Ben Gordon/Charlie Villanueva Set to Sign with Detroit

Charlie Villanueva Ben Gordon

Well free agency started at midnight today and as expected the Pistons were big players. With nearly $20 million in projected salary cap room this summer the Pistons were in prime position to make a move. Joe D brought in former college teammates Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva today in hopes of convincing them that Detroit was a great basketball town. (Also, I'm sure the money helped)
Obviously, Dumars convince both players to wear the red, white, and blue next year. Gordon's deal is expected to be around $55 million over the next 5 seasons and Villanueva's deal will be around $40 million over the next 5 seasons. (More than I would've liked, such as the $35 million is said earlier)

Ben Gordon is a fantastic offensive player who can get to the basket and hits the three like few others. His defense can be suspect at times but we'll just have to wait and see. I like the move, Gordon is a young up and coming scorer and will bring a lot of offense to Detroit. His arrival in Detroit likely spells the end of Rip Hamilton's Piston career. I think we'll see a move in the next couple weeks where Hamilton gets traded for a center. (Kaman...?)

Charlie Villanueva is another very talented offensive player who is a great open court player at the power forward spot. He has three point range and is a strong finisher around the rim. His rebounding is not quite as good as you would like out of a player his size but that can be worked on. He still has a ton of potential at only 25 when the season starts. Villanueva is a perfect example of a Joe Dumars type signing. Under-appreciated (not given an offer by the Bucks, said to have been drafted too high) and given up on. (see Bucks, see Raptors) He is also one of those guys I really hated coming out of high school and then really loved in college and in the pros (probably because he decommited from Illinois and went to UCONN).

All in all I think these are two solid moves for Detroit. Sure it is a move toward a more offensive approach but we'll just have to wait and see.

FINAL NOTE: Sorry no draft stuff, formatting was terrible and took hours to get about a quarter of what I had.
Also, I can't wait for Alopecia wig night at the Palace next season