Tom Ziller on Tayshaun Prince's confusing contract

by Matt Watson on Dec 21, 2011 4:04 PM EST in Detroit Pistons News

Tom Ziller's Central Division preview is up on the SB Nation mothership, and I recommend reading the whole thing. Of particular interest, of course, are his thoughts on the Pistons:

The Detroit Pistons picked up Brandon Knight in the draft, kept Rodney Stuckey and Jonas Jerebko on affordable deals and stunningly gave Tayshaun Prince an old Rip Hamilton extension. Oh, and they bought out Rip Hamilton's Rip Hamilton extension. Seems like Joe Dumars is content to repeat the same mistakes. Outside of the Prince deal, the Pistons had a good offseason. Unfortunately, Knight is green as Ben Gordon's wallet, Greg Monroe is still developing and this should be another long season in Motown.

[...] Detroit's Prince deal (four years, $27 million) is something else. Had Prince walked, the Pistons would have lost one of the starters from the No. 27-ranked defense and a 15-point scorer who shoots inefficiently but moves the ball well. Somehow, I think Detroit would have survived. Bringing Prince back on a four-year commitment the same day as the club retained Jerebko is even more egregious; Austin Daye has looked solid this preseason, and now Lawrence Frank will be forced to slot Jerebko and Daye at power forward more frequently to get everyone time, which heaps more defensive pressure on Greg Monroe, who has solid fundamentals but needs some help given his heavy offensive load. By the time the Pistons are ready to make another assault on the East, Prince will be winding down his career. It makes no sense.

Yeah. What he said. But as frustrating as Prince's contract is, I can't help but think there was a handshake agreement that he'd be back all along. Which is ridiculous, because he was a liability four years ago; just imagine what he'll be like four years from now.

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It's been hard watching the Pistons

But my only thought with this contract is that when he starts to decline which he already is that he’ll come off the bench and add some points and good D. Other than that I have no idea what Joe D is thinkin???

by msivits on Dec 21, 2011 4:13 PM EST reply actions

Joe D seems to like signing his veterans to long term deals even though he has replacements lined up.

Look at the Hamilton situation, he has both Hamilton and Afflalo under contract and then signs Ben Gordon???

That didn’t end well since there wasn’t enough min to keep everyone happy and I don’t see the Prince move working out either really.

by ap3604 on Dec 21, 2011 4:29 PM EST reply actions

Hamilton and Afflalo under contract and then signs Ben Gordon?

u trollin or just ill-informed?

by JoeDip on Dec 21, 2011 5:06 PM EST up reply actions

July 7th 2009 we have both:
- Hamilton (extension through 2013)
- Afflalo (rookie contract through 2011)

July 8th 2009 we sign:
- Ben Gordon (5 yr / 55 million contract)

July 13th 2009 = we give away Afflalo to Denver for a 2nd round pick

So yes… we did have both Hamilton AND Afflalo under contract before we even signed Ben Gordon.

Not sure why a die-hard pistons fan wouldn’t know this, I keep track of the whole league and I was still able to remember this =P

by ap3604 on Dec 21, 2011 5:40 PM EST up reply actions

My guess is that they had plans for Afflalo before said dates occurred.

The Distorted Waltz-NEW SONGS
@madpoopz

by madpoopz on Dec 22, 2011 12:52 AM EST up reply actions

Really Excited

For when Frank benches him in favor of more Daye and JJ. Do you think Tay will light those brand new locker rooms on fire? Poop in Daye’s locker? Throw a tantrum? Create a new buzzword for idiocy?

I wrote a book about time travel. Buy it and/or die. http://www.thetimetravelguide.com

by heWizard on Dec 21, 2011 4:30 PM EST reply actions

I really hope this happens

Tay’s contract is movable (although the “he’ll finish his career as a Piston” stuff worries me), and hopefully someone will get through to Dumars that they need to trade him and rebuild. Somebody’s small forward is going to get hurt this year. With the way this season is structured, it’s going to happen — whether it’s Pierce, Rudy Gay, Deng, etc. — and if Dumars is SMART (that’s a big if at this point) he’ll take advantage of that and dump Tay.

How's that for a slice of fried gold?

by Thom not Tom Gores on Dec 21, 2011 4:42 PM EST up reply actions

boycott practice?

by C$ on Dec 21, 2011 4:43 PM EST up reply actions

That's an Iverson move...

or can we call prince Tay.I.?

by Sasquatchcc on Dec 22, 2011 5:02 PM EST up reply actions

I think Joe is still convinced Tayshaun can be a star player

Which is delusional. I don’t know if it’s because he was Dumars’ first successful 1st round draft pick, or what, but it’s always seemed like Joe thinks Tay is on the cusp of breaking out when he was clearly the worst starter on the ECF Piston teams.

How's that for a slice of fried gold?

by Thom not Tom Gores on Dec 21, 2011 4:39 PM EST reply actions

He said as much, calling him one of the “proven” best SFs in the game.

"With logic he attacks. With statistics he defends."

@brgulker

by brgulker on Dec 21, 2011 4:56 PM EST up reply actions

just imagine what he’ll be like four years from now.

1000000000 times this.

It really doesn’t matter how fair his contract is this year. That’s irrelevant. The problem is what it inevitably will become… sooner, rather than later.

"With logic he attacks. With statistics he defends."

@brgulker

by brgulker on Dec 21, 2011 4:57 PM EST reply actions

"Daye has looked solid this preseason"

Umm…all two games of it?

For my money, the preseason continues through mid-January, even though the games start counting in the standings on Sun.

This is DBB, and this is what we do.

by V. on Dec 21, 2011 7:16 PM EST reply actions

Point is

Given where this team is and is headed, is the difference between Daye and Prince great enough to warrant A) Stunting Daye and JJ’s development, B) Getting us a worse lottery spot, C) Wasting cap space for the next 4 years?

Daye is adequate, has potential, and worse case, he sucks and we draft high. It’s just another reason this signing is ass chapping.

I wrote a book about time travel. Buy it and/or die. http://www.thetimetravelguide.com

by heWizard on Dec 21, 2011 8:35 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs

rec'd

for having a chapped ass.

by Danny D on Dec 22, 2011 11:39 AM EST up reply actions

Eh, this team really doesn't excite me yet.

Prince is a large part of that, but Stuckey is what really bothers me. I think the deal JoD gave Prince sucks, but if it means he does something with Chunky or turns Stuckey into another player and draft pick then I can live with it.

The problem is JoD is more than likely to make another bone headed signing before long. I really feel like he just isn’t capable of reviving this team. I give him this year and next off season to prove me wrong. Then I go all MFMP on his fat arse.

I'm off to point the pink pistol at the porcelain firing range.

by Laughton on Dec 21, 2011 7:27 PM EST reply actions

I think I'm already at the MFMP point...

I was a big “let’s give JoD some time” proponent last season. But after the Prince signing I think I’m done with him. He was clearly bad for the locker room last season and he is on the decline. I fail to see how keeping Tayshaun is the first step to rebuilding. Let’s say, in 4 years we do get back to being an elite team, does JoD really think Tay is going to be a major contributor at that point? Me thinks not. This was a pointless signing IMO unless we trade him this year, otherwise we just wasted more money.

by Alex_Be on Dec 22, 2011 8:16 AM EST up reply actions

Look what your “more time” has done to us! It’s all your fault! What’ve you done to this family?!

by TDP on Dec 22, 2011 9:39 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

At this point in his career...

why does Prince want to play for a loser? I love the Pistons, but they’re going nowhere. He could have signed to play for a team that has a chance. Nobody would have criticized him.

by Packfill on Dec 25, 2011 10:57 AM EST reply actions

From what I heard when I was hanging around a bit at Training Camp

..Prince is getting along really well with Coach Frank and the team overall, he seems to be pretty positive. I don’t know. Maybe he looked at Ben and just wants to help rebuild.

That goddamn Okra and beans got you Oprah in jeans. Seems to me a little lean cuisine, wouldn't hurt much- Agh don't touch! -Obie Trice

by Skylar on Dec 25, 2011 9:00 PM EST up reply actions