Detroit Pistons: Some Interest In Veteran Center Jason Collins, But Signing Is Unlikely

ESPN.com reported Saturday that the Detroit Pistons had at least passing interest in veteran center Jason Collins, who split last season between the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.

Sources stressed no formal offer had been extended, but that the Pistons had opened a dialogue with Collins.

Collins made headlines this spring when he came out as the first active openly gay athlete in one of North America’s big four sports. There hasn’t been a lot of interest in Collins this summer, but that likely has more to do with what the 34-year-old brings on the court rather than the news he made off it.

Collins played in 38 games for the Celtics and Wizards last season, starting nine of them, put averaged just 10.1 minutes per game, while scoring 1.1 points and getting 1.6 rebounds per contest. His best season was in 2004-05, when he started 80 games for the New Jersey Nets and averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 boards in 31.8 minutes of playing time.

In 12 seasons with the Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, Celtics and Wizards, Collins has averaged 20.8 minutes, 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from the floor.

After signing a one-year deal with Boston last summer, Collins was traded at the Feb. 21 deadline to Washington with Leandro Barbosa in exchange for Jordan Crawford.

“I look at it, honestly, like any other free agency in the past several years, where I know I have to stay patient,” Collins told The New York Times last month. “And I know that at this point in my career, you remain hopeful that there’s a job and an opportunity waiting for you once teams start to fill out their rosters.”

Detroit has 14 players under contract, one under the limit, and has Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe on the roster at center after Viacheslav Kravtsov was dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks in the sign-and-trade deal that brought Brandon Jennings to the Pistons earlier this month.

The Pistons were said to be looking at Collins for his veteran experience and as a potential insurance policy behind Drummond—who missed 22 games as a rookie because of back problems—and Monroe.

However, the Detroit News reported Saturday that an actual signing was not likely.

Detroit is said to be looking at several bigs to play behind Monroe and Drummond and two sources told the Detroit News that the Pistons would prefer a player younger than Collins.

Collins, along with twin brother Jarron Collins, was a standout at Stanford. Jason Collins was drafted 18th overall in 2001 by the Houston Rockets and then shipped to the Nets along with two other first-rounders from that draft, 13th overall pick Richard Jefferson and 23rd overall selection Brandon Armstrong in exchange for the rights to the No. 7 overall choice, Eddie Griffin.

Collins was part of the New Jersey teams that reached the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, starting all 20 of the Nets’ postseason contests in 2003 after playing off the bench in the playoffs as a rookie.

At the time of Collins’ declaration of his sexual orientation, ESPN.com surveyed 14 teams and found that just six of them expected Collins to be in the league in 2013-14. The eight that expressed doubts about Collins questioned his production.

“The reality is that he’s been an end-of-the-roster kind of player for the last couple years,” one Western Conference executive said in April.