Error processing SSI filePrince is happy to stick around
Swingman Dupree traded to Timberwolves for second-round pick; Acker makes the team.
AUBURN HILLS -- Know this up front: Had Tayshaun Prince put himself in the free-agent market, even in a restricted capacity, he would have been offered a deal considerably larger than the five-year extension worth just over $47 million he signed with the Pistons about 4:30 p.m. Monday.
But, at the tender age of 24, Prince understood that whatever additional money he might have made wouldn't have bought him the comfort, security and success he has had with the Pistons.
"Money is not going to make you happy," Prince said hours before signing his new deal.
"It's where you are at, where you are established and where you fit in good with the guys and the organization. Even though I haven't been anywhere else, I feel this is the best place in the NBA.
"It wasn't about becoming a restricted free agent and getting a bigger offer and hoping they would match. It was about trying to get a fair deal done, and they made it happen."
The negotiations ran longer than Prince and Pistons president Joe Dumars expected, but they never turned ugly.
The sides were never more than $5 million apart.
Prince wasn't asking for a franchise-player-type contract. He wasn't asking for the $70 million Joe Johnson got from Atlanta, or the $75 million Tyson Chandler got from Chicago.
He wasn't even asking for the $60 million Larry Hughes got from Cleveland.
"All I was looking for was a fair deal," he said.
To Prince, fair meant earning no less than players such as Bobby Simmons ($47 million from Milwaukee) and Mike Dunleavy (expected to sign for between $40 million-$45 million with Golden State).
The new deal, which kicks in next season (Prince will make $1.8 million this season), will average $9.5 million per year and make him the third-highest-paid Piston behind Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton.
He won't stay there long, though, because the Pistons will attempt to re-sign unrestricted free agent Ben Wallace.
"I am just glad to get it done and move on to the next step," Prince said. "It's time to play basketball."
Prince bristled at the notion the contract would somehow change him as a player or change his role with the team.
"Why do I need to do anything different as long as we are winning?" he said. "As long as we play the way we've been playing, it don't matter. I don't have to live up to nobody's expectations. I just go out and do what I do. As long as I do that and I help the team win, that's all that matters.
"I am not worried about what people expect me to do because of the money situation, or whatever. I just have to go out and help my team win, bottom line."
Prince's teammates aren't concerned. They're just happy he's in the fold.
"It's great to have the youngest player in our nucleus locked up for the next five years," Chauncey Billups said.
"Over the next five years we have a chance to have a great run at championships. Having him locked up, and then getting Ben's deal done this summer, keeps everything stable."
Dupree traded
The Pistons reduced their roster to the legal limit of 15 at the 6 p.m. deadline by trading third-year swingman Ronald Dupree to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
They will receive a second-round pick from the Timberwolves in the next three years.
With the trade, rookie Alex Acker, the last player taken in the June draft, has made the roster.
"This is very big," said Acker, who probably will start the season on the inactive list. "It's something that I have been thinking about since I made the jump from college. I just wanted to fight for a spot."
The move also could pay off for Dupree. He wouldn't have been in the rotation in Detroit but should be in the mix in Minnesota.
He will be the primary backup to small forward Wally Szczerbiak and also could play behind shooting guard Trenton Hassell, whose primary backup is rookie Rashad McCants.
"My whole thing is, I just want to play," Dupree said before leaving for Minnesota.
Bumped and bruised
Two Pistons starters were hobbling around practice.
Prince has pain in his right knee.
"I will be good come Wednesday," he said.
Billups sat out the final stretch of the scrimmage to get electronic stimulation on his sore hip flexor.
"I will be all right," he said.
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