NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Andre Drummond, Marquese Chriss

The 2019-20 NBA regular season hasn't started yet, but Andre Drummond may already be looking ahead to next summer's free agency period.

The 26-year-old starting center for the Detroit Pistons is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract, which is worth $28 million, in search of a max contract.

According to Heavy.com's Sean Deveney, front offices around the league believe that Drummond will "peek at the market" but ultimately sign with the Pistons.

"He just won't have a lot of options," an unnamed front-office executive told Deveney. "Detroit won't have a lot of options, either. There won't be a lot of free-agent money and most of the teams that have it are rebuilding teams who might not want a big like him anyway. He's kind of old-school and you have to be willing to make your roster around that. Detroit, that's what they're willing to do. He probably won't get a better situation than what he has."

After Oct. 21, Drummond can opt out and sign an extension with Detroit and get no less than $28.75 million per year.

The Pistons will have until June 30 to work out a deal before he can test the waters and see what he can get out on the open market.

Detroit owns Drummond's Bird Rights, though, so they can still pay him more than any other team, potentially offering him $190 million over five years compared to $140 million over four.

While those numbers may sound relatively high for a player who doesn't have the ability to stretch the floor that most teams covet, the market does dictate that he's worth the money.

The market notwithstanding, Drummond believes that he's a max-level talent.

"That's the way anybody would see themselves," Drummond told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. "It doesn't matter if you're a basketball player. With the work you put in, you should be rewarded for it—no matter who you are. If it's me or even a rookie. Everybody feels like they should make a maximum amount of dollars."

Luckily for Drummond, Pistons owner Tom Gores considers him a "top priority" to the team's future.

"We know how dedicated we are to each other," Gores said. "I've said it many times: He's very underrated in a lot of ways for what he does, and culturally he's been so good for this team, just in terms of his attitude, and just watching him really grow up. I met him when he was 18.

"We've got to run the process. Everybody's talking at a business level and we have a lot of respect for each other, but it's early."

Drummond knows something about being early.

The 6'11" big reportedly tried to initiate contract extension talks this past offseason.

Drummond is coming off of a second straight year in which he led the league in rebounding with 15.6 per game. 

Additionally, he averaged a career-best 17.3 points, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks per contest.

Sure, the former No. 8 overall pick in the 2012 draft has the numbers to get the max, but according to head coach Dwane Casey, Drummond will also have to help the Pistons win games if he wants to see a big payday.

"Andre understands who he is, what he means to us, how important he is to our program, where he is in his career, where he stands in the league," Casey told Ellis last month. "I try to stay out of the contract part of it, but my thing is, I want every one of our players to be rewarded, but the only way you are rewarded in this league is by winning. I hope they get every penny that's coming to him, but the only way we accomplish that together is through winning."

Warriors Players Want Marquese?

Marquese Chriss has bounced around a bit since entering the league as the No. 8 overall pick in the 2016 draft.

In just three years, he's played on four different teams: the Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers and now the Golden State Warriors.

But after a strong showing in the Warriors' preseason opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, there's a chance that he may have found a home.

According to Marcus Thompson of The Athletic, key Golden State players are petitioning general manager Bob Myers to keep him on the team.

"Not long after the Warriors' first preseason game, there was a meeting somewhere in the bowels of Chase Center," Thompson wrote. "It wasn't a meeting, sources said, as much as it was a petition, a reiteration, an emphasis, to Warriors general manager Bob Myers. The request was simple in scope. Yet, it was also profound, considering it included an important voice in the locker room, considering it was about a player many have given up on."

The 22-year old power forward scored eight points, pulled down six rebounds and dished out four assists in 14 minutes of action off the bench, making an impression on Draymond Green.

"I think he's been great all training camp," Green said, per Thompson. "He's been on a couple teams, and everybody has kind of written him off. But he's been amazing in camp, and to me, it looked like he's figuring it out and he's turning a corner."

With Willie Cauley-Stein out, the Warriors need his size and versatility.

Problem is, he's on a non-guaranteed contract and can't be signed unless the Dubs cut Alfonzo McKinnie or sign him to a two-way deal.

Chriss is reportedly open to the idea if it means an opportunity to resurrect his career.

"I want to be in the NBA right now," Chriss told Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle. "So, I think if it comes down to it, that's something I'd have to consider, that's something I'd have to think about, but I just want to make the most of this opportunity and build from it."

Head coach Steve Kerr considers him to be a "really intriguing prospect" because of his athleticism and abilities in the high screen-and-roll.

"I think being in this situation is probably the best fit that I've been in and the most comfortable I've felt," Chriss told Thompson. "I wasn't looking at it as, 'I'm not on the team.' I'm just looking at it as, 'this is where I want to be at,' so I'm going to show them this is where I should be."

Follow Maurice Bobb on Twitter, @ReeseReport

Statistics obtained from NBA.com