Shaq Says He Could've Received $8 Million From Pistons? Abakingpowder?

It's no secret that the Pistons need a big man, but were they going after the 38-year-old Big Aristotle? There were never any rumors of such a thing, but Shaq claimed in a recent interview that he could've signed with the Pistons for $8 million instead of taking $1.35 million with the Celtics:

I could have gotten $8 million from Atlanta and Detroit, but it wasn't about that. It was about being somewhere and being seen and winning.

The first issue with Shaq's statement is that the Pistons didn't have $8 million to give him, unless they offered a two-year deal as part of the mid-level exception. That's unlikely, though, because I doubt the Pistons would've been willing to tie up their MLE for the next two years of rebuilding with a ramshackle 40-year-old Shaq. 

It's just as likely that Shaq's agent fed him lies about his free agency options as it is that Shaq merely listed off the first two team names and a money figure that came to mind. If this were true, and Shaq wasn't creating a market for himself that never existed, then don't you think someone would've heard at least a peep about it? If it turns out that the Piston actually threw a money number at him, I'll punish myself for this dismissive post by watching 'Kazaam.'