Detroit Pistons roundtable: What contract would you offer Andre Drummond?

Andre Drummond is looking forward to free agency and the Detroit Pistons can offer him the most money. Here’s what our writers would offer him.

Every person looks forward to their pay day and it’s no different with Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond. As he should.

The 26-year-old center is set to hit free agency in 2020, barring a surprising decision to opt-in to a $28 million for the 2020-21 season. He is likely to be the top available frontcourt free agent with Anthony Davis being outspoken on his intent to re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

With very few marquee names – Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Gordon Hayward, Otto Porter Jr. and Goran Dragic, to name a few – hitting free agency at any position in 2020, Drummond could easily command a max contract due to the low supply of bigs.

However, what hurts his chances of getting the payday is teams, likely, not wanting to commit a lot of money due to the loaded 2021 free agent class. That leaves plenty of intrigue on what Drummond will make, either in an extension with the Pistons or on the open market.

We asked our writers at Piston Powered to offer their thoughts on what they would pay Drummond in free agency. Here are six answers.

Aaron Kellerstrass: This is a tough one. He’s at the right age to offer the max, but is he worth it? I’d go for four years, $100 million with a team option for a fifth, which is likely too low to keep him.

Jon Young: A lot of it depends on what he does this year. If he continues to improve his free-throw shooting and takes another step towards being an elite defender I would be tempted to offer him a full five-year max. Ideally, I would like to see him get a max deal for three years instead of five. That way he could become a free agent again before the age of 30. This could be beneficial to both Detroit and Drummond. If the fit doesn’t work going forward, we are only on the hook for three years. If Drummond continues to improve, he could sign one more major deal.

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Spyros Papadakos: I’d say Nikola Vucevic and Al Horford pretty much set the market for Drummond. In that sense, I would offer him a four-year deal for $25 million per year. I’d add a fifth year on a player option too if that’s what’s needed. In my estimation, he’s already worth that much and I can only see him improving down the road. That player option would be very intriguing for Drummond as he’ll be 30 when his player option comes up. Hopefully, the salary cap will have gone up by then.

Eli Bashi: I would offer a four -year, $112 million extension.

Eric Black: Five years, $130 million puts him ahead of Vucevic’s deal in average annual value (AAV), which a Drummond tweet from the past will tell you he thinks he’s better than.

Steven Bryant: I’d like to offer him a somewhat similar deal to what Draymond Green got. Somewhere around $23-25 million for four years seems just fine. Ideally, like $20 million but I don’t see that being a reality.

As you can see, there is some variance in what people are willing to accept Drummond back in Detroit for. It’s a tough evaluation for Ed Stefanski and the Pistons’ front office, especially with the 2021 free agency looming.

The Pistons are in a franchise-changing year of transition with so much money set to come off the books. It’ll be interesting to see how the front office moves forward.

If you were the one negotiating Andre Drummond’s new contract, what would you offer the big man? Let us know in the comments or join the conversation on the Piston Powered Facebook page and on Twitter @PistonPowered.