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As was commonly expected this offseason, Aron Baynes did not return to the Pistons, instead signing for the Boston Celtics as reported by Shams Charania of the Vertical, later corroborated by both Aron himself, as well as his agent, Daniel Moldovan.
Client @aronbaynes has agreed to a 1 yr deal with the legendary @celtics ! Congratulations to the now Beantown Big Banger
— Daniel Moldovan (@agentmoldovan) July 9, 2017
What’s interesting, though, is the reported figure. Baynes opted out moments before the sudden cap drop, where he was expected to earn upwards of $8M after leaving $6.5M on the table in Detroit. Therefore, the cap fall negatively impacted his value, along with a dry market of teams having lower cap space, leading to him signing a relatively cut price 1 year deal in Boston worth $4.3 million.
This seems interesting enough on its own, until Olgun Uluc reported some fascinating news about Aron. For those not in the know, Olgun Uluc is the chief basketball reporter for Fox Sports Australia and therefore is pretty plugged in to the happenings of Australian basketball around the world. His report:
Sources: Aron Baynes declined offers from the Rockets, Clippers, and Pistons, before signing with the Celtics. https://t.co/NoACJy32Ug
— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) July 10, 2017
According to Uluc, Baynes rejected similar deals from not only the Pistons, but the Rockets and Clippers as well, before signing with the Cs. One would think that situation was the determining factor for the Banger, with Boston perhaps the closest of the listed teams to competing for a title.
It also shows that the Pistons were interested in bringing him back, if Uluc’s report is correct. However, we have no way of knowing, at least for now, if this offer was made before or after the Eric Moreland signing.
At this stage, Boban is the primary backup goliath for the Pistons, but we could’ve seen a return for Sir Lobster Claws had he been amenable to it.