Report: Pistons, Drummond to discuss contract extension
Detroit Pistons president and head coach Stan Van Gundy wants to keep his front row seat to the "Andre Drummond Show" for the foreseeable future.
With Drummond eligible for a contract extension this offseason, it's hard to blame Van Gundy for wanting to lock-up his burgeoning star of a center sooner rather than later.
On Sunday, The Detroit News' Terry Foster reported Pistons brass hopes to get a deal done well before its deadline at the end of October.
"We will get into those talks," Van Gundy said. "We agreed we would get into this after this free-agency period and after the summer league. There is no rush. We have until the end of October so we will get into those talks in the next couple of weeks."
While Van Gundy indicates there is "no rush" in getting Drummond to re-up with the team that drafted him ninth overall in 2012, extending the 21-year-old big man this summer, as opposed to next year when he would become a restricted free agent, would give the franchise and player peace of mind.
From Drummond's perspective, it might be wise to accept a max extension now, for if he were to sustain a serious injury in 2015-16, he would almost certainly forfeit any sort of leverage when negotiating a new deal next summer.
Drummond is set to earn $3.27 million next season, his fourth year in the league.
The 6-foot-10 New York native averaged 13.8 points, 13.5 rebounds (led the league in total offensive boards), and 1.9 blocks in 2014-15.