Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores is reportedly "willing" to spend well into the NBA's luxury tax threshold just to keep starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the rest of the team's young core intact for the foreseeable future.
The 23-year-old Caldwell-Pope is entering the final year of his four-year, $11.9 million rookie deal with the Pistons this upcoming season and is set to become a restricted free agent next summer.
Detroit could avoid getting him out into the open market at that time if they sign him to a contract extension this year. However, the salary that the 2013 eighth overall draft pick would presently command could place the team over the salary cap next season.
Still, Gores is ready to go all-in with what head coach and team president Stan van Gundy had built moving forward.
"Look, if we weren't building a core, there's really no point in paying the luxury tax. Because we are building a core, would I do it? Yeah, absolutely," said Gores, referring to the possibility of extending Caldwell-Pope's contract and going beyond the salary cap, as reported by NBC Sports.
"This is a tremendous team. If you go down the line, player by player, and especially our young folks, these are real players. You look at KCP as a very diverse player. He keeps working at his game and you look at his improvement and just like anybody else, he will improve in other areas," Gores said.
"Part of Stan's coaching philosophy obviously is defense. So you say go into the luxury tax for nothing, then that would be silly because then we're putting the franchise behind. But given that we have such a good core, if that's what it took, and we feel we've made such progress this year, I wouldn't hesitate to do it because we want to keep getting better," he added.
It is easy to see the owner's complete trust in his head coach and players especially after the Pistons had just broken through the postseason this year after being absent in the previous six seasons.
Gores bought the Pistons way back in 2011 for $325 million and last season was the first time they were able to advance into the playoffs.
CBS Sports noted that Gores "loves the core Van Gundy has put together" in Detroit right now that he is "absolutely" willing to pay the price for it.
The Pistons have Andre Drummond, Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris, and Reggie Jackson with Caldwell-Pope as their starters, which is one of the youngest and most promising starting lineups in the NBA at the moment.
