Ben Wallace runs with the Bulls

[Zoltan]

Bye Bye Ben

Big Ben headed to Bulls




Duane Burleson / Associated Press

The only way Ben Wallace can get the kind of money he's seeking is through a sign-and-trade deal. See full image
How will the Pistons do next season without Ben Wallace?
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Pistons' initial offer irks Wallace

Ben Wallace, the face, the 'fro and the foundation of the Detroit Pistons the past six years, will be wearing a Chicago Bulls uniform next season.
"I appreciate everything Detroit did for me and my family,” Wallace said Monday night, confirming that he will sign a four-year deal with the Bulls on July 12, the first day free agents are able to sign new contracts. “They gave me an opportunity to make a name for myself and we had an opportunity to win a championship together.
This is always going to be a special place.
“This is just one of those things. When you get a chance to sign a deal of a lifetime, it's tough to let it go.”
The Bulls, who initially made no offer when general manager John Paxson and coach Scott Skiles came to visit Wallace on Saturday, apparently upped the ante considerably on Monday. They offered Wallace a four-year deal starting at $14 million, which would make the total value of the contract just under $60 million.
The Pistons' initial offer to Wallace was a four-year deal worth $49.6 million, starting at $11.5 million. Even though that offer would have made Wallace the richest player on the team, Wallace was disappointed.
He was further disappointed when he was told the Pistons wouldn't raise their offer more than $12 million to start, which would have raised the overall value to $51.8 million.
Pistons president Joe Dumars confirmed the news late Monday night, but didn’t want to make any comment. Wallace’s agent Arn Tellem and Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson also confirmed the news.

“Man, to me, this is still, like, unbelievable (that he’s leaving Detroit),” Wallace said. “I talked to Joe. There are no hard feelings and this was nothing personal. He understands how these things go. This is all just part of the business.”
It was still a tough blow for the Pistons. Not only are they losing Wallace, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year, but Dumars also wasn’t able to work a sign-and-trade deal to get some sort of compensation for the loss.
“We tried to work out a couple of deals,” Wallace said. “But there was nothing that Joe felt would work. He didn’t just want to take back players that he didn’t want or players that he felt he was just going to have to turn around and move. They just couldn’t get the guys they wanted.”
One option the Pistons were hoping for didn’t materialize. They had hoped to maybe get Tyson Chandler back from Chicago as part of a sign-and-trade. However, it appears the Bulls are going to trade Chandler to the New Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets in exchange for P.J. Brown. While Chandler has five years and $54 million left on his contract, Brown’s $8 million will come off the books after next season.
It was that deal that helped pave the way for Wallace’s signing.
The Pistons, meanwhile, will have to scramble to pick up the pieces. Two mid-level free agent centers are still available, Portland’s Joel Przybilla and San Antonio’s Nazr Mohammed. But with Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, Jason Maxiell and Dale Davis still under contract, the Pistons might not go there.
“Ben’s had six great years here,” coach Flip Saunders said. “But we’re part of an era in the NBA with the salary cap and the luxury tax and the collective bargaining agreement where players move around. You never like to lose a player that’s been instrumental to your franchise.
“We’ve got to see how everything plays out and go from there. Your team has to constantly adapt. Ben brought a lot of things for us. With him gone, we’re going to have to adapt in the areas where his strengths were. In other areas, we might be better.”
You can expect the Pistons to go with a smaller, quicker, more offensive lineup next season, perhaps with Tayshaun Prince playing more of a hybrid forward role similar to Phoenix’s Shawn Marion.
Saunders made it clear that his relationship with Wallace had no impact on his decision to leave.
“No. What it had to do with was money, which is the case 99.9 percent of the time,” Saunders said. “It has to do with finances.
Dumars knew that losing Wallace was a distinct possibility. He made it clear in his post-season address that if some team was willing to throw big money at Wallace, the Pistons were going to have to let him go.
Despite all that Wallace has done for the franchise -- he is the Pistons' all-time shot blocking leader and fourth-leading rebounder - the Pistons couldn’t justify paying Wallace, who will be 32 in September, in excess of $20 million when he was 35 years old.
Still, you couldn’t say the Pistons low-balled Wallace. Dumars told Wallace repeatedly the last couple of years that when it was his time, he would make Wallace the highest paid player on the team. That’s what the Pistons' offer to Wallace would have done.
Dumars kept his promise.
The Pistons in 2000 gave Wallace, an unknown journeyman at the time, a six-year deal worth $30 million when nobody else would have paid much more than the minimum. Now, the Pistons are offering him another $50 million. That would be $80 million for 10 years of service to a great defensive player who has never averaged more than 9.7 points a game.
It’s hard to view that in total and say the Pistons are being cheap.
Monday was a tough day for Dumars. Wallace was like a son to him. He was the foundation upon which Dumars built this championship team. He had tried to come up with a salary number that would reward Wallace for that, but not severely damage the team’s salary structure moving forward.
Remember, Dumars was the last man standing from the previous championship era of Pistons basketball. He was there when the Pistons hung on too long to past-their-prime stars Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas. Those were some of the most painful years of Dumars’ career, and he knows it took the Pistons more than a decade to recover.
He wasn’t going to repeat that mistake.
Wallace has some good years left, there’s no question about that. But he may not have any great years left. His days of grabbing 1,000-plus rebounds in a season are probably over. While he can still dominate a game on the defensive end, he hasn’t shown the ability to do so consistently, night after night like he once did.
He was essentially not a factor in the last two playoff rounds this season. He never looked older than he did against the Heat. Dumars had to throw that into the equation.
Wallace’s stubbornness and petulance got the better of him on occasion this season. His refusal to enter a game in Orlando in April is only one example. He had several blow-ups in practice, as well, and hasn’t gotten along real well with any of his last three coaches.
Dumars had to throw that into the equation, as well.
Also, it is clear the game is changing. Tough, physical defense is being legislated out of the game. Commissioner David Stern wants to facilitate more offense and to do that, the league officials have drastically reduced the amount of physical contact a defender can use both on and off the ball.
This negatively impacts Wallace two ways. It reduces his effectiveness on defense, and it puts his offensive deficiencies in a harsher light.
But Dumars still kept his promise to Wallace. It just wasn’t enough. Now the Pistons will have to do battle against Wallace four times a season in the Central Division

[southlyonbob]

Ben's good, but not worth $60 mil. Dumars did the right thing...
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as "team loyalty" in today's NBA, or pro sports in general.
Should be interesting to see how successful Ben will be with the Bulls, but I doubt that he'll get them to the Finals next season!

[southlyonbob]

Yep...Ben got greedy and "ran with the Bulls" this past season...
and now this little piggy ran "wee, wee, wee" all the way home!
Ha! Ha! Ha!