The free agent frenzy of 2010 is in full swing with the recent signings of Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade in Miami. The New "Big Three" signed last week after James made his decision during a primetime television special on ESPN. James may have renewed the hopes of championships in South Beach, but as for the teams left without James on their roster such as Cleveland, Chicago, New York and New Jersey, their shots at winning titles in the near future were hampered.
Despite the failures, at least they tried, right? If you're going to go down, go down swinging.
Apparently Joe Dumars and the Pistons disagree. Detroit finished last in the Central division last season and were 34 games behind the first place Cavaliers including an 18-34 conference record after trying to beat other teams to the punch by signing two of the premier free agents in last season's class in guard Ben Gordon and forward Charlie Villanueva.
These signings have made Detroit a non-factor during arguably the biggest free agency period in the history of the NBA. With names like Bosh, James, Dirk Nowitzki, Amar'e Stoudamire and Wade on the market, the Pistons gambled that they wouldn't be a big factor and effectively eliminated themselves from free agent contention early. The results have not been promising, as the Pistons ranked second to last in scoring in the Eastern Conference and are still looking to find a way to return a once dominant franchise back to the top.
The reason the Pistons don't have the funds to make just about any free agency impact is the more than $54 million they gave to Gordon and Villanueva alone. Neither will be going anywhere else soon as each has three years left on their current deals which also include player options for the 2013-2014 season.
Gordon and Villanueva are streaky players. They have the ability to score at will any day of the week. However, other nights they look like they couldn't hit sand if they fell off a camel. Gordon finished behind both Richard Hamilton (18.1 ppg) and Rodney Stuckey (16.6) in scoring (13.8), while Villanueva finished fifth with 11.9 ppg.
Detroit is also stuck with aging players such as Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. In 2004 these two players lifted the Pistons to the NBA Championship, but since then each player has digressed to a level of mediocrity. Unfortunately for the Pistons, Rip is set to make in excess of $25 million over the next three seasons while Prince will make $11 million next season. In order to take a step forward, the Pistons must let go of the past. To become successful again, Detroit must begin to shop the contracts of Gordon, Villanueva and Hamilton in order to clear room for superstars such as Carmelo Anthony or Yao Ming. There are also rumors of Dumars attempting to land rookie DeMarcus Cousins from Sacramento, but they have failed to do so despite repeated attempts.
After trading away the face of the franchise in Chauncey Billups and placing his faith in third-year guard Rodney Stuckey, Dumars has failed to bring in the correct pieces to build a playoff-caliber team.
Young players such as Greg Monroe, DaJuan Summers and Austin Daye are building blocks that could develop into a solid nucleus, but in a league built around superstars and scorers the Pistons must make a major signing in 2011 or the franchise could find themselves struggling to contend in the coming years.
— Joe Mehling is an IC Staff Writer and a freshman majoring in communication. He was hired as a writer for the IC last fall.
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