Rumor: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope demanding more than $20 million per year in extension talks

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is demanding more than $20 million per season in his contract extension talks with the Detroit Pistons.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is demanding more than $20 million per season in his contract extension talks with the Detroit Pistons, according to Vince Ellis from The Detroit Free Press.

The 23-year-old shooting guard, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract, is rumored to be wanting “to ensure no money is being left on the table” during their negotiations, as first reported by Ellis:

"There was gossip over the summer that it would take a deal worth north of $20 million per year to get Caldwell-Pope’s signature. But the Pistons’ payroll is burgeoning, and owner Tom Gores likely will face a luxury-tax bill for being over the NBA’s tax line."

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a career year last season, averaging 14.5 points per game on 42 percent shooting, 3.7 assists per game and 1.8 assists per game for Detroit.

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Ellis notes that Pistons owner Tom Gores wants to keep him on the Pistons, but would most likely face a luxury tax bill with a large extension. The team currently has $115.1 million in allotted contracts for this season – the third-most in the league according to HoopsHype – and $95.3 million for next year.

There are also multiple other factors that could cause a delay in an extension, including the NBA and National Basketball Players’ Association negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, jersey sponsorship revenue and the league’s new TV deal.

Pistons president-coach Stan Van Gundy is remaining optimistic a deal can be done:

"“I think so far he’s handled it really, really well,” Van Gundy said last week. “I don’t anticipate any problems, but we’ll have more talk on that stuff if we get to the point that it doesn’t get done, but I’m still hopeful we’ll get something done. I’m optimistic, I’m hopeful.”"

Personally, I understand and agree with why Caldwell-Pope would want to get a large extension.

This past offseason, a lot of players signed very large contracts thanks to the league’s TV deal. The agreement, which will last until the 2025-26 season, led to the team salary cap going up $24 million this past summer to $94.1 million.

Some of the benefactors included Mike Conley, who signed an NBA-record five-year, $153 million contract to return to the Memphis Grizzlies, and Timofey Mozgov, who received a four-year, $64 million deal from the Los Angeles Lakers despite averaging just 6.6 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game last year.

Shooting guard Allen Crabbe, who played on the Portland Trail Blazers bench last season, was also offered a four-year, $75 million offer sheet by the Brooklyn Nets. Portland matched it.

As well, the league’s cap space is expected to increase to $102 million this upcoming offseason. That also doesn’t include how much teams will make from jersey sponsorships. This means there is a bit more room for players to get bigger contracts.

But, as Ellis notes, the current conditions will make it very difficult for both parties to come to an agreement before the restricted free agency extension deadline Oct. 31:

"It’s tough to see a deal being consummated in such an atmosphere.The trend has been for more players to wait until restricted free agency status to resolve contract issues.Caldwell-Pope can wait and gauge interest next summer, maybe even sign an offer sheet, giving the Pistons 72 hours to decide whether to make the financial commitment."

In my opinion, this would be the smartest thing for both parties to do – wait and see what the conditions look like this offseason, see what offers Caldwell-Pope receives, then match any other contract he agrees to.