Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons To Move To Downtown Detroit

November 22nd, 2016 at 2:16pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 22: The Pistons have made it official, announcing (via Twitter) that they’re moving downtown to play in Little Caesars Arena next season.

“This is a historic day for our franchise, and for the City of Detroit,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a press release from the team. “We’re moving to a beautiful new arena that will provide a state-of-the-art fan experience, and we’re investing in the future of Detroit.

“I’ve always believed that a sports franchise is a community asset with the power to unite and inspire people,” Gores continued. “There’s a big responsibility that goes with that, but there’s also a big payoff. Not just for the city of Detroit, but for the whole region. Detroit is rising, reinventing itself. The Pistons are doing the same. We’re in this together, and we couldn’t be more excited about that.”

NOVEMBER 21: The Pistons will hold a news conference on Tuesday afternoon to announce their plan to move to downtown Detroit for the 2017/18 season, a source tells Ian Thibodeau of The Detroit News. Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press first reported earlier today that an announcement on the move could happen as early as Tuesday.

Currently, the Pistons play their home games at The Palace of Auburn Hills, in a suburb of Detroit. However, with the NHL’s Red Wings set to move into a new downtown home called Little Caesars Arena next year, the Pistons have long been rumored to be negotiating with Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch to join them in that move.

Pistons owner Tom Gores indicated earlier this month that he would have an update within “the next few weeks” on a possible move downtown.

According to Ellis (Twitter links), an agreement between the Pistons and Red Wings isn’t officially finalized, but there’s a “comprehensive memorandum of understanding” in place. It may still be a few weeks before the deal is formally completed, but most of the work is done and the team apparently feels confident enough about the final steps to make an announcement tomorrow, per Ellis, who adds that the Pistons’ move downtown will take place, “barring something totally crazy happening” (Twitter link).

The Pistons have played their home games in Auburn Hills since 1988, and haven’t played in downtown Detroit since 1978.

Jackson Cleared For Contact Drills

November 21st, 2016 at 6:58pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pistons point guard Reggie Jackson, who has been sidelined for over a month because of tendinitis in his left knee and right thumb, has been cleared for limited contact drills, Keith Langlois of NBA.com reports (via Twitter).

Pistons Notes: Drummond, Johnson, Van Gundy

November 20th, 2016 at 3:35pm CST by Will Joseph

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy was left second-guessing himself after making the questionable decision to leave Andre Drummond, whom Detroit signed to a five-year, $125MM contract extension over the summer, on the bench during the final seconds of a loss against the Celtics, Aaron McMann of MLive.com writes.

“I could see it in his face. He felt like he made a mistake,” Drummond said. “I believe in Aron Baynes, and it just didn’t fall. You can’t fault him for that. (It’s) a game of basketball — anything can happen.”

Here is more news out of Detroit:

Van Gundy did not play Stanley Johnson for the first time this season Saturday night in an effort to jumpstart the offense, Tony Paul of the Detroit News writes. Last month, the Pistons picked up Johnson’s 2017/18 option. Johnson, the eighth overall pick in last year’s draft, averaged 23.1 minutes per contest in 73 games for the Pistons during his rookie season, contributing 8.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.6 APG.
There is an urgency for the Pistons to halt their losing skid before Reggie Jackson returns, but they also need time to implement any lineup changes, McMann relays in a separate piece. “If you’re going to make changes, you want to be able to talk to (your team),” Van Gundy said. “You need at least a morning walkthrough.”

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Detroit Pistons

Central Notes: Jackson, Baynes, Seraphin

November 16th, 2016 at 8:02pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Reggie Jackson has started to participate in 5-on-5 non-contact drills, Rod Beard of The Detroit News reports. Jackson has been sidelined for over a month because of tendinitis in his left knee and right thumb and there remains no definite timeline for his return. “Nobody’s given me [a timeline]. He was at five weeks yesterday and it was a 6- to 8-week thing,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Next week would be the absolute earliest and I’d say that would be really, really optimistic at this point, to think he’d be back Monday of next week. I don’t see it now.”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

Michael Gbinije is using his D-League assignment as an opportunity to master the role he is likely to play on the Pistons and Van Gundy is impressed with what he sees, Keith Langlois of NBA.com details. “[Some] felt he wasn’t aggressive enough offensively,” said Van Gundy. “I didn’t really see it that way. I thought Mike took his game as a complementary player to the D-League and played the same way there that he would play in the NBA and played well.”
If Aron Baynes opts out of his current deal at the end of the season and another team offers him more than $11.375MM, it won’t be easy for the Pistons to retain the big man, as Langlois outlines in his latest mailbag. The team only has his partial bird rights, meaning it can only offer him a 175% raise of his current salary in the first year of a new deal.
Kevin Seraphin is fitting in nicely with the Pacers, Mark Montieth of NBA.com writes. “He’s done some good things,” coach Nate McMillan said. “We certainly have to look at trying to get him some minutes. We’ve been looking for [energy]. So we’ll see.”

Aron Baynes Could Be Difficult To Retain

November 16th, 2016 at 11:57am CST by Dana Gauruder

Aron Baynes is a “starting-caliber center” and Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy knows it will be difficult to retain him beyond this season, he acknowledged to the assembled media. Baynes, who can opt out of the final year of his three-year, $20MM contract after the season, racked up 20 points and eight rebounds against the Thunder on Monday with Andre Drummond sidelined by ankle injury. “As the president, I’m not supposed to say this because the guy can be a free agent,” Van Gundy said. “You’re not supposed to promote him but he’s a starting center in the NBA. He’s just playing behind an All-Star. You look around at all the starting centers and Aron’s a starting-caliber center in the league, so it’s not surprising he played as well as he did.” The Pistons signed restricted free agent Boban Marjanovic this summer to a three-year contract in part to protect themselves if they’re unable to re-sign Baynes.

Eastern Notes: Vogel, Pistons, Wizards

November 13th, 2016 at 4:47pm CST by Will Joseph

Magic coach Frank Vogel expects the atmosphere to be emotional when he returns to Indianapolis Monday night to coach against the Pacers for the first time, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel writes. The Pacers decided not to renew Vogel’s contract in May after a first round exit from the playoffs, and president of basketball operations Larry Bird said at the time that the team needed a new voice. Vogel amassed a 253-187 regular-season record and a 31-30 postseason record with the Pacers. His teams twice reached the Eastern Conference finals. Orlando is 3-6 so far under Vogel.

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

The Pistons recalled Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije on Sunday from the Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit’s D-League affiliate, Aaron McMann of MLive.com relays. NBA Development League affiliate on Sunday. The two rookies will re-join the Pistons on Monday for their game against the Thunder.
After spending more a good chunk of money over the summer to beef up the bench, frustration is mounting in Washington because of a lack of production from the Wizards‘ second unit, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post writes. The Wizards bench has a minus-11.2 net rating so far this season, as Buckner points out. Summer acquisitions Ian Mahinmi, who is out rehabbing from knee surgery, and Andrew Nicholson, who has not played in three of the last four games, have not helped the cause.

Little Playing Time For Marjanovic

November 12th, 2016 at 10:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Boban Marjanovic didn’t play at all in his return to San Antonio Friday, which has been a familiar story in his time with the Pistons, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. The 7’3″ Serbian came to Detroit this summer when the Spurs elected not to match a three-year, $21MM offer sheet. He has gotten off the bench in just four of the team’s first nine games and is averaging 4.5 minutes in those. Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said the team wants to see Marjanovic become more aggressive offensively. “In the preseason, he fit well. He’s a very good offensive player and highly skilled,” Van Gundy said. “He’s unselfish, almost to a fault. There’s times he could use his size and be dominant down there offensively, but he really likes to pass the ball — which promotes good team play — but at the same time, we want him to use his offensive skills.”

Van Gundy is closely monitoring the progress of rookies Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije, who were sent to the D-League during the Pistons’ western road trip, Beard notes in the same story. The organization wanted them both to get expanded playing time, at least 30 minutes per night, during their time in Grand Rapids. Ellenson was told to focus on his defensive development. “He knows [defense] is his ticket to getting on the floor [with the Pistons],” Van Gundy said. “He’s very confident, as we are, in his offensive skills.”

NBA 2016/17 Dead Money: Central Division

November 11th, 2016 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The concept of “dead money” on a salary cap isn’t as common in the NBA as it is in the NFL, but it essentially functions the same way in both leagues. Dead money refers to the salary remaining on a team’s cap for players that are no longer on the roster.

For NFL teams, taking on a certain amount of dead money is a common practice, since signing bonuses affect cap hits differently, and big-money players are more likely to be released before playing out their entire contracts. That practice is less common in the NBA.

Still, with the NBA’s salary cap on the rise, teams may be a little more willing to part ways with players on guaranteed salaries, since that increased cap gives clubs more flexibility than they used to have. Within the last month, we’ve seen players like Ronnie Price and Greivis Vasquez, who each had $4-5MM in guaranteed money left on their contracts, waived in order to clear room for newcomers.

Over the next week, we’ll examine each of the NBA’s 30 teams, breaking them down by division, to figure out which teams are carrying the most dead money on the cap for 2016/17, and what that information might tell us about those teams. We’ll start today with the Central division, before tackling the other five divisions from Monday to Friday next week.

Here are the 2016/17 dead money figures for the Central teams:

1. Detroit Pistons
Total dead money: $5,398,678
Full salary cap breakdown

The Pistons had a pair of camp invitees with modest guarantees, in Nikola Jovanovic ($30K) and Trey Freeman ($25K), and a last-minute change of plans at point guard meant that they were also on the hook for nearly $12K when they waived Ray McCallum. However, the majority of dead money on Detroit’s books belongs to Josh Smith. The Pistons cut Smith with so much guaranteed salary left on his contract that he’ll count for about $5.332MM against the cap this year — and for the three years after that.

2. Milwaukee Bucks
Total dead money: $1,865,547
Full salary cap breakdown

The Bucks are one of eight NBA teams that entered this season without a D-League affiliate, so they didn’t have a ton of incentive to hand out partial guarantees to camp invitees — they wouldn’t have been able to assign those players to a D-League squad anyway. As such, it comes as little surprise that Larry Sanders is responsible for Milwaukee’s only dead-money cap charge this season. Sanders will continue to count for $1,865,547 annually against the Bucks’ cap through the 2020/21 season.

3. Indiana Pacers
Total dead money: $1,387,667
Full salary cap breakdown

The Pacers were smart about the dead money they added to their cap this fall, paying out partial guarantees to a handful of players they wanted to join their D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne, including Ben Bentil, whose D-League rights they snatched from the Celtics for $50K. Julyan Stone ($50K), Alex Poythress ($35.4K), and Nick Zeisloft ($25K) also got modest guarantees, while Jeremy Evans ($1.227MM) was the only fully guaranteed salary the team cut. The Pacers can’t put the $3.2MM they received from the Mavericks when they acquired Evans toward their salary cap, but that cash ensures that the club actually came out ahead after waiving the forward.

4. Chicago Bulls
Total dead money: $69,500
Full salary cap breakdown

The Bulls have a D-League affiliate for the first time this season, but only one camp invitee – and eventual Windy City Bulls player – required a partial guarantee. That one player was Thomas Walkup, who got $69.5K from the team. It will be interesting to see if the Bulls are any more liberal about handing out partial guarantees to recruit top undrafted rookies to their D-League affiliate in future years.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers
Total dead money: $18,255
Full salary cap breakdown

The Cavaliers didn’t pay any guaranteed money to their camp invitees, and ultimately assigned only two of their cuts to the Canton Charge rather than the maximum four. The team also isn’t carrying any dead money on its cap from players released in previous years, resulting in a cap sheet that is nearly entirely clean. The one exception? An $18K cap hit for Dahntay Jones, since he cleared waivers two days into the 2016/17 season rather than being cut earlier.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Pistons Rumors: Marjanovic, Jackson, Smith

November 10th, 2016 at 8:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Boban Marjanovic isn’t having second thoughts about signing an offer sheet with the Pistons this summer despite his limited playing time, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News reports. Marjanovic’s three-year, $21MM contract was structured so that the Spurs would have virtually no chance of matching, since they didn’t have his Early Bird rights or enough cap space. He’s currently the third-string center behind Andre Drummond and Aron Baynes and has appeared sparingly in four games. “You never know what is a good decision, but you have to believe you are making a good decision,” Marjanovic told Orsborn. Marjanovic’s playing time could expand next season if Baynes opts out of the final year of his contract, as expected.

In other news regarding the Pistons:

Point guard Reggie Jackson has begun limited basketball activities but is still weeks away from returning, according to Rod Beard of the Detroit News. Jackson received platelet-rich plasma injections more than a month ago to relieve his left knee tendinitis, as well as a right thumb injury. He has been sidelined since the preseason. “It feels like literally I had dead leg for five weeks,” Jackson told Beard and other beat reporters. “I’m just trying to find trust in my leg to be able to cut. It’s not there yet; I did a few things but it’s still iffy.”
Jackson’s replacement in the lineup, Ish Smith, has shot 29% from the field over the last five games but that won’t take away his aggression, Aaron McMann of MLive.com writes. Smith signed a three-year, $18MM contract in July to be Jackson’s backup. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to keep shooting because we’re getting good shots,” Smith told McMann and other writers. “Missing easy ones that’s rolling around. Little floaters. Little pull-ups. That’s how it is.”

Pistons Will Have Update On Potential Downtown Move Within "Next Few Weeks"

November 8th, 2016 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Pistons owner Tom Gores reiterated on Monday that his team is “making progress” on negotiations to team up with the NHL’s Red Wings and move his franchise to downtown Detroit. “In the next few weeks, we’ll know for sure,” Gores said, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
As Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details, Gores has also been pleased with the way the Pistons have been able to better the community during the five years he has owned the team, suggesting that the franchise’s ability to have a local impact has exceeded his expectations. “Our ability to impact the community has been more than I ever thought in my life,” Gores said. “As much as I would like to win a championship, the real championship is to affect the city and impact the city. It’s beyond anything I could have expected, to be honest.”