AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Given the legal morass swirling around Detroit’s mayoral Manoogian Mansion, it wouldn’t appear a great time to be Kwame in Detroit. But with apologies to Kwame Kilpatrick, Kwame Brown thinks it’s a great time to be a Detroit Piston.
With his career at something of a crossroads, the No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft has chosen a path that has established aimless careers or restored damaged ones for so many before him – Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, Antonio McDyess, et al.
“I’m happy to be back (in the Eastern Conference),” Brown said in a Tuesday morning conference call. “I feel like I can use my size, my defensive presence and my strength to my advantage a little better over here. And I’m just very excited about how they’ve embraced me – the coaching staff, my teammates. It just seems like a first-class organization.”
Though Brown, who spent the past three years with the Los Angeles Lakers before being traded to Memphis as part of the Pau Gasol trade in February, is a seven-year veteran, he’s still only 26. That makes him less than a year older than Jason Maxiell, a player the Pistons feel still has plenty of growth potential. As Brown evaluated his free-agent options – he says he considered a few other teams, but wouldn’t divulge which ones – he saw Joe Dumars’ Pistons as the one with the greatest capacity to help him unleash his potential.
“I can’t speak for Mr. Dumars, but I definitely hope he sees in me what a lot of people don’t see,” he said. “A lot of people don’t take pride in their defense and don’t tip their hat to guys that go out and stick their nose in there and play hard on defense. I think I’ve been one of the underrated defensive players in the league. I think on this team I’ll have a chance to shine and that’s exactly what this team needs. Every team doesn’t need a big guy that plays defense and runs the court, but this team happens to have that gap in the size they need.”
The Pistons’ depth chart at the two interior positions includes incumbent starters Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess backed by fourth-year forwards Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson. So even if other teams weren’t quite as deep up front, Brown’s hope is that his great size – at 6-foot-11, 270 pounds, he becomes the closest thing the Pistons have to a true power player able to defend opposing centers – will carve out a niche for him.
“I’m just happy to be a Detroit Piston,” he said. “I think a lot of things will be answered once we start playing. I’m not concerned about playing time, not concerned if I start. That’s the coaches’ job. I just have to get myself the best prepared as I can.”
That’s a process that will start next week for Brown when he anticipates coming to Auburn Hills to huddle with strength coach Arnie Kander and spend a few weeks absorbing the culture of his new team.
That will be his chance to make a positive first impression in what sets up as a critical season for Brown, who signed what has been widely reported as a two-year contract worth $8 million with the second year at his option. That means that if Brown muscles his way into the rotation and becomes a mainstay for a winning team, he could strike it rich in free agency next summer.
He’s banking on the winning environment here and the career reclamations that have occurred for others to rehabilitate his tarnished reputation.
“Those are the things that will work themselves out,” he said. “It’s a long season. My thing is this is a team that is definitely a contender. They’ve been to the Eastern Conference finals and the playoffs every year and that’s what I wanted to surround myself around. I wanted to go to a team that’s already established. It’s about coming out and playing hard and playing smart. Being around guys like Rasheed and Chauncey and Tayshaun and Rip Hamilton can definitely help elevate me to the next level.”
Brown has lived with the tag of being a disappointment since his rookie season when Michael Jordan made him Washington’s No. 1 pick as a high school kid who didn’t start getting national attention until his senior year, when he’d signed a letter of intent to attend Florida. His best season came in his third year, 2003-04, when he averaged 10.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in 30 minutes a game for the 25-57 Wizards. After an injury-played 2004-05 season that limited him to 42 games, Brown was shipped to Washington in the deal for Caron Butler.
“I can sit here and spill out all kinds of stuff, injuries or what have you,” Brown said for the reasons his career has stalled. “But I’m not going to do that. The past is the past. I’m not going to disrespect my new organization by saying anything that sounds like an excuse. This is a first for me – I was able to pick and choose from a couple of different teams. This is where I wanted to go and this is where I decided to be and this is my home now.”
Physically, the Pistons are getting Brown at that point in his career when he should be at or nearing his peak. Mentally, Brown says, they’re getting a player who’s been prodded and tested at every turn.
“I’ve heard it all. I’ve been through it all. I’m only 26, but I’ve been through things the average man couldn’t imagine. Your shortcomings play out in the media and get blown up tenfold, but whatever you can say negative about Kwame Brown, everybody who’s met me hasn’t had that opinion. Those people don’t know me. Those people haven’t sat down and broken bread with me.
“I’m in the best situation ever. I’m in a situation now where no one is expecting nothing. I came into the league the No. 1 draft pick. Now I’m on the different end of the spectrum.”
The Pistons are hoping it’s the best time for Kwame in Detroit.
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