NBA Rumor: Detroit Pistons Re-Signing Rodney Stuckey Long-Term

Following a 30-52 season, there are a lot of things that need to change with the Detroit Pistons this summer. Apparently Rodney Stuckey is not one of them. After four years with the franchise, Stuckey will be a restricted free agent this summer and word is that he won’t be going anywhere.

From Chris Iott of MLive.com:

Stuckey is a restricted free agent, so he doesn’t have much control over his fate (assuming the next collective bargaining agreement is similar to the current one). Even if he wants to leave, the Pistons have the option of matching an offer he gets elsewhere and keeping him. Joe Dumars has said he wants Stuckey back.

Of course, Stuckey could agree to the qualifying offer the Pistons are required to extend to him if they want to re-sign him. That would pay him about $3.9 million next season and allow him to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2012.

That seems extremely unlikely. It is much more likely that the Pistons will retain him with a lucrative multi-year deal, whether he first signs an offer sheet elsewhere or re-signs directly with the Pistons. The Pistons appear very unlikely to let him walk for nothing.

And they shouldn’t. This past season, Stuckey averaged 15.5 points, 5.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, including 25.2 points and 9.4 assists over the final five games of the year. There aren’t many 25-year-old combo guards that can do what he does, and with a new coach to learn from, Stuckey to make a significant leap next season.

What do you think? Should the Pistons re-sign Stuckey long-term?

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