OK, it can’t be official until June 11 when Billups is officially allowed to put pen to paper, but it appears that a deal is in place. It’s been reported by several outlets, including A. Sherrod Blakely’s blog on MLive.com:
Billups and the Detroit Pistons have come to terms on a contract. “Re-signing with Detroit was what Chauncey has said he wanted to do all along,” his agent, Andy Miller, told me a few minutes ago.”We’re happy that we were able to reach an agreement today.” Chauncey can’t sign a binding contract until July 11.
I’ve yet to see anyone report a dollar figure or number of years, but you have to figure it’s for at least $60 million over five years, which was the original deal reported earlier this week. Considering confirmation is coming directly from the agent this time, I think it’s safe for fans to finally believe it, even if they’re still working to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
That’s some vicious accuracy.
man, i hope it’s exactly as mccosky reported it, so that andy miller eats a HUGE plate of vicious crow. what a douche.
mcckosky is reporting it is “As The News reported on Tuesday, Billups has agreed to a five year, $6″0 million deal. The club has an option on the fifth year.”
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070706/UPDATE/707060452
which is good. i think miller just wanted to get his name out there more. hell, after that whole episode, we’re not gonna forget who billups’ agent is for a while. what a bitch.
LOL, same deal so its not just a “vicious rumor”. Andy Miller is a douche.
Espn is saying 60.5 over 5, with the fith been a team option as of midnight eastern.
Which of course explains the VICIOUS rumor that Chauncey was worth roughly 100K less per year than it turns out he’s gonna be paid.
“All a brother is asking for is some respect man!”
*dies*
PS, been away for two days after, no word of a lie, getting in a minor car accident while debating the relative strengths of Nazr Mohammed as a starting center and if the team would have another championship if Sheed just agreed to play more 5… no, really, I was busy yelling what a fat stiff Nazr was when I hit another car at like, 15MPH. Hahaha.
Ok so now that we have resigned chauncey… Who at backup SF? (and I mean a legitimate candidate)… can we get rid of flip? Can we make a center grow out of Samb?
Maxiel 30 Lbs lighter! http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/langlois_blog_070706.html Gotta like a guy willing to work in the offseason and lose that much weight
“With Grant Hill off the radar screen after reportedly coming to an agreement to sign with Phoenix when the moratorium period on free-agent signings ends on July 11, the importance of the Summer League is even greater for Afflalo and Mejia.
After the draft, Pistons president Joe Dumars said what appealed to him about both players was their ability to defend all three perimeter positions. It’s possible the Pistons will decide to pocket their mid-level exception this summer – saving it for the regular season when something unexpected might present itself – and use some combination of Afflalo and Mejia to compete for the minutes that last year belonged to Carlos Delfino, since traded to Toronto. ”
How would you feel about this?
Now its time to look into a Worthy Center. Im hearing alot of Rasheed should move to the Center and Mycdess should pick up a starting job at the PF. Which i would agree w/ about 99% but since the time Dyess has been a Piston hes expressed his feelings about not wanting to start and feeling more comfortable coming off the Bench…Which i dont mind, he knows that hes getting older and past injuries are weighing him down…so that being said, i would feel alot more comfortable getting a different Center
@Diablo:
We would not want to start Antonio at the 4. Each year, Dyess is ice cold until the All Star break. We can’t afford to start him at PF if he’s going to spend the first three months cleaning the rust off his knees. After that, he’s golden. But it sure takes him a while to warm up… Check his game logs from the last few years.
If we should start any player at the 4 aside from ‘Sheed, it should be Maxiell. He’ll be hungry and at full power at the opening tip. Plus he’ll benefit from exhibition play before opening night…
Although I think Sheed could do it and has the defensive tenacity to be a nice 5 in today’s NBA, he doesn’t want to play the 5. I believe he made that clear this time last year when Ben left. The last thing we need is a poutty, unhappy, moody Sheed. That would be a disaster. I can’t believe I’m saying this but Nazr may be the better option at 5. Unless Joe has something up his sleeve.
Well I am happy that we got the Billups deal done, but Sherrod Blakley’s from Mlive.com comment early this week about the Piston’s being unfair to Billups because there was no market for him was BS. That is one guys blog I never understand or agree with. Joe D offer a more than fair deal to Billups. I am happy we did not waste our time with G.Hill. I don’t think he would have helped us very much. I perfer to us to spend to money on Amir Johnson and maybe a SF who attacks the basket. I means say away from Mo Pete. We don’t need another jump shooter. We still have to many holes to fill. Who will start at Center? I like the idea of starting Mad Max at PF but Having Sheed play Center is not something I am crazy about.I look for Joe D to make 1 or 2 more moves to help us get better. NY is better and I think Miami will be ready for another run….
i agree with what e-double said.
amir most likely wont be able to play the 3… Im sure he’s more of a 4. Sheed would be a really good center, but he won’t play there. Dice would be good starting… he says he likes coming of the bench because he is such a class act. The reason he starts of slow is becuase he comes off of the bench. chris mccosky can be such a joker as well:
“Pistons president Joe Dumars has said he wasn’t particularly enamored with the rest of the available small forwards on the market (including Morris Peterson a nd Ruben Patterson ), so there is a good chance that for the first time in at least six years, the Pistons might not use their mid-level exception.
Dumars has indicated he might prefer to trade for a small forward. He has several tradable commodities, including Nazr Mohammed and Flip Murray.”
Yea thats a great idea… trade your starting(read only C) for a backup SF. How about we trade for a center?
I’m not proposing we start Dyees, or even start Sheed at 5. However yeah he is DEFINATELY our best 5, so it’d be REALLY nice if he’d suck one up for the team and play about 20 mins a game there. Start Nazr and Sheed, but when Nazr rotates off, move Sheed to 5 and bring in another 4 (see Dyees or like one of 9 other guys).
However as E pointed out…. he doesn’t LIKE the 5. Which is what I was arguing about on the phone when I bumped into another car…..if Sheed would have Cowboy’d up and played more 5, we’d have another title.
In the modern NBA Sheed IS a freaking 5…. but old habits die hard.
I agree PistonsGirl, Sheed is a 5 in todays NBA. Maybe we can redo the numbers 0-4 so he can stay a “4″. Didnt our crunch time lineup always have Sheed and Dice together anyways? Let Nazr start the first and second halves. Let Maxiell and Amir soak up all the leftover minutes. Unless we can signicantly upgrade over Nazr, give him minimum starting minutes (or dont play him at all) and spread the rest out to the young ones.
This is a big obstacle overcame by the Pistons organization. Keeping Chauncey was the priority, and they finally pulled it off. But where to go from here? All we have right now is last year’s team plus some rookies. The boys still aren’t championship material. I wrote up on this issue. Check it out:
http://www.clutch3.com
Nazr has a similar slow-start problem to Antonio. Antonio does not do much over the off-season to save his legs. Nazr ends up fasting as part of his religion around the time the season begins. Neither are top-notch guys until a few weeks on next year’s calendar have passed.
Both guys would be great backups, but that still leaves Detroit with a need for a starting center. I really don’t care for Rasheed as a center because it requires him to stay close to the basket, which is something he really doesn’t do well in extended minutes. Nazr can’t shoot from outside, and Antonio’s range is out to 18 feet. Rasheed’s the one with 3-ball accuracy for range. He’s a perfect power forward, with plus range and excellent help defense . . . solid defense, overall.
They don’t need a scorer. They need a primary defender for the paint. Someone with size, height, and not a penchant for turnovers . . . I have no idea who that could be. Despite Ben’s bad wrists, he didn’t cough up the ball all that much, in comparison to most centers. Granted, Detroit didn’t run offense through Ben, but even when Rasheed and the guys would find Ben, he’d be alert enough to hold on to the ball, get a shot off, or find another guy to pass.
Playing the 5 doesn’t seem to stop Miller or Okur from dropping 3’s, and Sheed relies WAY too much on his long ball as it stands. There has definately been a shift in how the 5 AND 4 are played, and while Sheed WAS physically the definition of a 4 five years ago, imho they prefer them quicker these days. He just doesn’t like all the contact, and who can blame him when 90% of the 5’s in the EC are 280LB hack artists who exist mostly to accumulate 5 fouls.
That having been said it probably doesn’t matter either way since the guy making 13 million a year has already told the people who decide who plays where that he doesn’t want to play the 5.
@Sauce:
I forgot about Nazr and Ramadan. Maybe we could just ask him to give up on the whole religion thing until he’s traded? I’ll have my people call his people.
Regardless, you’re right about Nazr being that great of an option for a starting 5. His first give games last season, however, were not bad. If its the best we can do to start the season before any moves can be made, I’ll deal with it.
I just watched the Summer League game. Stuckey had 9 fouls, 6 turnovers and 4 assists– and 14 points on 4 of 9 shooting. In the first quarter, Cheikh Samb played quite well– 6 boards, 4 points on 2/3 shooting. He seems like a guy with tremendous upside, and although his minutes were limited and he didn’t do too much after the 1st quarter, I’m getting excited about him. Sure, Samb doesn’t solve our current starting center problem, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the bench this fall.
I’ll bet they sat Johnson because they didn’t want everyone to see the freak he’s becoming. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sat until the 11th or whenever a deal goes down.
I’m eating Amir cornbread.
“Dear Nazr,
We as a team really appreciate what you bring to the Detroit Piston’s family but…… everyone is tired of you starting the first quarter of the season half emancipated for religious reasons. Please correct this matter before Sheed holds you down while me and Rip force feed you ham sandwiches. Eternal damnation is nothing compared to what Sheed is gonna do if we lose to Cleveland again.
Love Tay.”
Also Mike….. how’d Amir and Affalo look? Sorry to be a pest but i’ve been working since 10AM and didn’t get a chance to see the game.
Amir didnt play…think they are waiting until after the 11th and a contract is inked.
Afflalo looked ok. Seems like he shot the ball better than his stats showed (5-13)and played decent D.
Stuckey had a bad night with fouls/TOs. Hopefully that gets better as they play more games together. He did seem to get to the rim pretty easily and had a couple good dishes. One to a rolling Maxiell (and had to be fouled to prevent a dunk) and a nice drive and kick to Afflalo for a 3. Got to the FT line at a nice rate as well.
Mejia surprised me and actually looked ok. He started the game at the 3 with Afflalo at the 2, Stuckey at 1, Max & Samb at 4 & 5
Samb looked good but didnt get many touches. He had a nice fadeaway jumper in there. Kinda similar to Sheed.
Maxiell looked pretty nice. Was trying to tear the rim down a few times in the first quart. He had to be fouled quite often to prevent some monster jams. Then was shooting his midrange J later in game to pretty good effect.
Ali Traore - I think we need to stash this guy away. He has a really nice touch on his shots and has some decent moves down low. He might never be started quality if he cant rebound/defend that well but he could maybe be great coming off the bench and scoring some points down low.
The team really beared down and came back to finally win in OT. A real pistons type win. It was really hard to see a lot of the small stuff since I watched online and the screen is pretty small but those are my intial impressions but you should check out http://www.badboysummercamp.com/
They do a nice job of breaking down the games.
Rasheed can’t show up next year like he did last November . . . that makes three guys who aren’t fully ready to go to start the season. If those two are allowed their early season warm-up, fine, but that’s not an option for a guy making over 10 million a year. Our main mouth and fire up front has to be owning it from game one. Maybe he can take a slight lull during the time that Antonio and Nazr are getting hotter.
@Fel.
Mejia and Traore both impressed me. Mejia’s stats may not show it, but IMO he outshined Stuckey and Afflalo. Traore seemed great. He had some great plays in the second quarter.
Maxiell was, as always, a beast. He even seemed to be a little reserved, even though he came out with a nice score. No one else on either team, as far as I could tell, has had the NBA experience of J-Max. So he likely took it easy as a “vet”, letting his teammates get their hands on the game.
I agree about the screen, it was poor quality. I went full screen with WMP, but still had a hard time seeing who was behind the action. I’ll be watching again on Monday, but may have to miss the rest.
I like what I saw in the summer league. Stuckey even though he had more turnovers then assits, he had some nice dishes. He showed that he can get to the rim pretty well when he wants to but I think he was trying to get everyone involved. Afflalo came on a bit in the second half and looked decent. Sammy Meija was surprisingly good and came away with the buzzer beater to win the game in ot. Max was a man on a mission from the start and he was the number 1 option. Samb was alright but should’ve got more touches. Amir didnt play which was disappointing but I remember Langlois saying he’ll play the last 3 of 5 games.
And to comment on what everyone else is saying, Sheed should play the 5. Max be the starting 4. Then have Amir, Dice, Nazr and maybe Samb for the rest of the bench.
I echo Fel’s sentiments on Traore. He had a couple possessions on the offensive end where he looked to me like a B.E.I.T. (Baby Eater In Training). He really impressed me with his midrange touch and his aggressive takes to the hole. In spite of DraftExpress.com calling into question the guy’s rebounding skills, I want us to hang on to the rights for him.
I missed most of the first half so I didn’t get to see much from Samb to take note of, but his stat line was respectable. Stuckey looked a bit lost out there, but he hit some clutch FTs at the end of the game and he definitely has the slashing aspect to his game that our team is in desperate need of. Whoever it was D-ing up on (I think) Louis Williams for the final possession of regulation locked him DOWN. The reason I don’t know who it is, is because NBA’s summer league online streams are not comparable to the quality of the Live Earth online streams.
J Max looked substantially better than his Philadelphia counterparts. He made a few mistakes and put up a couple bricks, but he was also owning them on the block and the elbow.
Also, let me remind everyone who was the starting center on the San Antonio Spurs’ 2005 NBA Championship squad that beat our boys. I’ll give you all a hint, we’re paying him $30 million over 6 years. I’d just like to raise the point of contention that Nazr would’ve been more effective last season had he gotten the boost Webber got from Dice being in shape and playing at his peak, taking pressure off. Nazr never got minutes once Dice got good, because we’d signed Webber at the same time Dice kicked in. Having I don’t think Nazr’s particularly good, but I also don’t think it particularly matters. Oberto averaged 4.25 and 4.25 against the Cavs and the Spurs easily swept. Like we couldn’t get better than that out of Nazr? He’s at the very least 6 and 6 if he starts and gets about 20 minutes burn. He’s not a good starting center, but entirely serviceable. I think the backlash attitude toward him is a bit premature. We all got on Webber’s jock after he put up a couple good games. I think we’ve all since cooled a good amount on C Webb. I think if we give Nazr the confidence that he can play 20 minutes a game, he’ll get the job done. If we get the rest of the boys to play to their ultimate level (and develop the pseudo-bench we had in ‘04) Nazr will work just fine as long as he’s not undercut by Flip chopping his minutes at the sign of any mistake.
I think Nazr is a decent option at C, and as the only C on the roster. It’s not a problem for DET to run out Sheed, Naz, Dyess, Max and Amir/Samb. Once you get past the front 2 guys on most teams it gets pretty slim, unlike Detroit’s situation with Max and Dyess coming off the bench. Look at all the other teams and their first big men off the bench. Most teams would kill to have guys like them as the 1st and 2nd option off the bench as big men. I’m not saying they don’t need more depth, but all this talk about getting another true C to start is absolutely pointless considering that outside of Shaq and Yao there is really no other C out there that can contribute the way everyone here seems to think Detroit needs the position to contribute.
Flip Murray and Nazr aren’t going to bring the next big man “savior” to this team like what happened when Rasheed came. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pistons put Murray on waivers after they added all the guards through the draft. Flip couldn’t find a team to give him a shot last off-season until Detroit signed him before training camp for the veteran’s exception. Nazr was signed as a knee jerk to Ben leaving. It could be worse, we could have Pryzbilla.
oh another thing about Stuckey is his quickness. I don’t think thats talked about enough with him. Hes just 0.02 slower in a 3/4 court sprint than Conley and was quicker in the lane agility than Conley.
http://draftexpress.com/measurements.php?year=2007&sort2=&draft=&sort=12
(Note: It said 39 for conley’s 3/4 sprint but I found another site that said it was 3.09, its just at draftexpress you can soft it)
Nazr’s landed in trouble for minutes and starts in every destination because his foul rate has been poor. He’s a guy, like Milicic, who can easily get into foul trouble or foul out of games because his defense is below average. He’s not a shot blocker by nature, and his timing on contested shots in the paint is poor. He can be beat on guys cutting to the basket because he doesn’t recognize the play being run against him often enough to compensate for his slow-footed nature. His recognition, not his hands, are poor. He’s just another average big galump that can easily be propped in a lineup with a Tim Duncan or Elton Brand along his side. On defense, he’s a poor fit because he doesn’t really compliment Rasheed Wallace.
Nazr is the guy who can be put in the paint and kept there because his shooting game consists of putbacks and anything within 8 feet of the rim. He can rebound, and he has a nose for getting the offensive board, in particular.
Trying to use Nazr any other way will not work. He’s had years to change and has never done as such.
I’d prefer Nazr to go, but expectation of finding some center more than average in quality who actually fits better with Detroit’s core . . . it’s probably a long shot, indeed.
Wow check out his bench press to. He out lifted Thad Young, Noah, McRoberts, Crittenton, Brewer, Hawes, Traore, Thornton, Law, Nick Young and both Wrights. Impressive. I know it doesnt mean that much on the court but Im still impressed.
Whoever is running the NBAs internet webstreams needs to be fired asap. Terrible quality unless they dont want us to be able to tell the players apart. They could also at least give us a running scoreboard and a camera guy that wasnt half asleep. Plus I could never get it to work, I had to download the streaming video and then watch it(thats a problem on my end most likely)
What about Brendan Haywood of the Wizards as a center obtainable by trade? He and Etan Thomas pretty much hate each other, so Washington needs to move one of them. I don’t know much about either’s game, though.
Haywood’s a version of Jason Collins with better defense. His problem is the same as Chris Webber’s . . . slow, half-court only game. Rebounding is solid, blocking on/off, same foul trouble as Nazr, plus he’ll occasionally drift for stretches (and sometimes stretches meaning games), providing less. Haywood’s turnover rate is awful. We think Nazr has ball-handling problems, well, heh.
Etan Thomas doesn’t have as great of defense in comparison to Haywood. Etan’s also a solid rebounder, and he’s strong enough to play center in offensive sets. On defense, it’s a different story, since he’s not nearly as effective as Haywood.
Both Etan and Haywood are solid rebounders, kind of slow on the move, turnover magnets, and serve almost the same purpose. They both clean up for Arenas, Stevenson, Butler, and Jamison when they can keep up on the break. They both need half-court to be effective, have 8 feet for range most nights, and do little offensively.
I think the biggest tell-tale is that these two were trading rotation minutes with Michael Ruffin. Ruffin’s another big galump who isn’t any more than average to below-average.
Between Chris Webber, Etan Thomas, Rasho Nesterovic, Brendan Haywood, Nazr Mohammed, Michael Ruffin, Danny Fortson, Erick Dampier, and Samuel Dalembert, I’d take Webber, and I can’t really stand Chris Webber.
Ugh, right Amir isn’t signed yet. Ya know, it’s taken me most of the summer so far but I’ve finally warmed up to the idea that Amir Johnson might be a pretty good player…
now what i’d REALLY love is to A) hear that we’ve got a contract on the table for him and he likes it and B) actually see the kid play, i apparently missed his spot work last year. I mean the way everyone (Joe D included) talks about this kid he’s everything the Bucks are HOPING Eazy Yi will become with more heart to boot. If he’s HALF as nasty as the Baby Muncher… with Amir’s reported size/dimensions? Side Show Bob SHOULD move to the west, because there won’t be nothing sweet round the east if all this is true.
Now I just gotta see it, knowwhatumsayin?
As for the career backup 5’s that occupy roster space and consume air in Washington… You’re kidding right? I’d honestly rather have Webber back and i REALLY don’t want Webber back. That’s the general problem with the available bigs this year… most of them are “alot like Nazr” and “about the same price”. Let’s not do this crap twice, please Joe.
Pistonsgirl if you haven’t seen the boxscores when hes gotten time look at these:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AmaTVvS3ioUjLn5VdZsaW_6QvLYF?gid=2007041508
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AmaTVvS3ioUjLn5VdZsaW_6QvLYF?gid=2007041708
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AmaTVvS3ioUjLn5VdZsaW_6QvLYF?gid=2007041802
Also this d-league boxscore which was amazing:
http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20070331/COLSFL/boxscore.html
Almost a quadruple double.
That’s why everyones so high on him and you should be able to see this in the last 3 games in the summer league and in the regular season. Oh and his first 2 nba points being a windmill jam helps.
If we’ve got something great lined up, then Nazr won’t be necessary. However, he is a starting-caliber center and those don’t grow on trees. His fouls limit his minutes, but his per minute averages are very strong. This team can win with him in the lineup.
Brendan Haywood is a serviceable big man, much in the same mold of Nazr Mohammed. Haywood shows his emotions much like Rasheed does (only without the Ts), and I think he might be ok when paired up with Sheed as they’re both former UNC boys. I would not trade anything of value to the Wizards for them, but something will have to be done to match salaries.
I’d prefer to go into the season with Nazr as there are clearly no true centers available at a reasonable rate (veteran minimum). Chris Webber is available as a PF option at C, and maybe he’ll re-sign. Other than that, why not give Nazr some run? He can provide 20 minutes and 6 fouls… lord knows he’ll use up all his fouls whether it’s 20 minutes or 10 minutes.
and Sauce? Don’t sleep on Samuel Dalembert, he’s a solid C, and is much better than the rest of the bums you listed including Webber.
It doesn’t mean he’s a superstar by any means, but he’s better than the guys listed, and that should show the weakness at the true Center position.
Matt, thanks. I have seen the numbers (well at least the game he ripped Boston anyways) last year, just haven’t actually SEEN him play. One thing I DIDN’T notice though… even his one bad game? He was all over the glass. His rebound numbers were umm… astounding, every time.
Boney, at this point i’m inclined to agree re: Mohammed. The fact is there’s nobody on the market who won’t also cost 4+ million. I’d be interested in taking a flyer on a high energy nobody… but even THOSE guys are asking for 5 this offseason. With that in mind, i can’t really see anyone mentioned as a signifcant upgrade over Nazr.
As for the 20 mins and 6 fouls, EXACTLY.. that’s how I was honestly hoping we’d approach the 5. Have Mouhammed play 20 intense mins and somehow convince Sheed that he should play at least 20 of the other 28 at the 5. Mind you this involves the phrases “20 intense mins from Nazr Mohammed” and “Sheed playing more 5″… so I’m hardly betting on it.
As for Sammy Dalembert, a friend of mine who’s a big Sixers once described him as the only relevant team-mate Allen Iverson ever had in Philly. Sour grapes perhaps, but telling non the less.
Boney, Dalembert is Mohammed, right down within an inch of the same height and weight. So yeah, I guess keeping Nazr is better than going sideways with someone described as solid from somewhere else. Mohammed’s a bargain in comparison to Dalembert. Dalembert almost costs twice as much.
Dalembert does at least give you 10 points and 9 rebounds a night and he also will block a shot or 2.
Nazr may give you 10 and 9, but instead of 2 blocked shots he’d have 2 stupid fouls.