Let the signing begin. The season isn't even over yet and the Detroit Pistons are already making personnel decisions, the team giving Cliff Robinson a two-year, $10 million contract extension Chris McCosky of the Detroit News is reporting.
The Pistons decided that it was better to secure the services of the 36 year old who acts as a key component to the team's workings now rather than risk being outbid in the offseason. Making $8.42 this season, Robinson is set to earn $4.74 million next season and $5.28 million in 2004-05. The team will then hold an option for a third season.
"We look at Cliff Robinson as a valuable asset to our team, and we didn't want to put ourselves in a position where we could lose him," said John Hammond, vice president of basketball for the Pistons. "Getting the agreement done now is beneficial both to Cliff and to the organization."
"Cliff's legacy in this league, I believe, will be as a true winning player," Pistons Coach Rick Carlisle said. "He has never won fewer than 44 games in a season, and he has never missed the playoffs in his 14 seasons. This sends a clear message that contributions to winning are going to be rewarded by the Detroit Pistons."
"Of all the great moves Joe (Dumars) has been able to make here, trading for Cliff Robinson has been one of the most important," Carlisle said. "He just enhances our situation so many ways."
Robinson came to the Pistons as a luxury tax sacrafice of the Phoenix Suns and immediately made an impact. To say that the team acquired him cheaply is an understatement, Detroit giving up just Jud Buechler and John Wallace - both of whom are no longer in the league - to get the job done.
"I could have played it out, waited and gone into the summer, but I am really excited about the direction this team is going. I weighed all my options, but in the end it just didn't make any sense to go anyplace else. We have started something here, and I want to be part of it when we finish it."
Next up for the Pistons will be the resigning of guards Richard Hamilton and Jon Barry, both expected to be mere formalities. The signing of the trio will eliminate any cap space the team may have had.
"Any cap space we would have had would have been created if we chose not to re-sign Cliff and Rip," Hammond said. "But you would be talking about losing a huge part of our team. Obviously we want to re-sign Rip. We want him here and we want him here long-term and we plan on doing so. That will take up our cap space, but no one in this organization is interested in us not re-signing him."
McCosky mentions that Detroit now finds themselves in a unique situation that many teams would love to be in themselves. Not only will they have their core secured, but the team are in no threat to exceed the luxury tax threshold and will have two, potentially three, draft picks this summer. This means the team will have plenty of flexability to make deals this summer should the right scenario arise.
"We had flexibility to improve our team last summer, and we will have flexibility to do it again this summer," Hammond said.