JULY 12, 1:07pm: The deal is official, the Pistons announced.
JULY 2, 12:23pm: The Pistons and Aron Baynes have a deal on what will be a three-year contract with a player option after year two, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). It could be worth as much as $20MM, Stein adds. The final number depends on how much cap space the Pistons have to spend on him, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
San Antonio elected not to tender a qualifying offer to Baynes this year after the big man’s protracted restricted free agency in 2014. The Daniel Moldovan client signed a one-year deal for $2.077MM with San Antonio shortly before the start of training camp, and he benefited from injury trouble for Tiago Splitter that opened more playing time, affording Baynes the chance to showcase his bruising inside game and end up with a significant raise.
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy made signing a pair of backup centers a priority going into free agency, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com noted, though it didn’t seem as though he’d spend quite so freely to accomplish that end. The market for small forwards, the position Van Gundy had wanted to address first, has been especially player-friendly, so it seems the Pistons have turned to Plan B.
Man, I liked Aron Baynes. This sucks man.
That is bad move
We’re paying a backup center more than 3 starters
Ah man! Haynes gone. I understand but I wanted him us. Go Spurs go!
NOOOO :(
Who?
WHO & WHY????
The Big Baynger, and because Detroit hasn’t been relevant since the 2000s. Trust me, you’ll be glad you got him.
Wooooooooooow
We got a Spur, but not the one we desperately needed.
This suck, what happen to the forward? , we need.
Wtf
Who tf is Aaron Baynes ???
Don’t speak to soon, until what you see what coming to Spurs Nation. Stay Tune.
Is he a soccer player??
Who?????
If you say who, you are not a real basketball fan, get out.
To the people upset with this signing. Baynes was productive in the limited minutes he got. Much more so than Anthony did for the Pistons this past season. He has size, a good free throw %, and is relatively young. $20 million for 3 years will be nothing after the cap increase
Surprised how many people have never heard of Baynes. Not saying he’s a household name, but he did crack the rotation of one of the best teams in the league. 3 years/20 mil is what a decent backup big will cost you in this cap environment. Biyombo may even get a little more
Aaron Baynes is an underrated player. His had a good run in 2014-15 until Blake Griffin exposed him in the first round of the playoffs.
Good for you Baynes. I have seen you get better and better through the years. Good luck in Detroit.
I wonder what the Spurs do at the backup 5. I had assumed they would bring him back after Aldridge came in, and move Diaw. Nice deal for detroit as a backup. To be honest, I kind of forgot he was a free agent
Detroit fans: you got a steal. Spurs fans will miss him. Good luck Aron.