Aron Baynes could have fetched Detroit Pistons a draft pick?
The Detroit Pistons, Stan Van Gundy says, thought long and hard about dealing Aron Baynes who will likely opt out of his contract this offseason. If a trade would have came to fruition, it likely would have been for a future draft pick. Was keeping Baynes the right decision?
The Detroit Pistons had some tough decisions to make at the trade deadline. Does the team move on from core, albeit somewhat dysfunctional pieces, like Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond? Do they move Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in an effort to avoid paying him a max contract this offseason?
One of the smaller decisions the Pistons also needed to make centered around their backup center Aron Baynes.
According to the Stan Van Gundy via the Detroit Free Press, a trade involving Baynes was kicked around and the return would have been a draft pick.
"With Aron Baynes likely to decline his $6.5-million player option for next season, Detroit Pistons president/coach Stan Van Gundy admitted Tuesday the organization discussed dealing the backup center at last month’s NBA trade deadline.But let’s break it down. Is a playoff push this season — the Pistons were tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference entering Tuesday — worth a future second-round pick? To the organization, the answer was obvious.“We just didn’t disregard it, we talked about it, we thought about it,” Van Gundy said. “But to us, that would be (for) getting back somebody who could contribute a great deal. We didn’t really want to make the move with him. We’ve got too much respect for him.”“It’s been proven, really, for two years now that our defense is significantly better with Aron on the floor,” Van Gundy said. “His communication, his toughness. The fact that he reacts quickly and is ahead of the play really, really helps our defense.”"
A future second round pick for Baynes is definitely worth kicking around.
On the one hand, the team can’t afford Baynes in the likely event that he opts out of his contract this offseason. Getting something instead of nothing is always better.
On the other hand, the Pistons are trying to make a playoff push and Baynes has been a steady fixture on the second unit.
My take? I would have dealt Baynes, that is, unless he has made some sort of internal promise he’s returning for another season.
It’s not that losing Baynes wouldn’t have hurt, but the Pistons have a viable option in Boban Marjanovic that has been pretty good in limited spurts.
More importantly, it would have given the Pistons a half season to evaluate whether or not Marjanovic is a long-term option behind Drummond.
Perhaps the biggest kicker in all of this, is the Pistons are not a championship caliber team–barring devastating injuries to multiple teams around the NBA, and an unimaginable turnaround by Detroit, of course.
Let’s face it, striking on a second round pick isn’t likely, but a strong evaluation team and more opportunities certain increase your chances.
Trading away a backup player who is almost certainly gone at season’s end for an extra stab at finding an impact player makes a ton of sense for the way the Pistons are constructed and for where they are at in comparison to the rest of the league.
Next: Tobias Harris getting national love for sixth man of the year
I don’t fault Van Gundy’s logic, I would have just rather had another opportunity to add the next Rashard Lewis, Paul Millsap, Marc Gasol, Gilbert Arenas, Draymond Green, Manu Genobili, Isaiah Thomas, Carlos Boozer, Cliff Robinson, Monte Ellis, DeAndre Jordan, Nikola Jokic, Stephen jackson, Michael Redd, Jeff Hornacek, Gus Johnson, George McGinnis, World B. Free, Marc Price, Dennis Johnson, Dennis Rodman, Tiny Archibald, Willis Reed, or Alex English–to name a few wildly successful second round guys–with were the Pistons’ roster is.