With the NBA trade deadline less than a month away, teams are letting it be known that they have players on the market. The Detroit Pistons are testing the waters on two of their big men — Boban Marjanovic and Aron Baynes, per Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders.
Marjanovic is in his sophomore year, despite being 28 years old. Last season he played for the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game. He’s seen the court even less this year, playing just 7.3 minutes per game, and he has played in less than half of the Pistons games. This is just after Detroit signed him to a deal worth $21 million over three years.
Baynes, on the other hand, is on an expiring contract worth $6.5 million, which is enticing to a lot of teams looking for either a rental big man or someone who can help the team hit the tax floor for the season. At the age of 30, the big man from Australia is playing just over 15 minutes a game, and he is putting up 4.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in his time on the court.
With another spike in the salary cap this coming summer, contracts are going to be even more expensive, which is why Baynes is deciding to opt out of his current contract with the Pistons. Detroit doesn’t believe they’ll be able to sign Baynes again because his contract will be too expensive for them due to having to re-sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as well. They already have Andre Drummond, Tobias Harris, Reggie Jackson, and Jon Leuer on contracts worth over $10 million a year.
The final day to make a trade in the NBA is February 23.
