http://www.freep.com/article/20090701/C ... s+familiarThis rebuilding blueprint looks familiar
No other general manager in the NBA has done it. And here is Joe Dumars, trying to do it twice.Dumars built the 2004 NBA champion Pistons without one sure Hall of Famer on the roster. How difficult is that? Those Pistons are the only team in the last 30 years to pull it off. Obviously, Dumars would love to have a Hall of Famer on his team. But they are hard to land. So instead, he is doing what he has done exceptionally well in the past: finding high-caliber, high-character, unappreciated talent that fits into a system, and — this is crucial — signing reasonable contracts to maintain flexibility. So Ben Gordon, the Chicago Bulls’ best player, has agreed to become a Piston. Charlie Villanueva, a rising talent, has done so as well. Their arrivals put the Pistons back in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, and they allow Dumars to keep maneuvering until he has all the right pieces. Remember, he didn’t add the final starter on the 2004 champs, Rasheed Wallace, until February of that season.
Gordon, like Allen Iverson, is an undersized shooting guard, an electrifying scorer and a questionable defender. Unlike Iverson, Gordon is a consummate professional who is comfortable coming off the bench if that’s what his coach asks. His attitude is impeccable. Pistons fans will love him. Gordon is also a much more efficient player than Iverson was. He shot 45.5% from the field this season, an outstanding percentage for a 6-foot-3 guard who shoots as many three-pointers as he does. And speaking of shooting three-pointers: Gordon does it as well as anybody in the league and should give the Pistons a component they lost when they traded Chauncey Billups. Gordon is a career 41.5% three-point shooter. For comparison’s sake: Reggie Miller’s career percentage was 39.5 and Billups’ is 38.8. Gordon can come off the bench behind Rip Hamilton. But he also gives Dumars the ability to trade Hamilton for the right deal. It is extremely rare to have an All-Star at one position and a 20-point scorer in his prime backing him up. But that’s where the Pistons stand at shooting guard right now.If there is a concern, it is that neither Gordon, Hamilton nor Rodney Stuckey is a pure point guard. But there aren’t many pure point guards in the league these days. The key is for Stuckey to improve his defense enough that he can defend quick ballhandlers.
As for Villanueva: He is something of a consolation prize, because if Utah center Carlos Boozer had opted out of his contract, I believe the Pistons would have preferred Boozer. But Villanueva is 6-10, turns 25 in August and just averaged 16 points a game. He is a good player, although he probably won’t ever be a great one. And at five years and $35 million, the Pistons got Villanueva at a very reasonable rate. Most teams have at least two or three guys making $7 million a year. That makes Villanueva a good value for the Pistons, and potentially a valuable trading chip down the road. This is why Dumars was so determined to use his cap space this summer, instead of 2010 like the rest of the league. Only two other teams — Oklahoma City and Memphis — had significant cap space this summer. The faltering economy has made a lot of owners reluctant to spend. Free agency is a buyer’s market. Next summer will be totally different, especially if the economy recovers. Half the teams in the league are clearing cap space for a shot at a few superstars, and once those stars sign, teams will be throwing big money at players who don’t deserve it. Next summer, the Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva contracts will look reasonable. In the meantime, you are assured of watching a young, rising Pistons team in the playoffs next spring.
