When Tayshaun Prince was traded to the Detroit Pistons – the franchise where he made a name for himself – the veteran apparently expected that he would have his contract bought out. After all, he was allegedly in talks with the Boston Celtics, his former team, to be bought out so he could hit the open market.
Thus when the trade took place just minutes before this past Thursday’s deadline, Prince assumed he’d simply get his check and walk away in hopes of joining a contender.
Only problem? The Pistons made the trade with an intention to keep Tayshaun Prince on their roster, something the forward wasn’t apparently overly thrilled with.
“That’s an interesting situation because I think that was his expectation, quite frankly,” Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday. “That’s certainly not why we acquired him. We didn’t acquire him with any kind of promise from us that we were going to buy him out. We brought him in here to play and play a lot. I think yesterday when I talked to him, yeah, his head was spinning a little. Things hadn’t gone in a direction he expected.”
For what it’s worth, Van Gudy did say he didn’t think Prince was unhappy with the deal, but was simply trying to figure the situation out.
I’m not sure if I buy that line of reasoning as it’s likely Tayshaun was hoping to cling on with a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls or Los Angeles Clippers. Regardless, he’s in Motown and that’s apparently where’s he’s staying.
