Billups' Bucks

Chauncey Billups signs with Detroit for five years and sixty million dollars, with the fifth year as a team option. John Hollinger noted month ago that Billups has the characteristics of a point guard who ages well -- he's big, he's an excellent shooter, and he was something of a late-bloomer -- so the is likely to give Detroit good value. And, if he does wind up falling off the cliff three or four years from now, the team option lets them dump him. All very convenient. Still, it's hard to avoid the sense that the Pistons' window may have closed unless Joe Dumars can pull something more dramatic than resigning his existing star.

Photo by Flickr user Farlane used under a Creative Commons license

Comments

How can you tell if the window closed so long as Flip Saunders is coach? Fire him, bring in an actual good coach, and then maybe you can tell.

Posted by Al | July 9, 2007 11:06 AM

I'm keeping faith in Amir Johnson as the key to a Pistons resurgence.

Posted by Steve | July 9, 2007 11:10 AM

I'm not sure about this. Seemed to me that Billups was slipping even this year. Four years is a long time.

Posted by ogged | July 9, 2007 11:27 AM

"I'm not sure about this. Seemed to me that Billups was slipping even this year. Four years is a long time."

A 4yr $46m deal is pretty damn reasonable.

Compare and contrast to Vince Carter's inexplicable 4yr $62m deal.

I'd expect Chauncey to be a more valuable player than Vince 3 years from now.

Posted by Petey | July 9, 2007 11:35 AM

Compare and contrast to Vince Carter's inexplicable 4yr $62m deal.

I'd expect Chauncey to be a more valuable player than Vince 3 years from now.

Billups certainly has a skill set that seems more conducive to getting older than Vince Carter.

Posted by Freddie | July 9, 2007 11:55 AM

Compare and contrast to Vince Carter's inexplicable 4yr $62m deal.

I don't think it's inexplicable. Carter is a perennial fan favorite and (presumably) ticket seller.

I agree that purely from a talent perspective he's being overpaid.

Posted by Guy | July 9, 2007 12:00 PM

Billups was terrible in the playoffs this year. Truly terrible. He averaged more turnovers than dimes, and he made some inexplicable mistakes. Especially given the three-headed cupcake of a defender that is Snow/Boobie/Hughes. It was sad to watch.

This was mostly loyalty money in my mind--he was our best player during the title run. But we were bidding against ourselves here. None of the teams with PG needs had any cap space.

So I can understand the deal, but it's frustrating to cheer for a team that's good (East coast good), but locking itself into non-contender status for the near future.

Or maybe Chauncey was just completely unglued by the contract negotiations looming over his offseason and he'll regain some swagger now that his deal is done.

Posted by Jerry | July 9, 2007 12:19 PM

As a Pistons fan, it pains me to agree that this year was likely their best, last, chance. Who is going to be better next year than they were last? In contrast, I can think of several who risk being worse - maybe much worse - than last year.

Unless one of their draft picks blossoms into a Michael Redd or Dwayne Wade, I don't see improvement. And both the Cavs, and especially Bulls have a very good chance of being better next year.

Posted by 3pointshooter | July 9, 2007 1:34 PM

Without defending Billups, it's pretty ludicrous to label even an aging Eric Snow as a "cupcake" defender.

Posted by JP | July 9, 2007 2:26 PM

"Without defending Billups, it's pretty ludicrous to label even an aging Eric Snow as a "cupcake" defender."

Not to mention that Hughes got a big contract on the basis of his defense.

-----

"Billups was terrible in the playoffs this year. Truly terrible. He averaged more turnovers than dimes"

Blame Flip, not Chauncey.

Given the rules, it's easy to take the ball out of a players hands on the perimeter by doubling. The Cavs doubled Chauncey as soon as he got over the halfcourt line, and the Pistons never found a way to force Cleveland pay.

Unless Chauncey wasn't executing the gameplan properly, the blame lies with the gameplan, not with Chauncey.

When a player is ineffective when doubled on the perimeter, the blame usually doesn't lie on that player.

Posted by Petey | July 9, 2007 2:35 PM

Not to mention that Hughes got a big contract on the basis of his defense.

And then, apparently, took a hammer to his foot.

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | July 9, 2007 2:50 PM

Unless Chauncey wasn't executing the gameplan properly, the blame lies with the gameplan, not with Chauncey.

Billups is a grownup, you know, not some six year old playing zone soccer.

He's been in the league long enough that he should know how to deal with a double team, whether or not his coach spoon-feeds it to him. Of course no one expects him to put up his usual numbers in the face of a double team, but he's the distributor, and he ought to be able to find a way to help the team prosper even if he's being shut down personally.

I'm no fan of Flip Saunders, but his critics are really going overboard suggesting that players are simply robots executing whatever the coach drew up on the whiteboard. After all, if the coach designed a great gameplan, but the players totally bungled the execution, would we even know there was a great plan?

Posted by Steve | July 9, 2007 2:58 PM

I agree with the point about Flip. The larger point is that Chauncey is what he is--a good, but not great, guard. He is dependent on other players playing well, and cannot lift a team onto his back. If he could, he'd get more money.

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | July 9, 2007 3:04 PM

"Billups is a grownup, you know, not some six year old playing zone soccer."

You can take the ball out of anybody's hands on the perimeter if you double. It doesn't matter if that player is Chauncey, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, or LeBron James.

In halfcourt trap situations, a coach needs to set up an offense to take advantage of quick hitters after the double-teamed player gets rid of the ball and before the defense can fully recover. Detroit didn't do that. And things that happen after Chauncey gives up the ball have absolutely zero to do with Chauncey.

-----

The one thing that was disappointing to me about Chancey's series against Cleveland was his inability to take advantage of Gibson in the post. Gibson blocked a couple of Chauncey's shots down there, and after that, Chauncey seemed to shy away from the matchup for the rest of the series.

That problem is owned by Chauncey. But the inability to deal with the halfcourt trap is not. That's a team breakdown that likely is owned by Flip.

Posted by Petey | July 9, 2007 3:12 PM