Pistons to sign Gordon, source says
The Detroit Pistons are acting quickly to remake a former championship contender.
The Pistons agreed to 5-year contracts yesterday with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press.
Those were the first big moves of the NBA's free-agency period, which began just after midnight. Detroit, thanks to the Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson trade, is one of the few teams with significant salary-cap space this summer.
Gordon and Villanueva are former Connecticut teammates who will remain in the Central Division. Gordon was Chicago's leading scorer and Villanueva played for Milwaukee.
Jason Kidd also seems in high demand, meeting with two suitors. And Ron Artest might be able to swap Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady as teammates for LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal.
Cleveland was believed to be interested in Villanueva, and is in need of another forward who can defend on the perimeter. Perhaps James has a different one in mind, with the Plain Dealer of Cleveland, citing anonymous sources, reporting yesterday that James and Artest met Tuesday in Los Angeles.
"All the superstars are very savvy and great recruiters," said Artest's agent, David Bauman. "The superstars are sometimes even better recruiters than the general managers or their staffs. Between Kobe [Bryant] and Ron or LeBron and Ron, there are always conversations that occur. I think I'll just leave it at that at this point."
Kidd listened to pitches from both Dallas and New York yesterday. The Mavericks can offer significantly more money to their point guard, and owner Mark Cuban showed his interest by flying to New York to meet with Kidd before the Knicks did.
The Knicks said they didn't make an offer to Kidd. New York is also trying to retain its free agents, David Lee and Nate Robinson, but won't spend too much because it wants to maintain enough salary cap space to be a major player in 2010.
Deals can't be signed until July 8, after next season's salary cap is set.
Noteworthy
* Kobe Bryant chose not to terminate the final 2 years of his contract and will remain with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Team spokesman John Black yesterday confirmed Bryant's decision. The MVP of the NBA Finals had until Tuesday to become an unrestricted free agent.
Now the Lakers and Bryant's agent will negotiate a contract extension. If they cannot agree, he would earn $23 million next season and could opt out next June.
* First-round draft pick Eric Maynor officially signed with the Utah Jazz.
Maynor signed the 2-year deal as the Jazz summer league team began a minicamp in Florida. The Jazz will play in Orlando starting July 6.
As the 20th overall pick in the draft, Maynor gets $1.3 million his rookie season.
* Taco Bell has replaced longtime sponsor McDonald's as the NBA's fast-food partner.
The agreement ends the league's 20-year partnership with McDonald's.*
