Pistons looking to sign Jason Collins

[mercury]

Not impressed with the talent... was hoping for either a defensive presence or someone that can stretch a D.

[DBC10]

Honestly, get Big Ben with giving him 10 or less mins a night while providing a wealth of knowledge to our younglings.

Sent from my Nexus 4

[ImHeisenberg]

Never say never on Ben Wallace, but I believe he said he was officially retired last year.

[RipCity32]

he would add nothing to the team, except an unwanted media circus

Hit the nail on the head.

[theBigLip]

I haven't seen him play in quite a while, and from the sound of it, it is pretty rare. Can he handle the 12th man/backup big? Probably. Is there someone we could get to fill this role better? I'd think so, but if it were that easy, then we'd probably have them by now.

This is a role that needs to be filled - if Monroe or Drummond go down, we would be scrambling for someone. And like what was already posted, there sometimes is a need for someone to cause a few fouls or give someone a break if they are in foul trouble.

As for him coming out and the "circus" around it, I actually don't think it is that big of a deal. A few extremely bigoted people might cancel their season tickets, but I'd prefer not to share our team with them anyway. And we may get a few extra fans out of this, but I don't think anything of significance. And after 10-20 games of mostly DNP-CDs, there wouldn't be much of a story.

So it would be a basketball decision. And whoever fills out 3rd string center role, it isn't going to make or break our team this year anyway. If Jason Collins is the best we can get, then let's do it and welcome him to the team.

[Minas]

Not only do I strongly disagree with his stance on homosexuality but he also arguably the worst free agent out there. The dude averages like 1ppg and 1rpg. That absurd. Signing Ben Wallace, or anyone else for that matter, would be a much better move. Heck, even if Wallace is in a suit for the whole season, his veteran leadership and guidance would be far more valuable than anything that Collins brings to the court.

Whether or not you agree with his sexuality is irrelevant, but, I agree with the rest of your post.

[Umbra]

Lol @ Jodi trying to make a comeback.

Jason Collins seems like a really nice man, and I'm not too sure people would devour it and make it a circus show as some people are suggesting. Many teams have vets that don't see the floor, Juwan Howard on Miami being an example. By no means would it be a bad thing if he signed here, the average age of the team is like 25, and needs we do need vets. I'm also positive that Joe has tried for more talented options. If this is the best available, I say go for it.

[hoophabit]

Happily the Detroit News is reporting that the Pistons are unlikely to sign Collins for basketball reasons.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2013 ... on-Collins

[Natopher]

I wouldn't like it if we signed Collins, but I also wouldn't hate it. He'd strictly be filling the role of a big body if we had foul trouble or injuries. I don't see him averaging more than 5-10mpg or playing more than about half the games. That said, I'd much rather if we signed Aldrich, or possibly even Wallace. But considering Wallace's age, his athleticism is probably pretty much gone at this point. Because of that, compounded with his lack of size, idk if he could handle playing C anymore, even in an emergency role.

Also (not to imply I have any problems with homosexuality, because I don't) I'd be concerned about throwing Collins into our team with so many new faces when we need to get chemistry. You don't know which of the players (if any) would possibly have a problem with that, and I'd rather not throw a wild-card like that onto our team this year. I'm not trying to imply that he'd be a liability because he's gay, I'd just be concerned about how others would react to that.

[qm22]

As for the signing, he's a 12th guy off the bench big man who does the dirty work. He should be a positive.

I can understand not wanting your 12th man to draw all the attention he will, but hopefully things will die down after the initial rush of articles.

As Liq said, it's definitely not a publicity move. It's never a good business move to actively turn away from a portion of your customer base. It will generate a lot of positive news, but will also anger some fans.

Honestly though, I don't think it will take that long before people realize he's just like everyone else, coming in and doing his job.

It would be a good publicity move. They would get much more coverage, and perhaps a small group from outside of usual basketball fans (or not, I don't know).

Secondly, I don't think they have a fan base that can be turned away. Most of the traditional fan base ditched the team as it went into rebuilding. It wasn't a good base. Very conservative, and usually ranked basketball last among the other major sports which often showed. The new ownership likely wants to move away from them to some degree anyway. Their comments have supported that idea, although ambiguously, stating the desire to build a new brand. Personally I'd love to alienate anyone who puts the sexuality of a 12'th man far from the franchise. There is no business value to such clowns unless they rabidly support your team, which is clearly not the case unless we are a very strong team.

I'm unclear why people have said it would cause a media circus portray that as a bad thing. It would be bad for us, who are interested in the team's basketball, but not the team itself. It would likely get them more national TV games by itself. Assuming we are not bobcats level bad next year that coverage will be a great asset.

[DetroitDon15]

I like the comments here. I also agree that I could care less about the gay aspect as well. It doesn't affect me or his on court abilities. I think the real point everyone is missing is how many minutes can he play. If Drummond or Monroe gets hurt, can Collins give us a good 10 to 15 minutes a night? We need a guy who can play 5 to 10 a night but also give us 15 to 20 in case of an injury. He also needs to be a rim protector with some high energy. I don't view Jason Collins at that at age 34. If we needed a veteran presence, I'd be ok with it but we need a guy who play. Outside of being a 7 footer, he doesn't give us anything.

[jzb786]

This would be a terrible basketball move. Why not sign Brendan Haywood?

[Heatin4]

The guy sucks at the court. 1 PPG = not a difference maker.

[IamaCeltsfan]

This would be a terrible basketball move. Why not sign Brendan Haywood?

Maybe because he is on Charlotte's roster?

[Spider156]

Hey I'm glad we're not signing Collins.