Will the Pistons retain any of their pending free agents?

In today’s column for the Detroit Free Press, I discussed which, if any, of Detroit’s four pending free agents and possible amnesty candidate Charlie Villanueva the might consider retaining. Not surprisingly, Jose Calderon was at the top of my list. One surprising thing that I didn’t fully realize until glancing at the split stats — Jason Maxiell has been really awful since December:

"3. Jason Maxiell: If Lawrence Frank returns as coach, I’d be leery to bring Maxiell back simply out of fear that Frank will continue starting him. Maxiell can be a useful rotation big man who doesn’t belong in the starting lineup of any team with playoff aspirations. Unlike Bynum, Maxiell isn’t having a good season headed into free agency. After a strong start to the year, he shot just 40 percent in December, 43 percent in January and he’s shooting 36 percent in February. Unless it’s at a bargain price, the Pistons can find a better value to fill out their frontcourt rotation next season."