Will Detroit Pistons Attempt To Trade Brandon Jennings?
The Detroit Pistons offseason has been an interesting and active on to say the least. For those in the business of giving out offseason grades, the one that you would give head coach Stan Van Gundy and company is debatable.
The reason being is, the first thing that comes to mind is the loss of Greg Monroe — despite the two moving on from one another coming as no surprise.
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Joining Detroit are Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger in a trade, as well as Ersan Ilyasova in a separate deal.
Then there was the drafting of Stanley Johnson out of Arizona at No. 8 overall in the NBA Draft.
Going back to the loss of Monroe, Reggie Jackson (who is a restricted free agent) then became the team’s top priority moving forward. According to the Detroit News, Van Gundy signed Jackson to a five-year deal worth around $80 million and the contract should become official this week.
Jackson was acquired last season in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, making him important to the future for the Pistons. Monroe’s loss was expected for the Pistons, but losing Jackson would have been devastating and now the team has some optimism moving forward with Jackson back.
With the above transactions in mind, the way it stands now the Detroit Pistons currently have 17 players signed for next season — and Andre Drummond is another priority.
“Probably in the next couple of weeks. But what you’re talking about there is more timing than anything else. It’s not like you’re gonna be haggling over dollars as much.” — Van Gundy on Andre Drummond.
He is the player the team wanted to build around over Monroe. Drummond is making $3,272,091 this season and according to the Detroit News, the two will begin contract negotiations over the next few weeks, with a long-term (and likely max) deal being the outcome.
Drummond had his best season as a pro while averaging 13.8 points and grabbing 13.5 rebounds per game in 82 games played last season. With Monroe gone, keeping Drummond around will also be key.
Furthermore, Stan Van Gundy stayed true to his word to bring back Joel Anthony, which means some tweaking will need to occur eventually.
Will the tweaking come in the form of a cut? One more trade?
A salary dump?
Maybe a trade involving one, Brandon Jennings?
Jennings, who is coming off an Achilles injury, has already been mentioned in previous Pistons trade rumors this offseason, in particularly the ones involving Tim Hardaway Jr. prior to him joining the Atlanta Hawks.
With Van Gundy committed to Jackson at point guard, and Jennings current contract up next season, it makes the most sense for him to be involved in a salary dump scenario.
The Pistons even picked up some insurance for this sort of a scenario, acquiring backup point guard Steve Blake from the Brooklyn Nets on Monday in exchange for Quincy Miller, according to mlive.com.
The only problem with this?
There seems to be little to no interest on the market for Jennings — at least currently. The Knicks have been connected to Jennings in the past, but with Jerian Grant and Jose Calderon on the roster, they may not push for a deal.
While I’m not a big fan of unloading quality players for next to nothing, you cannot help but get the sense that a deal of this nature could occur in the future. Even if Detroit doesn’t move Jennings this offseason, he could very easily find himself on the block when the trade deadline rolls around next season.
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