The deadline to sign players to extensions has come and gone and among the notable players to not reach a deal was Andre Drummond. The Detroit Pistons’ star center has been putting on a show in the early goings of the season as he has led his team to a 3-1 start. As a result, the Pistons inability to sign him to an extension has surprised some people.
The main consensus in NBA circles is that the Pistons have come to an agreement with Drummond to sign him to a max deal next summer, waiting that long in order to preserve some cap space to chase free agents. Because the Pistons have Drummond’s Bird Rights, they will be able to go over the salary cap to resign him. If the Pistons did indeed promise the contract one year in advance, however, they will have violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement. This has led to some criticism of the Pistons and head coach and president Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy has come out to defend his decision, however (via Pro Basketball Talk):
I don’t remember reading any of those things about Kawhi Leonard last year coming off being the NBA Finals MVP, and they didn’t extend him […] Washington’s doing it with Beal. Look, it’s more common not to do them then do them. So, I don’t know why the criticism.
Van Gundy is certainly correct. The Spurs chose to hold off on extending Kawhi Leonard last season which contributed, in part, to their ability to sign LaMarcus Aldridge this summer. Meanwhile, the Wizards did not extend the contract of shooting guard Bradley Beal, perhaps with the thought of signing Kevin Durant to a max deal next summer in mind.
Van Gundy also clarified that the team and Drummond simply decided to delay negotiations until the offseason and that the league has already investigated the situation and cleared the Pistons.
