While talks are developing, could Isaiah be headed to the Motor City? Rumors of offers in the range of 3 years $24 million are swirling.
Start your engines! It has begun!
Isaiah Thomas is reportedly in talks with the Detroit Pistons. While this may seem like a strange landing spot, having just locked up Brandon Jennings at $8mil a year, the Pistons are rumored to be very interested.
Our friend, Aaron Bruski of ProBasketballTalk reported last night that the Pistons could be throwing around numbers as high as 3 years, $24 million, which might be a little high for the Kings.
Pistons have showed the most interest so far, talks have started in the 3/24M range. Other talks ranging from $6-7M per year.
— Aaron Bruski (@aaronbruski) July 1, 2014One thing is clear for Kings management right now. There is no way they can re-sign IT for the numbers they’ve been throwing out there.
— Aaron Bruski (@aaronbruski) July 1, 2014NBA twitter has since begun to do what it does best... and speculate! The NBA's official twitter account went as far as to report that an actual offer had been made, but they aren't sourcing their intel. It's not clear if they've heard that talks have progressed that far, or if they are just extrapolating from Bruski's tweets last night. But rumors are news too right?!
#Pistons have reportedly offered Isaiah Thomas a 3 contract worth $24 million #FreeAgentFeverhttp://t.co/r6bjppzM2Opic.twitter.com/ONX1MOClIP
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) July 1, 2014While it's unclear if an actual offer has been issued by the Pistons, we did hear from one source that talks are "as serious as it gets." But, it's unknown at this point how close either side might be to agreeing to some kind of deal. For what it's worth, Jared Zwerling from NBA TV and Bret Poirier added these nuggets, and I tend to believe them:
I'm told by @JaredZwerling that the Pistons have not made a formal offer to guard Isaiah Thomas and are not close to a deal.
— Brett Poirier NBA (@BrettNBA) July 1, 2014Hearing Isaiah Thomas' decision will come after Kyle Lowry's. SAC and Thomas have strong mutual respect. Market value is key: $6 to $8 mil.
— Jared Zwerling (@JaredZwerling) July 1, 2014I'm not sure that there's anything to worry about right now, but this should serve as a dose of reality for King's fans. I still feel like the Kings could try to keep him, especially if they can find a sucker team to take either of the JT's contracts. We will have to see. One possibilty could be revisiting the Josh Smith talks, but we will just have to wait and see how this progresses. Stay tuned for more updates!