Tayshaun Prince is staying with the Pistons with a 4 year $27 million contract and Detroit fans are furious…
But they shouldn’t be.
You know exactly what you’re getting from Prince. Solid all around swing man. Good, but not great, shooter, excellent defender, handles the ball well, can even run point guard if needed. But more than anything he’s a good locker room guy, and a veteran leader that a team trying to rebuild still needs.
Detroit isn’t overpaying Prince like they overpaid Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, or Charlie Villaneueva. Those three guys will all be making more than Prince will this season. The key to this deal is that he’s not being comically overpaid and will have trade value in the future because of the cap friendly contract.
With a 66 game season coming up teams with a lot of depth will be at an advantage. The schedule is loaded with back-to-backs, sets of four games in five nights, and back-to-back-backs. Detroit is one of 12 teams with the dreaded double triple or two sets of back-to-back-backs. Teams are going to be tired. If you’re rolling seven deep this season you’re going to run out of gas.
The Pistons are set up to have a point guard rotation of Rodney Stuckey, rookie Brandon Knight and Will Bynum. Shooting guards Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon. Forwards Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, Charlie Villaneuva, and Jason Maxiell. With big men Greg Monroe, Ben Wallace, and whoever else Detroit targets in the off-season (Chris Kaman, DeAndre Jordan, Samuel Dalembert, Marc Gasol).
It’s a good mix of young talent, and veterans. It’ll be chasing the aberration in a league based primarily on the rule. Teams almost always win with superstars, but Detroit won with a cohesive unit in the past, and are building towards that again. Lawrence Frank isn’t a pushover like Kuester was. Frank will have the respect and the ear of his players; which in the season we’re about to have will be more important than ever.
Ref: onemanfastbreak.net (image)
