Pistons Rumors

Pistons Notes: Thomas, Jennings, Jackson

August 27th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons have a dilemma with 17 players signed to fully guaranteed contracts and only 15 regular season roster spots available, as I examined Wednesday, and the situation would appear to make it especially challenging for Adonis Thomas to stick for opening night. The free agent signee is the only player on the team without a full guarantee, with only $60K promised to him. Still, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy assured him he’ll have a shot, as MLive’s David Mayo chronicles.

“The day I signed my contract, he told me, ‘Hey, I know you’re looking at the roster, at 17 guaranteed guys, and you’re the only non-guaranteed guy or partially guaranteed guy.'” Thomas said. “He said that anything can change. He said, ‘We’re looking to make some changes soon. We’re not really focused in on who’s on the roster right now. We’re going to let go of maybe some guaranteed guys, or we’re making some changes soon, or trades could be made.'”

Indeed, the Pistons will have to make a trade before opening night or use the stretch provision no later than this coming Monday to avoid eating two full guarantees this season, or three if they want to keep Thomas. There’s more on Thomas amid the latest from the Motor City:

The Pistons starting thinking of signing Thomas late last season, when he was playing for their D-League affiliate, Mayo writes in the same piece. “I think them having a D-League team is going to be something special,” Thomas said to Mayo. “It’s a great chance to develop guys. And I can even speak for myself, being able to be in the system, being able to be ready, you can be on call at any time.”
Brandon Jennings, whose health looms over Detroit’s roster decisions, said he’s unsure if he’ll be recovered from his torn Achilles tendon in time for the start of training camp, adding that he doesn’t envision returning to his usual level of play until December at the earliest. The point guard made his comments on The Point Game Podcast with Vincent Goodwill and Jabari Young of Comcast Sports Net, as Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press transcribes. A report from July said that Jennings expected to be ready for camp, so it appears his thinking has changed.
Jennings also told Goodwill and Young that he’d accept a backup role behind Reggie Jackson. “Bringing in Reggie Jackson was smart,” said Jennings, who’s set for free agency after the season. “I’m supposed to be out, really, for nine months, and they need a point guard. … My main thing is just to get healthy. Hey, if I have to come off the bench and be the sixth man or whatever, I’m fine with that. Man, I just want to play basketball again. I just want to get back on the court and have fun.”

Too Many Guaranteed Deals Leave Pistons In Bind

August 26th, 2015 at 11:54am CST by Chuck Myron

NBA teams commonly carry more than 15 players during the offseason, when they’re allowed as many as 20, but just about every summer, a few teams end up in an especially tenuous situation. This year, three teams — the Timberwolves, Celtics and Pistons, have already promised fully guaranteed salaries to more than 15 players. The Celtics had 17 full guarantees before they waived Zoran Dragic, though the Heat had sent over enough cash to cover his salary when they traded Dragic to Boston earlier in the offseason. Boston, like Minnesota, now has 16 full guarantees, and while both teams are in a tough spot, the Pistons face perhaps the most difficult decisions, since they have 17 full guarantees and must offload not one but two fully guaranteed deals.

The question marks regarding the health of Brandon Jennings, who tore his Achilles tendon in January, cast a shadow. Jennings had reportedly been expecting as of two months ago that he’d be ready for training camp, but uncertainty still abounds. Spencer Dinwiddie called it “the biggest elephant in the room” and said that no one knows whether Jennings can start the season on time, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com recently relayed.

The fate of Dinwiddie, one of four point guards among those 17 with fully guaranteed deals, seems largely tied to Jennings. Dinwiddie’s contract runs through 2016/17, but this is the final guaranteed season, and his salary is only slightly more than $845K this year, the one-year veteran’s minimum. Small forward Darrun Hilliard is making less, an even $600K, but the Pistons just drafted him 38th overall this summer. Of course, Detroit used last year’s No. 38 overall pick on Dinwiddie, so giving up either of them would cost the Pistons an investment of a high second-rounder.

Cartier Martin possesses the next lowest guaranteed salary on the team, at about $1.271MM. He averaged just 8.6 minutes per game in 23 appearances this past season, a level of playing time that he apparently wasn’t pleased with, but his teammates encouraged him to opt in for this season nonetheless. The Pistons and Martin agreed to the deal on the first day of free agency in 2014, which made it all the more surprising when Stan Van Gundy, who doubles as coach and president of basketball operations, didn’t use him much in 2014/15. Thus, it’s hard to predict what sort of value the Pistons place on having Martin on the roster, though he’d seem at risk of getting cut.

The same is probably true of Danny Granger, though he’s set to make nearly $2.171MM. Granger hasn’t made more than 41 appearances since the 2011/12 season, the last in a string of five straight years in which he led the Pacers in scoring and the last before injuries robbed him of his effectiveness. As with Jennings, Granger’s health is uncertain, and a better understanding of it will help the Pistons figure out how to maneuver.

The Pistons benefit from a large number of medium-level salaries to help facilitate trades. Reggie Jackson has the team’s only eight-figure salary, and he’s ineligible to be traded until January 15th anyway. The Pistons can’t trade Aron Baynes or Joel Anthony until after the season starts, either, since they both signed new deals this summer, and certainly the team isn’t about to give up Andre Drummond, but that still leaves several candidates. Jennings would seem like one of them, though he’d no doubt be more difficult to trade before he gets healthy than after.

The stretch provision gives the Pistons another opportunity to excise guaranteed salaries, or at least a portion of them as far as this season is concerned. Monday is the last day for teams to use the stretch provision to spread salaries for this coming season. The Pistons used the stretch most notoriously on Josh Smith last year, but they also used it on Aaron Gray before the start of this past season.

How do you see the Pistons sorting out their guaranteed salary dilemma? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Central Notes: Kaun, Henson, Landry, Dinwiddie

August 25th, 2015 at 11:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry knew patience would be necessary when he traded $300K in cash for the draft rights to Sasha Kaun in 2008, as he tells Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Still, Ferry had watched similar draft-and-stash prospects pay off when he was with the Spurs, and he sees Kaun, who’s finally coming to the Cavs, as a strong defender whose professional experience overseas has made him ready for the NBA.

“He will really help the Cavs,” Ferry said to Pluto. “He was a three-time Academic All-American at Kansas. He’s like a sponge. He soaks up everything the coaches tell him. The best thing he did was go and play for CSKA Moscow. It’s the elite level in Europe.”

Cleveland’s deal with Kaun reunites the center with Timofey Mozgov and coach David Blatt from the 2012 Russian Olympic team, Pluto notes. See more from around the Central Division:

The Bucks are ready to do a deal on a rookie scale extension for John Henson, but the sense from Henson’s camp is that they want to see what the market yields for other extension-eligible players, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders for his NBA AM piece. We looked at Henson’s extension candidacy in depth earlier this month.
Recent Bucks signee Marcus Landry, a Milwaukee native, has long been a fan of the team, as he explains to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We still have so many things from Ray Allen and guys before Ray Allen,” Landry said. “We have a sign that my mom held onto. I have a pair of shoes I got from Ray Allen personally. We have a lot of memorabilia from coming to a Bucks game at a young age. It’s an overwhelming moment for me at times when I really sit back and think about it. It’s definitely going to be a great experience.”
The Pistons traded for Steve Blake after watching Spencer Dinwiddie struggle with turnovers in the summer league, but while a healthy Brandon Jennings would threaten to knock Dinwiddie further down the depth chart, last year’s 38th overall pick remains confident, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Dinwiddie is entering the final guaranteed season of his contract, one of 17 on the Pistons that includes a full guarantee for this year.

Extension Candidate: Andre Drummond

August 24th, 2015 at 10:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons owner Tom Gores made it clear before the end of last season that there would be no haggling over money in negotiations with Andre Drummond. Gores declared publicly in April that Drummond is a “max player” and it seems as though every move the franchise has made recently is designed to build around the 22-year-old center. The only mystery regarding Drummond is whether he’ll receive an extension before the end of training camp or if he’ll come to terms on a new contract next summer.

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

A maximum contract for the Jeff Schwartz client would be a projected $20.4MM starting salary with maximum raises of 7.5%. A four-year deal would put $90.78MM in Drummond’s bank account. He could also receive a fifth year if the Pistons make him their Designated Player, giving him a projected $117.3MM over the life of the contract.
In the highly unlikely scenario that Drummond wins the MVP award this season, he would qualify for an even greater max deal triggered by the Derrick Rose rule with a projected starting salary of $24.9MM.

It was already apparent from Drummond’s rookie season that the Pistons had been gifted a franchise player when he slid to the No. 9 selection in the 2012 draft. Only two All-Star talents — Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard — were selected ahead of Drummond, who played one inconsistent season with the University of Connecticut before turning pro. He quickly established himself as a ferocious rebounder in his rookie season, grabbing double-digit boards in 16 games before the All-Star break despite limited playing time. A back injury sidelined him most of the second half but a 29-point, 11-rebound performance against the Cavs in April of that season showed what he could do when healthy.

He’s turned into a double-double machine over the past two seasons, averaging 13.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in his second year, followed by a 13.8/13.5/1.9 slash line last season. His 21.5 Hollinger player efficiency rating and 21.4 Basketball Reference PER placed him among the Top 25 players in the league last season.

Drummond, who will make $3,272,091 this season, is still just scratching the surface of his potential. His low-post game is still in the development stages — he’s a 35% shooter from 3-10 feet in his young career — and he’s a woeful 39.7% free throw shooter. That makes him a target for getting intentionally fouled when opponents are playing catchup or trying to slow the Pistons’ momentum.

Those weaknesses won’t affect Drummond’s contract situation. The main reason why an extension may not get done this year is to provide flexibility for the front office next summer. If Drummond holds off on the extension, the Pistons will have more cash to spend to make whatever improvements are necessary. The Pistons are projected to have anywhere from $5.7MM-$38.0MM in cap space next summer, depending on how coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy manages his roster decisions.

There is inherent risk involved for both sides to delay the process. Drummond’s incentive to sign by November 2nd (the usual October 31st deadline is pushed back a couple of days because it falls on a weekend) is to get the guaranteed money before a potential significant injury could affect his long-term value. The Pistons’ incentive to get the deal done is to keep their franchise player as happy as possible and that’s the approach they’re taking, as Van Gundy confirmed in July that extension talks would begin this summer.

Leading up to those negotiations, Van Gundy continued to construct his team around Drummond’s talents, much like Orlando’s roster was built around Dwight Howard when Van Gundy coached the Magic to an NBA Finals appearance in 2009. He re-signed point guard Reggie Jackson to a whopping five-year, $80MM deal to be Drummond’s pick-and-roll partner for years to come. He traded for a stretch four, Ersan Ilyasova, to pair up with Drummond in the frontcourt after concluding that the duo of Drummond and Greg Monroe, a low-post power forward, clogged up the middle. Monroe wound up signing with the division rival Bucks as an unrestricted free agent. Van Gundy also upgraded at small forward by acquiring Marcus Morris and drafting Stanley Johnson.

So while the Pistons could put themselves in a better position to make trades and sign free agents by waiting to lock up Drummond next summer, the more likely scenario is for Drummond to sign on the dotted line and get the most important order of business for both parties out of the way before the season starts.

Central Notes: Smith, Cavaliers, Pistons, Johnson

August 22nd, 2015 at 7:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

This week’s agreement with J.R. Smith was the last step for the Cavaliers in keeping together the core of last season’s Eastern Conference champs, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Smith opted out of a $6.4MM deal for next season, against the advice of the team, before settling for a new contract that will pay him $5MM for 2015/16 with a $5MM player option for the following season. Pluto noted that the Cavs had “tremendous leverage” in negotiations once Smith failed to get a significant offer in free agency. In addition to bringing back Smith, Cleveland was able to re-sign LeBron James, James Jones and Matthew Dellavedova, while adding Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson. In addition, center Sasha Kaun struck a deal with the team today. Free agent Tristan Thompson has not reached an agreement, but is expected to remain in Cleveland for at least one more season.

There’s more news from the Central Division:

James averaged 36.1 minutes last season — the lowest total of his career — and Pluto writes in the same article that the Cavs hope to cut that figure even further. Smith and Jefferson will both help reduce his workload, Pluto says, and Williams should do the same for Kyrie Irving, who is rehabbing after surgery for a fractured kneecap.
Marcus Morris will likely win the Pistons‘ starting small forward job over rookie Stanley Johnson, according to David Mayo of MLive. Detroit acquired Morris from the Suns in a three-player trade last month. Mayo also points out that the addition of Ersan Ilyasova to go with holdover Anthony Tolliver gives the Pistons a three-point threat at the power forward position on both their starting and reserve units.
Rookie Stanley Johnson thinks the Pistons selected him because he has a personality similar to coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, writes John Niyo of The Detroit News. That includes a distaste for losing, which Johnson shares with his new coach. “You want to be around people that are like you,” said Johnson. “I don’t think Stan would draft me if he wasn’t looking for the same things.”

LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Morris Change Agents

August 20th, 2015 at 3:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Spurs marquee free agent signee LaMarcus Aldridge has departed the Wasserman Media Group to join Excel Sports Management, while the recently traded Marcus Morris has left the Creative Artists Agency, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter links). Aldridge had previously been with Arn Tellem, who’s leaving for a job with the Pistons organization, though RealGM lists his most recent primary agent with Wasserman as having been Michael Tellem, Arn’s son. Morris, who’s been a client of Leon Rose, has expressed displeasure with swap that sent him to Detroit and separated him from twin brother Markieff Morris, who’s demanded that the Suns trade him, too. Coincidentally, the Suns made the trade in an effort to clear cap room for Aldridge, who strongly considered signing with Phoenix before choosing San Antonio instead.

Aldridge signed a maximum-salary deal with the Spurs last month after dogged pursuit from the Suns and several other teams. He was the most high-profile free agent to change teams last summer and had the power to essentially dictate his own terms and location. The 30-year-old would seemingly have little reason for discontent with Wasserman, so I’d speculate that the move is tied to Arn Tellem’s departure. Aldridge won’t be able to elect free agency again until 2018, when he can turn down a player option, so his new relationship with Excel will probably focus on business ventures outside of basketball for the time being.

Marcus Morris has little to negotiate contractually either, having signed a four-year, $20MM extension last fall that kicks in for the coming season. It’s unclear who his next representative will be, but he could seek out agents who would pressure the Pistons to engineer a deal that would reunite him with his brother, though that would be a difficult pursuit. Marcus indicated that he believes he took less than he was worth on his extension, so that may also be a factor in his decision to change agents. It’s unclear whether Markieff, a fellow Rose client, will follow suit. It’s been a mixed summer for Rose. Client J.R. Smith has languished in free agency after he turned down a player option worth nearly $6.4MM, but Jonas Valanciunas, another Rose client, just signed a four-year, $64MM extension, and Rose also represents No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns.

The former agents for both Aldridge and Morris will continue to receive the fees based on the deals that the players signed with their respective teams this year, notes former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Central Notes: Allen, Morris, Thompson

August 14th, 2015 at 9:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Lavoy Allen received incentive clauses on his three-year deal with the Pacers instead of the $1.5MM signing bonus that was originally reported, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It appears that those incentives call for Allen to get an extra $500K each year if he keeps his weight down, Pincus also tweets. Allen is considered likely to make weight, so the cap hits of $4.05MM this season and $4MM each of the next two years remain the same, unless he fails to hit the target at preseason weigh-ins.

Here’s more out of the Central Division:

One of the reasons that the Pistons acquired Marcus Morris was to prevent 2015 first round draftee Stanley Johnson from being pressured to start and produce for the team immediately, David Mayo of MLive.com opines. Mayo also notes that Morris’ $5MM salary this season, and the $4.625MM he will earn for the 2016/17 campaign, will make him a bargain as a reserve player once Johnson assumes a starting role.
The Cavaliers need to be careful that whatever the outcome of their contract negotiations with restricted free agent Tristan Thompson, they don’t alienate LeBron James, who is on record as being a big supporter of the forward, Tom Ziller of SBNation writes. Though Ziller doesn’t necessarily believe that James would leave Cleveland again, he doesn’t think it wise for the franchise to roll the dice and risk losing the superstar next summer. Also complicating matters is the fact that Thompson’s agent, Rich Paul, also represents LeBron.
Earlier this evening we broke down the 2015/16 salary cap figures for the Pistons, and previously had done the same for the Bulls and Cavaliers, which can be viewed here and here.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Eastern Notes: Thompson, Dragic, Pistons

August 10th, 2015 at 10:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Agent Rich Paul may represent both LeBron James and Tristan Thompson, but the influence Thompson’s negotiations have on LeBron’s decision-making is overstated, opines Hoops Rumors contributor Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net, who believes Thompson shouldn’t overplay his hand.

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Zoran Dragic‘s representatives wanted to secure his release from the Celtics so that he could return to Europe and play regularly, sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein (Twitter link). The Celtics announced on Monday that they had waived Dragic, whom they acquired in last month’s trade with Miami.
The Cavaliers are the Eastern Conference’s top team in terms of roster construction but there are several surprises in the Top 5, according to an analysis by ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle in an Insider-only piece. The Pacers rank second in tier score, which is based on a team’s anticipated 10-man rotation. The Raptors, Pistons and Hawks round out the Top 5 while the Nets, a playoff team last season, are near the bottom at No. 13.
The Pistons could go with a wing trio of Marcus Morris, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson against certain opponents, which would mean reduced playing time for Jodie Meeks, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com reports. The production from that trio will have a major influence on the team’s goal to reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2008/09 season, Langlois adds.

Pistons Rumors: Baynes, Blake, Jackson

August 8th, 2015 at 6:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

Aron Baynes was Detroit’s top offseason target for its frontcourt, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. The Australian center signed with the Pistons in July after San Antonio chose not to extend a qualifying offer, and coach/executive Stan Van Gundy is confident that Baynes has talents he was never able to show with the Spurs because he was surrounded by so many good players. “What we saw was a real physical guy at both ends of the floor – a good, solid rebounder and an offensively skilled guy who can shoot the ball, who can post, who’s comfortable putting the ball on the floor and going to dribble handoffs and playing that way,” Van Gundy said. He added that team scouts were especially impressed with what they saw from Baynes in international play.

There’s more tonight out of Detroit:

Newly acquired Steve Blake won’t have a defined role if Brandon Jennings is fully recovered from an Achilles injury, Langlois writes in a separate story. Blake, who ended last season with Blazers, has been traded to Brooklyn and then to Detroit during the summer. Even if Jennings returns, Blake may be able to earn playing time, based on the assessment of Van Gundy’s brother, former NBA coach and current broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy. “That’s one of the things my brother said when we talked about the trade,” Stan Van Gundy said. “He said, ‘If I had to bet, I’d say he finds a way to get on the floor no matter what.’ That’s sort of what he’s always done. He’s found a way to play.” Blake is entering the final season of the two-year contract he signed with Portland.
Even if Jennings hadn’t gotten hurt last season, Van Gundy likely would have made the deal that brought Reggie Jackson from Oklahoma City to Detroit, contends David Mayo of MLive. Jackson offers more size at point guard, Mayo notes, and Van Gundy likes having bigger players on the perimeter. Although the Pistons may not have pursued the three-team trade without Jennings’ injury, Mayo argues that they would have accepted it, assuming it had been proposed. Jennings will become a free agent next summer when his three-year, $24MM contract expires.

Eastern Notes: Afflalo, Hilliard, Bucks

August 5th, 2015 at 5:51pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Arron Afflalo, who inked a two-year deal worth $16MM with the Knicks this offseason, told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link) that Carmelo Anthony played a big part in his decision to come to New York. The guard indicated that he spoke with Anthony prior to and during the free agent signing period, and Afflalo believes that Melo was instrumental in his signing with the team, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday, and Afflalo also noted that the Knicks received a glowing recommendation regarding himself from Anthony, who was a former teammate of Afflalo’s in Denver, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News adds (on Twitter).

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Afflalo also indicated that he and Anthony are extremely optimistic about the Knicks‘ chances at making the playoffs this coming season, Begley adds (Twitter links).
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker plans to sign a bill next week that will provide $250MM in taxpayer money to pay for a new arena for the Bucks, the Associated Press reports. The public funding plan for the proposed arena had previously been approved by the Wisconsin State Assembly by a 52-34 vote.
Darrun Hilliard, who the Pistons drafted with the No. 38 overall pick and officially signed to a three-year deal, will have the first year of his contract with Detroit fully guaranteed, and he received a $500k partial guarantee for the second year, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
Adonis Thomas received a partial guarantee of $60k for the 2015/16 campaign from the Pistons, Pincus tweets. The forward inked a training camp deal with the team in July.

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