Via ESPN.com

“The Detroit Pistons have agreed to a two-year deal with free agent Chris Wilcox, a source told ESPN.com. The deal is for $6 million over the next two years according to sources.”

Exclusive Photoshopped Need4Sheed Photo Chris Wilcox in his Pistons Jersey

The skinny on Chris Wilcox
Born: 03-Sep-1982 (27 years old by seasons start)
Height: 6-10 / 2,08
Weight: 235 lbs. / 106,6 kg.
Position: Center
College: Maryland
Years Pro: 7

From ESPN’s Mark Stein

“It’s believed that the Pistons, as of Thursday, have Rasho Nesterovic and Chris Wilcox ahead of Drew Gooden as their next free-agent targets, since it appears that they can’t assemble an offer sheet rich enough for Glen Davis to keep the Boston Celtics from matching.”

My thoughts..they are Centers, a position Detroit desperately needs to fill.

97.1 The Ticket is reporting that The Pistons have Drew Gooden in their sights. Whether they pick up Gooden or the other big men they are looking at it’s just something we are going to have to wait on.

A. Sherrod Blakely of MLive

“Detroit is giving strong consideration to a handful of frontcourt players, including Glen Davis, Drew Gooden, Rasha Nesterovic, former Piston Ben Wallace and Chris Wilcox.”

It’s Official, The Pistons Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon are Detroit Pistons.

And Dyess is officially off to get his Ice in San Antonio and I wish him the best.

I’ll start off this post by telling you that Rasheed Wallace has agreed to play for the Boston Celtics.  According the Boston Herald the contract is for 2 years at the midlevel exemption of $5.8 million.

Photo/Getty Images

Nothing shocking, it was only a matter of time before one of the teams that were wooing him got what they wanted, but to most of us here in Detroit, having Sheed in a Celtics uniform is not easy.

“The Enemy” to some.

“Traitor” to others.

Some will even give you the obligatory “You can launch your three’s and not play in the paint for another team, thanks for mailing in the last season Sheed.”

But to most Pistons fans we are thankful to him for putting our team over the top in 2004, allowing us a Championship we wont’ soon forget.

Rasheed Wallace is not a Detroit Piston anymore, and to be honest…..I’m surprised he made it this far.

After each season when the dominant Pistons got ousted from the Playoffs everyone called for his head. But how do you give up on a player that can dominate a game the way he can?

The man can be SHEEDtastic at the drop of a hat.

He can make the impossible seem possible.

He’s a Joker!

He’s very tricky..

But he also comes with hair pulling frustration.

I cant count the number of times I sat in my seat at the Palace hoping no one was paying attention to me as I was talking to Sheed from my seat while he was busy arguing on the floor. “Don’t do it Sheed, your going to get another Tech and get tossed, that will be 16 and I don’t think Joe D will be able to get that rescinded. We need you, you’ll be suspended. STOP!!!!”

I may not have lost sleep, but it eats at you when you have so much invested in a team.

That I won’t miss.

I will miss his Sheedisms, his dominance and the fact he made the team fun to watch in more ways than one.

The dancing was a sight in itself too.

He may work well with Boston playing a smaller roll since he NEVER wanted to be “the guy” when he clearly had the talent to be put into the category of one of the best Power Forwards in the game. He’s even got a special relationship with Kevin Garnett going in.

One thing that’s funny to me is all the Boston love for a guy that was the enemy of all enemy’s to Celtic fans.

As for Celtics and their fans…. I come in peace here, but I have been pushed over the edge way too many times by Celtics fans, I do however respect and enjoy some of the many Celtics blogs out there, so when Loy’s Place shot me an email asking me to answer a few questions for them I was just fine…until they ended the email with this…

Thanks!  And welcome to the Celtics family!!!

On to the next part of this post.

I will never ever, ever never be a Celtics fan and I take offense to the mere thought of being a part of that family, because I am not.

I will (until I stop breathing) bleed the red, white and Piston blue, that is one thing you can put your money on.

I will NOT change this website nor my allegiance to the Detroit Pistons.

As you can see from the new addendum to the banner on the site, I rep the “D” regardless of Sheed.

If you followed this site from it’s inception I have stated that fact on more than one occasion. I have be asked the question hundreds of times….”What will you do when Sheed is gone?”

I will do this, nothing changes.

“Will you change the name?”….as of right now, no.

You see, this site was never supposed to be.  I started it as a lazy way to share my cartoon screensaver to my friends across the country. You see even when you leave the “D” you still represent it.  So as a way share my wallpapers, screensavers and videos (pre YouTube days) this website became more than I ever envisioned it to be.

Now….I’m Need4Sheed.

Funny, but I can’t change it. It may be a name to all of you, but it’s almost part of my identity at this point. When you get introduced as Natalie of Need4Sheed instead of your last name things change.

You see, it never really was about Rasheed. Sure there is plenty of Sheed here, he brings a lot to any team, but it is and always will be about the love of the Detroit Pistons.

So Sheed is gone, we all knew it was going to happen at some point. I wish him luck, but I can’t say I will be rooting Boston, but I will be rooting for him.

This is Need4Sheed where we represent the Detroit Pistons..thank you for your time Mr. Wallace and thank you for allowing me to hold this in my hands.

Onwards and upwards….DEEETROIT BASKETBALL.

Joe Dumars wastes no time and seems to be weighing no other options.

The AP is reporting

“Villanueva, the seventh overall pick by Toronto in 2006 who has played all three of his NBA season with the Milwaukee Bucks, also agreed to a five-year deal. His contract is worth at least $35 million.”

UPDATE: Pistons.com has it as front page news now.

David Aldridge weighs in at NBA.com.

Jason Maxiell’s agent has made it clear that he will test the waters next season and become a restricted free agent.

“(The team has) expressed that he is a major contributor to their success,” Maxiell’s agent, Richard Katz, said in a telephone interview on Friday. “What we differ about on, is what that is worth.”

Detroit was offering Maxiell a three-year deal worth $15 million, with a team option for a fourth season.

“He loves it in Detroit, and is very comfortable,” Katz said. “We’ll just have to see how all this plays out.”

“I’m not really thinking about (contracts),”Maxiell  said. “I’m just going to play this thing out, and go from there.” Via A. Sherrod Blakley at MLive.

I happen to share the opinion of Matt at DBB.

“I think Detroit’s offer is fair, and considering Max has never proven himself as a full-time starter, I don’t think there’s much risk in another team throwing the full mid-level at him. That said, there’s nothing wrong holding out for another guaranteed year or two.”

As reported on ESPN.com:

“Kwame Brown’s agent, Mark Bartlestein, told ESPN.com on Monday night that the former No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft has reached a verbal agreement on a new contract with the Detroit Pistons.

The contract is believed to be a two-year deal worth $8 million, with Brown — who spent his first four seasons as a pro in Washington after being drafted by then-Wizards president Michael Jordan holding a player option to return to free agency after this season.”

So Kwame is The Answer? Really?

Thanks to WDFN, Pistons4Life and the rest of Team Need4Sheed for making sure we didn’t miss a beat.

UPDATE: After having this one sink in a bit I think we could be happy with the signing. We picked up a legitimate center for a good (not great) price. Yes, he’s a bust as a #1 pick, but that’s on Jordan not Joe. For the role we need him in he should do well (we hope).

Maybe we should give this one a chance Pistons fans, like most of you I was a bit stunned when I first heard the news, but we might be in for a surprise. I just hope this doesn’t hinder the development of Amir, Samb or even Maxiell.

I’m not devastated, I’m not optimistic, I’m just not sold.

What’s next, the return of Fennis Dembo? Funny, had you asked me this morning which was more likely Kwame or Dembo I would have picked the latter.

I can’t believe I’ll be making a Kwame Brown Cartoon.