Maxiell has been a disappointment this year, but I understand the signing. Young big men whom you can lock up long term can pay huge dividends when they pan out. I mean look at Perkins for us! Young free agent centers of moderate to poor quality still command the full MLE from teams.
Brown, now that one I'm less inclined to give a pass on.
Yes I agree there was some virtue to the signing of Maxiell, and even Brown to a lesser extent. I just didn't like the idea of doling out $10mil on two role players instead of using the money to acquire a high level talent. The Pistons badly needed an infusion of younger high level talent to replace guys like Wallace
(or let Wallace take a smaller role).
I thought it was bad use of the opportunity they had in front of him. Still, they found another way to re-open
(and extend) that opportunity by dealing Billups.
It was the Pistons situation rather than the player+contract. I felt a better opportunity was available by not signing them. Maxiell is good at that money, and he's still improving so solid upside there. My issue wasn't about him, it was about Rasheed Wallace and the Pistons core.
I didn't like Joe D worrying about his role players instead of the core of his team which had slipped
(and would slip further in next year or two) and needed more talent to get back to the top.
