NBA free agent rumors: Pistons expected to chase Draymond Green

Draymond Green is living the high life as an integral cog in a team that won an NBA championship. He famously enjoyed himself (perhaps a little too much) during the Golden State Warriors' championship parade in Oakland.

He also recently enjoyed being the subject of honor during a championship parade in his hometown of Saginaw, Michigan. Saginaw is just an hour's drive from the Palace of Auburn Hills, and according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo, the Detroit Pistons are expected to be one of Green's suitors as he enters free agency.

Spears also mentions the Warriors, Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets in his report. Green is expected to sign somewhere close to the maximum salary, which would vault his earnings from $915,243 to somewhere close to $14 million annually.

The odds of the Pistons signing Green as a restricted free agent are vanishingly small. While Green is expected to have many suitors, and Detroit may or may not be one of them, the Warriors hold the right to match any contract offer he gets, and the team has said retaining Green is a high priority.

Green averaged 11.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists and finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting last season.

For his part, Green said he is entering the free agency process with "no expectations" and that joining a winning situation is a high priority for him.

"Who even knows if Detroit would even talk to me? There have been reports and people saying they will. There have been reports saying they won't. So who knows if they even want to talk to me?," Green said, according to Spears.

With the likelihood of signing Green so low, there are questions on whether the Pistons would even invest considerable time and energy in a pursuit of Green. Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reported in early June that the Pistons weren't expected to go after Green because putting up an offer sheet to the restricted free agent would tie up salary cap space for 72 hours and they might have nothing to show for it. Presumably, while Detroit would be stuck in limbo, other free agent targets could sign with other teams.

Stan Van Gundy has admitted that the Pistons will focus on two primary targets at small forward who are unrestricted free agents, then, if need be, move on to two restricted free agents. If the team still comes up empty it will pursue a short-term veteran small forward solution.