Pistons Notes: Monroe, Stuckey, Draft

Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy says he’s spent more than half of his time since taking the job on Greg Monroe‘s impending free agency, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. There’s been plenty of uncertainty surrounding the future of the 24-year-old big man, but it seems as though Van Gundy has found some clarity, saying, “We know exactly where we’re headed on that,” as Langlois also passes along (on Twitter). Here’s more from the Pistons boss, with all links going to Langlois’ Twitter account:

• Van Gundy identified Monroe, Andre Drummond, Josh Smith, Brandon Jennings, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Singler and Jonas Jerebko as the team’s core players. Conspicuous by his absence from that list is soon-to-be free agent Rodney Stuckey,
• The Pistons probably won’t trade into the first-round, according to Van Gundy, who said he wouldn’t make a trade for a pick in the 25-30 range unless he’s certain a prospect of interest will be there for the taking. Even if an intriguing prospect does emerge within those picks, Detroit won’t give up a current player or a future No. 1 pick in a deal to trade into that range, Van Gundy added.
• The team is unlikely to make a splashy move in the offseason, Van Gundy said.