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What do you think Benedict Wallace is worth? The Detroit Pistons' team president, Joe Dumars, thought he was worth 12.5 million dollars per year for four years. An offer that, in my estimation, grossly overstates his worth to the Pistons. The Chicago Bulls, however, gave him the extra money he wanted--4 years, 60 million dollars--prompting him to take the red-eye out of town.

A lot of Pistons fans are going to be distraught about losing Benedict, but let me tell you why you shouldn't:

Benedict Wallace is, arguably the best defensive player in the NBA. But, he is also, arguably, the BIGGEST OFFENSIVE LIABILITY in the League. How many other full-time starters in the NBA average less than seven points per game and miss more than half of their free throws?

Think about it this way, if Benedict Wallace is worth 15 million a year for playing only one half of the game of basketball, how much should Kobe Bryant or Ron Artest be worth? The last time I checked, Bryant was making 15.9 million per year and was a top five defender and the best offensive player in the game. Artest, a former NBA defensive player of the year who can also score you 20 points a game, is making a paltry six million dollars per year in Sacramento. This is amazing when you consider that both these players are roughly TWICE AS GOOD as Benedict.

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Elton Brand is a better player than Benedict who makes less than 15 million a year. The same can be said for Shawn Marion, Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki who also make less than 15 million.

During his time in Detroit, Benedict made himself out to be the team player extraordinaire. Where was the team player when contract time came? He took more money to play for a lesser team, so that makes him average. He's not Steve Yzerman or Lou Whitaker, Detroit fans. He's a phony.

Detroit made Benedict what he is today. The Pistons had the strength on the perimeter to allow a TERRIBLE offensive player to just play defense. Not many teams in the League can afford to have one of their starters be absolutely LOST on offense.

In closing, I would like to say thank you to the Chicago Bulls. I thought, at least for a while, that you guys were starting to really put things together. But, you just paid a post player who cannot even catch an entry pass cleanly 15 million dollars a year!!

Maybe now we can let the young kids play...