Andre Drummond extension: When is it going to happen?

One thing is certain: The Detroit Pistons and Andre Drummond want to ink Drummond to an extension. The question is when. Our own Jason Brunkowski wrote about it last month and then asked Keith Langlois about it, which was a featured question in Langlois' weekly mailbag on Pistons.com.

Jason (@JBrunkowski4): You may have previously explained this, but what is the reason Andre Drummond isn't extended ASAP?

Here's what Keith had to say:

Langlois: Stan Van Gundy said last week that talks about that subject were on his near-term agenda with Drummond and his agent, Jeff Schwartz. The options are signing the extension this summer or next. The primary motivation to wait to sign the extension would be the added cap space it would give the Pistons next July. If they agree to the extension this summer, his 2016-17 contract figure would be on the cap on July 1. If they wait to sign the extension until next summer, Drummond's cap hold - a much smaller figure - would be on their books on July 1 and give them greater flexibility to sign free agents or do deals to take desirable veterans into cap space as they did this off-season in taking on Marcus Morris and Ersan Ilyasova. After that business gets conducted, then they would sign Drummond - much as they made their roster moves this season before officially signing Reggie Jackson's new contract to put them over the cap. (Jackson's cap hold was more than $10 million less than what his first-year salary will be on his new contract.) For Drummond, the risk would be putting off a sure thing. Catastrophic injuries don't happen very often in basketball - it's not like football players or baseball pitchers, for sure - but when Drummond could be looking at a nine-figure deal how much risk will he be willing to take on? Van Gundy made clear that Drummond's wishes will largely dictate what the Pistons do on this issue. In other words, they're not going to tell him to wait to sign the extension just to have the extra chunk of cap space next July. Their overriding motivation is to do what they need to do to make certain Drummond is at the center of their roster for the next decade-plus. We've seen teams and players go either way in this situation. Kawhi Leonard waited to get his extension with San Antonio, which allowed the Spurs to add LaMarcus Aldridge this summer. New Orleans announced not just a maximum extension, but the super max, with Anthony Davis, as soon as possible this summer to take effect for the 2016-17 season.

It'll ultimately be up to Drummond. If he and his agent want the security, they'll go get it. Otherwise, they'll take the relative gamble and wait for the cap increase next season, increasing Drummond's overall percentage of the cap, as far as I understand it, and help the Pistons increase their cap space. There really doesn't seem to be much more to it than that.

We'll see what happens before Halloween. Boo.

Now your thoughts.