Pistons owner Tom Gores said on Monday that retaining center Andre Drummond is his “top priority,” Jeff Riger of 97.1 The Ticket tweets. Drummond could become an unrestricted free agent if he opts out of the final year of his contract after the season.
“You guys know, many years in a row, how committed I am to Andre,” Gores said. “So it is [the] top priority.”
Drummond and his reps have reportedly requested extension talks. Prior to opening night, Drummond can opt in for the 2020/21 season at $28.75MM and add up to three additional years to the contract. The first year of the extension can be any amount up to 120% of his 2020/21 salary (a max of $34.5MM). After that, he can opt out and sign an extension until June 30, but the starting salary can’t be below $28.75MM or exceed $34.5MM.
We have more on the Pistons:
- Langston Galloway is one of many options at the wing and coach Dwane Casey says Galloway will have a role, Keith Langlois of the team’s website relays. “He’s like that old blanket,” Casey said. “It’s not fair, but he’s just a steady, steady pro. He’s a lot of our glue. So, no, I haven’t forgotten Langston. He’s going to be a huge part of what we do.” Galloway is in the final year of a three-year, $21MM contract that he signed with the previous front office regime. His $7.33MM salary is the second highest expiring deal on the team behind Reggie Jackson‘s $18.1MM salary.
- Joe Johnson‘s year off from basketball allowed him to spent time with his dying mother, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports. Johnson’s mother Diane died of cancer in February. “I don’t know if you guys understand what multiple myeloma is and what it does to the body,” Johnson said “It basically breaks muscles and bones down to a point where you just become limp and you can’t do nothing on your own. Then it comes to a point where you can’t even talk.” Johnson has a partial guarantee in his contract and is looking to secure the final spot on the opening-night roster.
- The franchise officially opened its new $90MM training facility and corporate headquarters on Monday, according to a team press release. The facility is touted as being the largest in the league. It’s located in downtown Detroit, a short distance from Little Caesars Arena. Their previous practice facility was located in Auburn Hills behind their previous arena, The Palace.
In fairness sometimes I throw my rolled up socks on to the court as well….
Drummond is not worth 30 mil. He’s a beast in the paint and a 15 and 15 type of guy but he’s not helping you win a title or get close.
But how many players are? At rather pay an in-his-prime possible Hall of Famer market rate than buy Allen Crabbe and Timofey Mozgov or a similar pair of players. You can’t run a $30m payroll out there, it’s not baseball.
I dont feel like its efficient to pay certain bigs at a certain point in today’s NBA. Not saying there arent guys that should get paid, but it’s hard to justify much more than 14-16 million, and a lot of bigs make (a lot) more than that. I feel like the absolute most it makes sense to pay a big is somewhere in the 18-22 million range, if they’re good enough, and that number is very small. A lot of bigs in today’s game are interchangeable
By bigs I assume you mean centre. I kinda agree with you abit. Outside of Joel, Jokic, AD (if you count him as C), Gobert and KAT there’s a big gap of talent and most centres after are close to interchangeable.
For example
Whiteside Drummond and Adams all over 25 mil could be replaced by someone like McGee who gets 4mil.
As far as value (not including rookies) DeAndre Jordan gives you about 15 and 15 and only gets 10 Mil he’s also a top defender. WCS, Nurkic, BLopez and Dedmon also gives you good production without costing an arm and a leg.
Yup, especially since centers may not see the court when other teams go small unless they’d be quick enough to stay on. If your center would only be playing 28-30mpg (or even less) instead of 34mpg+, he should be paid less as a result.
Drummond is worth every penny of his contract & I hope he gets a nice extension.
Sad to see how many people disrespect bigs in the game… small guys that can shoot 3’s there are a dozen a dime in every team, but big guys who can really play & change the game, now that is rare.
IMO Embiid, AD, KAT & Jokic are easily in the top 7-8 players of the league, & yes all are centers & Giannis is in there also.
Don’t know what your top 7-8 players look like but those guys aren’t in most. In no particular order
LeBron
Kawhi
KD
Curry
Harden
Davis
Giannis
Should all be most peoples top 7 players after that it gets abit debatable with the likes of
Jokic
Embid
Gobert
Westbrook
George
Butler
Lillard
Thompson
Irving
Griffin
KAT
Except Drummond is not in that same class of player, so why pay him nearly as much as they would get?
Don’t get me wrong, the main should get paid, but at 30+ million a year it’s not a slam-dunk decision.
I’mbad? Dude’s made of glass