The Pistons have been busy this offseason, awarding the biggest non-max deal of the summer to Josh Smith, and also bringing aboard role players like Gigi Datome and Chauncey Billups. However, one move the club didn't make involved the amnesty provision, as Charlie Villanueva became perhaps the likeliest amnesty candidate not to be released.
Pistons GM Joe Dumars spoke to reporters about that decision, along with his expectations for the coming season, so let's check out the highlights, courtesy of Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press….
On why the Pistons didn't use the amnesty clause:
"Couple of reasons that you use or not use the amnesty. One is that usually you use amnesty to try to create space. You don’t have enough space, and you need that amnesty. And so we were $20MM to $25MM in cap space, and we didn’t need more space. One of the second reasons you use amnesty is you’re targeting someone specific, and you need that money to get it done. We knew we could do everything we needed to get done with the space we had. We would have just amnestied Charlie and we would be sitting here right now with the space and that’s it. There wasn’t a need to use it. Plus, you’re talking about an expiring contract. It made no sense to use it."
On whether the front office is comfortable with the current roster:
"I’m comfortable if we had to go in the season with this roster. I’m really comfortable now with this roster, but you can’t shut the door now and say we’re done. It’s the middle of July right now, and it’s a long way from Oct. 1st. You let teams around the league know that you’re still open. If something comes up that gets us one step further, we’d do it. But if you’re asking me if I’m comfortable with this, yeah, I am."
On whether he views the Pistons as a playoff team:
"I don’t know. I know we can compete for it now. We’ve upgraded the talent. We’ve upgraded what we needed to in terms of shooting, leadership, athleticism. We’ve made the steps to get better and time will tell how it plays out. Obviously we felt we’ve improved this offseason."