Back in the day, baseball statistician and writer Bill James wrote that it’s better to spend money on new publicity instead of on old publicity. Clubs were better spending money for players who have most of their highlight clips in their future rather than in their past.

It has taken baseball personnel bosses a decade or two, but they seem to be figuring out the wisdom in James’ common-sense message. The early stages of the NBA free-agent signing period suggest that basketball execs are coming around, too. The free agency signing period began July 1st but contracts didn't become official until July 8, when the salary cap is established and precise amounts for the mid-level exception (a contract that teams over the salary cap can offer to one player) will be set. If there’s a good explanation for why these events don’t coincide, I haven’t heard it.

The big news in the early days of this summer’s free agent period has centered on young players. Ben Gordon, 26; Charlie Villanueva, 24; Marcin Gortat, 26; and Trevor Ariza, 24, have all received five-year deals. Shorter deals have gone to veteran players: Rasheed Wallace, Jason Kidd and Ron Artest. Only the Toronto Raptors blundered badly, inking Hedo Turkoglu, 30, to a five-year deal. Let’s look at the action off the hardwood so far.

The Detroit Pistons got off to a fast start by removing the stench from their 39-43 campaign in ’08-’09 by signing Gordon and Villanueva, two of the best young players on the market. Although I have reservations about giving Gordon $11 million per season until 2014, he will be a valuable addition as a sixth man and the third backcourt player in three-guard sets. Whenever a player excels in the playoffs, he gets about 40 percent more than his actual market value. I’m sure Gordon’s clutch play for Chicago in this spring’s memorable playoff series against Boston raised his value. Villanueva is a good replacement for Wallace. The Pistons’ streak of six straight conference finals appearances ended this year, and they have a lot of work to do before than can reasonably forecast going that deep into the post-season again, but they have made their team younger and more athletic.