Detroit Pistons: Aron Baynes season in review and grade

Aron Baynes was a rare source of stability for the Detroit Pistons this season. He was foundational to the defense and provided sturdy relief off the bench.

Aron Baynes was expected to relinquish his role as backup center to the incoming Boban Marjanovic on the Detroit Pistons bench, but he held off the newcomer until the very end.

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Aron Baynes doesn’t do much that jumps off the box score at you, but he was always a plus on the floor on the defensive end. He was the Pistons’ best rim protector among all players who saw regular minutes, he was the best defensive communicator and he led the team in on-court defensive rating. The Pistons yielded just 98.5 points per 100 possessions, and he had the second-highest true shooting rate on the team at 57 percent.

Unless Aron Baynes decides he hates money, it’s very unlikely the Pistons will be able to retain his services next season. Baynes has a player option, meaning he can opt out of his $6.5 million salary. The Pistons don’t have his full Bird rights, meaning the most they can offer him would be 175 percent of his last season’s pay. The most the Pistons could offer him is a contract with a first-year salary of $11.375 million, but he’s expected to command offers of significantly more, perhaps up to $15-16 million.

Although Baynes has alluded to feeling like he has “unfinished business” in Detroit, it’s likely that sanity will reign supreme and he’ll opt out of his contract in order to capitalize on the exploding salary cap. This should mean that Marjanovic will be the Pistons backup center going into next season.

Baynes was one of the most reliable Pistons all season long. The stability he provided in a turbulent 2016-17 season will be missed going forward.

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