Human Victory Cigar

With the Pistons season coming to an abrupt end, fans are in the streets, shouting for change.

Fire the coach. Release/trade players.

Here is a quick and dirty primer on the Pistons current roster, contracts and salaries and what this means going forward to next season. So before you propose trading Jason Maxiell and Flip Murray for KG, you might want to check this out.

At Pistonsforum.com, we have an up-to-date contract listing for this season.

The listing is from information gathered by Sports Illustrated and despite the fact it may read differently than other salary websites, does conform to the Collective Bargaining Agreement and should be considered to be a very reputable source for information.

I have tried to keep this information as general and accurate as possible, which isn’t always easy considering the many loopholes and nuances of the NBA’s CBA. As always, I recommend that fans should use a trade checker (such as at RealGM or ESPN) and/or consult the Collective Bargaining Agreement FAQ. If you still have questions, I am happy to help readers find answers. Just post at PistonsForum.com or comment on this post here at HumanVictoryCigar. If you aren’t a member, you are welcome to register.

Unrestricted Free Agents

• Dale Davis
• Chris Webber

Unrestricted Free Agents are players that the Pistons are able to sign or simply let go. Their contracts are up and the franchise is under no obligation to bring them back however they can do so if they choose. This requires the player’s approval when signing a new contract.

Dale Davis is an Early Bird Free Agent under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Pistons can sign him for the minimum $1.2 million up to $6.1 million. A minimum contract can be for one year, any larger deal must be for at least 2 years and no longer than 5 years with 10.5% raises.

Chris Webber is Non-Bird Exception player. The Pistons can offer him a minimum contract or a minimum contract with a 20% raise (based off of one year of service in Detroit). The Pistons will also have the Mid-Level Exception and can use this to sign Webber for the League average salary, projected in 2007/8 to be between $5.5 and $6 million to start. The Pistons can only use the Mid-Level Exception once this offseason and may want to reserve it for a free agent.

Restricted Free Agents

Alex Acker and Amir Johnson

Alex Acker spent the last season playing with Piraeus Olympiacos of Greece in the Euroleague. He is rumoured to have a second year option that would pay him more than Detroit can offer, as well as provide starter minutes to build his value for his next contract. European contracts can also feature free lodging, lower taxes and other fringe benefits that are not allowed under the NBA CBA. As much as he might be able to help the team as a slashing shooting guard, the team would have to commit to him in a significant manner. With at least 3 incoming draft picks, this does not seem likely on a team which will be investing money into developing more prospects.

Amir Johnson will be a restricted free agent until he is able to re-sign in Detroit. I have no doubt that the Pistons will match any incoming offers for his services, and can do so as he is an Early Bird Free Agent and falls under the so-called Gilbert Arenas provision of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Johnson has shown tremendous upside and the patience to wait for his opportunity. Look for a deal signed this summer that will establish him as an important piece of the franchise.

Players with Player initiated options

All player options must be taken no later than July 1st. These players are in the driver’s seat with their contracts. The team must negotiate a trade, or cut them and take a hit against the salary cap to remove them if they take their options.

Ronald Dupree - One year option for the 2007/8 season.

Flip Murray - One year option for the 2007/8 season.

Antonio McDyess - One year option for the 2007/8 season.

Chauncey Billups - Has an early termination option but for all intents and purposes to this post, is the same as a player option.

Ronald Dupree is likely to return, if only because his lack of playing time has not increased his value around the league and the option year is guaranteed.

Flip Murray is in a similar position to Dupree, with less playing time than the previous year he was a free agent. Strategically, Murray might be wise to take his option to see how the Chauncey Billups negotiations work out. With a strong showing next year, he would be able to get more money on the free agent market in 2008/9 either from Detroit or another team.

Antonio McDyess is slated to earn $6.3 million next year. I see him taking the option because he won’t get more in free agency and based on his performance will not lose any value in 2008/9 when he would become a free agent again. The man has at least one more contract in him if he choses to play longer or one well paying year if he choses to retire after this deal.

Chauncey Billups will take his early termination option without a doubt. There is too much risk at his age of playing out the remaining year on his deal and possibly losing a lot of future earnings in the event of injury. Billups will be looking for a nice raise and a lot more years of guaranteed money, however the teams who can afford to pay him more than he makes now are not very good. This puts the Pistons in the driver’s seat, as Billups’ agent (Andy Miller) will have to find a better offer than Detroit’s to have a position to negotiate from.

A sign & trade is a possibility if a Western Conference team is hot for Billups and Joe Dumars can get a variety of player assets, disposable contracts and draft picks in return. However, a S&T is difficult to pull off for a franchise as cost conscious as the Pistons. Joe Dumars will not accept garbage in return for moving an All-Star unless his back is up against the wall (Grant Hill). Perhaps he can get lucky again (Ben Wallace) if that is the case.

It has been rumoured that Lindsey Hunter has an option in 2007/8 to opt out of his contract and join the Pistons front office in some capacity. If this is true then it is highly likely Hunter will make the move away from the court given his age, effectiveness and the recent diet pill fiasco.

Players with Team initiated options

Will Blalock - Rookie point guard, has a minimum contract option for next year. Unless the Pistons have absolutely zero belief in any upside for this player, he will be back simply because he is 1) cheap and 2) already indoctrinated into the Pistons culture.

Jason Maxiell - Has an option for year 3 of his 4 year rookie deal. This is pretty much a no-brainer that the Pistons will take this option, because like Blalock he is very affordable and has Pistons DNA, and unlike Blalock, the Pistons know he has a lot of upside.

Stuff to remember

There are rumours floating around about Zach Randolph coming to Detroit and likely more players will be added to that list. Any player who is currently under contract to another team, must be acquired in a trade. Trades must be very close dollar to dollar and please keep in mind that no other GM wants lesser players from the Pistons for their superstar. So rule out KG right now even though Kevin McHale might be the worst GM in basketball.

You have to give something(s) up to get something in return. Big trades are never an easy process to complete.

A little bonus coverage to follow. This is the list of Pistons and their agents as best as I could discover. You will see some of these agent names in the news over the offseason so I have listed other players they also represent.

Player - Agent (other players represented by same agent)

Chauncey Billups - Andy Miller (Antonio McDyess, Kevin Garnett, Carlos Delfino)

Rip Hamilton - Leon Rose (LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Luol Deng)

Tayshaun Prince - Bill Duffy (Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Mike James)

Rasheed Wallace - Bill Strickland (Brevin Knight, Malik Allen)

Chris Webber - Aaron Goodwin (Dwight Howard, Gary Payton, Jamal Crawford)

Antonio McDyess - Andy Miller (Chauncey Billups, Kevin Garnett, Carlos Delfino)

Ronald “Flip” Murray - Thad Foucher (Eddie Griffin)

Lindsey Hunter - Mark Bartelstein (Ronald Dupree, Ron Artest, Antoine Walker)

Carlos Delfino - Andy Miller (Antonio McDyess, Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups)

Jason Maxiell - Richard Katz (Daniel Horton, Jose Berea, Vladimir Radmanovic)

Dale Davis - Chubby Wells (none known)

Nazr Mohammed - Mike Higgins (Louis Amundson, Marcus Banks, Tony Allen)

Amir Johnson - Arn Tellum (Ben Wallace, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O’Neal)

Will Blalock - Charles Bonsignore (near as I can tell, he’s a real estate agent in Ventura, California)

Ronald Dupree - Mark Bartelstein (Lindsey Hunter, Ron Artest, Antoine Walker)

As I watch the my20 Detroit broadcasts, it is obvious that the Pistons are back to ticket sales circa 2000/2001. Struggling to sell themselves in a market saturated with sports success. This in itself is not very surprising. For the last 4 years Ben Wallace has been the image of the Detroit Pistons. Undrafted, hard working, all heart. And now that he is gone, forecasts must be adjusted and marketing strategies revised.

Of course, nothing stokes the passions of a Detroit basketball fan like a monstrous block and those passions manifest themselves in fan noise, clicks of the turnstile, hotdog and beer purchases. If you thought Ben walked for $12 million more than the Pistons were willing to pay, consider that the Pistons thought that losing Ben was going to cost them less than $12 million dollars over 4 years in tickets, merchandise and sponsorship revenue. (Continued)

One reasonably accurate way to think about the overall health of the NBA is through analysis of the average television ratings for the Finals. Higher ratings mean more fans and more money for the owners and subsequently the players.

Over the past 31 years the Finals’ broadcasts have averaged a 12.5 rating. This means that on average 12.5% of all U.S. households able to receive television signals (regardless of source) watched the NBA finals. To place this number in context, the average NBA finals game over the last 31 years would rank fifth on this television season’s ranking of top rated programs, just a bit behind Dancing with the Stars (Is this a weird country or what?). Average finals ratings have gone from a high of 18.7 for the 1998 Bulls/Jazz series to a low of 6.5 for the 2003 Spur/Nets extravaganza. For comparison, the highest rated NFL Superbowl of all time was in 1982 with a 49.1 rating. Four of the top ten most highly rated programs of all time are Superbowls (though still beaten by the finale of M*A*S*H, an episode of Dallas, and part 8 of Roots). (Continued)