Chauncey Billups' agent admits defeat, settles for only $12 million a season

Chauncey Billups was a rich man. Now he's a VERY rich man with the announcement that he and the Detroit Pistons had agreed in principle on a new 5 year deal worth up to $60 million dollars, with $46 million guaranteed.

So what do you know, Chris McCoskey was proven right after all...

Still unable to afford Cristal after settling for $46 million guaranteed, Chauncey Billups again shoots a 40 in celebration of not having to listen to his delusional agent ever again

The Pistons didn't have to give Chauncey Biillups $12 million a season, but it's sill a below market value deal (When compared to Rashard Lewis' insane new contract, as Chauncey is a better player who plays far more important position) for a point guard thought to be in the top 5 at his position.

I've read the opinion of some fans who argued that the Pistons overpaid for Billups, as there were no other real bidders for his services, other than the imaginary ones that Billips' agent conjured up after McCoskey broke the story a week ago. But think about it, do you really want to lowball arguably your best player?

Force Chauncey into a miserly deal (By NBA standards), and you'll just end up with a pissed off point guard badmouthing his agent, his owner, his team, his situation and his long-term contract. The only person happy would be Bill Davidson's accountant, and fans couldn't give a shit about him.

There is also the fact that if you become a team known for offering cut rate contacts, you'll never get future free agents to consider, let alone actually sign with, your team. Joe Dumars is having enough trouble as it is finding a backup SF, why handicap yourself by being thought of as a cheap ass organization?

You could also say the Pistons are rewarding Billups for far out performing his previous contract. They had Billups locked into a deal of a deal, so to speak. The Pistons had an elite level player, yet only had to pay him run of the mill player money for the past 5 seasons. There was no question that some of Billups' new contract would, in part, be considered payment for past performance. It's the price of doing NBA business.

In my mind, the final year being a team option puts the deal nicely in the Pistons' favor. Realistically, if Bullups declines faster than anyone anticipates, it'll be that much easier to either trade his soon-to-expire contract after 3 seasons, or let him dribble off into the sunset after 4. Personally, I doubt that either scenario will be the case, as all signs point to Billups remaining a excellent to good player for the length of the contract. At least the Pistons do have an out if Chauncey suddenly turns into an older version of Mateen Cleaves over the next few seasons.

This news does not, by any means, guarantee that the Pistons are a lock for another conference finals appearance. But it does mean that they will remain in the thick of things in the east for the next couple of seasons, at the very least. I've said it numerous times, if Chauncey Billups left Detroit, Joe Dumars would be trying to rebuild, rather than reload.

Joe Dumars was able to keep Billups in Detroit with a big, but also a smart, contract. Both sides came out of negotiations winners.

Today's lesson in Economics 101

Chauncey Billups learned a lesson in economics today. Specifically in regard to the laws of supply and demand.

Here's "Supply and demand" defined: "Demand means the quantity of a given article which would be taken at a given price. Supply means the quantity of that article which could be had at that price."

In other words, the law of supply and demand means your price is going to go down when the supply is greater than the demand.

Chauncey Billups entered the free agent market as the best point guard available, and could be signed by any bidder. But the market for veteran point guards turned out to be minimal, especially after the NBA draft. The teams that needed PG's, got themselves PG's, at a price cheaper than the going rate for Billups.

Unable to afford Cristal after signing his below market deal, Chauncey Billups celebrates his new deal by chugging a 40

The veteran PG market thus dwindled down to one team, the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons weren't about to get into a bidding war with themselves, and offered a below market contract to Billups, 5 years at $12 million per, $60 million in total. That's pretty much the same Pistons' deal that Ben Wallace turned down last year.

Billups, seeing the writing on the wall, agreed to the deal, according to DetNews.com and Chris McCosky.

I think the most telling line from McCosky about Billups' situation was this one...

"There apparently were no other serious bidders for Billups."

There was little demand for Billups' services. It looks as if the Pistons could pretty much name their price, and their price was $12 million a year.

Look at the contracts given to a pair of point guards that Billups is often compared to...

Jason Kidd's 6 year contract averages out to a little more than $17 million a year, signed in 2003.

Steve Nash's deal is 6 years at $11 million per season, and was signed in 2004.

Thanks to the NBA's laws of supply and demand, getting Billups for 5 years at $12 million, the Pistons got a steal. Would I have liked the deal to be maybe a year shorter? Sure, but the Pistons had to give Billups something in return for signing what should be considered a below market deal.

Postscript: I'm listening to WXYT right now, and Mlive's A. Sherrod Blakely says that Billups agent is refuting the report. The agent claims that they "Aren't even close" to a deal. Hmm, the plot thickens... Despite this news, if true, how much more could Billups realistically make, considering the market for him is down to one team?

Could the Pistons lose Chauncey Billups in free agency? Not on our watch...

New friend of TWFE, with the similar, yet spookier name, "The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes," have a nice post up in regard to Chauncey Billups re-signing with the Pistons. They are concerned that there is a chance, despite the recent reassurances of Joe Dumars, that Billups will leave for greener NBA pastures at the end of this coming playoff run.

The ghosts say there is no other good option. The only option is keeping Chauncey Billups...

Purportedly, there are a number of teams interested in making a monumental offer for Billups in the off-season, most notably the Bucks, Grizzlies, and Magic with whispers from the Clippers and Nuggets looming as well. Other speculators suspect that Billups will get the marquee, monster contract from the Pistons only to be used as trade bait next season. Alternatively, the Pistons could take a gamble, let him go, and look for a quality point guard in the draft. None of these outcomes are good solutions. Chauncey is a Piston and we want it to stay that way.

The ghosts also asked other Detroit bloggers to chime in with their thoughts on the possibility of life without Chauncey Billups. I was more than happy to contribute my 2 cents. Head on over to "The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes" and find out what we had to say.

Rob Parker, Pistons apologist

The Pistons often looked bored early on in the regular season, only playing their best when an opponent intrigued them. To their credit, they did turn on the jets, going 15-3 from mid November through Christmas.

Since that streak ended, the Detroit Pistons are once again stumbling along, admittedly much in thanks to Chauncey Billups' calf injury. Unfortunately, they do seem to be coasting. They are 1-4 in their last 5 games, while looking totally disinterested.

What hasn't helped is that Flip Murray has been a disaster as Billups' back up, and is rumored to be on the trading block. The other healthy point guard, Will Blaylock, is playing like one would expect the last player picked in the 2006 draft. He's
occasionally decent, but looks overwhelmed the majority of the time. The 85 year old Lindsey Hunter is once again injured, and will be kept on ice, much like last season, till the playoffs near.

For the most part, the Pistons have been what we expected, no more, and no less. A good team that is in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference.

Seems like a strange time for a gushing column to appear in the Detroit News, one highly praising head coach Flip Saunders. All becomes clear when you see that it's a "Column" from Joe Dumars' lapdog, Wobb Parker.

The headline alone raises an eyebrow. "Saunders' efforts move the Pistons above expectations."

I'm aware that the columnist don't write the headlines, but it does fit the tone of the column. But come on! "Above expectations?" 4th in the East, 2nd in the Central is above expectations? That seems to be meeting expectations, and that's being generous at best.

Wobb does his normal shill job when it comes to anything Pistons related. This column comes off as a paid advertisement selling the sometimes dubious virtues of Flip Saunders.

"Flip Saunders has held it together. Somehow, someway, the Pistons aren't the total mess they could be at this point."

Total mess? Saunders still has 4/5 of what was considered the best starting lineup in the NBA. It'd be damn hard to screw that up.

"Saunders has a chance to turn in the best coaching performance of his career. With the loss of Ben Wallace to free agency, he had to make changes and they have worked -- without any fall-off on defense or rebounding."

The only change is that Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince are each averaging close to 2 boards more a game when compared to last season. Add that with Wallace's replacement Nazr Mohammed's 5.8 per, and you have essentially replaced what Wallace brought to the boards. It appears more to me that 'Sheed and Prince stepped up their game, knowing that Ben Wallace was no longer around to cover their asses. I honestly don't know how much of that is Saunders, and how much the players. But considering the NBA is a players league, I hesitate to give Flip a ton of credit.

"The bottom line remains the Pistons, as much as any team, have a chance to get to the NBA Finals for the third time in four years."

That is exactly what fans and experts expected, even with the loss of Ben Wallace, that the Pistons would be in the mix for the Eastern Conference title. What exactly is so special about Flip having the Pistons exactly positioned where EVERYONE expected?

But don't feel sorry for Saunders. He knew what he signed up for when he came here after being fired by the Timberwolves. He could easily have taken a less-pressure-no-expectation team gig. Instead, he took the challenge of taking over a team that went to the NBA Finals two years in a row and probably could only go down.

With all that has happened, that's where they should be. But, Saunders has them still up near the top.

I doubt ANYONE feels sorry for someone making millions on a guaranteed contract. And why would any coach worth his salt choose a NBA bottom feeder over a playoff tested contender like the Pistons? That would be outright stupid.

The last 2 sentences utterly confuse me. The Pistons are where they should be, in contention. Yet Saunders has them where they are supposed to be, in contention? What? I have no idea what Parker is trying to say, and from the confused wording, Parker doesn't either. Must have been s misprint in Dumars' latest memo...

What's interesting after reading the Dumars bought and paid for Parker column, the the News' Pistons beat writer is not quite so optimistic. Today's Chris McCoskey article is not written using the red, white, and blue colored glasses that Wobb wears when writing about the Pistons.

"Bored or not, injured or not, the Pistons have to start getting serious about securing their foothold in this raggedy Eastern Conference playoff race."

"The Pistons are squandering way too many games in this, the easy part of their schedule. And those are games that are going to be difficult to retrieve later in the season."

In my mind, McCoskey accurately describes the Pistons team that we have seen through the first months of the season. Bored, inconsistent, and making things more difficult for themselves. Why Parker hasn't seen that is a mystery...

One thing has become clear, as was noted in a post today by the go to blog for all things Pistons, Detroit Bad Boys. The Pistons don't have a chance in Hell unless Chauncey Billups is on the floor.

It's interesting to note that it took an injury to Billups to reinforce the idea that the Pistons have to sign him long-term in the coming off season. Without Billups, the Pistons just might as well go into rebuilding mode. Pistons apologist Parker would likely blow sunshine up our asses, and claim that the Pistons don't rebuild under Dumars, they just reload.

Either way, we'd all feel a little better about the Pistons if they at least looked interested as the season slooooowly moves toward the playoffs.

As quoted in McCoskey's article, 'Sheed is thinking the same thing.

"No doubt," Rasheed Wallace said. "We've got to put it in second gear right now. It's the second half of the season right now, even before the All-Star break. We have to start locking in."

I hope you take your own advice, and don't believe Parker's apologist "All is well" mantra, 'Sheed...