Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond is willing to wait a few more months for his large payday—the big fella says he’s agreed to delay contract extension talks until next summer.
Drummond, 22, will enter restricted free agency in July.
Stan Van Gundy, the Pistons’ presidend and head coach, lauds Drummond’s team-first approach.
SVG says key to decision is Drummond's relationship with and trust in #Pistons owner Tom Gores
— Keith Langlois (@Keith_Langlois) October 20, 2015
SVG on @AndreDrummondd: "Andre wants to be here long term. He … wants us to have the flexibility to continue to add people to this team."
— Keith Langlois (@Keith_Langlois) October 20, 2015
From the Pistons’ website:
Drummond and (team owner Tom) Gores met on Sept. 27 at the owner’s Detroit-area home – two days before training camp opened – and had a lengthy conversation where he laid out the pros and cons. At the heart of it, he wanted to make sure Drummond was comfortable with delaying negotiations rather than locking up a guaranteed salary for the next five seasons now. […] “It’s between Tom and I, those discussions,” Drummond said. “They don’t really need to be discussed openly. We both have an understanding of what’s best for the team.”
“When you go around and talk to players, every player says, ‘I’m all about winning,’” Van Gundy said. “But this is a guy who’s proving that he’s all about winning. This guy’s doing that to create the flexibility so that we can add to the roster significantly next summer. From my standpoint, you can’t say enough about his commitment to the franchise, his commitment to winning and his leadership. He’s got great faith in his ability and in the organization and the direction we’re headed. We’re all on the same page. We want to win, we want him here long term and he wants to be here long term.”
Drummond’s decision means the Pistons will have about $12.7 million more to take into free agency next July 1, Van Gundy said. The figure for Drummond that will go on the Pistons cap sheet will be about $8.2 million – his cap hold – rather than what his first-year salary according to the terms of the extension would have been. A maximum contract for the 2016-17 season for a player of Drummond’s experience is expected to be nearly $21 million, though the exact figure is to be determined when the league’s financial data is completed in early July.
