Who gets the designated tag?

[ImHeisenberg]

Does Detroit pull out all the stops to retain Monroe and offer him a 5 year contract next summer? Or, do they hold onto it for Drummond when he's eligible for an extension in a couple years?

Tell me who you speculate it will be, and why.

[Jodi]

I think we'll let the market dictate there worth and match the highest offer...No 5yr deals handed out by the Pistons...

[MrBigShot]

Well, it's pretty clear Drummond is as close to untouchable as it gets. He's the one guy on here that you don't see trade proposals for from us, and that speaks volumes to his potential. Everybody loves Dre.

I'd try to extend Moose before the resigning deadline for 12-13 mil per, 4 years. If he takes the next step forward in his offensive game and becomes a 20/10/4, I think we would be justified to just give him the max, 4 years. If neither of those two scenarios happen, match whatever he gets in RFA.

[ImHeisenberg]

I understand that any opinions are largely based on future speculation, as we don't know what Monroe and Drummond will look like this upcoming season.

I think if Monroe can make the leap, knock down that 17 foot jump shot at a David West-like rate and play sound defense, he can make an alarmingly strong case for the fifth year. Especially if Drummond doesn't make a jump this next season.

[Cowology]

Drummond.

IF we feel that will be a hindrance in retaining Monroe, then you trade Monroe. Nothing (bball related) get's in the way of locking up Drummond. Nothing.

[roc]

No doubt in my mind... I would make sure we lock up Drummond with that 5th year.

[HotelVitale]

No one yet. Monroe isn't that level of player. If he develops a killer midrange game then maybe he's in the conversation, but if he's basically who he is right now, he's barely a max player let alone megamax. I know people don't like the comp, but Al Jefferson's first season in Minny was substantially better than any of Moose's so far, and he didn't get a regular ol' max.

And Drummond hasn't shown he can consistently even be as good as Larry Sanders or Serge Ibaka, defense-and-rebounding studs who will get around $10m a year. Let Drummond show some signs of consistent stardom before even thinking about paying him like a megastar. There's still a chance he's a rebounding monster and a good tip-ip scorer, who can't give consistent mental and physical effort in big minutes. No one maxes out a 11 pts, 11 rebs guy, right? (And for those who might bring up Wall's max--the last couple of months of last season, Wall was top 15-ish in PER and WARP while playing 35 minutes per game. In my book that qualifies as a convincing display of megastar potential.)

[mercury]

There's good value in the question for folks wanting to max out G.M.... sooner or later you have to pay the piper and two max deals on our front line + Smith's deal is really spreading things thin... this actually makes a case for dealing Greg for a young allstar caliber talent at SF.
IMO, we should wait til the end of the year to get a more informed direction to take... good thread

[ImHeisenberg]

Nice reply, hotel.

[DocRI]

IMHO, the obvious answer is Drummond, but let's go beyond the obvious knee-jerk reaction for a moment —

Joe Dumars bult a championship team (which SHOULD have won more than one title, but that's another thread) in a very communist manner; remember, Rasheed re-signed with us for less than a max deal when he could have commanded that on the open market. I'm pretty confident Joe would much rather "share the wealth" across multiple All-Star caliber players than devote the lion's share of his salary cap to one guy. In fact, he's already re-showing that tendency by signing Smith for less than max money and committing to Jennings on what could be a bargain deal. People always, ALWAYS repeat what has worked for them in the past, so I honestly think Joe will be hesitant to give anyone that "mega-max" tag.

That said, if Drummond wins DPOY, lands a First Team All NBA nod, and is staring on the 2016 US Olympic Team, Joe will do whatever he freakin' has to to keep him, period, end of discussion, no questions asked and no second thoughts. And I'm sorry Hotel, but this statement ...

Drummond hasn't shown he can consistently even be as good as Larry Sanders or Serge Ibaka, defense-and-rebounding studs who will get around $10m a year.

... is absurd. Neither Sanders nor Ibaka have shown a toenail-clipping's worth of the potential Drummond has already shown. Considering that Joe won't have to make this decision and financial commitment to Dre for another couple of years anyhow, this comparison just doesn't hold water; we're talking about the difference between top flight role players and a potential franchise big man, and a wise GM simply does not shoot himself in the foot and in any way hinder his chances of keeping the latter.

[Kilo]

Potential isn't worth a max contract. Drummond played 20 mpg for 60 games, averaging 7&7 and folks here think he's surely a first ballot hall-of-famer.

[tmorgan]

People desperately want Drummond to be amazing, and he certainly could be, but so many things still need to happen in his development. I hope no one throws their Piston fandom off a bridge if Drummond just doesn't put it all together, or if it takes him another three years, which it easily could.

I hope Drummond's not reading all the stuff being written about him. That'll make it even harder.

[need4detroit]

Potential isn't worth a max contract. Drummond played 20 mpg for 60 games, averaging 7&7 and folks here think he's surely a first ballot hall-of-famer.

Closer to 8&8 actually.

[ImHeisenberg]

Potential isn't worth a max contract. Drummond played 20 mpg for 60 games, averaging 7&7 and folks here think he's surely a first ballot hall-of-famer.

You're right. But, how can you watch him play and not be excited?

[ComboGuardCity]

There's good value in the question for folks wanting to max out G.M.... sooner or later you have to pay the piper and two max deals on our front line + Smith's deal is really spreading things thin... this actually makes a case for dealing Greg for a young allstar caliber talent at SF.
IMO, we should wait til the end of the year to get a more informed direction to take... good thread

Then that Sf gets paid max money. Its a never ending loop. Gores either spends or he doesn't.

[Clarity]

we are obviously keeping Monroe & Drummond over anybody else & its not close.