Ok, not the Big Baby rumors are old but guess who the Pistons are looking at to fill an oh so important roster spot. Big Ben….
A. Sherrod Blakely of MLive
“While there’s no deal imminent, the Pistons are going to explore the possibility of bringing one of the franchise’s greatest defenders, back to Detroit.
Detroit has about $3.5 million to use towards free agents, but would probably not use all of that to sign Wallace.
Boston’s Glen Davis remains an option, but the Pistons are reluctant to make him an offer because he’s a restricted free agent. And the Celtics have said repeatedly that any reasonable offer Davis receives – and Detroit’s offer would fall under that category – they would match.”
Now don’t get me wrong, I will forever be a fan of Ben Wallace. I will celebrate that he brought this team back from obscurity with his work ethic and determination but……….
I just don’t think he’s got what it takes to play the game the way he used to. His glory days are behind him and contrary to popular belief Arnie Kandor is a magician, but he doesn’t possess the fountain of youth serum in his bag of tricks.
We truly have started to rebuild so tell me how bringing Ben Wallace back makes any sense. I’m putting it to a vote for you, but you know how I already feel.
UPDATE: Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press says the Pistons have no interest in Wallace.
“a person with knowledge of the situation said today that the Pistons are not looking at Wallace, 34, because his career appears to be on the decline.”
I would like him back if he signed for the veterans minimum, but that won’t happen. At least he could be a good leader in the locker room.
I’d love to have him back if we’re paying him the veteran’s minimum and he understands it’s a bench role and probably more of a player-coach to work with the young guys. Don’t know if he’d accept that, but under those conditions I would love to see Ben Wallace in a Pistons jersey again. Plus, I think it would be great to see him end his career here, although it would be strange either seeing him in a number other than 3 (or having the Stuckey jersey I bought last year already be out of date).
i say no, but he would offer a much needed defensive presence that I mentioned yesterday. I think he works well with tay and we all know he can guard shaq straight up. I just don’t think he’s got what he used to have, especially after a broken leg.
Oh Nat hell no!!!! You know how I feel about this one! Say it isn’t so…
Natalie you have to realize Wallace who fits in with teams like Detroit, or the Spurs, defensive minded teams. He was a AMAZING fit of Detroit. If we can put him back in that system, he is comfortable with, you will see his stats spruce up. He still has it in him. But than again, we don’t have the same system, or coach and only a few players… and is he 35 years old. But anything is better than Kwamme Brown we need to get rid of that scrub.
Hey Nat,
I see where you’re coming from but Big Ben can definitely help us out on the defensive end, if not by playing, by educating the younger guys how to play defense. I think he could be a great mentor to guys like CV. Also he would be a phenomenal team leader in the locker room and Tay/Rip would be excited as well, I’m sure. He doesn’t have to log huge minutes, and I’m sure he’s okay with that role. Also, money wouldn’t be an issue for him at this age. I would push for him to take on a Lindsey Hunter-esque role here in the D. I’d love to see him retire as a Piston too, despite past incidences.
That’s just what I’m thinking.
Big Ben is old, worthless and disgraced. He can take his two points and six rebounds per game elsewhere. At least Kwame can still play big minutes and be somewhat sorta-kinda productive.
We don’t need a player-coach. We need a big man who can produce.
Lol, somewhat sorta kinda productive…
Wouldn’t Big Ben work a bit better with Rasheed compared to Charlie? Isn’t this a bit backwards? Joe stretches and settles a lot.
No hateing on Kwame, he just might grow in to his role as a defensive center this year, I believe he has it in him!
But signing Ben would be just plain bad, like Nathalie already said: We are rebuilding. And I don’t see Ben in that picture at all, neither do I see this Davis deal go down.
What is everybody oppinion on the Rip and Tay situation? Will they dress for the Pistons this season or will they go for a younger two and a big? Man, everything is so blurry right now. Bussiest off-season in a while, haha!
I get where we need someone like Ben…but have you actually watched him play lately. He’s a shell of his former self and that’s putting it kindly.
Nostalgia wise it would be fun but other than that I don’t think he’s got anything left in the tank.
I would sure like to see Big Ben back with the pistons but I don’t know if it’s worth the risk. If we can get a better, younger player that could play good minutes it would be less risky than bringing an old player who last 2 seasons were awful.
If he would sign for the veterans min it wouldn’t count against the cap & we would still have money to sign a younger player. Let Ben play 1 year in a reserve role and retire a Piston!
i say no prob on my end… and thats my emotions speaking…. :)- i wudnt mind at all, however it wud work better if we were able to pull off in sum manner an additional big man… Joe and his staff shud get sum credit… i think this coming season is going to be interesting and exciting… we have sum fire power… my only concern is D! and i big man that defends & rebounds
I just came a little
Would I like to see Ben wallace playing for the Pistons? I’d like to see him come off the bench maybe, but no way do I want him as our starting center. I always thought he would be back though.
I would love to see Ben here again. He had no following or love from Scott Skiles in Chitown. And Cleveland never had a defined role for him, never really trusting a full time defensive player in late game situations. You may not want to see him as our starting center, but he’s better than Kwame Brown, so do the math. It would be great to see a guy retire as a Piston, I don’t think that’s going to happen much anymore.
I think that he owes it to the franchise because of when he did leave. This way he can come back and play his heart out. He knows that he only has 2 years at most left, so whats to stop him from playing his heart out in the end?…Also, at this point, it would nice to have a familiar face on the Pistons team. If this deal doesn’t work out, no problem. The pistons would just trade for another big man during the early to middle of the season. It’s not like it would cost a fortune to sign Big Ben.
Would have been awesome. If we got him cheap and short term it would be great. We aren’t winning anything for the next few years anyway, and Big Ben wouldn’t harm the rebuilding process in anyway. It would just make this upcoming season that much better.
FIRST OF ALL TO ALL YOU WHO SAY BEN WALLACE IS TO OLD TO HELP THE PISTONS, BEN WALLACE AT 20% IS BETTER THAN SPENDING ALL OF YOUR MAONEY ON THE GARBAGE BIG MAN ON THE MARKET,I AM SORRY BUT I PLAY BASKETBALL AND I WOULD STILL PICK BEN TO BE ON MY TEAM IF I WANT A DEFENSIVE PRESENCE OR A THREAT OF A D PRESNENCE OVER GLEN DAVIS, TO ALL YOU WHO SAYS HE IS A SHELL BECAUSE HIS IS 35, GRANT HILL, RAHEED WALLACE AND MY ANTONIO DYSE ARE ALL THE SAME AGE, BEN HAS BEEN HURT THE LAST FEW SEASON AND INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING AND SITTING OUT GAMES LIKE HALF OF THE LEAGUE THAT IS SPFT AS COTTON HE TRIED TO PLAY, HE TRIED TO PLAY ON A BROKEN LEG LAST SEASON PEOPLE, YOU WANT A MAN WITH THAT TYPE OF HEART ON YOUR TEAM TO TEACH THESE GUYS TO PLAY WITH SOME GUTS, AND OH BY THE WAY NATALIE, YOU SAY BEEN IS A SHELL OF HIMSELF, YOU ARE WRONG HE HAS THE HEART OF A CHAMPION, WAY MORE HEART THAN THE GUY YOU NAME THIS SITE AFTER WHO YEAR AFTER YEAR BLEW US CHAPIONSHIPS WITH HIS EARHEADED PLAY AND LACK OF HEART WHEN WE NEEDED HIM. lET BEN BE A PALYER AS WELL AS A MENTOR TO THSE YOUNG HEADS THEY NEED IT. WE HAVE THAT CHAMPIONSHIP BECAUSE OF BEN ATTITUDE AND PLAY THAT RUBBED OFF ON THE RESAT OF THE GUYS, BEN WAS THERE BEFORE RIP, CB, SHEED AND TY, OUR FOUNDATION WAS BUILT ON BEN,
Oh, Natalie- I’m so conflicted on this issue! Big Ben was my favorite player in the NBA before he became a drama queen and left. He didn’t fit the Bull’s system or get along with the coach at all. He was injured and limited in Cleveland and I agree that he’s played like a shell of his former self. So if the question is, would I like to see him in a Pistons uniform again, the answer is “not anymore.” However, if the question is, would I like to see him rather than Big Baby or Drew Gooden, the answer becomes, “ummmmm, yeah.”
Ben wallace at 20% is better than spending all your money on the garbage big man that are left, sign ben for the 1 mil, the man was hurt last few seasons he can still play and be a presence, and he still has a HELL of a BIG HEART. Stucky needs to give Ben his #3 back than after this season they need to retire that jersey.
i still would rather have big ben starting than kwame brown…
Ben coming home would be awesome.
Ben and CV31 would be great I really can’t see this failing. And Joe owe the fans at least one player from the championship year to retire a piston.
Sign Ben for the veteran’s minimum (1.3 million exempted from the salary cap) and go after someone else. I vote for Drew Gooden or Chris Wilcox.
Depending on if he’s healthy after his injury last year, I wouldn’t say he’s a shell … he got less minutes in Chicago and Cleveland than he did in Detroit, but his per-36 minute stats were decent … about 11 boards/2 blocks. If it was $2-3 million for a year or two, I don’t hate it.
I don’t really care about any of these rumors; I just really really want Terrence Williams. He’s too good for NJ.
sign him to a veteran minimun. Srsly it’s a small loss/big reward situation. He could develop Kwame and others into defensive powerhouses. We should atleast give a 10 contract and let him retire a Piston.
Guys, We are not a Championship Caliber team. Joe Dumars is not looking to make the NBA Finals. Ben Wallace would just get signed and maybe retire a Piston. While we are in “transition”. Stop whining about it, we know hes not good as he was cause it wasnt him that was good that won the nba 2004 finals it was the team of the pistons. Seriously be smart guys
the reason why Ben was so good is because we all had D and all had his back. These recent teams want him to block, rebound, and steal, while they do nothing to help
the reason why Ben was so good is because we all had D and all had his back. These recent teams want him to block, rebound, and steal, while they do nothing to help
Why are so many people down on the Pistons abilities this year? Yeah Joe has made some bad picks, but he doesn’t sit on them, he deals them away. He has also rid the team of some bad blood and has brought in two vary good free agents. We we’re close to winning so many games last season and could have easily won another 15 games if they cared. I’m looking forward to next season and would love to see Ben again. Hopefully Stuckey will be stripped of his number 3 so I can wear my Wallace jerseys again.
We as fans should be more positive, it’s not like we’re talking about the Lions here. I can honestly say that we’ll at least win 48 games next season and that’s still a sucessful season in my opinion. The Pistons need Ben as much as he needs the Pistons for his success. COME HOME BEN!!!!
HALLELUJAH!
Don’t forget one of Ben’s biggest problems was getting along with Flip Saunders was because he thought he focused too much on offense, not sure having ben would be very benificial especially with so many young players in the lockerroom and no one really to police him.
noouuuu please his mad old and see he only scored 1.7 per CL
so hes worser than arron affalo
You sir are an idiot!
but this idiot would never pick da guy cuz hes mad oldddd and he doesnt know how to play anymore my grandmother would play better lol
My God, I’ll LOVE to see Big Ben back in the red, blue and white. But the thing is, he’s only a shell of what he used to be back in 2004 and previous years. Ever since he left the Motor City for the Windy one, he’s been injected with the Injury Flu (not the bug, because it just stuck with him). And it’s true, if were going to rebuild, why bring back an old brick?
Sorry Ben, love ya.. but, in a old Sonic the Hedgehog reference, you are “waaay past uncool”.
I have mixed feelings about this. In the locker room I think he may just do wonders, but it would all depend on how much we sign him for.
ok honestly yes he may not have been a beast the last few years but that was after he left Detroit he started to Decline, so maybe just maybe he would come back into the Red Blue and start kicking ass and taking names..i would love to have big ben back in Detroit !
stop with the bashing of kwame. he is a good center and will post good numbers as a starter, when he was starting last year he was avg almost 10pts 8 reb. that is all we need at that spot.
thank you, enter kwame. starter = 10 pts 8 reb 1.5 blk avg
your ALL CAPS is rediculous and i highly doubt that ANYONE finished your LITTLE rant. it was just CHILDISH to think that using ALL CAPS would make us take you more SERIOUSLY. god i swear some people
u do the math he is nowhere better than kwame, look at the stats
i really hope that by your”bad picks” u are not meaning aaron afflalo, he WILL be a very good player. but he never got the minutes. if he gets the min in denver that dahntay jones had as the starter (that they lost) he will flourish with chauncey.
it wasnt that he focused too much on offense its that he didnt focus on bens offense, dont u remember?
? can u read? or did you pull that out your ass?
Yeah thats all we need, another losing season. Kid averages 7 ppg with 5 rebounds so I don’t understand where you are coming up with those numbers.
He averaged 4 ppg and 5 rpg with us last year. BUT THATS ALL WE NEED
Never was a Stackhouse fan but found this kind of interesting and almost made me want us to sign him. Then i remembered our roster.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090715/SPORTS0102/907150371/1127/rss13
I dont think people understand the situation that we’re in. people keep running off their mouths saying “we need a big man, we need a big man.” Okkkkay, well where do you guys think we’re gonna get this “big man.” Sit down in your school chairs, bring out the paper & crayons and write down all the teams that would wanna trade their “big man” for a 30+ yr old player. Dont get me wrong, “rip” puts up his numbers but teams realize that championships are won structured with a big frontcourt. Rip is the best player on the team. Hes our leading scorer and occasionally our leading assist man and you guys wanna trade him. As far as free agency, there is no real “big man.” We have to take whatever is lefted. So whats the harm in signing Big Ben for one year, “nothing”. Hes a big body thats gonna wear down post players with the limited mins he gets and who cant use that. Wanna be GMs, “understand the situation!!!!”
I cant wait to see that bandwagon come around. I see some of you guys lining up already.
Why are the Spurs the best team over the last decade or more? They have stability, consistency, and keep their core intact. They let Pop guide the ship – even with no “ship”. They have a veteran group with a few young cats. Joe once said that they had the model that he was looking at and that only weak teams “rebuild” – well we are “rebuilding and we are weak. Why not bring Ben Wallace back to lead and retire? We need legacy in D-town. We need consistency. Joe D. vacillates too much for consistent success.
Bro I am speaking the truth, as a basketabll palyer and a fan, instead of running your mouth understand what i am saying.
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090715/SPORTS0102/907150343/1127/rss13/Ben+Wallace+considers+return+to+Pistons
wallace has reached out to the pistons
Now that Ben Wallace is available. Why not bring him back for the veterans minimum I think he could see play an important role in helping out with some of the youngsters on the team. Plus help out in certain situations. Joe D. could still go out and find yet another big man with the $3.4 million he has to spend. Is that correct? After all, how much worse could Ben be than bringing in Dale Davis, Theo Ratliff, or even Chris Webber at the time?
Marcell, the pistons are rebuilding. so i want ben wallace to retire as a piston but apperantley im not joe d to make that desicion!!
remember he was hurt last year too a lot people
that might of been it to but i distinctly remember hearing reports that ben was upset because he thought Flip was spending too much practice time on offense and not enough on defense
ok, we trade Rip for Boozer or whoever and make him play center. then we sign stackhouse and big ben and let them retire Pistons as it seems they both want. lol
we should srsly get Big Ben though
We have NO other center besides Kwame. Ben’s game declined because people expeced him to be something he’s not. He’s not gonna get you 10 pts 10 brds & 2 blocks a night. He never was that kind of player. But he will buy us at least 15 to 20 minutes a night against Shaq, Howard, Yao, Duncan or who ever else. With Ben we will have 2 of the better defensive centers in the league. With the scorers we have around Ben now, we don’t have to worry about hiding him on offense anymore. CV will bring the 4 away from the basket with his mid range jumper & BG’s 3’s will spread the floor as well. Plus it’s 1 season. Name a center available now that can come in & be an immediate impact the way Ben MAY be able to. Gortat Big Baby & Verajao were the only players worth looking at & none of them would have made much of a difference. Ben is the perfect fit. Also we need to hire BL as an assistant to work with CV & Kwame. He can teach him the mental aspect of the game & toughness.
Verajao 8pts 7rebs
Big Baby 7pts 4rebs
Big Ben 3pts 7rebs
Gortat 3pts 5rebs
Reggie Evans 3pts 4rebs
Chris Wilcox 7pts 4rebs
Ben loses out in scoring but of all of the players on that list, who would you rather put up against Shaq & Howard? Hell who would you put up again’s Sheed & KG or Amare or Duncan or Dirk? ben is still a capable defender & was a starter last season before he got hurt for the best team in the league.
That’s who i wanted out of the draft too…
Really, I wouldn’t mind having him off the bench for the vet minimum. I think he could be another body in there if anything. What I think is we sign him and possibly drew gooden because the vets minimum doesn’t affect the cap. I really believe we will then be deeper in the front court, plus i wouldn’t have to see Tay struggle at the 4 if we are in foul trouble and he has to play that position.
then later on we can sign billups and rip back and hell why not little lindsay hunter too and they can all be one big happy family in their piston retirement ahahahaha lmao jk. But I do agree just because Ben would be another big body though.
This came out of nowhere but given the situation when I saw them bring the Coach from the 04′ season why not? Sign for a veteran’s minimum w/out affecting the cap it’s a win-win situation. I admit I first had my doubts but everybody knew the Pistons when they won in 04′ with Big Ben even the rookies we have now. They all remember Big Ben’s toughness . Not to mention Rip and Tay would be invigorated again. They would have a good leader in the locker room. The atmosphere would be electric bringing back the possibility of putting the fans back to the Palace……who knows but here’s something to think about…. The Lakers brought back a key piece from the Lakers Kobe-Shaq dynasty his name is Derek Fisher and he had a 2 yr contract his 2nd yr he won a Championship making key plays during the Orlando series..hmmmmmm
We can’t understand what you’re saying because it’s not legible.
VERY TRUE!
I would take him at the right price. But with only 3.2 million dollars left to spend and a gaping hole up front, we need to spend that money on someone younger with more to offer (Glen Davis?). I reckon Big Ben would play better here than anywhere else, but 5ppg 5rpg maximum in my opinion. If we can get a good big man like Davis and B. Wallace for 3.2 million dollars, I’d take that. Can’t see it happening though.
THE VETERAN MINIMUM DOESN’T EFFECT THE CURRENT CAP SPACE!!!
I would still probably start him over Kwame.
Guys, we desparately need a backup center. We’re obviously not going to get a franchise-level center this offseason, which means Kwame will be our starter next year. And that’s fine – he’ll be a decent starter and I have no problem with him whatsoever. The problem is that we have absolutely no other centers on the roster. Drew Gooden and Glen Davis aren’t the answer – they’re power forwards, not centers (remember, there is a difference!). Even at his advanced age Big Ben is still a solid option as a backup center, assuming we can sign him to a short-term contract for around $2 million/year. That would be an absolute STEAL in today’s NBA. I think this is our best option unless we want to play a power forward in the backup center position, which in my opinion is a really stupid thing to do. The only other option we have is to trade for an underappreciated “cast-off” type of center (Dalembert or Tyson Chandler come to mind) – but, obviously there is no guarantee that we could pull off either of these moves. The safest move is just to make a lowball offer to Big Ben and hope that he takes it.
What everyone should remember is that they’ll be able to pick up Ben for a song essentially. They’ll give him the veteran minimum, $1.3 million, and it doesn’t count against the cap. Take the deal. Right now the Pistons have 3 big men. Give Ben a spot on the bench
“his career appears to be on the decline”
that would have been the understatement of the year his first year in chicago. the corpse of ben wallace has no place on a basketball court anymore. matt over at dbb even said he’d be an improvement over what we got now. i’m willing to bet recent stats prove that kwame brown has more to offer than ben wallace, if that’s not reason enough to retire i don’t know what is.
If the money is right, I would take Big Ben back. The only concern is he tends to prefer playing for defensive minded coaches and they talk about Kuester’s skills with the offense so…
hes talkin about wen he STARTED, not his season averages
and that’s why we don’t listen to idiots
Would you guys honestly like to see the Pistons go out there and spend a lump of money on Ben Wallace when we could possibly go after a young guy like Wilcox who has a lot of time to develope his game and become a solid bigman?
I’m sure Big Ben wouldn’t settle for a low-ball contract offer. If he was down for being a low salary player he would have never left Detriot in the first place.
Resigning Ben is not at all worth it if he demands as much as the Pistons have to offer, which would not surprise me at all if he asked for such a contract. Go out and get Wilcox who can spend a year or two and really develope offensively and defensively and can produce some solid numbers for Detriot as a starting center.
were getting wilcox!!!http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4338838
i want ben wallace back to detroit instead og geln big baby davis and ia also want drew gooden and boozer ^^