This news isn't a surprise to anyone. Hamilton hasn't been the same player ever since Chauncey Billups was shipped to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. His production has tailed off, but I attribite that to the Pistons' decline. Clashing with former coaches Michael Curry and John Kuester didn't help either. The latter feud landed him an extended role on the bench. Call me what you want but I still feel Hamilton got a raw deal on that one. Of course many of us don't know what happened behind the scenes. At that point and time I probably would've traded Rip for a bobsled.
Some of it is perfromance related, but as I stated before you can tie his lack of production (14.1 points) last season to the team's all around bad performance. Hamilton did act like a spoiled child who figured since he has one championship under his belt that he should be given more respect. Hamilton lost a lot of respect with Piston fans over the last year.
The reason why he hasn't been dealt was because of the ridiculous contract extension Hamilton signed right before Billups was shipped out of town. The contract was a deal breaker but according to a report by Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press it might not be as troublesome as it once seemed.
He's owed roughly $21 million over the next two seasons, as the second year is only partially guaranteed. And remember president of basketball operations Joe Dumars has almost traded Hamilton several times when the financial burden was greater.
We'll have to see what happens when the season resumes and see are the Pistons willing to let go of the remnants of the 2004 championship team.
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