I'm a die-hard Detroit Pistons fan, so I'd of course like to see Ben Wallace play for the Pistons until he retires. But I'll try to be impartial in my assessment of the situation.
Here's some statistics for Ben Wallace from the 2005-06 regular season:
- 82 games played (First time he's played 82 games in his career, averaged 78.33 games per season over 6 seasons in Detroit)
- 36.20 minutes per game
- 7.28 points per game
- 5.67 field goals attempted per game
- 2.89 field goals made per game
- 50.97% field goal percentage
- 3.61 free throws attempted per game
- 1.50 free thows made per game
- 41.55% free throw percentage
- 3.67 offensive rebounds per game
- 7.59 defensive rebounds per game
- 11.27 total rebounds per game
- 1.93 assists per game
- 1.07 turnovers per game
- 1.80 assist-to-turnover ratio
- 1.78 steals per game
- 2.21 blocks per game
- 2.00 fouls per game
- 1.66 steal-to-turnover ratio
- 1.10 block-to-foul ratio
Positions: Centre, Power Forward
Height: 6'9" (really only 6'7")
Weight: 240lbs
Salary: $6,000,000
Wallace's value isn't in statistics alone. Wallace brings intensity, effort, commitment and the desire to work hard and play defense. Not just enough to get by so he can run up the other end and score again. Actual defence. He is the undisputed best defensive player in the league. You know you'll be getting value for money if you're the Pistons organisation, because you know he's going to give maximum effort the whole time he's on the floor, and is not going to take games (or even plays) off. These traits are becoming increasingly rare in basketball players (and society in general) these days. Wallace will be 32 years old when the next season commences. His physical condition would be the envy of anyone, so that should never be an issue as he gets older (a la Shaquille O'Neal).
And with the free throws, for the amount of shots he takes per game at the line, a small increase would have minimal effect. I know that a few points here and there can be the difference between a win and a loss, so here's an idea of what an increase in percentage can do for Wallace:
50% - 25 extra points, points-per-game average increases to 7.59
60% - 55 extra points, points-per-game average increases to 7.95
70% - 85 extra points, points-per-game average increases to 8.31
80% - 114 extra points, points-per-game average increases to 8.67
90% - 144 extra points, points-per-game average increases to 9.04
So as you can see, it wouldn't have a huge impact.
It could be said that if he was generally a more capable scorer, he'd get fouled more, therefore increasing his number of attempts and making it more of a problem. I think he has more of a chance of improving his poor free throw percentage than say Shaquille O'Neal. Wallace has a soft shot with a nice arc on his shot when he's at the line, whereas O'Neal has a flat, darting shot. Wallace already has one of the main obstacles out of the way. He just needs to line it up with the centre and it'll fall nearly every time.
Personally, I think Wallace is worth in the order of $12.5 Million per year, for 4 years. That's roughly 25% of the salary cap, and more than double his previous salary. He is the face of the Detroit franchise and personifies their ethos. He isn't an egotistic person from what I can gather, so I'm sure he'll accept a little less money than what other teams are willing to pay if it means he can have his current position in Detroit. It's not worth upsetting the chemistry of a championship-calibre team and letting go the cornerstone of your franchise and current success just by being cheap, so if the Pistons need to pay a few million extra per season for Wallace's services, then so be it.
The verdict: Re-sign for $50 Million/4 years
