<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Looking beyond the playoffs, tough decisions looming With the Pistons having workouts this morning with a bunch of players few have ever heard of, with Michigan?s Daniel Horton being the exception, it?s time to start at least peeking around the corner at next season. Based on Detroit?s 3-2 series deficit against the Heat, next season may become a topic of discussion in less than 48 hours when the Pistons season will likely be over. At any rate, what seemed like a relatively quiet summer for the Pistons will be anything but that. The biggest issue they have to contend with is what to do with Ben Wallace and his impending free agency status. He looked really solid last night, but performances like that have been few and far between this season, and fewer and farther between in this series. It?s never solely about rebounds and blocked shots with Wallace, but more about how his presence impacts his teammates, and changes the mindset of his opponents. It?s clear that Wallace?s strengths - athleticism and quickness - are beginning to decline, which makes the prospect of signing him to a long-term, near-max contract highly unlikely on Detroit?s part. And Joe Dumars, as we?ve all seen before, is not one to sign a guy to a big contract just because he likes him a lot, or holds a lot of same beliefs as far as how the game should be played. Jerry Stackhouse was traded just months after helping Detroit win 50 games after tallying just 32 wins the season prior to that. Lindsey Hunter, a player Dumars has the utmost respect for, both as a player and as a person, has been traded by Joe D. twice. So the idea that he might trade Wallace, or elect to not re-sign him, is not that big a stretch. While Wallace?s future next season is the one that will garner the most headlines, here are some other Pistons players that Detroit will probably have to make some tough calls on as well.</div> Source
