NBA
Pistons ink Gordon, Villanueva
The Detroit Pistons are acting quickly to remake a former championship contender.
The Pistons agreed to five-year contracts Wednesday with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press.
Those were the first big moves of the NBA’s free agency period, which began just after midnight. Detroit, thanks to the Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson trade, is one of the few teams with significant salary cap space this summer.
Gordon and Villanueva are former Connecticut teammates who will remain in the Central Division. Gordon was Chicago’s leading scorer and Villanueva played for Milwaukee.
Jason Kidd also seems in high demand, meeting with two suitors on the opening day of free agency in the NBA. So does Marcin Gortat, who could land an offer to be Kidd’s teammate.
And Ron Artest might be able to swap Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady for LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal.
Cleveland was believed to be interested in Villanueva, in need of another forward who can defend on the perimeter. Perhaps James has a different one in mind, with the Plain Dealer of Cleveland, citing anonymous sources, reporting Wednesday that James and Artest met Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Kidd listened to pitches from both Dallas and New York on Wednesday. The Mavericks can offer significantly more money to their point guard, and owner Mark Cuban showed his interest by flying to New York to meet with Kidd before the Knicks did.
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