With the Pistons bowing out of the NBA playoffs after what has been described as one of the most competitive sweeps in recent NBA memory, the focus of the organization and its fans is now on the offseason.
Detroit is expected to have another busy summer ahead of them, with Andre Drummond likely to receive a max dealand the front office looking to bolster its roster through the draft and free agency, but (almost) everyone seems to have forgotten that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is up for an extension this summer.
The third-year guard had himself the best year of his career this past season, recording career highs in minutes (36.7), points (14.5), rebounds (3.7), assists (1.8), steals (1.4), field goal percentage (42%) and free throw percentage (81.1%). Almost all of those numbers increased during the playoffs, where he averaged 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.8 steals in just over 40 minutes per game, with a scorching shooting line of 44 / 44.4 / 71.4. So why haven't we been hearing about the Pistons' urge to sign their primary shooting guard to a contract extension? Per MLive's David Mayo:
"Yeah, I mean, why do it now? It's not in my mind. I mean, it could happen. If it does happen, it happens. But right now I'm going to stay focused and get better," Caldwell-Pope said. "Right now, I'm just going to let my agent handle all that. If you have any questions about that, I really can't answer them. I let my agent answer for me. I don't know. We haven't really talked about it."
As Mayo breaks down in his article, Pope's answer is a valid one, with the salary cap expected to blow up over the next few seasons, he is in no rush to put pen to paper. Similarly, the Pistons may be interested in fleshing out their roster first before engaging him in contract negotiations -- essentially the same thing they did with Andre Drummond. In the meantime, Pope explains he is more keen to work on improving his game, notably adding another 10 pounds of muscle and rehabbing the core strain he suffered in February, which has been nagging him ever since.
Watch this space over the course of the summer, as we'll keep you updated if any new information on the guard's contract talks come to light.