Pistons sign Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva

What in the hell happened to the Detroit Pistons?

What in the hell happened to Deeeeeeetroit Baaaaaaasketbaaaaaallllllll?

This was a hard-nosed group of perfect role players, committed to defense, rebounding, and being tougher than the other team. It was a well-coached team that was putting together streaks of holding opponents under 70 points. And now?

Now, they’ve spent over $90 million to acquire Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva - two good basketball players but two players that don’t exactly scream blue-collar basketball like Motown once did.

Now, the two players that the Pistons have agreed in principle to add to the roster on July 8th aren’t bad by any means. Ben Gordon is a really good scorer off the bench who can win games for you by taking over in the fourth quarter. In fact, BG was 17th in fourth quarter scoring this past season, So you know he can fill it up. But there was an issue with him over the past couple of years (which was more prevalent when Scott Skiles was the coach) about him starting. He would come off the bench but like most NBA players who think they mean more than they actually do, he’d rather have been starting.

The question is, will the five years and $55 million make not starting on the Pistons that much more acceptable for Ben? He’s typically been a better and more efficient scorer off the bench than in a starting role. But he’s also never had someone as good as Richard Hamilton in the starting role in front of him either. This move to acquire Ben Gordon and give him an obscene amount of money is not only risky, but it’s perplexing due to the makeup of their backcourt.

Putting BG with Richard Hamilton isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you have a good distributing point guard. But the third man in this ménage-a-guard is Rodney Stuckey. Stuckey is still trying to learn how to be an effective NBA point guard and now will be forced to keep Richard Hamilton AND Ben Gordon happy with ball distribution. How is that going to fly? We saw a big glimpse last year into Richard Hamilton’s psyche when he voiced his displeasure with coming off the bench while the Pistons tried to figure out what to do with Allen Iverson. He certainly won’t be gung-ho about sharing minutes and shots with Gordon.

Gordon signing for 5-yrs, $55m with Detroit is definitely:  
   

Now for the Charlie Villanueva signing:

C-Nuv is a very versatile player, whose defense can be questionable but his scoring usually at least evens it out. He’s a great mid-range shooter. He can score around the basket. He basically a hairless, lower-middle class version of what people wanted Tim Thomas to be in this league. And now he’ll be asked to replace Rasheed Wallace, Amir Johnson, and possibly Antonio McDyess at a fair market price of five years and somewhere between $35 million to $40 million. That’s actually a pretty good haul for both sides of this signing.

Villanueva will always be something of a wasted talent. He’s the perfect NBA mismatch that just can’t seem to figure out how to be consistent with what he does well. He’s a good-enough outside shooter, a really good free throw shooter, a decent rebounder, and good at taking care of the ball. He averaged 16 points per game last season and 6.7 rebounds per contest for career-highs in both categories. His defensive rating also took a significant move in the right direction going from 112 in 2007-2008 to 106. That means he’s giving up six fewer points per 100 possessions, which is a big leap.

He could be headed towards the right path of becoming a really good, reliable forward in this league. But there is still something that holds him back from being better that we can’t really figure out. His alopecia makes him the NBA version of Dr. Evil’s bald cat. You know there is some sort of danger element around him when he’s on the court. He’s capable of popping off for 30 or 40-plus on any given night. He’s added a reputable three-point shot to his repertoire. But is he tough enough to play Detroit Pistons basketball?

Perhaps, that won’t be an issue. It really depends on whom Joe Dumars brings in to be the fifth coach in eight years for a team that has been to six conference finals and won a championship. That seems really odd to me.

Villanueva signing for 5-yrs, $40 million with Detroit is definitely:

Let’s look at the roster a year ago going into the season that had NBA title aspirations and then look at what the Pistons have so far this season:

2008-2009 Pre-Season Depth Chart

PG- Chauncey Billups, Rodney Stuckey
SG- Richard Hamilton, Aaron Afflalo
SF- Tayshaun Prince, Walter Herrmann
PF- Antonio McDyess, Jason Maxiell, Walter Sharpe
C- Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown, Amir Johnson

That’s a really deep and damn good basketball team right there. Now let’s see what they have so far for next season.

2009-2010 Summer Depth Chart

PG- Rodney Stuckey, Will Bynum
SG- Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Aaron Afflalo
SF- Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers
PF- Charlie Villanueva, Jason Maxiell, Walter Sharpe
C- Fabricio Oberto

I mean, this is how they decided to blow their nearly $20 million in cap space? This is why they traded Chauncey Billups last November to wave the white flag and prepare for the future? This was worth frustrating your fans last year with a sub-.500 record, 8th seed in the East, and zero hope of competing for a title?

So you could acquire a Sixth Man of the Year perennial and the guy who got in trouble for tweeting at halftime?

Welcome back to the rest of the pack, Detroit. We’ve missed you.

Direction the Pistons are headed: