ESPN is reporting that the Pistons and restricted free agent Will Bynum have agreed to terms on a 3-year, $10.5 million contract.

It looks like the Pistons got a minor steal even if you believe that Bynum’s talent has plateaued at a career of being the “quick, pesky backup PG.” As others have written, the market in the NBA this season has been downright bananas. Even if you don’t count players taking their talents to South Beach, you have former Pistons disappointments Darko Milicic and Amir Johnson signing for deals worth $20 million and $34 million, respectively.

The market for point guards hasn’t been any less insane, with backups signing for between $4 and $6 million per year. Add to that, Joe Dumars’ propensity for giving his players lavish contracts in the past (Hamilton, McDyess, Maxiell, etc.), and I was a little worried. Rebuilding teams can’t overpay for marginal role players.

I’d say nabbing Bynum at an average of $3.5 million per season is a coup for Dumars. In fact, taking this news into account, and the fact that the Pistons were able to re-sign Ben Wallace for two years at less than $5 million total, and I would argue that the Pistons were one of the only teams in the NBA that was able to find BARGAINS this offseason.

Add to that, the fact that practically no players are left to try and lure with the mid level exception, which is playing with fire anyway (cough, Nazr), and another successful draft and I’d say the Pistons offseason has been an unmitigated success.

Of course, the biggest item on the docket remains, and that is finding a taker for either or both of Tayshaun Prince or Richard Hamilton in return for any size whatsoever.

Ben Wallace will be back with the Pistons next season and says he wants to retire in a Detroit uniform.  The Associated Press reports that Wallace signed a two-year deal that will pay him $1.9 million per season.

The Pistons are undefeated! Detroit was behind almost the entire game, but kept the deficit in the six to 10 point range and really turned up the intensity with about three minutes remaining and went on a game-ending 13-0 run to sneak away with a victory, 89-84. (Box score here). I think this is a great sign for their upcoming season.

Just kidding, summer league games don’t mean anything. But the one thing they let you do is take a look at the latest draft pick or maybe a sleeper in the undrafted free agent class. Plus, there is added excitement for Pistons fans because Detroit has their first top-10 draft pick playing in the summer league since the player that should not be mentioned.

Truth is, though, Greg Monroe got pretty badly outplayed by a character Caracter (as in the L.A. Lakers’ Derrick Caracter) who was drafted 51 picks after him.

Monroe played like a young, inexperience player. Trying to be too quick with everyting, especially in the post, and rushing every move instead of letting the game come to him. He also struggled converting near the rim and couldn’t get a couple put backs to go in.

And although his statline, 8 points on 4-13 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 tournovers, was pedestrian, he did do a lot of things that impressed. That included fighting in traffic to grab some of his boards, and showing well on screens, although he sometimes struggled with his lack of lateral quickness to keep the L.A. point guards in front of him.

The most disappointing aspect about his inaugural game was his lack of physical presence. He didn’t use his size or strength to any sort of advantage, and he let himself get pushed around by some smaller players on occassion. All in all he had a mediocre first three quarters and then an absolute terrible fourth quarter when you could tell he was running on fumes. I’m surprised he didn’t pass out on his way to a fastbreak dunk he had at the end of the game.

The other Pistons draft pick, Terrico White, played quite well. But one wonders whether he is going to be the next Dajuan Summers or the next Jonas Jerebko. Remember, in last year’s summer league both Summers and Jerebko were two players fans were not excited about coming out of the draft, and both players played extremely well in the summer league. One player was able to keep that momentum throughout the entire season and eventually played himself into the regular rotation. The other player got to be in a Color Tyme commercial.

White played under control for the most part and had a much stronger offensive game than I had anticipated. He didn’t rely soely on his athleticism to slash to the bucket, but instead used his strength and speed to create enough space to pull up for nice mid-range jumpers or force a defender to come help on defense and then White would dish it off to a teammate for a good open look. He only had three assists, but he didn’t look lost running the offense.

The other top Pistons player, and I would argue the best player on the floor, was Austin Daye. I’ve always loved Daye’s offensive game because he seems to be able to use his myriad skills in smart ways to score efficiently.

Against the Lakers, Daye had 21 points, a team-high six rebounds and two steals. He also intiated the offense quite a bit and played good defense, compensating for his lack of bulk by using his length smartly. The comparisons to Tayshaun Prince seem more apt every day.

Next up for the Pistons are the Golden State Warriors. Tip off is at 8 p.m. and you can watch the game online for just $15 bucks at NBA.com. I look forward to Monroe badly outplaying the player the Warriors selected instead of Monroe, Ekpe Udoh.

The Pistons announced their full Summer League roster, and there are no real surprises in the group.Of chief interest to me is whether there is a chance a big man can emerge as a developmental rebounding, shot-blocking, defensive force of any kind.

The candidates are as follows, Jared Reiner and Jordan Eglseder, both of whom I covered in this post, and Mac Koshwal, who, despite being 6-10, never averaged more than 0.9 blocks per game. He is the classic Dumars player, undersized, huge wingspan, big man with a face-up game, etc. He is definitely the most offensively inclined of the three possible center Summer League invites, but he’s very toolsy, and I’m not sure if he projects as any sort of great defender. Here is a look at the full roster, courtesy of pistons.com:

The first moves in NBA free agency had nothing to do with LeBron, Wade or Bosh, but they did have connections to the Pistons. And as I feared the moves prove that this is not the season you want to be a team that is committed to signing a player to the mid level exception.

The Pistons might have overpaid for Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva last year. Mistakes have obviously been made. But I think Joe Dumars was exactly right that saving the money for the free agent bonanza of 2010 would have been a big mistake.

Former Pistons front office executive continues to rebuild the Milwaukee Bucks, but his latest move makes me wonder if he’s overvaluing the “missing piece” that his team needs. Sure, they needed a big man that could help on D, but they sure as hell didn’t need to spend $32 million for five years for a known knucklehead who has played for eight teams in the past eight years.

And the other crazy deal to come out of free agency is Darko “I can’t wait to get out of the NBA so I can go on another profanity laced tirade in Europe” Milicic agreeing to a four-year, $20 million deal to stay with the Timberwolves.

One of the biggest busts in NBA history has now pocketed nearly $60 million in the NBA, thank you very much.

Jordan Eglseder bested Cole Aldrich in the NCAA tournament, and hopefully he can best him in the pros, as the former Northern Iowa Panther plays for the Pistons Summer League Team. Photo courtesy of Yardbarker

Ridiculous Upside has a great list of this year’s summer league rosters, including much of the Pistons’ squad. Names not already mentioned include: point guards Edgar Sosa and Marquez Haynes; and centers Jared Reiner and Jordan Eglseder.

Many fans are hoping most for a big man to latch on to the team as a designated rebounder and defensive stopper. At 28, Reiner is a man, not a boy, and has been floating around various professional leagues since 2004. Last season in the D-league he ranked eighth with 15.3 boards per 48 of players that played at least 10 games on the JV circuit.

Michigan State fans should remember Eglseder as a member of the ninth-ranked Northern Iowa Panthers, whose run as a Cinderella in the NCAA tournament was stopped by the Spartans in the Sweet 16. What the bald-headed Eglseder lacks in a hairline, he makes up for in size as a legit 7-footer and a beefy 280 pounds. He seems to have been quite the rebounder at Northern Iowa and takes up a lot of space in the post. In his senior season in 2009-10, he ranked third in the nation in rebounds adjusted for pace and second in defensive boards, according to Draft Express.

He also enjoyed a quality NCAA tournament playing against the big boys. In just18 minutes in the first round he almost got a double double, snaring 10 rebounds to go with nine points on 4-9 shooting. In an upset win over Kansas in round two, Eglseder had five rebounds and 14 points, including 2-3 from the 3-point line and in the loss to MSU, he grabbed five more boards and scored nine in 22 minutes of action.

I definitely think the Pistons will have room on the end of the bench for a wide-bodied rebounding specialist.

Former Pistons playing in the summer league are Trent Plaisted with the Chicago Bulls, Will Blalock with my new favorite Western Conference team, the Golden State “we’ll pass on Monroe for Udoh” Warriors, Deron Washington with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Ronald Dupree with the Toronto Raptors.

Other invitees of note include former Michigan Wolverine Manny Harris going to Cleveland and former Michigan State Spartans Maurice Ager getting a look-see from the New Olreans Hornets and Raymar Morgan with the Washington Wizards. Speaking of the Wizards,  Javaris Cittenton is hoping to not fall completely out of the league following Arenas-gate by going back to the Los Angeles Lakers, the team that drafted him 19th overall just three years ago.

Add mark your calendars for July 12, when the Pistons most interesting summer league game will go down. It will be a battle of rookie big men as Detroit and first-round pick Greg Monroe  face off against Sacremento and slightly higher pick  DeMarcus Cousins.

I had this tucked away in the post on available undrafed big men, but I figured it deserved a post of its own.

Players confirmed to be invited to join Detroit Pistons’ summer league team:

Of course, the most obvious participants will be the Pistons’ latest draft picks, Greg Monroe and Terrico White. Joining them will be last seasons’ trio of rookies, Jonas Jerebko, Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers. The three will be back in the summer league in preparation for their sophomore seasons.

Western Kentucky guard A.J. Slaughter will be on the squad, according to the Bowling Green Daily News.

Former UAB guard and brother to the Utah Jazz’s Paul Millsap, Elijah Millsap will also join the Pistons, according to some fine folks in Utah. Elijah is a 6-6 guard, but he seems to possess some of his brother’s natural ability on the boards.

One thing you learn from perusing the comments over at the great Pistons fan site Detroit Bad Boys, is that they don’t like the second-round selection of Terrico White. No, I mean they REALLY don’t like it. I mean they HATE it. I mean they want Joe Dumars FIRED over it. While the last sentiment is probably mostly in jest, they really do despise the pick, as several big men remained on the board and the Pistons didn’t bite.

Personally, I think it’s making a mountain out a mole hill. Dumars is trying to hit a home run on a toolsy player who probably won’t pan out. But then again, most first round picks don’t pan out, so I can’t be too angry with him. But with all that said, one thing remains very true. The Pistons are in desperate search for size. I think some of that will come through trades, with Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and a sign-and-trade eligible Will Bynum used as bait.

But as every Ben Wallace fan knows, you can’t neglect those undrafted free agents. Teams grabbed undrafted players to take a flyer on and fill out there summer squads, and the Pistons will be no different. With Greg Monroe their “best” prospect to start at center, I decided to see who the Pistons could grab that went undrafted. Perhaps one of the greatest undrafted players of all time, Ben Wallace, can pass that torch to a new teammate.

I grabbed Chad Ford’s top 100 prospect list off ESPN.com and scribbled down the name of every power forward and center that wasn’t playing overseas. Then I went trolling for information. I will update this list as I learn more information.

Omar Samahan, a skilled big man out of St. Mary’s has been pegged for the Atlanta Hawks’ summer league squad, per a tweet from Jeff Goodman of Foxsports.com.

Brian Zoubek, of Duke, looks like he is garnering a lot of interest from the New York Knicks, but nothing is official. UPDATED: Draft Express is reporting Zoubek to play summer league with the Nets.

Everyone’s favorite Belarusian Art Parakhouski has gone undrafted and there is no word on where he is likely to end up. There seemed to be some idea amongst Wizard fans that the team thought highly of him. UPDATED: Draft Express says Art is Boston bound.

Charles Garcia a power forward out of Seattle went undrafted and was worked out by the Pistons.

It seems that the Phoenix Suns had some interest in DePaul’s Mac Koshwal

Andrew Ogilvy worked out for the Nets, but I can’t find any interest anywhere.

Michael Washington will be playing for the N.Y. Knicks summer league squad, per his agent.

A Tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski has my interest piqued. “Despite the drafting of Greg Monroe, the Pistons aren’t done trying to pry DeMarcus Cousins out of Sacramento tonight, league sources say.” Interesting …………

Also, if you’re interested, here is the draft profile I wrote on Monroe earlier this month.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled NBA draft to bring the news that former Piston and all-around bad ass Rasheed Wallace has officially announced he is retiring after 15 years in the NBA. David Aldridge first reported the story at NBA.com.