You are Austin Daye, formally of Gonzaga. You are drafted by the Pistons 15th overall in the NBA Draft this summer. While most rookie talk so far has centered around Stephen Curry’s relationship with Monta Ellis in Golden State, or Blake Griffin’s Subway endorsements, or DeJuan Blair’s quiet amazingness, not much has been said about you, Mr. Daye.

Until now:

How’s that for an introduction to the league, a swat on one of the NBA’s best in Dwyane Wade? I’d say that ranks higher than stepping on a banana peel during your first minute of action, but under dunking 20 times in 19 possessions. (Hey, it can be done. Somehow.)

As for Daye’s reaction to his swat of Wade last night?

“I hustled down court and made a good play.”

Yes you did, Austin. Yes, you did.

Motown String Music is calling the musical choice in this video “probably a little creepily over the top.” Life on Dumars says Ben’s highlights “so pumps me up for the season.” J.E. Skeets is calling it a  “a creepy goodbye video with funky techno beats.”

And what do I call it? AWESOME.

Now, who’s coming to Excalibur with me tonight?

Searching high and low, and then around the back, here’s what some of the Web’s finest basketball writers have to say about Ben Gordon signing with Detroit last evening.

Ricky O’Donnell:

Also worth noting: you can make the argument that both Gordon and the Bulls were losers in the negotiations. The Bulls lose because one of their best players is going to their biggest rival in the prime of his career for zero compensation. In Interweb speak, we like to refer to that as FAIL. Gordon doesn’t get off clean either, though. The contract he took from Detroit is pretty similar to the one he rejected two years ago from the Bulls. Now he’s 26, back then he was 24. Had he taken the Bulls’ first offer way back when, he’d still be young enough to cash in on another phat contract. By the time his deal with the Pistons expires, he’ll be 31 and out of his prime. Also, Gordon is leaving Chicago (which is a great city) for Detroit (which is a miserable city).

In basketball terms, Gordon’s departure means John Salmons and Luol Deng need to step up. Last we saw them, Salmons was awesome, and Deng was bad and hurt. Is that what we can expect again?

Matt McHale:

Honestly? I’m bummed. Despite his flaws as a player — undersized, one-dimensional, a little shot-happy — Gordon, more than anyone else, was the team’s one true constant over the past four or five seasons. He missed only 12 games in five seasons. He never shot under 40 percent from three-point range (and only during his rookie campaign did he hit less than 41 percent). He led the Bulls in scoring the past four seasons. He never quit or gave up on the team, even after contract negotiations broke down the last two summers. No, he couldn’t defend bigger guards (which was pretty much everybody), but during his time in Chicago he was an exemplary player and person. (Well, exept for that time he cussed out Vinny Del Negro.)

But you know what’s odd about Ben’s career in the Windy City? He was a proven 20-point scorer and one of the league’s premier long-range snipers, and yet management never treated him like anything more than a complimentary piece…and not a make-or-break piece at that. Sure, they offered him $50 million-plus the last two summers, but they were never willing to grant him The Man status. Heck, it was never even a sure thing he’d be a starter.

Keep reading →

Well that was quick. Ben Gordon became a free agent at midnight yesterday. He met with Joe Dumars and the Pistons yesterday. He agreed to a five-year $55 million deal yesterday. That was about that. After contract extensions broke down the last two summers between Gordon and the Bulls, he wasted no time moving on to another team as soon as he could. It looks like the Bulls didn’t think Gordon was worth that much, and thought Kirk Hinrich is of more value going forward in the backcourt.

Our Mitch Robinson caught up with BG last night after the Pistons deal was announced:

“It was an easy decision. I went to visit and speaking with (Pistons GM) Joe Dumars I liked everything he had to say, I like everything the organization stands for … they’re all about winning and I want that too,” Gordon stated over the phone. “Joe exudes that (winning) he eats, sleeps and breathes basketball and that’s an organization I need to be a part of.”

Ben’s tenure in Chicago lasted five seasons, and he averaged 20.7 points last year. It’s going to be hard to replace his scoring — the Bulls certainly didn’t draft it — but that’s about all they should concern themselves with. Perhaps John Salmons can prove last season wasn’t a fluke?

Gordon’s not known as a particularly good defender, and it was rare he tallied many boards or assists. He’s a one-dimensional player, but he’s a good one at that. When he’s on, he’s on.

Best of luck, Ben. Just make sure not to hit any of your daggers against the Bulls, huh?

It’s no secret this year’s incarnation of the Cleveland Cavaliers is good. Darn good. Try 29-6 and the best winning percentage in the Eastern Conference good. (Only the Lakers in the West are better at the moment.) Gone are Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden — the Bulls have them now, ha — and in has come a nucleus around LeBron James that is working with him, not against him. Their offensive efficency has soared. LeBron James is hands-down your MVP at the moment. This Cavs team is a legit title contender. No doubt about that.

And with the Celtics being the team to beat if the Cavs want to advance to the Finals, Isiah Thomas is seeing shades of early-90s Pistons-Bulls in these two teams. Via Sam Smith at Bulls.com:

Like some of us in Chicago this season, Thomas was seeing in LeBron James and the role playing Cavs what many saw here in the charging Bulls of the early 1990’s against those Pistons. Thomas, doing some scouting for the Knicks, wasn’t sure Boston could overcome the Cavs. And that’s when they where on the way to the best two loss start in league history at 27-2.

“We had a hard time scoring points, especially as we got older,” Thomas recalled about his two-time champion Pistons who eventually were dethroned by the Bulls and Michael Jordan. “We expended so much energy playing defense that it became a problem against a team like that. It’s one thing that made Michael so good. The last four, five minutes, they could go to him every time and he’d get fouled or score the ball. You miss a shot or two and you’re down two, four and trying to catch up and he keeps scoring. We had more guys to go to for a bucket, but they had that scorer. It makes it tough. People always say defense wins. But you’ve got to score the ball.”

Keep reading →

In the spirit of weighing what other people have to say, “Spherical Soundings” will gather various reactions from the blogosphere and mash them into one helpful place.

The big NBA news of the day that’s pretty obvious and drawing a lot of heat: Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess will be traded from Detroit to Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson. “WTF, Dumars?” was my first reaction … but as Tom Ziller points out at FanHouse, Detroit is gambling a little now for a huge future payoff.

This deal isn’t about tomorrow or April, though: it’s about July. Iverson is a pending free agent, while Billups and Antonio McDyess will take up $19 million of cap space next season. If Dumars lets A.I. flee and fails to re-sign aging forward Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons will be looking at upwards of $20 million in cap space in the summer of 2009.

And just as the Pistons are suddenly setting themselves up for an shopping spree once the economy (hopefully) turns around, the Nuggets are acting like they don’t even see the metaphorical credit crisis going on, as Shoals points out at the Sporting Blog.

The Nuggets have become a running joke: High on talent, low on organization, and yet always explosive enough to keep us deluded till the last moment of truth (i.e., the playoffs). The Pistons are a winning formula that’s endured all sorts of subtle shifts in personnel.

Of course, despite that “winning formula,” it’s not like Joe Dumars hasn’t tried to get Allen Iverson before … which, as Matt Watson of Detroit Bad Boys notes, is why we might want to consider holding off on announcing the end of the Big Shot Billups Era for right now:

Keep reading →