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The Detroit Pistons have exercised team options on the contracts of center Andre Drummond and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the team announced today.
Both players’ contracts are now extended through the 2015-16 NBA season.
Drummond is clearly a building block for the Pistons; a rebounding machine with a lot of potential. Caldwell-Pope is still proving his value in the league.
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The Detroit Pistons announced today that MRI results on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s left knee showed no structural damage. The injury has been re-classified as a left knee strain. Caldwell-Pope will miss this week’s preseason games at Charlotte, Orlando and Atlanta and will be re-evaluated upon the club’s return to Detroit next week.
Caldwell-Pope suffered the injury during the third quarter of yesterday’s 91-89 preseason loss at Washington.
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Construction of a new arena and entertainment complex for the Detroit Red Wings hockey team has ramped up that criticism but the Pistons own The Palace of Auburn Hills and have invested heavily in upgrades.
Van Gundy said “we want these people and need these people,” even though many surely were among the vocal group hoping the Pistons return to Detroit someday.
“I understand,” Van Gundy said, “but again, we’re playing in a state-of-the-art facility up there that Tom (Gores, Pistons owner) has put a lot of money into, as you guys know, and a lot of effort to make sure it stays one of the absolute elite facilities in the league. Fans coming up there have a great, great experience, so that arena has served us well and will serve us well.”
— Michigan Live
Here’s Michigan Live reporting on the Detroit Pistons:
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Jonas Jerebko has been hoping for a fresh start with the Detroit Pistons for three years now.
This season, he might finally get it.
Jerebko is optimistic things will be different for him under new head coach Stan Van Gundy, who so far has liked what he’s seen from the 6-foot-10 forward and employs the type of system that seems well-suited to the Pistons’ second-round pick (39th overall) in the 2009 draft.
“It’s been a rollercoaster,” Jerebko said of his first four seasons in Detroit. “Every year has been a new situation for me. I just feel very comfortable with (Van Gundy’s) way of playing basketball and his way of wanting to play basketball.
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The Detroit Pistons announced today that Aaron Gray will miss training camp while rehabbing from a cardiac episode suffered following a voluntary workout in late August.
The 7-0, 270-pound center has undergone a full evaluation and is currently seeking additional medical assessments from cardiac specialists to determine a timetable for a return to action.
Gray is a backup, and not likely to play a big role on the Pistons this season. As for his health, hopefully doctors figure out the problem — if there is one — and Aaron turns out to be fine and can play soon.
The Detroit Pistons announced today that the team has signed Hasheem Thabeet, Brian Cook, Lorenzo Brown and Josh Bostic to their training camp roster.
Thabeet, 7-3, 263, was drafted second overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. In 224 games with Memphis, Oklahoma City, Portland and Houston, he’s averaged 2.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 10.5 minutes per game. The University of Connecticut product was named National Defensive Player of the Year following his junior season.
Cook, a nine-year NBA veteran, has averaged 5.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 421 games (74 starts) with the Lakers, Magic, Clippers, Rockets and Wizards. He was drafted 24th overall by the Lakers in the 2003 NBA Draft after starring at the University of Illinois.
Brown, 6-5, 189, was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2013 NBA Draft out of North Carolina State University. He played in 26 games with the Philadelphia 76ers last season and averaged 2.5 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
Bostic, 6-5, 230, played last season for the Elan Chalon of the French League and averaged 7.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 10 games. He was named the 2008-09 NCAA Division II Player of the Year after leading Findlay University to a 36-0 record and a national championship.
Here’s the Detroit News reporting on Pistons point guard Brandon Jennings:
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Brandon Jennings emerged from the informal workouts at The Palace practice facility, looking somewhat similar to the figure who departed to California after last season’s disappointing, playoff-less finish.
Playful swagger? Check.
Rare introspection? Check
Twenty-five extra pounds? Check…wait, that wasn’t here last season
“I’m about 185, 190 on my good days,” said Jennings, noticeably thicker but still wiry.
Training camp doesn’t begin until the first day of October but Jennings and his other 14 teammates have all been at The Palace for a few weeks, per new coach/president Stan Van Gundy’s request.
“Usually guys come in and you don’t see them until media day,” Jennings said. “It’s good, we’ve been together for three weeks strong, preparing for the season.”
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The Detroit Pistons announced today that forward Greg Monroe has signed the team’s one-year qualifying offer for the 2014-15 season.
“I have said from day one that we have great respect for Greg as a person and like what he brings to this team as a player,” said Stan Van Gundy, Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons. “We have had good dialogue with Greg throughout the offseason with the understanding that there were multiple options for both parties involved, and we respect his decision. We look forward to a great year from Greg as we continue to build our team moving forward.”
“I look forward to playing for Coach Van Gundy and his staff,” said Monroe. He has a proven track record and I’m excited about working with my teammates to get better and prepare for the season.”
Monroe, the seventh overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, averaged 15.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 32.8 minutes in a career-high 82 games (all starts) last season. In 309 career games (277 starts), Monroe has averaged 14.0 points (.508 FG, .678 FT), 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals in 31.3 minutes per game.
The 6-foot-11, Gretna, LA native has averaged 15.0-plus points, 9.0-plus rebounds, 2.0-plus assists and 1.0-plus steals in each of his last three seasons. He has recorded 101 double-doubles since 2011-12 – second most in the Eastern Conference (Joakim Noah – 102) and recorded his third consecutive season with 1,000-plus points and 600-plus rebounds, joining Grant Hill as the only Pistons to do so since 1994-95.
Here’s the Detroit Free Press reporting a Pistons arena development:
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There’s no telling yet if the Detroit Pistons will be any better in Tom Gores’ fourth season as team owner, but they’ll definitely be bigger on a massive new high-definition scoreboard.
The 56,000-pound scoreboard with six video screens, triple the size of the 15-year-old system it replaces at the Palace of Auburn Hills, is the capstone of a three-year, $40-million renovation by Gores and Platinum Equity, which acquired Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) about three years ago.
In an interview with the Free Press last week, PS&E president Dennis Mannion and other officials shared renderings of the scoreboard and details of the renovations that they aim to complete by the Pistons’ Nov. 1 home opener.
Then it’s up to the Pistons basketball team, under new head coach and team president Stan Van Gundy, to play better — and thus juice up attendance and enthusiasm to a level worthy of the spiffed-up surroundings.
Here’s the Detroit Free Press reporting on the Pistons, who have Greg Monroe back next season — though his future in Detroit beyond that is in doubt:
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Reacting to the Pistons’ reported signing of teammate Greg Monroe for the 2014-15 season, Drummond said he felt relieved to hear the news on Saturday.
“I was very excited knowing we got Greg back for another season,” he said. “The tandem we have is something we’ve been working on for the past two years. Going at it again, it’s going to be fun.”
Though he denied any involvement in Monroe’s decision-making process, Drummond suggested he had inside information on his counterpart’s final decision.
“I knew he was coming back,” Drummond said. “It was just a matter of time.”