Andre Drummond (Photo : Al Bello | Getty Images Sport)
One of the news items that flew under the radar was Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons not signing an extension.
The Pistons' promising center seems to have an understanding that he is the franchise player moving forward, so he did not even seek the security of signing an extension as covered by the Detroit Free Press.
"I will tell you I've learned from conversations that we had we're really giving ourselves the flexibility to build this team up and do the right things to get us where we need to be," Drummond, 22, told reporters. "I'm just ready to prepare for the season, and whenever that time comes again, I'll be prepared for it."
Here's a brief explanation: "The expectation is they quickly will agree on a five-year, $120-million contract soon after the NBA's free-agency moratorium begins in July, but by delaying the deal, the Pistons will have an extra $13 million in cap space to attract players or facilitate trades," Free Press explained. "If the contract were signed before Nov. 2, the first year of Drummond's extension (roughly $21 million) would count toward the 2016-17 salary cap."
Of course, it's not always fool-proof like the case of Chandler Parsons getting stolen by the Dallas Mavericks by getting him to sign an offer that the Rockets chose not to match.
This is a very long shot that was the basis of a comment by Mychal Thompson, former member of the Lakers champion teams of the 80s and now co-host of an ESPN radio show with Mike Trudell.
One of his recent intriguing comments was a "theoretical" Lakers five of D'Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Kevin Durant, Julius Randle and Andre Drummond.
It is a given that the Lakers will jump in the Durant sweepstakes, but can they also pull off Drummond, either through free agency or trade?
Even the Lakers fans are doubtful, as Silver Screen and Roll says it's a "pipe dream."
Understanding the reasons behind Drummond not signing an extension and the reality that as a Restricted Free Agent, the team has every right to match an offer, the pipe dream should die a natural death.
However, they do admit that it will be mentioned as a possibility in the media outfits and if the Pistons struggle and the Lakers succeed, it will be a topic even for just wild speculation. The caveat is that if the Pistons ever agree to trade him to the Lakers, they would ask for any of the young assets in return (Clarkson, Russell, Randle) hence the theoretical lineup would not come to pass.
