I don't care about your flaws. I don't care that you're bad at foul shooting. I don't care about your hot temper. I don't care about your stubborn nature, your unwillingness to accept certain realities. I don't care that you stayed on the bench in Orlando and I don't care that you questioned the coach publicly. I don't care that your numbers aren't what they used to be.

I don't care about any of it, because only one thing really matters. You - Ben Wallace - hold the identity of this team in your hands. And we need you to stay, for us, the ones who really understand that it all happens because of you. You are Detroit Basketball.

And I know there are problems.

Flip doesn't understand you. He's one of the bad guys, one of those shallow-minded types who can't see the true depth of your powers. And I don't know why you'd stay with a guy like him at the helm, I don't. I, personally, hate to watch him waste your talents. It was embarrassing seeing you on the bench throughout the final quarter of the season. It was some sort of basketball blasphemy.

But I know this: Joe Dumars does see that you are special. He knows that you make a good team a great team. He knows that you embody the working spirit of this old city in a way that no athlete, maybe ever, has ever reflected the city they play for. And whatever went wrong this season, believe me when I say that Joe will try to fix it. Because he knows that you're the key.

And so I implore you to stay right here. Even if means taking less money, I'm begging you, don't leave. Those other teams and those other cities will have their allures, and I don't blame you for being tempted. But those places won't understand you the way we do.

Your heart isn't in your chest. Its right here. In The D.

You are Detroit Basketball. Detroit Basketball is You.

So please, Ben, don't leave us here alone. Metropolis needs its Superman.

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good riddance if you leave ben. your ego killed us. our season took a terrible turn for the worse after your selfish act at the end of the orlando game. you didn't bring it in the playoffs and teams exploited you as our weakness. thanks for the memories though.

If we lose Ben you can say to next season.

Not really, I would expect Joe to be savvy enough to do a reasonable sign and trade if Ben happens to leave. Just for the sake of wild imagination, suppose you got KG (not going to happen) in return for Ben and another player/draft pick? The front court with KG and Sheed would be scary. Again, just a wild scenario but I am trying to make the point that it all depends on what the return is.

Like you said though that's not likely to happen though. Who would we get in return for him?

Joe will have his work cut out trying to identify and put together good deals.

this is not the point of this thread. just saying.

And can we Piston fans put a moratorium on the KG trade, please? Listen folks, it's been brought up time after time and is probably the least imaginative, least likely trade to ever happen. It must stop. As Pat "The Book" Caputo said last night, why not trade Delk for Amare Stoudemire while we're at it?

Sign me up for the Keep Ben Club. Yes, he struggled in the playoffs, and seemed to be as affected by the mysterious bad mojo as anyone (and as a team leader, you have to pin some of that on him). But when everything is clicking, Ben does so many things that are simply irreplaceable--steals, tip-outs, intimidation--things that relate to his ability to cover a huge area of the court and often don't show up on the stat sheet. He's starting on the downside of his career, but still only 31.

When the team chemistry is right, Ben is at his best. If the chemistry is not right, it won't matter who we have, because we'll just see more of the same uninspired play that brought everything crashing down this postseason.

I want to keep Ben, too, but I wonder if a reduced role is in his future? If so, how would he deal with that? Flip has reduced his role. I think most of us can agree on that.

Its hard to get a good read on this. It appears that Ben wants to comeback, where else could his heart be ( post-game int ). He will be 32 next season. He has I would say 3 good years left and after that its going to get ugly because so much of his game is based on athletisism.

A max or near max 3-year deal would be ideal. If he is going for max 6 then its going to be a tough call and I don't think Dumars is going to do it. But will other teams? They usually overpay for youth. I also am not sure how much sitting out the ORL game and calling out his coach in the middle of the playoffs is going to hurt his value. And max players do not sit out 4th quarters in elimination games because of poor offense. I thought he should have been in there but other teams will note that he sat.

Personally I do not see some other team dishing out max money until he is 38. I think we will get it done on a shorter deal but who knows. Other GM's have shocked me before with elaborate contracts.

If Dumars does not get it done then he better have another young big lined up about ready for the breakout season like Ben was when we got him.