Pistons take aim at old glory by bringing back Billups

Chauncey lands another chance to lift Motown

Chauncey Billups wanted to stay with the Detroit Pistons for the rest of his career.

Now the team that traded him away five years ago has brought him back.

Joe Dumars, Detroit's president of basketball operations, confirmed on Thursday that Billups and the team had agreed to terms on a two-year contract that will pay the veteran point guard $2.5 million each year.

The first year is guaranteed.

"I never wanted to leave here. Everyone knows that," Billups said on Jan 26, 2011, after making a flurry of 3-pointers late in a game to help Denver win in Detroit. "I wanted to retire here."

He's back to help the Pistons as a pass-first point guard who can drain 3-pointers.

He will also be expected to mentor 21-year-old Brandon Knight and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the No 8 overall pick in the draft, both on and off the court.

Detroit dealt Billups to Denver on Nov 3, 2008, when the franchise decided its championship-winning window had closed.

The Pistons are almost 100 games under .500 since making the unpopular and unsuccessful move.

They traded Billups in part to speed the development of Rodney Stuckey, to see if Allen Iverson could provide a spark while his contract expired and to clear salary-cap space for the future.

"It was just a season of inevitable change and inevitable pain," Dumars said after Detroit's 2008-09 season ended by getting swept in the first round by the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers.

"Although it was a tough year, we also knew it was a necessary process if you're trying to position yourself to remain relevant."

Stuckey, who is still with the team, never became a dependable point guard. And the millions spent in the summer of 2009 on free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva turned out to be wasted.

The Pistons traded Gordon to Charlotte last summer, basically to get his contract off the books.

Detroit could still deal Villanueva, who is entering the last year of his deal, to a team that might want to take on his expiring contract later this summer or during the upcoming season.

The Pistons, 148-244 since trading Billups, are in a four-year postseason drought. It's their longest since missing six straight from 1978 through 1983.

Billups, a five-time All-Star, turns 37 in September.

He tore his left Achilles tendon during the 2011-12 season, when he was limited to 20 games with the Los Angeles Clippers, and bounced back last season to play 22 games for them.

Billups has averaged 15.4 points - making 42 percent of his 3-pointers - and 5.5 assists during his career.

Boston drafted him out of Colorado with the No 3 pick in 1997. He was on rosters in Toronto, with his hometown Nuggets, Orlando, Minnesota, Detroit, back to Denver, New York and the Clippers.

He bounced around early in his career, but has always had fans at The Palace, which hasn't been the same buzz-filled building it once was since he was sent away.

When Billups played his first game in Detroit after being traded, his signature introduction - "Buh! Buh! Buh! Billups! - set off a standing ovation that lasted a couple of minutes and led to him blowing kisses to the crowd.

Back then, Billups said it was the most emotional regular season game he had experienced to that point in his 12-year career.

"I may forget the game and what happened," he said. "But the ovation and warm welcome the fans gave me, I'll never forget."

It's easy to forget how good the Pistons were after they signed him as a free agent in 2002.

With his steady play on the court and calm demeanor off it, Billups helped the Pistons win a title and come within a victory of repeating while reaching at least the Eastern Conference finals in each of his six full seasons with them.

The Magic Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers are the only other franchise to play in six straight conference finals since 1970-71, when teams had to win two series to advance that far.

The Pistons, though, seemed to be fading as a championship contender when they won just two games in three straight conference finals before sending Billups away.

As the Pistons try to make a climb back toward being a relevant NBA team, a goal that was helped by signing Josh Smith on Wednesday, they are anxious for Billups to return.

(China Daily 07/13/2013 page16)