Switching sides, switching fortunes

One team is on the decline. The other team is on the rise. Really, it was an easy choice for Ben Wallace, who after six seasons and a championship with the Detroit Pistons decided to bolt to the Chicago Bulls.

The Pistons are floundering. They lost their identity in last year’s playoff run when the team butted heads with Coach Flip Saunders. They lost their edge. Now they’ve lost their heart and soul. Without Ben Wallace, who are the Detroit Pistons? They definitely aren’t the Bad Boys Remix that won the title in 2004 and came one quarter away from another in 2005. Forget the Bad Boys. This team is more like the Lost Boys.

To make things worse, the Pistons have yet to address their most glaring weakness – even with big Ben – their bench. Having big Ben walk away for nothing makes things worse. Antonio McDyess will either have to move into the starting lineup or the Pistons have to sign serviceable replacement with the money they have left, which is about $5 million. To put that in perspective, Bonzi Wells, their top target, made about $8 million last year.

The Pistons are still a good team. After all, they still have four of the five of what was the best starting five in all of basketball. But without Ben, they can forget about the finals. They can even forget about being the top dog in their own division. With King James’ Cavaliers and big Ben’s Bulls in their division, Detroit is in trouble.

Chicago has made the playoffs for two consecutive years without a legitimate and consistent inside presence. They’ve also lead the league in those two years in defensive field goal percentage. The Bulls were already one of the top defensive teams without a real center, and now they get big Ben Wallace? That’s just scary.

The Bulls have a young core on the perimeter to complement Wallace. Guards Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon provide the punch at guards, while Luol Deng and Andres Nocioni and newly drafted Tyrus Thomas give the Bulls depth at forward. Coach Scott Skiles has molded his young core into a hard-working, scrappy blue-collar team that keeps the pressure on for 48 minutes. In other words, Ben Wallace’s style is a perfect fit. It’s almost like Big Ben is stepping into a younger, deeper version of the Pistons team he left. What the Bulls lacked these last few years, however, is some muscle, some swagger, weight they could throw around at people. Ben Wallace gives them that and he instantly turns this playoff contender into a division favorite.

The downside? The Bulls reportedly offered Wallace a four-year, $60 million, which means that the Bulls will be paying Ben around $15 million a year until he’s 36 years-old. That’s a steep price to pay for someone who only plays one side of the court and can’t possibly be expected to improve his game at age 32.

The Chicago execs seem to feel it’s a risk worth taking. After all, the Bulls have been "building for the future" for the last decade. It’s about time they started getting things done. Wallace still has some good years left in him. That, plus Chicago’s established talent and toughness, might make those $60 million the best money they’ve ever spent.

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For questions, comments or corrections, please e-mail me at emailcarlramirez@yahoo.com.