Billups will go to whoever pays him the most, so depending on his other offers, we may well have to pay the max to keep him.
I'm definitely against the max, but don't know how far I'd go. Simply put, he's no Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Kobe, Shaq, or Garnett. If he was that good we'd be title locks right now. He's no Steve Nash either, who got paid less than the max before getting the MVPs.
So, how important is he to our team? Most say he is the most important, but I disagree. Though, it is hard to gauge everyone's value to the team since most of our guys vary their play heavily through out the season.
I think this question is as difficult as most people found it in 04, when asking who the MVP of the Pistons was when it was obvious they were going to beat the Lakers. All the analyst said the Pistons are a true team, and all of their pieces are important. I think it is the same today. We need all of our starters in order to be this type of team.
Personally, I think Rip holds this team together. All his 22 ppg that comes without him dominating the ball can't be replaced without redesigning the whole team. Even if you substituted another 20 ppg scorer, they wouldn't do it off the ball like Rip.
Everyone else is quite important as well. Tayshaun was our best playoff player last year, and is heating up going to the playoffs this year. Our big front court Trio of Sheed, Webber, and McDyess is a irreplaceable part of the team, though we have the most depth at that position.
I don't deny Chauncey is very important. With few exceptions, I don't think you can win in this modern NBA without a solid point guard. In my mind, Chauncey has yet to redeem himself from last year's playoffs. He's done nothing spectacular all year. He's only shooting 43%.
The biggest argument for his case was when we went 3-5 when he went out. But lets not forget we had no replacement. Lindsey was also out, so we had a rotation of Flip Murray and Will Blalock. And lets not forget that when any starter goes out from a team that has been together a long time there is always an adjustment period. It is rare to have a seamless transition when a major piece goes out, no matter what.
I think his offense decision making is predictable, and he doesn't create plays off the dribble. He almost -never- moves without a pick. On the other end, I find his defense, more than occasionally, terrible. We give up a lot of dribble penetration, and most of it comes from Chauncey's guy (and Rip's, admittedly, but not as much). Our big men are always picking up fouls because of the penetration. He is our biggest weakness defensively.
Of course, maybe Chauncey is saving his energy for the playoffs so last year does not repeat. He did, after all, make use of that excuse whenever last year's performance came up; he didn't have energy from having to play too much. I think he is a better player than he is showing now, but I don't know to what degree. The best games he played, imo, were the first few after coming back from injury, he was full of energy then and played great.
Hypothetical replacements
Even though I don't think Chauncey is our best player, I realize that if he goes, we have a gaping hole and can't contend without getting a really good replacement.
At the same time though, Chauncey has a fantastic team around him. A really, really loaded team. If we had a solid point guard that had no big deficiencies and was good at setting people up frequently we could be even better than before. With our team I think we could be great without having the point guard be the focal point of the team. Steve Nash fits the description, maybe we can do a sign and trade?
Free agents:
Mo Williams- He is a up tempo point guard who is solid in all categories and for the past last season was VERY clutch. I haven't been able to watch much of Milwaukee this year, though. As a point guard, I'd take him over Chauncey , but the question is, could he replace Chauncey's chemistry with his teammates? I think he could, because most people can get along well with our type of players, especially if they have a good attitude and play well.
Charlie Bell- Solid at everything, but other than perhaps defense, not great at anything. He isn't really starting material though, but can be good off the bench. If Chauncey leaves or stays, I think we should pursue him as a back up either way.
Draft:
I don't know much about the draft prospects, but I think we all agree we can't contend with Acie Law taking over next year. If we lose Chauncey without a major back up, we will probably be rebuilding.
Circumstances
What to do with Chauncey is definitely going to heavily depend on where we go this season.
If we win a championship:
we should pay almost anything to keep the squad together. Though if Webber and McDyess retire or leave afterwards, keeping the group together is out of our hands. But basically if we do well in the playoffs and are well poised to continue next season we should try and keep the whole team.
If we don't win a title:
it will depend on how close we are. But if we lose before getting to the finals, the team needs a major change, probably rebuilding. The East will never be this easy again. Lebron is getting better and took us to 7 games last year. The Raptors and Bulls are also on the rise. We're still not sure if we can get by the Heat _this_ year. And who knows what else happens... e.g., What if the Hawks get Oden and sign Mo Williams? They'd suddenly be stacked as hell.
If we don't get to the finals appearance, I almost automatically think we should let Chauncey go.
How much would you pay to keep Chauncey?
DePaul Basketball 
