one constant has been Ben Wallace. When all those shots by the perimeter players have been jacked up, it is Ben cleaning up the mess to give his team another chance. Another chance = better percentage/chance to score = better chance to win.
Ben's game has tampered off a bit but you can/must attribute that to:
Flip Saunders. It's delusional to think that there wasn't some turmoil in that pistons locker room. Wallace made it clear that Flip wasn't focusing on defense and that is why it showed on the court. It is my belief that Ben saw in his teammates that they were transformed into more of an offensive team and they weren't showing that type of D to make them successful. So Ben is basically saying, " it. I'm out.
You better believe Ben will come out like a Bull heading into Chicago. Pun intended. His game will be rejuvenated. This move only makes Detroit a top 5 seed in the east. And no they are not in the top 3.
First of all, I'm not a dude. Second of all, your line's getting old. Don't you have anything better in that kindergarten-level brain of yours? City bashing is just stupid.hey dude! its not my fault if big baby decided to move on and forget about det-riot,who can blame him???that city is a torture chamber,especially the palace of the burned hills
Don't worry Pistons fans...dude is not worth that insane amount....no point to over-pay just to keep him. Might hurt you next season but ya'll will figure something out. Ben could have ben like Terry and actaully showed some loyalty....not always about the $$$.
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