The letters are typed and loaded. All that remains is the wait for 12:01 EST, Sunday morning. Then the Pistons begin the tasking of convincing Chris Webber, Antonio Davis or Allan Houston to come to Detroit.

Perry A. Farrell of the Detroit Free Press reports that even though the Pistons will try to woo free agents, they may instead build by making trades.

The new CBA put provisions in place that would level a Luxury Tax against teams with payrolls that exceed a certain limit. Now we're beginning to see the ramifications behind this. The Lindsey Hunter-for-Greg Foster trade was a Luxury Tax-motivated trade. So was the trade of Cliff Robinson to Detroit.

"This may be the first luxury-tax trade that you've seen in the NBA, and you're going to see a lot more deals where it looks, basketball-wise, to be uneven," Joe Dumars said Friday afternoon.

Chris McKoskey of the Detroit News reports that the Pistons obviously have eyes for Chris Webber, but even they realize the logistics of luring him to his native Michigan. Plans B-E appear to be, in no particular order: Marc Jackson, Nazr Mohammed, Antonio Davis and Maurice Taylor.

The Suns have decided to jettison Cliff Robinson.  Associated Press is reporting a done deal to Detroit for John Wallace and Jud Buechler.  You have to think the Suns are not through dealing yet.  Could Penny Hardaway be next?  One wonders if any NBA players are going to get the message -- show up on the police blotter or smoke the funny stuff and we'll find a way to ship you out.  First JWill, then Kidd now Robinson are moved.  Teams are always going to deny that off-court behavior isn't an issue but the evidence is mounting.

When asked if he felt the teams that passed on him made a mistake, new Pistons forward Rodney White, taken 9th overall in the 2001 NBA draft, replied "Put the word out, I'm definitely on a mission."  The player many slated to go in the top six after multiple impressive workouts, including rave reviews by Michael Jordan, certainly isn't shy on confidence.  When asked which NBA players he is gunning for, White again did not hold back his disappointment.  "I'm going at everybody right now." Lets see if he is a man of his word.