Detroit Pistons still on track to max out Andre Drummond
By Duncan Smith
In what expects to be a busy offseason for the Detroit Pistons, the organization’s top priority remains to sign Andre Drummond to a max contract.
The Detroit Pistons have a number of pressing needs that must be addressed this offseason, but the most pressing of all is to take care of one of their own and sign center Andre Drummond to a max contract.
Drummond and the organization came to an agreement before this past season began to wait until after the season to deal with his contract, a move designed to maximize the Pistons’ ability to utilize the booming salary cap.
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Drummond expects to get a deal worth $120 million over five years, starting at $22 million in year one. As Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press notes, the only question in this deal is whether Drummond will get a player option in year five, allowing him to opt out and pursue offers elsewhere.
That may be tempting to Drummond, depending on the NBA’s financial landscape at that point in time. In year five, he’ll be turning 28 and will likely be in line for his last big contract, so this fifth year may be a point of negotiation between the Pistons and Drummond’s camp.
Drummond has been one of the best young big men in the NBA since shortly after entering the league in 2012-13 at the age of 19, increasing his production steadily every season. Last year he got off to a torrid start and wrapped up the season with averages of 16.2 points and 14.8 rebounds per game.
It’s been well-documented that Drummond’s free throw shooting is awful to a historic level as he hit just 35.5 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe this past season, but his recent willingness to try other methods of shooting the ball from the line is encouraging. If that can get corrected, the sky is the limit for the young big man.
Without a doubt, the Pistons need outside shooting this season. They were one of the highest volume shooting teams from three-point range this past season, and they were one of the poorer shooting teams from long range. They need a backup point guard, and they need a power forward who has some size and who can shoot and defend.
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But all this is moot without Andre Drummond, and he’ll be the Pistons top priority this offseason.