<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">AUBURN HILLS -- If you think Chauncey Billups is planning on using this season to campaign for his next contract, if you think he's going to go from city to city all year long engaging in media debate over what he's worth and fueling speculation as to where he might end up, well, you can forget it. "My focus is not on my next contract at all," Billups said after the team's first practice Tuesday morning. "I am just trying to duplicate what we did last year and get better at the end -- team-wise ? As far as that (his next contract), I will not talk about that all year. At the end of the year, we can sit down and have a conversation." Billups, 30, will make $6.36 million this season, with a player option to make $6.82 million next year. There is little doubt he will forgo his option and enter the free-agent market. For an All-Star point guard and former NBA Finals MVP, $6.82 million is a bargain price. Sacramento's Mike Bibby makes $12.5 million. New Jersey's Jason Kidd makes $18 million. Pistons president Joe Dumars has already planned for the eventuality of Billups opting out. You can bet the Pistons will be prepared to offer Billups a four-year contract worth at least $60 million, which is $10 million more than they offered center Ben Wallace. Is Billups happy and comfortable in Detroit? Would he like to continue playing here? Do the Pistons want him to continue leading this team for the next four years? Of course. But nothing can happen -- league rules prohibit any negotiations with the Pistons or other teams -- until July 1. And, as we all saw with Wallace, the landscape can change between now and then. So, Billups rightly says, why bother to talk about it now? "There's going to be no dialogue," he said. "It's a non-issue." Billups waved off the notion that being in a contract year would somehow be an added pressure or affect his approach to the season. "I don't change anything," he said. "I am a wins and losses guy. If my stats have to go up for us to be better, then they will. If they have to come down, they will. But I am going to be the same guy I've been."</div> Source
