Charlie Villanueva has been preparing himself for a starting role this summer.

Jonas Jerebko appears to be the odds-on favorite to be Detroit's starting small forward, but Villanueva plans on challenging for the job.

"That's my mentality, to be a starter," Villanueva said.

"But at the same time, I don't want it to be given to me. I want to earn it. I believe I can be a starter in this league. I've done it before. When we get closer to training camp, I would like to sit down with (Kuester) and just share thoughts, expectations for my role, and just take it from there."

Tracy McGrady still believes he has plenty left in the tank as he prepares to return from microfracture knee surgery as a member of the Pistons.

"I'm not changing anything," McGrady said.

"I'm only 31 years old. I'm not 44 or 41. ... I might not be dunking on anybody like I used to, but I'm going to put the ball in the hole. Who was that, (Mehmet) Okur, I dunked on in '03? I might not be doing stuff like that ... but I still can put it in the hole."

Ben Gordon is vowing to play for Great Britain next summer.

Gordon, who was born in London, passed on playing for Britain at this summer's World Championships as he rehabs following offseason ankle surgery.

"I moved to New York when I was 10 months old," he said. "I would visit every summer when I was younger to visit my dad. But when I started to play competitively, I stopped coming, because summer's the time when you get better."

Greg Monroe is still recovering from a minor procedure on his right foot after Summer League.

"It's just a lot more comfortable," said Monroe, who hasn't resumed basketball activities. "It was something that gave me a little pain. I'm not hesitating on some movements I've had before. It's going to help me a lot."

Austin Daye will enter the 2010-11 season with some established goals.

Entering his second NBA season, Daye said he can already feel a difference.

"I feel the progress has been very good, especially from last year to this year, I can tell the difference in my game; it's a lot more efficient and a lot stronger," he said.

Daye averaged 15.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in three games at the Las Vegas Summer League last month.

"The number one goal would probably be to make the playoffs, but individually, it would be to make the rookie-sophomore game (during NBA all-star weekend) and make sure and get some playing time," he said.

A group representing California businessman Tom Gores, a Michigan native, met Wednesday with Palace Sports & Entertainment officials, according to sources.

It was the group's second meeting with PS&E officials, which appears to make Gores a serious candidate to purchase the team.

Forbes recently valued the team and it's brand at $479 million.

One person close to the situation, however, cautioned that Gores isn't necessarily the frontrunner to purchase the team.

Tracy McGrady was introduced as the newest member of the Pistons on Monday.

"Come off the bench - if that's what it is, that's what it is," McGrady said. "I'm just ready to play baskeball, y'all. Seriously. That's what I wake up thinking about. That's what I love to do."

The contract will pay McGrady about $1.3 million this season after he made $23 million in 2009-10.

"For these last two years I've been kind of alienating my family a little bit because I've been fighting so hard to get back," he said. "I'm just excited and I'm eager to get back. I look forward to it."

The bank hired to broker the sale of the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment Inc. is seeking $500 million, a price industry insiders consider to be too high.

Karen Davidson, who has owned the team since the March 2009 death of her husband, Bill Davidson, has hired New York City-based Citi Private Bank's sports finance and advisory team to broker a sale.

The Pistons are valued at $479 million by Forbes, although analysts warn that the financial publication's valuations are suspect.

"Today, with the financial uncertainty, the tremendous dislocation of the Michigan economy, that would be an extraordinary price to be achieved," Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based sports consulting firm Sportscorp Ltd.

"If it were two years ago, maybe."

Tracy McGrady believes the Pistons signed him to a bargain contract, but he is reluctant to say much at this point.

"My game this season will do all the talking I need to do now,'' McGrady told FanHouse on Friday. "There's no need for me to say anything else at this point.''

Former Houston Rockets President George Postolos is among those expressing interest in buying the Detroit Pistons.

"I am bullish on the NBA, the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports and Entertainment," said Postolos on Friday.

Postolos, who has been part of bids to buy the Portland Trailblazers and the Charlotte Bobcats, is working with an as yet unnamed investor group.