By: David Kay
Heading into the NBA free agency period, the Detroit Pistons were one of the few buyers in the market willing to shell out the cash to sign a big name free agent. As the clock struck midnight on July 1st, Joe Dumars wasted no time in courting his desired targets as both Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva flew to Detroit to meet with the Pistons general manager. Reports have now surfaced that both former UConn Huskies will indeed call Motor City home for the next five years. Detroit and Bulls free agent shooting guard Ben Gordon have reportedly agreed to a five-year, $55 million deal while Villanueva’s contract is for the same length at $40 million.
Personally, I am not in love with either signing. Gordon, who turned down a similar offer from the Bulls last off-season, is developing into a big-time scorer, but has yet to show consistency in his game-to-game performance. He was one of the top free agents in the 2009 class and it is now evident that he had little desire to return to Chicago. But where does Gordon fit in Detroit? Rip Hamilton is already on the roster and sulked last year when he was forced to come off the bench. And it’s not like Rip is going anywhere as he has four years, $49.5 million left on his currently deal. That poses a dilemma as that contract will not be easy to deal in a market where most teams are looking to dump long, expensive contracts than take them on.
My biggest concern with the Gordon signing is the fact that, in my opinion, Piston starting point guard Rodney Stuckey is a poor-man’s version of Gordon. Neither has the capability to be a true point guard and are more shooters than creators.
As for Villanueva, I have seen him play in Milwaukee for the past couple of seasons and I’m not a fan of his game. Chaz V. can light up the scoreboard every once in a while, but for every 40-point game, he has four ten point performances in a row. He was not a favorite of Bucks head coach Scott Skiles, moving in and out of the starting line-up partially because of his minimal effort on the defensive end (and partially because he likes to tweet during games.)
Detroit has always been a defensive-minded team which makes Villanueva’s signing a bit perplexing. Plus, for a 6-11 “power” forward, Villanueva is softer than Lance Bass at the Playboy mansion and spends most of his time on offense wandering around the perimeter rather than trying to be a factor underneath. With Chaz V, Tayshaun Prince, and Austin Daye all in Motown, the Pistons now have three tall, lengthy but physically inferior forwards who have similar styles of play. Interesting.
The re-building process has officially begun in Detroit with familiar faces like Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace (who almost certainly will not be re-signed) being shown the door in the past few months. Now Gordon and Villanueva will be faced with the task of ushering in a new era of Piston basketball. Next up; find someone to coach these guys…