Detroit Pistons: Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva Must Be Moved to Rebuild Team

One team that needs to rebuild through trades and future drafts is the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons—who experienced much success from 2000 through 2008, including winning an NBA championship in 2004—were finally able to release veteran shooting guard Richard Hamilton and brought in Lawrence Frank to replace former head coach John Kuester.

Since 2008, the Pistons have been unable to find a clear path towards rebuilding through younger players. This is due in part to the long-term contracts owed to veterans Ben Gordon (five years, $55 million) and Charlie Villanueva (five years, $35 million), who were signed during the free-agency period of 2009. Things have not gone as expected in Detroit, and that has made it difficult for general manager Joe Dumars, the former longtime Piston.

Gordon and Villanueva have since struggled, partly due to suffering injuries which have caused them to miss a lot of playing time. Since their contracts are large and they have not lived up to their potential, it appears that it is going to be close to impossible for Dumars to find a taker in the trade market.

The Pistons are currently using a starting lineup of Rodney Stuckey, Ben Gordon, Tayshaun Prince, Jonas Jerebko and Greg Monroe. Coming off the bench are rookie Brandon Knight, Austin Daye and veteran center Ben Wallace.

The Pistons have to find a way to move Gordon and/or Villanueva in order to focus on their core group (still somewhat undetermined) of players and accumulate more assets when possible—either through trades or future drafts.

The Detroit Pistons need to move on from these two players in order to truly start their rebuilding process.