Ben Wallace is coming home, for a very reasonable $1.3M. The linked article claims his playing time will be "drastically reduced," but I have a hard time figuring out who will play center if not Ben Wallace. Kwame Brown? That may be who Kuester decides to start, but is he a long-term solution? Partnered with Rasheed Wallace, Kwame was a decent defender, but on his own?
My guess is that Big Ben will likely win the starting center position in training camp, and Kwame will once again come off the bench. Even at 35, Ben Wallace has more defensive acumen than every Piston big man, though that's not saying much.
If the season began today, the starting lineup would be Stuckey, Rip, Tay, Villanueva, and Big Ben. Gordon, Chris Wilcox, Bynum and Maxiell would come off the bench. Rookies Austin Daye and Dajuan Saunders would also see spot minutes. That team is drastically more interesting than last year, but (at risk of sounding like a broken record) I still see a massive issue with Rip vs Gordon. Come September, we'll likely see Hamilton on another team.
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