Vince Ellis

Detroit Free Press

Remember the good old days of 2014?

The sarcasm is intended — and the year is relevant when considering Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The Detroit Pistons and the fourth-year shooting guard have until Oct. 31 to agree to a contract extension, but here are factors to consider.

■The influx of TV money over the past year has caused salaries to skyrocket.

■Reports have emerged that the National Basketball Players Association and the NBA are approaching a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that would signal labor peace for the foreseeable future.

■Starting next season, the NBA will start allowing jersey sponsorships, creating another area of revenue for teams to exploit.

When you consider all the factors, it appears unlikely Caldwell-Pope and the Pistons will reach an agreement, meaning Caldwell-Pope will be a restricted free agent next off-season.

What’s the right price?

Back to 2014.

A quick look at rookie extensions shows how the market has changed.

Kemba Walker, a borderline All-Star point guard, agreed to a four-year, $48-million deal with the Charlotte Hornets.

Klay Thompson, probably the league’s best two-way shooting guard, agreed to a four-year, $70-million deal with the Golden State Warriors.

Those kind of contracts for similar players are now obsolete from a financial standpoint.

Mike Conley, a point guard who never has played in an All-Star Game, signed the richest deal in NBA history this past off-season, a five-year, $153-million contract to remain with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Allen Crabbe, who will come off the Portland Trail Blazers bench this season, signed a four-year, $75-million offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets. The Blazers matched the offer.

The Crabbe signing is noteworthy because Caldwell-Pope, despite a spotty shooting reputation, has established himself as a solid starter.

So Crabbe’s deal likely is a starting point for any negotiations.

There was gossip over the summer that it would take a deal worth north of $20 million per year to get Caldwell-Pope’s signature. But the Pistons’ payroll is burgeoning, and owner Tom Gores likely will face a luxury-tax bill for being over the NBA’s tax line.

Gores has said he wants the Pistons to retain Caldwell-Pope, the team’s best perimeter defender, and has indicated he will willingly pay the freight. But Gores would be well within his rights to limit the cost for a team that has proven only it can make the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed.

Wait until next year?

There are other factors complicating the process.

Agents and players want to see a completed CBA before making contract decisions.

The jersey sponsorships promise to increase the financial pie (basketball-related income) even more.

So Caldwell-Pope and agents Rich Paul and Mark Termini are in the position of trying to ensure that no money is being left on the table.

It’s tough to see a deal being consummated in such an atmosphere.

The trend has been for more players to wait until restricted free agency status to resolve contract issues.

Caldwell-Pope can wait and gauge interest next summer, maybe even sign an offer sheet, giving the Pistons 72 hours to decide whether to make the financial commitment.

Strictly business

President-coach Stan Van Gundy said he had dinner with Caldwell-Pope before training camp to address the situation.

Caldwell-Pope said the message was to keep the focus on the floor and not let the contract status become a distraction, this being the first contract negotiations of his career.

The season begins Wednesday at Toronto.

Fans might remember the Greg Monroe situation and look for parallels. But Monroe and his agent, David Falk, were unable to drum up an alternative for the Pistons when he went through restricted free agency in the summer of 2014.

Determined to leave the Pistons, Monroe signed a one-year qualifying offer, which brought him his freedom the following off-season when he left for the Milwaukee Bucks.

By all accounts, Caldwell-Pope likes what Van Gundy is building and wants to remain.

It’s just a matter of the cost of doing business.

“I think so far he’s handled it really, really well,” Van Gundy said last week. “I don’t anticipate any problems, but we’ll have more talk on that stuff if we get to the point that it doesn’t get done, but I’m still hopeful we’ll get something done. I’m optimistic, I’m hopeful.”

Contact Vince Ellis at vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@vincent_ellis56.