AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Aron Baynes had to delay his official introduction with the Detroit Pistons.
The news conference was initially set for Saturday, and then it was rescheduled for Sunday. The reason: Baynes had a reaction after taking medication to help with a stress test.
"If we had put him in front of you [Saturday], you would have thought, 'What the heck are they doing signing him?'" said Stan Van Gundy, Detroit's coach and team president.
Baynes was feeling better Sunday, when the Pistons officially announced his deal. The 6-foot-10 center from New Zealand gives Detroit an experienced big man who can back up Andre Drummond. In three seasons with San Antonio, Baynes averaged 4.8 points in 12.6 minutes per game.
He is coming off ankle surgery, so he couldn't run on the treadmill when it was time for testing.
"They tried to go a different route and put some medicine in me to get my heart rate up. My body just rejected that," he said. "I didn't recover until about 7 o'clock this morning when I woke up."
At 28, Baynes isn't really a grizzled veteran, but he has played for one of the league's model franchises and won a championship with the Spurs in 2014. What he didn't have much of in San Antonio was playing time.
"It was a pretty limited role," Baynes said. "I'm looking forward to getting a bit more of an opportunity here."
Detroit lost power forward Greg Monroe to free agency and traded for a replacement in Ersan Ilyasova. The team then set about looking for a backup center and a starting small forward. The Pistons acquired small forward Marcus Morris in a trade with Phoenix and brought in Baynes to provide frontcourt depth.
The Pistons also acquired swingman Reggie Bullock in the trade with the Suns. He was introduced Sunday along with Baynes.
