Pistons agree to deals with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva

by Packey on Jul 2, 2009 1:12 AM EDT in Detroit Pistons News

Well it didn't take long for Joe Dumars to make use of a majority of the Pistons' free agent money as he has reportedly agreed to deals with former Bulls and University of Connecticut guard, Ben Gordon and Milwaukee Bucks, and another former UConn player, Charlie Villanueva.

From The Free Press:

The Pistons made major moves to shore up their three-point shooting and perimeter athleticism by agreeing to deals with coveted free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, the Free Press has learned.

And while teams can’t publicly comment on free agents until July 8 — the first day players can sign — the Gordon deal is believed to be worth $55 million over five years and Villanueva’s is thought to be worth $35 million over five years.

The Pistons came into the free-agency period with between $18 million and $20 million in salary-cap space. Wednesday’s deals total $18 million a season.

Ben Gordon has been discussed as a possible free agent signing all season and with the signing it almost but guarantees that Richard Hamilton will be moved at some point before the next season begins. I'm sure Dumars will plan on moving him in a way that will give the Pistons more wiggle room witht the cap since these two free agent signings nearly break the bank.

What's next for the Pistons? Will the opening night lineup be Kwame Brown, Villanueva, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Gordon, and Rodney Stuckey or does Dumars have something else up his sleeve that would move Tayshaun and/or find an upgrade over Kwame, possible in a deal involving Rip?

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Kwame and Charlie as the starting front court… that needs to change. Maybe Rip will be dealt for Chandler?

But I think Stuckey and Gordon is something I can get used to.

http://lifeondumars.com/

by wennington on Jul 2, 2009 1:48 AM EDT reply actions

Not Chandler

I really like him, but it seems like his ankles can’t take anymore, I would love to rely on Kander’s magic again, but it’s too much of a gamble to trade a 2 time All-Star for

We didn't lose the games, we just ran out of time -- Bobby Layne

by detpistons3 on Jul 2, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Dumars has officially lost his mind.

After drafting what appears to be Tayshaun’s eventual replacement, to go out and sign Charlie Villanueva to a five year deal is nothing short of mind boggling. While I can grasp the Ben Gordon signing (assuming that Hamilton will be moved for either cap space or a long term front court player), I simply can’t get my head around the Villanueva deal. Not that I was thrilled with the idea of Collins coming to coach this team either, but to think that these two players scared Collins away is almost terrifying to me. Almost all of that cap space they freed up (which was the only thing making last season a little easier to swallow) has now been spent on two younger, less defensive minded versions of the players they already have.
I have cut Dumars a lot of slack, it has been hard to question a man who took a lottery team to a championship and six straight conference finals. However, it has gotten progressively worse over the last two or three seasons and last year was nothing short of a debacle. Mark my words, by this time next year half the city will be calling for Dumars to step down. If Prince isn’t moved along with Hamilton your starting roster would be Stuckey-Gordon-Prince-Villanueva-Brown…can you say LOTTERY?

by Mushy on Jul 2, 2009 7:33 AM EDT reply actions

nice start

I like the additions. Two young guys were are entering their prime and neither have done any serious winning so they will be hungry.

It reminds me of the additions of Ben Wallace and Chauncey.

The big difference is Ben and Chauncey were lock down defenders at their positions. BGordon and Charlie are not lock down defenders but they are both very good offensive players.

The pistons are in serious need of some strong defenders and a post presence. Aside from Tayshaun, i don’t know if there is an above average defender on the team. Which makes me think this team is probably a 7th or 8th seed at best even with the new additions.

by mikeywhy16 on Jul 2, 2009 12:05 PM EDT reply actions

According to the article

Wednesday’s deals total $18 million a season.

Which is true, on average. The first year of Gordon’s deal is just under 9.5 million, and the first year of Villanueva’s contract is about 5-6 million, which would give us about 4.5-5.5 mil under the cap, about the same as the MLE. We still have enough room to sign a second-tier free agent, someone like Zaza Pachulia, Chris Anderson, or Marcin Gortat are very good options if we want a 7 footer (which we do)

We didn't lose the games, we just ran out of time -- Bobby Layne

by detpistons3 on Jul 2, 2009 1:00 PM EDT reply actions