Tag Archive for 'Mickael Pietrus'

The free agent market gets smaller

Published by Matt Watson on July 9, 2008 in From the news and Rumors. 144 Comments

Today is the first day that free agents can officially sign contracts. Not surprisingly, there were a slew of commitments made in the last 24-48 hours, including a bunch made by players the Pistons were believed to be targeting. Let’s recap:

  • Elton Brand goes to Philly (five years, $82 million). The Pistons never had a chance at him, but his arrival to the 76ers will definitely affect them come next year. This won’t make the Sixers into instant favorites like the Kevin Garnett deal did for the Celtics, but at the very least it does make them a threat to get home court advantage in the East. And let’s be blunt: if the Sixers had a healthy Brand in the playoffs last year, would the Pistons have still won in six? I’m not so sure.

    All of a sudden, the Atlantic Division — with the defending champs in Boston, Jermaine O’Neal joining Chris Bosh in Toronto, Brand joining an already feisty squad in Philly and Mike D’Antoni running the show in New York — looks like one of the most competitive in the entire league. (I’m not saying it’s one of the best — that’s probably still the Southwest Division — but top to bottom it should be damn competitive.)

  • Corey Maggette to the Warriors (five years, $50 million). Let’s see: accept the MLE and a reduced role on a contender, or take the money and play a leading role for the Warriors. It’s an easy call, and one most of us would have made, as well, were we in his shoes. I really, really would have liked to see Maggette sign with the Pistons, but guys with his skills deserve to be paid. This deal just makes more sense.
  • Mickael Pietrus to the Magic (four years, $24 million). He’s getting a shade under the MLE, which the Pistons probably never considered giving him. Strictly in terms of talent this makes sense for the Magic (their backcourt was a joke last year), but my gut says Orlando overpaid.
  • James Jones to the Heat? (five years, $20-ish million) Last I heard it’s just an offer, but Jones was born and raised in Miami and spent four years at the University of Miami. The last three years are conditional so the Heat can have flexibility come 2010 (read: re-sign Dwyane Wade), so it’s possible Jones might still be convinced to sign elsewhere if someone guarantees the entire contract.

There are still some of guys left, but it’s mostly the second-tier guys that aren’t anyone’s first, second or third option. That’s not always a bad thing — I was blindsided by Jarvis Hayes’ arrival last summer, and even though Hayes was out of the rotation by the end of the year, I actually thought he exceeded expectations.

That said, we knew from the get-go this summer that the biggest change wouldn’t happen through free agency. If (or when) it happens, it’ll be in the form of a trade. According to “Boobie” Dumars, though, nothing is brewing at the moment. From (as usual) A. Sherrod Blakely:

“I can tell you that there is nothing imminent and there have only been conversations,” Dumars said. “But nothing imminent in terms of a deal or close to a deal.”

One of the reasons for that might have been the base-year compensation limitations on Billups’ contract, which was signed last summer.

Players who re-sign with their respective teams, have a trade value that’s equal to half of their actual salary in the first year of the deal. Those restrictions will be lifted Wednesday.

[…] “I like to act decisively whenever I’m trying to get something done,” Dumars said. “But I’m well aware that there has to be another team that’s willing, and there has to be a good deal for both teams. Those two things will slow you down in doing a deal.

“What you have to do is be patient. What you can’t do is run out and make a knee-jerk deal just to prove a point. You have to be smart about stuff like this and you have to know that it’s a deal that you know is going to help your team get better.”

ASB makes an interesting point regarding Billups’ contract that I think most fans (myself included) forgot about. Now that there are no more restrictions and the first batch of free agents have signed, don’t be surprised to see the rumor mill churn out fresh material in the coming days.

Detroit’s looking at perimeter players

Published by Matt Watson on July 2, 2008 in Rumors. 114 Comments

From A. Sherrod Blakely:

The Pistons are expected to spend the early part of free agency focused on landing one of the following players: James Jones of Portland; C.J. Miles of Utah or Mickael Pietrus of Golden State.

Also, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald suggests the Pistons are interested in poaching James Posey from the Celtics:

A league source said yesterday the valuable swingman’s dance card will be top-heavy with contenders that appreciate more than ever the intangible ways Posey can contributes to a championship team. Posey now lists two NBA titles on his resume, after helping the Celtics to a championship last month and the Miami Heat to the 2006 crown.

Posey’s hometown Cleveland Cavaliers are said to be putting together an offer, in addition to the Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets.

Personally, I’d take Posey over Jones, Miles or Pietrus any day of the week (annoying mouth guard and all) — he’s a gnat on defense and has always seemed to hit a three-pointer against the Pistons at the worst possible moment. Considering he’s also seeking the full mid-level exception over 4-5 years, though, I don’t think the Pistons will be in this race for long, especially when you consider he’s already 31 years old.

The other three guys should be had for much cheaper. Just for context, Pietrus had a better season in 2006-07 than he did this past year, but even then he wasn’t able to garner a single offer as a restricted free agent than Golden State’s $3.5 million qualifying offer.

Granted, part of that is because teams have become reluctant to negotiate with restricted free agents in recent years, but that’s probably not too far from his market value. (Jones, meanwhile, made $2.9 million last year. Miles, who was drafted out of high school and is still just 21 years old, made less than $800K, but that’s because he was still working on his rookie contract.)

Also, ASB had this on Tuesday:

On the home front, the Pistons expect Lindsey Hunter to return next season, but it’ll likely be in an even more diminished role than the one he had this season.

Detroit is in the market for a No. 3 point guard — possibly a player who emerges from a summer league team in Las Vegas — who would play ahead of Hunter.

The Pistons also are expected to bring Theo Ratliff back next season.

Walter Hermmann is another possibility, but he’s expected to have more lucrative offers from overseas teams. And when you combine that with the fact that he may very well have another season with a limited role, he may decide to play elsewhere.

Hunter played just 24 games last year — what does an even more diminished role look like — 15 games? 10? If that’s really what’s in store, why bother? Why not save that spot for a rotating D-League flavor of the week?

I’m on board with the Ratliff decision so long as it’s a one-year deal. (That seems obvious, right? Don’t forget, we all assumed that’s all Hunter would get back in the summer of 2006 before Dumars surprised us by giving him two.) I don’t want to see Ratliff take a single minute away from Jason Maxiell or Amir Johnson, but this team need a backup center and he’s not (completely) running on fumes.

As for Herrmann, I’d be shocked if he’s back. Even if the Pistons really wanted to keep him (and if they did, they wouldn’t be going after guys like Posey, Pietrus and Jones), there’s simply better money to be had in Europe, especially when you consider that Euro contracts are net (not gross), include additional housing stipends and require players to play fewer games. Oh yeah, and he’d probably be a star over there but only a little-used reserve over here. It’s been nice, Fabio; be sure to send a postcard.