BEN OR BUST: Wallace likely to test market
BY KRISTA JAHNKE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
June 25, 2006
photo
Big Ben watch
Will unrestricted free agent Ben Wallace stay or go? The scoop:
The three scenarios: The Pistons can re-sign Ben; sign and trade him; or he can sign with a team and the Pistons get nothing.
The money: Wallace likely wants at least $10 million a year for at least four seasons. But the Pistons will go over their salary cap and approach paying a luxury tax if they give him anything more than $10 million a year. And do they want to give a guy who will be 32 in September four or more years?
The money Part 2: A maximum contract would pay Wallace upward of $14 million a year for five or six seasons (only the Pistons can offer a six-year deal). Only Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte and Toronto have the money to come close to giving Wallace a max contract.
What about a trade? All teams could acquire Ben through a sign-and-trade. This happened with Grant Hill in 2000. Hill wanted to leave, so the Pistons signed him, then traded him to Orlando (and got Wallace in return).
What the Pistons say: Players want him back and think he'll come back. President Joe Dumars said: "At the end of the day, it's going to be Ben's call."
Roster update
The Pistons have about $49 million committed to players next season. Who's signed for next season:
STARTERS '06-07 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 '06-07 salary
F Antonio McDyess $5.9 million
F/C Dale Davis $3.5 million
F Maurice Evans $1.5 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; they must pick up his contract option before Friday or he'll become a
restricted free agent.
# G Alex Acker: Restricted free agent.
# G Tony Delk: The Pistons expect him to become an unrestricted free agent by taking his player opt-out on his contract.
Money to spend
The Pistons have a mid-level exception -- about $5 million that can be used to sign one player or split among multiple players. Teams can use this exception even if they are already over the salary cap. For example, the Pistons used the exception to sign Antonio McDyess two years ago. San Antonio used its exception to sign Michael Finley last year. The Pistons also have a biannual exception to use this summer worth $1 million. Exceptions cannot be traded.
WHOM THE PISTONS CAN SIGN
Who can be had for $5 million? The Pistons' first need is a veteran, play-making backup point guard who can get others involved in the offense. The biggest names will be guards Jason Terry, Speedy Claxton, Bonzi Wells, Sam Cassell and Mike James. Some of these players will want more than $5 million, but the chance to play for a championship contender could sway players to take less money. Insidehoops.com compiled a list of its top free agents: (res.-restricted):
SHOOTING GUARDS
1) Bonzi Wells Sacramento
2) Flip Murray Cleveland
By week's end, the game of tug-of-war, the negotiations and rumors, and the courtship of unrestricted free agent Ben Wallace will begin.
On Saturday, Wallace, a four-time defensive player of the year who has helped carry the Pistons to the NBA Finals twice and to a championship once, will become the most coveted player in a mostly mediocre free-agent market.
And while for much of the past season it seemed a lock for Wallace, a blue-collar icon in Detroit, to remain a Piston, nothing, it seems, is certain anymore.
It seems Wallace plans to explore his options around the league.
Wallace recently had this to say in the Orlando Sentinel about his impending free agency: "Nothing in this league is automatic.
"I was never supposed to leave Washington. I was supposed to retire in Orlando. Strange things happen. It's not automatic."
In the same interview, he said, "it's not always just about the money. It's about having an opportunity to do what you're comfortable doing."
Wallace's new, high-powered agent, Arn Tellum, did not return a call for comment, and the Pistons can't talk about Wallace before the free-agency period begins Saturday.
One of his biggest bargaining chips might be offensive involvement.
Wallace doesn't want to be a 20-point scorer, but he has stated many times that he doesn't appreciate being completely shut out of an offense. That's been a point of contention in Detroit. Pistons coach Flip Saunders rarely ran plays with Wallace as the main option.
But money is no secondhand matter, either, not when this is the biggest and most lucrative contract of his career.
Wallace earned $7.35 million last season, the last of a six-year, $30-million deal he signed in 2000.
This time around, he will command at least $10 million a year for four seasons.
A maximum contract would pay him upward of $14 million a year for five or six seasons (only the Pistons can offer Wallace a six-year deal).
There is an assumption that Pistons owner Bill Davidson would never offer a post player more than four years.
But those who work closely with him say that isn't so. They classify Davidson's thinking differently.
They say the billionaire owner certainly has principles he prefers to live by, but that he'll toss them out the window in a heartbeat if people he trusts tell him there's a better way to build a winning team.
That also means -- if team president Joe Dumars can convince Davidson that it's worth it -- the Pistons could wind up going over the salary cap and paying a luxury tax, which the team has long avoided.
The Pistons won't know the tax threshold (or the salary cap, for that matter) when they begin negotiations with Wallace on Saturday, and Alan Ostfield, the team's chief operating officer and assistant general manager, prefers not to make educated guesses.
"I think some teams try to project based on truly complicated formulas," Ostfield said, "but I firmly believe that that's the kind of thing you spend 19 hours trying to project it and then you're wrong. It's not even worth it."
Last season, the cap was $49.5 million, with the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax kicking it at $61.7 million.
Those numbers will likely rise.
The Pistons have already committed $49.07 million to their nine players under contract for next season, meaning the Pistons will go over the cap and approach the tax threshold if they give Wallace anything more than $10 million.
Being so close to the cap means the Pistons should either retain Wallace or lose him only through a sign-and-trade.
That's because if he signs with a team with cap space -- only Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte and Toronto have enough room to woo him without a sign-and-trade -- then the Pistons will be left with nothing in return and no cap space with which to work.
Still, it's questionable how much interest there will be for Wallace around the league.
With such limited offensive abilities and an especially bad reputation for free-throw shooting, his game is a unique one that wouldn't work well in every system.
And Wallace did get some negative publicity this season for failing to re-enter a game in Orlando and speaking out against his coach in the playoffs.
Regardless, people close to the team say rumors that they've grown sick of Wallace's act are baseless.
As the biggest name on the market, Wallace will be the instigator in free-agent action, not only in Detroit but around the league as well.
Once his status is settled, the Pistons have two exceptions to spend. The mid-level exception is worth $5 million and can go to one player in whole or can be split among multiple players. They also hold a $1-million biannual exception.
Both those exceptions can be used despite a team's salary cap status, but they do contribute to total salary in terms of luxury tax.
Who's out there for the taking?
The biggest names are guards Jason Terry, Al Harrington, Speedy Claxton, Bonzi Wells, Peja Stojakovic (he can opt out), Sam Cassell and Mike James (also will opt out), forwards Nene (restricted), Reggie Evans, Drew Gooden and Toni Kukoc, and centers Alonzo Mourning and Nazr Mohammed.
Pistons guards Lindsey Hunter and Tony Delk will both be unrestricted free agents.
Hunter is questioning whether he will retire, while the Pistons expect Delk to take the player opt-out on his contract.
It's not a superstar class, but as Wallace said, nothing is automatic.
Once the free-agency period begins and general managers start chatting, trades come down, players move, and you can't predict much of anything at all.
"While the draft is the most unpredictable thing because you're talking about such unknown quan ies," Pistons vice president John Hammond said, "free agency is generally much more predictable. But once the movement starts happening and players signing and sign-and-trade scenarios pop up, who knows? I'd hate to say this is a poor class.
"On paper, there have been better and stronger, but I don't want to take anything away from this class, especially with a guy like Ben Wallace at the front of it."
Contact KRISTA JAHNKE at 313-223-4493 or [email protected].
Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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Wallace recently had this to say in the Orlando Sentinel about his impending free agency: "Nothing in this league is automatic.
"I was never supposed to leave Washington. I was supposed to retire in Orlando. Strange things happen. It's not automatic."
In the same interview, he said, "it's not always just about the money. It's about having an opportunity to do what you're comfortable doing."
Wallace ain't going nowhere, you just watch. Pistons will end up adhereing to whatever the heck Big Ben wants. They'll fire Flip before they let go of Ben Wallace.
Flip doesn't trust Ben at all on offense and that sucks. I hate LB, but at least he was getting Ben to make the opposing team gaurd him. In 05 Ben had 4 20 point games and he had 9.7 ppg. under Flip he only averages 4.7 ppg and shoots around 3 shots per game.
Yes part of that is Flip, but Ben's teammates never really gave him the ball when he had position.
Big Ben epitomizes what type of team the Pistons are. No way he leaves Detroit BUT if he does we want him to stay out east
This is a very tough call for the Pistons as there's no way they want to give a 32 year old center (who basically only plays defense) a long term deal (4+ years) and that's what he's going to want. I love the guy but from a management/salary cap perspective it would be a tough call. If they can get him to sign for 3 years (maybe 4)I'm sure they would do it, but what player (that's already won a le) ever settles for less money? I can't think of too many. I'm sure there are going to be a team or two willing to give him 5-6 years at $10million+ (via free agency or sign & trade). The Pistons might just have to bite the bullet and see what they can get for him in a sign & trade.
I would be okay with 10 mill for a max of 4 years.
What rumors? Sounds like the Pistons' PR dummies are laying the groundwork for a character assassination campaign in the media when Ben leaves. It fits the pattern for those s bags.
I'd say there's maybe a 35% chance Ben returns to Detroit.
What's up with this?!!?!?
Position: Pass-First Guard
Team: Dallas Mavericks
Twice this year, I heard Ben say that Coach Lowe has taken him out of the offense. I don't know if it's really Flip or Lowe or both....but in either case, I somewhat agree with them.
Ben is a liability on offense. He doesn't possess any semblance of a shooters touch. His post moves are terrible. He usually fakes himself out more than his opponent when he attempts backing someone down. His coordination is not very good either. How many times have you seen him have difficulty catching a pass and going up with it? So often he loses the ball......much like a receiver looking up field before he ever has possesion.
I would love for our starting center to be able to contribute offensively. It could open up all of our other players, and make them more effective. However, Ben is not that player. Sure, throw him a bone every now and then ... but that's more to stop his ing, than being a good offensive decision.
In 05 Ben had 4 20 point games and he had 9.7 ppg. under Flip he only averages 4.7 ppg and shoots around 3 shots per game.
Actually, those numbers are wrong. you got his numbers for last year correctly, but completely misrepresented his numbers for this year.
2003-2004: Under LB
points per game
9.5
shots made / attempted
3.9 / 9.2
2004-2005: Under LB
points per game
9.7
shots made / attempted
4.0 / 8.8
2005-2006: Under Flip
points per game
7.3
shots made / attempted
2.9 / 5.7
Clearly this shows us that LB did indeed utilize Ben more in the offensive scheme implemented at that time.
But there is still more that can be learned from the numbers.
Under LB Ben had 3.3 more shots per game than while playing for Flip. And yet his scoring suffered only 2.3 points per game. In fact Flip greatly improved his efficiency.
Shooting %
2003-2004:
42.1%
2004-2005:
45.3%
2005-2006
51%
Under LB he shot an average of 43.6% and 51% under Flip. That's a nice improvement. Flip cut down on alot of the silly attempts that Ben used to take. And at the same time implemented plays designed to be high percentage opportunities for him.
The Alley-oop play that has been run for him was awesome. Rip curled to the corner, drew the defender and simply puts it up for Ben to get a WIDE OPEN dunk. That play worked from the beginning to the end of the season.
Another factor to me, apart from who is coaching and/or what their philosophies may be, is the overall decline of Bens #'s.
Average under LB:
Rebounds - 12.25
Blocks - 2.7
Minutes - 36.9
FT% - 45.9%
Under Flip:
Rebounds - 11.3
Blocks - 2.2
Minutes - 35.2
FT% - 41.6%
Overall Ben did not have one of his best years statistically. Is that due to age? Effort? or Coaching? Likely all 3 played their own part.
Blocks and rebounds have made Ben who he is. It's a reflection of effort. Yet this year those stats were down.....in conjustion with his shots. Could it be that Ben as a 31yr old is simply getting older and slowing down?
It would be very easy to argue that Bens decrease in shooting was in part because of his overall performance. Tip-ins and putbacks are how he'll get the majority of his points. But if his rebounding numbers are down, it makes sense that his shots per game are likewise down.
Likewise with playing less minutes per game.
And don't forget about Ben's stellar free throw shooting. This was his worse year while in a Pistons uniform since 2000 when he shot 33.6%
On top of that, we saw more Hack-a-Ben this year then in previous years. That made Flip be more cautious in when and how he employed Ben in the offense.
And lastly, I would also point to Bens at ude this year which was on display when he refused to go back in the game in Orlando. Ben has at times shown child like tantrums which naturaly effect his performance and coaches faith and trust in him.
I would love to see Ben get more touches ... if he could put them in the hole. It would be a great improvement for the team. But it's a little difficult to listen to Ben about opportunities when he is in fact a terriblly weak offensive tool.
Without an improvement in his game, the only shots he deserves IMO is hustle opportunities that he creates with his rebounding.
And unless he improves his FT% he should expect more of the same.
Ideally, we resign him ... without breaking the bank. Hopefully Flip can devise some other plays specific for him that get him easy buckets. Hopefully with Sidney Lowe being gone Ben will feel less like they refuse to get him the ball.
But he needs to understand why people do not have confidence in his offensive game ... this includes his coach's and teamates.
I think the Mavs would be a good trading partner for Wallace in a sign & trade. The Mavs are willing to take on a big contract and they can offer Diop (24 year old-cheap contract), Stackhouse & Daniels. Diop is decent defensive center on the rise, Stackhouse & Marquis Daniels would improve the bench for Detroit. Plus, Stack's contract expires after next season. The Mavs might be interested in this cuz they need someone who can cover Amare & Duncan better than they have now. Not sure if this is a legit scenario but I've heard this trade rumor a couple of times over the last few days.
Wow, great breakdown!Twice this year, I heard Ben say that Coach Lowe has taken him out of the offense. I don't know if it's really Flip or Lowe or both....but in either case, I somewhat agree with them.
Ben is a liability on offense. He doesn't possess any semblance of a shooters touch. His post moves are terrible. He usually fakes himself out more than his opponent when he attempts backing someone down. His coordination is not very good either. How many times have you seen him have difficulty catching a pass and going up with it? So often he loses the ball......much like a receiver looking up field before he ever has possesion.
I would love for our starting center to be able to contribute offensively. It could open up all of our other players, and make them more effective. However, Ben is not that player. Sure, throw him a bone every now and then ... but that's more to stop his ing, than being a good offensive decision.
Actually, those numbers are wrong. you got his numbers for last year correctly, but completely misrepresented his numbers for this year.
2003-2004: Under LB
points per game
9.5
shots made / attempted
3.9 / 9.2
2004-2005: Under LB
points per game
9.7
shots made / attempted
4.0 / 8.8
2005-2006: Under Flip
points per game
7.3
shots made / attempted
2.9 / 5.7
Clearly this shows us that LB did indeed utilize Ben more in the offensive scheme implemented at that time.
But there is still more that can be learned from the numbers.
Under LB Ben had 3.3 more shots per game than while playing for Flip. And yet his scoring suffered only 2.3 points per game. In fact Flip greatly improved his efficiency.
Shooting %
2003-2004:
42.1%
2004-2005:
45.3%
2005-2006
51%
Under LB he shot an average of 43.6% and 51% under Flip. That's a nice improvement. Flip cut down on alot of the silly attempts that Ben used to take. And at the same time implemented plays designed to be high percentage opportunities for him.
The Alley-oop play that has been run for him was awesome. Rip curled to the corner, drew the defender and simply puts it up for Ben to get a WIDE OPEN dunk. That play worked from the beginning to the end of the season.
Another factor to me, apart from who is coaching and/or what their philosophies may be, is the overall decline of Bens #'s.
Average under LB:
Rebounds - 12.25
Blocks - 2.7
Minutes - 36.9
FT% - 45.9%
Under Flip:
Rebounds - 11.3
Blocks - 2.2
Minutes - 35.2
FT% - 41.6%
Overall Ben did not have one of his best years statistically. Is that due to age? Effort? or Coaching? Likely all 3 played their own part.
Blocks and rebounds have made Ben who he is. It's a reflection of effort. Yet this year those stats were down.....in conjustion with his shots. Could it be that Ben as a 31yr old is simply getting older and slowing down?
It would be very easy to argue that Bens decrease in shooting was in part because of his overall performance. Tip-ins and putbacks are how he'll get the majority of his points. But if his rebounding numbers are down, it makes sense that his shots per game are likewise down.
Likewise with playing less minutes per game.
And don't forget about Ben's stellar free throw shooting. This was his worse year while in a Pistons uniform since 2000 when he shot 33.6%
On top of that, we saw more Hack-a-Ben this year then in previous years. That made Flip be more cautious in when and how he employed Ben in the offense.
And lastly, I would also point to Bens at ude this year which was on display when he refused to go back in the game in Orlando. Ben has at times shown child like tantrums which naturaly effect his performance and coaches faith and trust in him.
I would love to see Ben get more touches ... if he could put them in the hole. It would be a great improvement for the team. But it's a little difficult to listen to Ben about opportunities when he is in fact a terriblly weak offensive tool.
Without an improvement in his game, the only shots he deserves IMO is hustle opportunities that he creates with his rebounding.
And unless he improves his FT% he should expect more of the same.
Ideally, we resign him ... without breaking the bank. Hopefully Flip can devise some other plays specific for him that get him easy buckets. Hopefully with Sidney Lowe being gone Ben will feel less like they refuse to get him the ball.
But he needs to understand why people do not have confidence in his offensive game ... this includes his coach's and teamates.
Pistons < Spurs Flip didn't use Bens better abilities on offense right. Sure Ben doesn't have many great abilities on offense, but Flip has 99% of plays with Ben being the 5th option. Thats exceptable since the other 4 can get theirs and Ben can't, but other teams caught on. They left Ben to pressure the ball handler. The Pistons still won games, but the team didn't have Ben do anything even though he was wide open. Come Eastern Conference Finals Sheed was laboring, and Chauncey had a flat tire. Ben was uselss on offense and you're playing 2 on 5 and all you have is a 7 man rotation and that won't cut it. I dislike LB, but he tried making it so that the opposition would never get away with not gaurding Ben.
Here is a close analogy. When the Pistons faced Cleveland Anderson Verajao stepped up big. This kid is close to Ben a defensive force, but a liability on offense. Lebron and Mike Brown got confident in him though and they made the Pistons pay whenever Verajao set a screen for Lebron and the Pistons doubled him. Flip never caught on though and it costed us.
ducks,
Get over it. It's posturing by him and his agent for more money.
And the Pistons probably won't pay him what he wants.
I am not sure I want him for the max
You answered your first sentence with your second. Ben has no offensive skills.Sure Ben doesn't have many great abilities on offense,
As it should be. IMO other than one or 2 designed plays Ben has to get his scoring throguh hustle and rebounding.but Flip has 99% of plays with Ben being the 5th option. Thats exceptable since the other 4 can get theirs and Ben can't, but other teams caught on.
Ben is useless on offense.Come Eastern Conference Finals Sheed was laboring, and Chauncey had a flat tire. Ben was uselss on offense and you're playing 2 on 5 and all you have is a 7 man rotation and that won't cut it.
Is Ben suddenly going to become a shooter? A slasher? You can NEVER expect Ben to be able to pickup the slack if another player or two goes down. That's why you have a bench. You don't just tell Ben to start throwing up shots that have very little chance of going in.
Ben cannot shoot. And even when left open, he hesistates with his shot, and questions himself.
Ben cannot just drive to the hole as he is too uncoordinated to get in the lane, dribble, and muscle his way for a layup.
His hands suck. He struggles regularly getting the pass. He bobbles and loses it too often.
On the rare occasions that he is able to put it all together, and get to the basket in a scoring position, he throws it too hard off the glass and misses. Most of Ben's misses come from within 2 feet of the bucket. He cannot lay it up softly for it to go in. More often than not he just throws it up towards the rim hoping to be fouled so that he'll have an excuse as to why he missed.
And of course than he misses the free throws.
It's not fair to Ben or the coaching staff to say that Ben needed to step up more offensively in this years ECF. There is nothing he is able to do.
I agree that LB allowed him to jack up more garbage, but I question how honest it made the defense.I dislike LB, but he tried making it so that the opposition would never get away with not gaurding Ben.
He wasn't really being guarded by the opposing D under LB....yes it was more than D's were concerned about him this year, but it was still very minimal. That was due largely to Ben ineffectiveness.
In the 2 LB years, Ben averaged 700 shots per year. This year he only had 465 shots.
However, as I mentioned before, Ben was made to be more efficent this year. 51% this year to 45.3% w/ LB.
Another stat that shows he was taking better shots this year is total # of FT's taken.
Despite taking 235 less shots this year, Ben got to the line 296 times. His 2 year average under LB was 297. A diference of 1. That means Ben was doing a better job attacking his defender. Of taking shots closer to the bucket thus increasing his FG%.
Unfortunatly he can't hit a free throw to save his life!
I of course want Ben to make the Defense a little more honest in their coverage of him so that other guys are more open. I just think it's unrealistic to expect much of anything. Ben will never be considered an average or even decent Offensive player. So why force it? Asking him to shoot more really means wasting possesions as he has very little chance of scoring.
Let Flip get another play or 2 for him that they can do at will once or twice a game. More than that is more than he is capable of.
Here is a close analogy. When the Pistons faced Cleveland Anderson Verajao stepped up big. This kid is close to Ben a defensive force, but a liability on offense. Lebron and Mike Brown got confident in him though and they made the Pistons pay whenever Verajao set a screen for Lebron and the Pistons doubled him. Flip never caught on though and it costed us.
I ubderstand what you're trying to say here ... I just think Verajao is a poor example. He is a much better scorer than I think you realize. Understand that he only played in 48 games this year. It was basically Feburaury until he got a chance to play. Secondly it's only his second year. In the month of March, as he started to receive more consistent minutes, he averaged 8 points ( @ 57%) and 8 rebounds in just 25 minutes per. No he's not Lebron. But he's more athletic and has a much better touch then Big Ben. Given equal minutes, I bet Verajao could average close to 20 points a game.
As for the point that 'Flip never caught on'...I'd again disagree.
In the first 3 games of the series, Verajao scored a total of 37 points with a FG% of 70%
In the last 3 games, he scored a total of 18 points with a FG% OF 36%
I'd say Flip clearly did catch on and make adjustments.
At least let him set picks instead of Sheed. It's so hard to play when a guy isn't doing anything. Ben can dunk the ball so get him in some pick and rolls at least. Verajao didn't shoot he made layups and Ben can do the same. As for Flip not catchig on I meant that he didn't try making Ben set screens and cutting like Cleveland did. This team has to get Ben involved if he resigns. They HAVE to or else its a replay of last season.
I'm a Mavs fan now, didn't you get the Memo?
As I said, they need to devise a couple more plays specific for him. But it's difficult when he does everything so poorly. Too often I've seen him screw up a dunk because he didn't catch the ball cleanly or because he faced minimal contact.
His limited skills make it difficult for a coaching staff to put him in a good situation. And as I mentioned before, I don't want to see him shoot just to increase his attempts per game if it means a lost possesion.
Gotcha'!As for Flip not catchig on I meant that he didn't try making Ben set screens and cutting like Cleveland did. This team has to get Ben involved if he resigns. They HAVE to or else its a replay of last season.
But If the Pistons didn't implode the way they did in the post season, or utilized their bench better, they wouldn't have needed Bens scoring either.
I'm a Mavs fan now, didn't you get the Memo?
1Dirk1 ?????
or is it
1Cuban1 ????
1Cuban1 of course, afterall I am his disciple
WTF you better be kidding.I'm a Mavs fan now, didn't you get the Memo?
I heard Joe D on the radio today talking about the situation w/ Ben. He didn't really say much out of the ordinary ... we want him, and he wants to be here ... blah blah blah.
But something that I didn't know that I found interesting was that we are bringing in his nephew for the summer league. IMO that has to be somewhat of a positive for us. I don't know if he can play at all. For all I know, we're playing him simply to get in Ben's good graces.
I don't think this is a huge deal, but I was happy to hear it none the less.
Chauncey's brother is also playing on our Summer League team.
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