Pistons Reach Deals with Gordon, Villanueva

There’s a lot of news on the Detroit Pistons front yet again this morning. Joe Dumars appears to have signed former UConn products Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to five year deals. Gordon’s deal is said to be worth $55 million over five seasons. Villanueva will get up to $40 million over five seasons. Deals cannot be made official until July 8. 

The duo certainly provides an offensive boost. Wins? Not likely.

Five years of Gordon? The proper response should look something like this.

Gordon averaged 20.7 points over 82 games last season, including 24.3 points in seven playoff games against the Boston Celtics, despite shooting just 38.8 percent from the field. For his career, Gordon has missed only 12 games out of 410 regular season affairs. He has shot over 40 percent from three-point range in each of his five seasons and is regarded as one of the top three-point shooters in the league. Gordon is limited defensively and is generally not a good decision maker, but his clutch performances often mute these points.

Villanueva averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds last season, but he started just 47 of 78 games. He has legitimate three-point range, but he falls in love with the perimeter shot too often. He attempted 3.3 three-point shots per game last season, hitting 34.5 percent of them. In his four-year career, he has hit 32.7 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. He had an impressive rookie season with Toronto in 2005-06 and was even named to the All Rookie Team, but he was traded to Milwaukee the following summer. After three seasons with the Bucks, he was not tendered an offer by his former team. This was somewhat surprising given that they had just cleared up so much cap space after trading away Richard Jefferson.

The acquisition of Gordon points to some additional writing on the wall: Richard Hamilton’s days in Detroit may be over. Neither Gordon nor Hamilton will accept coming off of the bench next season, and neither player should. While Gordon provides more range and he is five years younger than Hamilton, his all-around game, mentality, experience on winning teams, and attitude are not on the level of Rip. Come the fourth quarter, Gordon reminds some of Allen Iverson; an undersized guard who refuses to pass and takes terrible shots. Yes, he is a step in the wrong direction. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  Paying Gordon more than $10 million per season is irresponsible and flat out stupid, especially given the presence of Hamilton and the glaring holes in the frontcourt.

Look who found $40 million dollars!

The addition of Villanueva may be easier to stomach, but there are certainly red flags as far as he is concerned. Why have both of his previous teams given up on him so quickly? Why, despite his exceptional play as a rookie, has the 6-11 forward started less than half of his NBA games? It’s not as if he was on some powerhouse teams. Villanueva’s teams have never made the playoffs and have a combined record of 95-213. And he’s not a starter? This is the guy the Pistons targeted? He is a much younger version of Rasheed Wallace without the attitude, defense, winning mentality, and passion. 

Gordon’s deal is a disappointment. Big time. Yes, he can and will score. Detroit needs scoring and perimeter shooting. He provides that. I get it. But he’s a liability to team chemistry and on the defensive end of the court. I figured the team had learned their lesson with the Iverson debacle. Yet, they just signed up for five more seasons of  an undersized, arrogant, ball-dominant, scoring guard. For more on Gordon, read up on this earlier post.

The Pistons needed two big men out of this free agency. They did not need a guard. With most of the cap space swallowed by these two deals they will have to trade (likely Hamilton) for a defensive presence in the middle. Why was no play made for David Lee? Paul Millsap? Hell, Anderson Varejao would have made sense. Suddenly, trading Hamilton for the hobbled Tyson Chandler or aging Marcus Camby (both on the market) makes a lot of sense for the Pistons (but not for the Hornets or Clippers). They will likely make an effort to retain soon-to-be 35-year-old Antonio McDyess now that they blew most of their money on a guard that will never make an all-star game. Although I want to judge these moves now, their effects can not be properly weighed until we see what kind of deal Dumars can pull off. Best of luck, Joe. Thanks for keeping me busy. 

Without further ado, let the Gordon-Villanueva (ugh) Era begin.

The first news of the new era – Doug Collins withdraws his name from consideration in the Pistons search for a new head coach.

Tags: Gordon signs with Pistons, Hamilton trade, Pistons sign free agents, Villanueva signs with Pistons