If the Detroit Pistons want Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to stick around, it’s going to cost them.
The 23-year-old swingman will become a restricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t sign an extension before the impending late-October deadline. That extension doesn’t appear to be in the cards, because Caldwell-Pope is believed to be seeking around $20 million per year, according to the Detroit Free Press‘ Vince Ellis:
There was gossip over the summer that it would take a deal worth north of $20 million per year to get Caldwell-Pope’s signature. But the Pistons’ payroll is burgeoning, and owner Tom Gores likely will face a luxury-tax bill for being over the NBA’s tax line.
Gores has said he wants the Pistons to retain Caldwell-Pope, the team’s best perimeter defender, and has indicated he will willingly pay the freight. But Gores would be well within his rights to limit the cost for a team that has proven only it can make the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed.
With another salary-cap spike looming, some team will pay Caldwell-Pope close to, or even more than, his asking price if Detroit won’t. But the Pistons also have no incentive to make a decision now. They have the right to match any offer Caldwell-Pope receives over the summer, and mid-season extensions only make total sense if the team believes its saving money in the long run.
Since KCP is asking for so much, the Pistons are better off letting this season play out, seeing how he does, making some judgements on their current core and then going from there. Waiting also diminishes KCP’s cap hold until he signs a new deal over the summer. And while the Pistons aren’t projected to have any real spending power, keeping their guaranteed investments to a minimum gives them more flexibility to change course should they decide they’d like to dump other salaries in favor of a more aggressive free-agent approach.
