With possible free agency looming next summer, Pistons center Andre Drummond has put a priority on conditioning, relays Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Coach Dwane Casey said Drummond has spent the offseason working out with assistants Tim Grgurich and Sean Sweeney two or three times a day in Las Vegas and is “in the best shape since I’ve been around him.”
After this season ends, Drummond will have a decision to make on a $28,751,774 player option for 2020/21. He recently came under fire from fans for talking about how excited he is for a shot at free agency and had to clarify his remarks on Instagram. Casey decided in the second half of last season to shelve the experiment of having Drummond shoot more 3-pointers, but he still believes his center can be effective as a decision-maker in the offense.
There’s more today from Detroit:
- One of Casey’s training camp decisions will be whether to use Bruce Brown or Luke Kennard in the starting lineup, the coach tells Langlois in a separate story. “The issue with Luke in the first unit – it’s not an issue, it’s a good thing – but it’s just you kind of take away one of his strengths as far as his pick-and-roll game, his ball-handling game,” Casey said. “There’s only so many pick-and-roll games with that first unit. You’ve got Blake (Griffin) in the pick and roll, Reggie (Jackson) in the pick and roll, you’ve got Bruce running pick and roll some and now you’ve got Andre bringing the ball down the floor.”
- Joe Johnson‘s new contract comes with a $220K guarantee and more incentives the longer he stays on the roster, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Johnson’s guaranteed money will increase to $1.37MM if he earns a roster spot for opening night and $2.56MM if he remains on the team through January 7.
- The Pistons have several options for the final spot on their roster heading into camp, observes Duncan Smith of Forbes. Detroit has 14 guaranteed contracts, leaving Johnson and Christian Wood as the most likely candidates outside of that group to make the team, according to Smith. He adds that the front office could consider opening another spot by moving on from Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk or Khyri Thomas, who have minimum contracts, or Langston Galloway. who has an expiring deal worth $7.3MM.
The pistons need to either trade Galloway or cut Khyri Thomas, not because they arent good enough but because the pistons need to keep the players with size based on the roster(Johnson and Wood)
I def see it coming down to those two guys. They need Wood as a big right now and I dont see either if those two potentially being more affective than Johnson even at 38. With that being said its easier to cut Thomas. So barring an incredibe training camp from him I think he is the cut victim.
Anyone less effective than JJ right now doesn’t belong in the NBA.
Your wrong. It is more than reasonable to keep player not ready to contribute based on potential and future value.
Waiving Svi is silly.
It would be best if Bruce Brown started with Kennard getting the most minutes, but Brown should come in with DRose for defense. Maybe Rose & Brown starts with ReggieJ & Kennard getting the PT.
Rose and Brown can not play together. If they do the backcourt will have AWFUL shooting. But I do agree that brown should start but Kennard get more minutes