Whoa-HO! Free-agent forward Ben Wallace, formerly of the Pistons, of course, has agreed to sign a four-year, $52 million contract with the Pistons' (and Pacers') division-rival Chicago Bulls!
Didn't expect that to happen so quickly. I knew that Wallace was disappointed with the Pistons' offer, but if they were offering $50 million and he eventually signed elsewhere for $52 million... sheesh, when you're talking that kinda money, what's two million dollars between friends?
The Pistons are a good enough team, I think, that they won't be completely devastated by this, though obviously it hurts them. And Chicago probably guaranteed itself a return trip to the playoffs this year, likely as a higher seed than they were in '06.
Granted, the free-agent season is very, very young, but if the season were to start today I'd say Chicago joins Detroit and Indiana as legitimate contenders for the Central Division title. At the moment, actually, I'd have to place them above the Pacers, unless we can get our hands on Al Harrington and even that gap a little bit.
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Right now the scorecard adds up to Ben Wallace, Tyrus Thomas, and a likely lottery #1 pick in 2007 for Curry, as they wouldn't have had the cap room to sign Wallace if they had extended Curry last summer. The Curry trade is just the trade that keeps on giving for the Bulls.
Fuck you, Ben. You wanna leave the town that absolutely LOVES you for $2 million over four years? 500K a year is that big a deal to you?
Congratulations on being a selfish bastard.
The sports world in general needs more people like the Red Wings' Nick Lidstrom, who re-signed and turned down a $1.8 million raise so the team could use it on other players.
The Bulls are probably overpaying here, but they are a young team, and could use his presence in the middle. If it brings a seventh title to Chi-town over the next four years, it'll be worth it in the long run. Plus, they're tweaking the hell out of the Pistons and Pistons fans, which is worth it in the short run.
They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.
Wallace was a non factor in the HEat series late in the game. The Pistons made the right move in letting hom walk. Use the moeny on a better scored and low post presence that can actually hit a free throw.
I like it for the Pistons. I would not want Wallace for four years right now for that price.
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Originally posted by WpobI would not want Wallace for four years right now for that price.
Bingo. In all likelihood, Wallace has nowhere to go but down. This is certainly a loss, but it's not the loss it would have been two or three years ago.
Detroit bent over backwards to try to get him to stay - he would have been the highest paid player on the team. He decided he'd rather be a big fish in a smaller pond. If he can get someone to go way overboard in paying for him like Chicago did, good for him. I think he's a self-centered prick (see below), but those are a dime a dozen when it comes to pro athletes and I don't fault him for taking as much money as he can get.
Honestly, not sorry to see him go at all...was almost hoping for it ever since his little temper tantrum during the Orlando game where he refused to go back in. People kept saying everyone was making too big a deal out of it, but look what happened from there.
When it gets down to amounts like that, what's an extra ten million here or there, seriously?
Do you have an extra 10 mil you'd like to share with the class? $10mil is still TEN MILLION DOLLARS - you can do a lot of good with that kind of spare change.
The Pistons made the right move in letting hom walk.
Sure sounded like they wanted to keep him, what with offering him a contract and all. I haven't read anything yet saying "the Pistons could've matched the Bulls deal but didn't choose to" - they just ran out of cash.
Use the moeny on a better scored and low post presence that can actually hit a free throw.
Have you seen the free agency list this year? Those guys, if/when they actually exist, don't make it to free agency under the system.
I like it for the Pistons. I would not want Wallace for four years right now for that price.
Neither really do the Bulls. But
a) every free agent signs for a crazy number, because it's the craziest number that wins. The Bulls probably would've liked to gone less, but if you're choosing between this deal or no Wallace, you can see where they might do this deal.
b) It's working for the Mets; this is basically a basketball version of their Pedro Martinez 4 year deal. They, like everyone else, knew Pedro wouldn't still be his peak level from Boston and figured he'd fall off a cliff in Year 3 and Year 4. (And so the Red Sox only gave them 3.) Looked like a pointless gamble last year, but this year...
Mets may ultimately be stuck with a very high priced pitcher who only goes 1/4th the season before being done in '08, but if they get a World Championship in '06, I think they might deal with it okay.
Same strategy here: if the Bulls get much out of Wallace in '08 (besides a salary dump trade, the most likely of situations), that's a bonus, but they're paying him for four years in hopes to get something out of the next two.
He decided he'd rather be a big fish in a smaller pond.
Que? I think you mean "take the money to go to a bad team", but Chicago ain't a bad team. Off the top of my head power rankings would be something like
1. Heat (Alonzo playing - if not, drop?) 2. Pistions (but the gap just go bigger) 3. Bulls (younger - hungrier - core then Detroit) 4. Nets (Kidd's getting old; could implode and surely be passed) 5. LeBrons 6. Wiz everyone else (not real contenders)
That's not what I mean at all. In Detroit, 4 of the starting 5 are the "superstars" of this team (and I'd even make a case for Prince, as he was the MVP of the Pistons playoff run as far as I'm concerned). In Chicago, Ben is unquestionably the man.
I think the Bulls will be a well above average team, and I also think the Wallace deal is good for them - if you ignore the financial aspect. It brings in a veteran to be in there with some of Chicago's up-and-comers. He won't be nearly as effective as he was even during 2005 by the time this new contract is two or three years in, but I'd hope Chicago won't NEED him as much as they do now.
And as already said, this shouldn't really hurt the Pistons that much anyway. I'll gladly take a block or two less per game and a few less rebounds if it means we can have a reliable shooter in there (especially with Saunders not mirroring Larry Brown's defense-heavy coaching). I'll take two "Rasheeds" over one "Ben."