0402200406
DETROIT FREE PRESS
040220
Friday, February 20, 2004
METRO FINAL
1A
Photo BILL KOSTROUN/Associated Press
With Rasheed Wallace, left, Joe Dumars, above, says the Pistons went
from "a pretty good team to a very, very good team." MORE ON 1D.
MITCH ALBOM FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Copyright (c) 2004, Detroit Free Press
GOOD-GUY PISTONS RISK IT
DESPITE WALLACE'S BAD REP, DUMARS MAKES BIG DEAL
Win. Spin. To do the former, you often need to do the latter. The wheels began
turning in Detroit on Thursday afternoon, the moment Rasheed Wallace, a big,
volatile guy whose former owner all but threw a party when he finally dumped
him, joined the Pistons in a three-team trade. The Pistons are a team that
prides itself on selfless, blue-collar behavior. Wallace fits that bill the
way Janet Jackson fits "overdressed."
But Rasheed wears their uniform now, and he can help them win. So the Pistons
spin. They insist he can be controlled. That environment is everything. That
the new coach, Larry Brown, will have a good rapport with him. And if that's
not enough, they remind you that he is, contractually, here for only a few
months.
"This is a short-term gig for now," admitted Joe Dumars, the Pistons'
president of basketball operations who pulled off this deal, giving up several
mid-level players but gaining an All-Star and lots of salary cap relief. "It
could be great for him, or not so great for him. It could be great for us. But
it won't ever be bad for us. I didn't tear up my team to do this."
As for Wallace's history of marijuana, bad temper and outrageous comments?
"The fact is," Dumars sighed, "if you're looking for all Boy Scouts, this is
the wrong league to be in."
Win. Spin. And make no mistake. This is a winning basketball move. Wallace is
a major talent, a big man (6-feet-11) who can score from all over the floor.
When he wants to play hard, he can change a game by himself. The Pistons need
that kind of force, especially on offense. Dumars believes they even need a
little of Wallace's "edge," although the difference between a little and a lot
of that edge is the difference between a poke in the ribs and a knife through
the gut.
"What did he say to you when you spoke on the phone?" I asked Dumars.
"He was excited about coming here. He said, 'We can win this thing.' "
"And what did you say?"
"I said, 'That's what I want to hear, chief.' "
A long rap sheet
With this move, Dumars enlarges his reputation as a major front-office player.
He takes the Pistons from over the salary cap to $9 million under it, giving
him enough money to keep Mehmet Okur from walking away as a free agent this
summer. Dumars also has the potential of signing Wallace back or
sign-and-trading him for other major talent.
And -- oh yeah -- he gets to use Wallace the rest of the year, which takes the
Pistons from, as Dumars called it, "a pretty good team to a very, very good
team."
The flip side, of course, is if Wallace, in the few months he's here, reverts
to the knucklehead behavior that has made him one of the most dreaded
headlines in the NBA.
In Portland, he was part of a Team Rap Sheet, a Trail Blazers group so
entrenched in bad behavior, it was news when players didn't get arrested.
Wallace's personal history includes an assault charge by a former girlfriend,
a 2002 arrest for marijuana possession, an NBA record for technical fouls in
one season, and multiple fines for his behavior, such as threatening a
referee, throwing towels, and trying to go into the stands after a
bench-clearing brawl.
He also, in a rare extended interview -- and rare may be a good thing --
claimed the league deliberately exploited black players, and wanted them "dumb
and dumber."
Detroit is not a town that brooks that sort of attitude. Look around. The
champion breed Red Wings are personified by quiet Steve Yzerman. Heck, Sergei
Fedorov was considered a prima donna because he wanted ice time.
The Lions are led by a Boy Scout quarterback, Joey Harrington. The Tigers
signed Pudge Rodriguez because, among other things, he's considered a good
guy.
The Pistons, under Dumars, have systematically removed the egos, malcontents
and off-court disrupters. Their "musketeers" approach was the envy of many
markets.
And, best of all, they were improving.
But only so much. Dumars and Brown have seen that the all-good-guys thing may
have a limit. A recent six-game losing streak and a new history of close
defeats suggested a change. Brown says he "loves" Wallace, and they share
North Carolina connections, as do several members of the Pistons' staff. And,
as everyone keeps reminding everyone, the deal is binding only until the end
of the season.
"The truth is, everyone is rented in the NBA," Dumars said. "It's either a
short-term rental or a long-term rental, that's all."
Team's core untouched
For now, it's short -- "a dating period," Dumars called it -- although the
Pistons hope Wallace will extend this year as long as possible. He gives the
team a formidable front line, with Ben Wallace and Okur alongside him. If he
plays to his ability, the NBA Finals are a real possibility. And consider the
teams the Pistons would likely have to defeat: Indiana, no stranger to
controversy with Ron Artest, or New Jersey, with happy campers like Kenyon
Martin.
As for the players the Pistons gave up -- Bobby Sura, Lindsey Hunter, Zeljko
Rebraca, Chucky Atkins? None was irreplaceable. Only Atkins made a marginal
difference in many games. "I hesitated on him," Dumars admitted, "because he's
played well for us. But we got a good guard (Mike James) from Boston. And in
the end, was I not gonna get Rasheed Wallace to keep Chucky Atkins?"
Meanwhile, the Pistons also get all sorts of business perks, like extended cap
room and dumped contracts, while Atlanta and Boston get draft picks and cap
room galore. Funny. Once upon a time, you rated sports trades by how much each
player would help each team. Now, it's all about intangibles, beating the cap,
reducing financial commitment, shifting draft spots.
Ah, well, things change. The Pistons -- who dumped coach Rick Carlisle last
year partly because of his supposed antisocial behavior -- now take on the
frequently antisocial Wallace. They are no longer the quiet, blue-collar
roster of the NBA.
Then again, Detroit fans have some experience in this area. Remember Bill
Laimbeer? Not exactly America's Guest. But we loved him. Why? Because he wore
the Pistons uniform, that's why. They won. We spun.
Time will tell how well the Pistons uniform fits Wallace. For now, he's like
puffing on an unlit cigarette. Pretty risk-free. But you want to be careful
where it leads.
Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or albom@freepress.com. Catch "The Mitch
Albom Show" 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760). Also catch "Monday Sports
Albom" 7-8 p.m. Mondays on WJR.
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