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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Pistons Sign Free Agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the club has signed free agent guard Ben Gordon and free agent forward Charlie Villanueva to multi-year contracts. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
“We are excited to add two talented players in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva,” said Dumars. “Ben is a big-time scorer who will play a prominent role for our team as we move forward. Charlie is a versatile big man who can play in the post and score from the perimeter as well. We feel both these players will be key pieces to our roster next season.”
Gordon, 26, has appeared in 398 career NBA games (204 starts) averaging 18.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 31.4 minutes per game. Since joining the league as Chicago’s third overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, he has scored 20-plus points in 78 games coming off the bench, by far the most by any player during the five-year span. Gordon was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year during the 2004-05 campaign, becoming the first rookie in league history to claim the award. He has averaged 20-plus points in a season twice, including a team-high 20.7 points per game last season in which he shot a career-high 45.5% from the field and 41.0% from three-point range. Gordon averaged 24.3 points and 3.0 assists per game during the seven-game game series vs. Boston in the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs. Playing in all 82 games for the third time in his career a season ago, the London, England native ranked sixth in the league with 173 three-point field goals made and 11th in total points (1,699). He also ranked 17th in the league in scoring average (20.7 ppg), 24th in free throw percentage (.864), 25th in three-point field goal percentage (.410) and 31st in minutes (36.6 mpg). A member of the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team in 2005, Gordon has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week four times in his five-year career.
Villanueva, 24, is coming off a career year for the Milwaukee Bucks in which he averaged career-highs in points (16.2 ppg), rebounds (6.7 rpg), assists (1.8 apg), three-point field goal percentage (.345) and free throw percentage (.838). He scored 30-plus points on four occasions, including a season-high 36 points vs. Denver (2/22), 20-plus points 27 times and tallied 14 double-doubles. The 6-foot-11 forward led the Bucks in scoring 19 times, rebounding a team-best 27 times and blocks a team-high 32 times. Drafted seventh overall by the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft, Villanueva has career NBA averages of 13.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 26.5 minutes per game. As a rookie, he scored 48 points at Milwaukee (3/26/06), the most since 1997 [Allen Iverson, 50 at Cleveland (4/12/97)] and tied for the third-highest total since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77 (Michael Jordan). The Queens, NY native averaged 13.0 points per game during his rookie campaign with Toronto which earned him NBA All-Rookie First Team honors in 2006. As a collegiate player at Connecticut, Villanueva was a member of the Huskies’ 2004 NCAA Championship team with fellow UConn teammate – Ben Gordon.
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From MLive.com:
Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva relieved to sign long-term deals with Pistons
by A. Sherrod Blakely
Wednesday July 08, 2009, 9:23 PM
AUBURN HILLS -- Growing up in New York City, Ben Gordon played a pivotal role in convincing Charlie Villanueva to follow him to Connecticut, where they helped the Huskies win a national championship.
But there was no need to sell his college teammate on the advantages of signing a long-term deal with the Detroit Pistons.
"The last time I played with Ben, we won a championship," Villanueva said. "That made my decision a little bit easier as far as coming here."
Both players committed to the Pistons on the first day teams could woo free agents. Those commitments became official Wednesday, the first day teams could sign free agents.
Gordon, coming off a career-high 20.2 points per game last season in Chicago, agreed to a five-year deal worth at least $50 million. Villanueva signed a five-year deal worth $35 million.
In addition to having a chance to play significant minutes, both came into free agency looking for the security that comes with a long-term deal.
"I wanted to get it over with," said Villanueva, who has played for four coaches in his four NBA seasons. "I just wanted to make sure my career was secure. I didn't want to wait at all. Now, I can concentrate on working out and preparing for next season."
Gordon and the Bulls spent the past couple offseasons trying to work out a long-term deal but could not get one done.
Gordon, 26, said he sensed his time in Chicago was just about up.
"Right after the season, I knew I probably wouldn't be back in a Chicago Bulls uniform," he said. "Talking to Joe (Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations) the last few days, I knew this was somewhere I wanted to be right away. Joe is all about winning a championship, and everything he has done in the past and everything he continues to do in the future is geared towards trying to get a ring. It was an easy sell for me."
Detroit targeting Gordon and Villanueva and its draft picks last month signal a team transitioning from a grind-it-out defensive squad to one looking to become more explosive offensively.
"You look at the game today, and the game is changing," Gordon said. "You look at other teams around the league, everybody is trying to upgrade their team, especially offensively. Joe realized that, and he's trying to get players into this organization that kind of fit that style."
Both players acknowledged that the Pistons' style of play is in transition now.
However, the goals remain the same.
"The ultimate goal is to win the championship," Villanueva said. "That's what we're striving to do. I've never been to the playoffs. I don't know how that feels. I'm tired of losing. I have a good chance here in Detroit to win some ball games."
From Comcast Sports:
Pistons sign Gordon, Villanueva
By LARRY LAGE, AP
Wed Jul 8, 4:41 PM EDT
These aren't the same, old Detroit Pistons.
Twentysomethings Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva joined the Pistons on Wednesday, signaling the start of a new era for a new-look franchise.
"They're making a lot of changes,'' Gordon said. "They still have a few pieces from the championship team, but there's definitely some new blood and we're hungry.''
Gordon, one of the top free agents this summer, signed a $55 million, five-year contract in leaving the Bulls and Villanueva inked a $35-million, five-year deal as he bid farewell to the Bucks.
The 26-year-old Gordon averaged 20.7 points last season for Chicago, leading the team in scoring for the fourth straight year. Villanueva, who turns 25 next month, averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds last season with Milwaukee.
"I love it,'' Detroit's 23-year-old point guard Rodney Stuckey said after working out at the team's practice facility. ``We're getting younger.''
The Pistons also hope they're competitive as they transform from a veteran-laden team to one counting on players in their mid-20s.
"Happy to add both of these young guys,'' Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "We think both guys are just reaching their prime.''
Detroit went into the offseason with a lot of salary-cap space because Rasheed Wallace and Allen Iverson had expiring contracts. The team has essentially dismantled the nucleus that led Detroit to the 2004 title and made it the first NBA team in two decades to play in six straight conference finals.
The rebuilding plan was expedited last season, when point guard Chauncey Billups was sent to Denver for Iverson. The Pistons never recovered, posting their worst season since 2001, but knew they would have a chance to reshape the roster this summer.
On the day free agents could begin listening to offers last week, Gordon and Villanueva chose to be Pistons in a move that reunites them five years after they led Connecticut to an NCAA championship.
"Ben and I, we're two very good offensive players,'' Villanueva said. ``The last time I played with Ben, we won a championship so that made my decision a little easier.''
Gordon, the No. 3 pick in 2004, is coming off a postseason in which he averaged a team-high 24.3 points in seven games.
"Right after the season, I knew I probably wouldn't be back in a Chicago Bulls uniform,'' Gordon said, adding the Bulls didn't negotiate to re-sign him.
Gordon said the Pistons can put him and Richard Hamilton - both shooting guards - on the court together.
"I have no problem handling the basketball and creating plays for my teammates,'' Gordon said. ``I think that's a part of my game people haven't seen yet.''
Villanueva went from being a restricted free agent to an unrestricted one when the Bucks chose not to make him a qualifying offer. The Toronto Raptors drafted Villanueva No. 7 overall in 2005 and traded him to Milwaukee after his rookie season.
"I've never been in the playoffs,'' he said. "I'm tired of losing. I have a great chance in Detroit to win some games.''
The Pistons are expected to soon hire Cleveland Cavaliers assistant John Kuester, who was on Larry Brown's championship-winning staff in Detroit five years ago, to replace the fired Michael Curry.
"He's been in the league a long time,'' Gordon said. ``He was here when the Pistons won the championship, so he knows more than anybody what needs to be done.''
The Associated Press
