Aron Baynes Opts Out of Pistons Contract, Will Test 2017 NBA Free Agency

Aron Baynes is evidently banking on a sizable payday this summer.   

Detroit Pistons head coach and team president Stan Van Gundy confirmed Tuesday, per Rod Beard of the Detroit News, that Baynes plans to decline his $6.5 million player option for the 2017-18 season and test the open market as an unrestricted free agent. 

Shams Charania of The Vertical first reported the decision.

A member of the Pistons for the past two seasons, Baynes has played a rotational role behind starting center Andre Drummond. 

This past campaign, Baynes averaged 4.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 15.5 minutes a night. 

Those numbers wouldn't seem to be worthy of a large raise, but Van Gundy told reporters in February it wouldn't stun him to see Baynes opt out and chase top dollar. 

"I shouldn't be saying anything to increase his value, but he's a very good player, and if he and his agents look around at what some of those guys got who were backups—(Bismack) Biyombo, (Ian) Mahinmi, guys like that—and what they signed contracts for, more than double what Aron's making, it's not too hard to figure out that the guy is probably going to opt out and take his chances in the open market," he said, per MLive.com's Aaron McMann.  

Viewed through that prism—and the fact the salary cap is slated to spike north of $100 million—Baynes' decision to opt out makes sense. 

Van Gundy also maintained that Baynes is a valuable contributor despite his lack of bounce below the free-throw line. 

"He's not a rim protector, or a roll-and-dunk guy, but Aron in his own way protects the basket as well as they do," Van Gundy said, per McMann. "He's probably got more diversified skills."

To Van Gundy's point, opponents actually shot 10.7 percentage points lower than the league average inside of six feet when Baynes operated as a primary defender, per NBA.com's player tracking data. 

Still just 30 years old, Baynes could be in line for a deal that pays him close to eight figures as he seeks to cash out on one last lucrative long-term deal.