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Pistons’ Van Gundy: Likely Won’t be Able to Re-Sign Baynes
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All posts by Basketball InsidersUpdated3 hours ago on April 20, 2024
However, another player in a contract season may not return to the Pistons.
“Aron [Baynes] is a really good player and I said this after the last game, we’re going to be in a difficult situation by the [CBA] rules of trying to re-sign him next summer,” Van Gundy said. “I’m supposed to downplay him, not play him up and tell you, ‘You know, that guy’s a pretty solid backup,’ but the bottom line is he’s a starting-caliber NBA center who we’re very lucky to have as a backup.”
What could Baynes do if he was a starting center on another team?
“If Aron were getting 30 minutes a night I don’t think he’d average 20, but he’d be a very, very solid player offensively in this league and defensively,” Van Gundy added. “He’s just a very, very good basketball player, who we were criticized with, by the way, because we paid him ‘too much money.’ Now he’ll make about triple next summer of what we’re giving him. We won’t be able to re-sign him, but the critics, who always know, killed us for overpaying him. Right now, we could trade him to 29 teams in about five seconds right now at what he’s making. So I don’t think we made too bad a deal.”
