Expect a busy summer for Pistons
Chris McCosky / The Detroit News
AUBURN HILLS -- We were all wrong. All of us who speculated that the Pistons' loss in
Game 6 to Boston spelled the end of Flip Saunders' coaching life in Detroit were wrong.
Saunders met briefly with Pistons president Joe Dumars on Saturday and all indications are that he was told he will be back.
Understand that with the Pistons, a coach's job security can change in an instant, but as of today, the plan is for Saunders to finish out the final year of his contract. He's already working on next season. He will supervise a workout of draft candidates at the practice facility Wednesday.
But that's not to say Game 6 didn't close a particular chapter for the Pistons.
It seems a pretty safe bet that the core of the team -- the group that has been together through six straight runs to the conference finals -- will be altered, significantly.
For starters, it's time to get off the Rasheed Wallace train. What a wild and crazy ride it has been with this mercurial talent, but how many times can a team climb back on board with him after he crashes?
Wallace took the Pistons from good to great in 2004. He brought the swagger, the edge. He brought a diverse range of skills and a genius-level basketball IQ. But he also brought a manic personality that in turns lifted the team and torpedoed it.
The inevitable crash
Sadly, probably unfairly, he will be remembered more for his flameouts than his brilliance. He was part of one of the biggest playoff collapses in history when his Portland team blew a huge lead to the Lakers in 2000. With the Pistons he:
• Left Robert Horry open for a winning, series-altering 3-pointer in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals.
• Injured his ankle in Game 2 of the Eastern conference semifinals against Cleveland in 2006; neither he nor the Pistons were the same after that.
• Defied the coach's defensive plans against LeBron James in Game 5 of the conference finals in 2007 -- the confusion from which contributed to James scoring 25 straight points -- and then got ejected from Game 6.
• Spewed a profanity-laced tirade at the officials after Game 5 of the conference finals this season, earning a $25,000 fine, then showed up late to the team's shoot-around before a must-win Game 6, a game in which he managed just four points on 2-for-12 shooting.
In general, his playoff performances haven't matched his regular-season production. In 2004, he only shot 41 percent (24 percent from 3-point range) and averaged just three more points a game than Ben Wallace.
Ultimate contrast
Watching Wallace battle Boston's Kevin Garnett -- two of the elite power forwards of our time -- offered a fascinating contrast in personalities.
Off the court, Garnett can be a jerk. He is rude to ball boys and locker room attendants. He gets himself so intensely wound before
games, he's even a jerk to his teammates at times.
But on the court, Garnett is the perfect teammate. He plays hard every second he's on the floor. He shares the ball. He executes the game plan completely and without questioning anything. If the coach says to cut, he cuts. If the coach says to play zone, he plays zone.
Wallace off the court is one of the warmest and funniest guys in the league. There isn't a ball boy or locker room attendant that he hasn't tipped lavishly. You think back on all the things he has done -- buying championship
belts for his teammates, working patiently and tirelessly with the young guys on the team, working tirelessly for underprivileged kids in the community -- he has a heart of gold.
But on the court, Wallace can be a jerk. There are times, because he is so ridiculously skilled, he just gets bored and lax. He doesn't always agree with the game plan, but instead of arguing about it before the game, he sometimes tries to rebel against it during the game.
His passion to win is every bit as strong as Garnett's, but Wallace too often channels that passion into negative energy. And because his personality is so large and dominant on this team, once he goes to the dark side, he generally takes the team there with him.
Not much was made of Wallace coming late to shoot-around Friday. He has come late many times before. But his coming late on the day of a do-or-die game deflated the entire team. When he sauntered in 15 minutes late, his teammates knew he wasn't going to be there for them that night -- and he wasn't.
Wallace will be 34 in September. He has one year left on his contract ($13.7 million). Because of that, and because he still can be a force especially in a contract year, Wallace has trade value.
Certainly Dumars will at least test the waters to see what return he might be able to get on Wallace. He might even look to package him with another starter.
Superstar search?
Because here's the dilemma Dumars faces right now: He has built this team on the principle of balance and depth, five guys playing as one. Much was made in 2004 of the Pistons being the first team in 30 years to win an NBA title without a bona fide superstar.
But the NBA changed the rules after the Pistons won in 2004. They essentially outlawed the style of defense the Pistons played in 2004. No more clutching and banging away from the ball. It's virtually impossible, as we've seen, to stop the likes of LeBron James or Paul Pierce or Kobe Bryant any more. You might be able to contain them for a while, but over the course of a seven-game series, they will break free and you had better be able to match their firepower. Will Dumars alter his philosophy? Will he seek to find a superstar?
The Pistons have enough assets and financial flexibility to do it. But legitimate superstar players, if you haven't noticed, are in short supply.
And if you make a mistake and build your team around a fake superstar, or a part-time superstar, you are doomed (see the New York Knicks).
Take a guy like Shawn Marion, who might or might not be available this summer. Is this the type of player you want to give a large chunk of your payroll to? If you add him to the mix at the expense of Wallace and perhaps, just to throw in another starter, Richard Hamilton, does that get the Pistons over the hump? Not unless Amir Johnson is ready to contribute 12 points and 10 rebounds a game.
A quick scan of the free-agent class offers a lot of risky bets: Atlanta's Josh Smith (restricted), Sacramento's Ron Artest, Golden State's Monta Ellis (restricted) and Matt Barnes, Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala (restricted), Washington's Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison.
No sure bets there.
Would Dumars call his buddy Michael Jordan in Charlotte and try to work a deal for Jason
Richardson, who is going to, most likely, chafe under the constraints of Larry Brown's offense? Would Dumars call and offer Wallace and others in exchange for Richardson and Emeka Okafor?
These are doable deals, but do they take the Pistons over the hump?
Or, will Dumars think it more prudent to hang on to Wallace and use that $13.7 million in additional cap space the following summer when the likes of Dwyane Wade and James hit the open market?
Either way, brace yourself for a busy summer. The coach might be coming back, but most likely with an altered cast of characters.
You can reach Chris McCosky at (313) 222-1489 or chris.mccosky@detnews.com.
sorry jruck
This just in...
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