Detroit Pistons eager to hold onto TayShaun Prince – NBA Update
TayShaun Prince, the veteran small forward of the Detroit Pistons who is a free agent this summer, can re-sign with his current franchise once the NBA lockout ends. The player’s agent Bill Duffy revealed this during a recent interview
regarding his client’s future.
TayShaun, who is 31 years old, is a long time servant of the Detroit club, and was an integral part of the team that won the NBA World Championship back in 2004. The Pistons defeated the favourites, Los Angeles Lakers, in the Finals
to clinch the unexpected success and were hailed by all as a complete team who focused on defence.
Since then, Detroit has fallen on hard times and missed the last few playoffs, resulting in the firing of head coach John Kuester this off season. TayShaun Prince was one of the senior members of the roster who had several clashes
with the former boss and contributed to the turmoil at the franchise. He was highly linked with a move away from the franchise last summer but Joe Dumars, the President of Basketball Operations at Detroit, didn’t have the freedom to make significant trades
because of the ownership situation.
Prince has again been touted to leave the club as a free agent this summer, but his agent revealed that the Pistons wanted to retain his services and Tayshaun could well decide to stay and become a part of the rebuilding process
in Detroit.
“Once the new structure is set in place, are the teams that are interested in him now still going to be interested? Yes,” Duffy said. “Will Detroit probably want to re-sign him? Yes.”
There is speculation that the new CBA being that the owners want to put in place will restrict the ability of teams to sign any player once they are over the set threshold for salary, which could make a move for TayShaun very complicated.
However Duffy dismissed that notion,
“One thing that the league is proposing is some type of phase-in. You won’t see the immediate impact where it would be rigid. If the league were victorious, which we’re obviously against, I think it will be a condensed free-agent
period and guys like Tayshaun will still be high on people’s list.”
TayShaun certainly would be a valuable asset wherever he plays next season. He has experience of playing at the very top level and averaged a healthy 14.1 points per game on 47 shooting last season despite his advancing age. The
player is also a superb defender and has a good three-point shot which is important at his position.
Once the new CBA is in place, there could be queue of teams vying to get his signature.
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