Vince Ellis

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Pistons center Aron Baynes denied a report saying he has decided to opt out of the final year of the three-year contract he signed in the summer of 2015.

Citing unnamed sources, Basketball Insiders published a story Wednesday afternoon saying the Pistons were gauging interest in backup centers Baynes and Boban Marjanovic, adding that Baynes will decline his player option for next season.

Baynes told the Free Press after Wednesday night’s 118-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans that no decision has been made.

He responded with a laugh when asked about the report.

“I don’t know about that,” Baynes said. “I’m just focused on the season right now. That’s all I’m doing, just playing basketball. I have an agent. That’s the unfortunate side of basketball, but I let him do his thing. I’m just out there trying to do mine.”

You haven’t made a decision?

“I definitely haven’t thought about anything yet,” he said. “It’s not even All-Star break. There’s a long way left in this season. I’m just trying to go out there and make the most of it.”

With rising salaries, it’s expected that Baynes will decline the $6.5-million option for next season and become an unrestricted free agent. The Pistons signed Marjanovic last summer as preparation for that possibility.

That means the Pistons are likely treating Baynes as an expiring contract as the Feb. 23 trade deadline approaches.

“I really don’t think about it,” Baynes said. “It’s one of those things, if you want to go looking for stuff, you can always go find it.”

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, who is also team president, is resigned to the fact that Baynes will likely leave.

"He's a very good player and if he and his agents look around at what some of those guys got who were back-ups ... and what they got 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 on the open market," Van Gundy said.

Contact Vince Ellis: vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56. Download our Pistons Xtra app on iTunes or Android!