***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

[rdnk]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

This draft has a very 2013 stench to it. Toppin, Edwards and Ball are probably the three best players in the draft, so I'd be fine with any of them. Wiseman is talented, but as we all saw with Drummond, there just isn't a lot of value in a pure center anymore.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

This draft has a very 2013 stench to it. Toppin, Edwards and Ball are probably the three best players in the draft, so I'd be fine with any of them. Wiseman is talented, but as we all saw with Drummond, there just isn't a lot of value in a pure center anymore.

Agree. I like Wiseman, but unless he can shoot like Dirk and/or has the explosiveness of Durant, there's not a lot of value for 7-footers in today's game.

I'm totally not sold on Ball, not that I've ever even seen him play. I just have a built-in bias against them because of their dad and some of the shenanigans of the one that went to UCLA and got arrested ripping off jewelry in China or whatever...kinda nonsensical I know, but for whatever it's worth, I do like Lonzo Ball's game, and the way he plays sort of a "pure" PG position. I'd take Lonzo. Don't know about the rest.

At the end of the day I don't care. We're not 1 guy away. We just need lots of picks. Volume draft picks, then let the wheat separate from the chaff. Ship everyone on the roster out of town for a pick and a ham sandwich, and accumulate draft picks. I think that's the only viable strategy. It's not a knock on anyone on the current roster, as I do think there are some good players there, but we're just not in a position where we want to pay anyone to stick around, since this rebuild, if done correctly, is a 4-5 year odyssey. No shortcuts this time. If you're gonna go full "Process", then go full "Process".

Anyway, that's the way I see it. Trying to be right on your 1-2 draft picks all the time is a fool's errand. Just draft lots of guys and see how it works out. No one has a crystal ball.

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

if we really wanna play for the future we could take the tall PG from France to pair with the raw forward we just got from France (who may not actually be from France)

that's all I got

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Sekou Doumbouya.....yeah, he came out hair-on-fire his rookie year, then the league basically started paying attention, and then the next thing you know, he was on the G-league squad. "Raw" I guess is one way of putting it. "Total lack of basketball IQ and basic fundamentals" is probably a bit more accurate.

How much do you guys want to bet the 'Stones end up with the 9th pick (their lowest possible position)? Would be typical Detroit lottery luck. Or typical league-trying-to-screw-Detroit-because-it-isn't-a-big-important-market "luck", depending on how inclined you are to believe conspiracy theories.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

A lineup that looks something like:

Cade Cunningham
Killian Hayes
Saddiq Bey
Jerami Grant (or replacement)
Isaiah Stewart

could be a pretty competitive lineup for the 'Stones. It will take time to come together (Rome wasn't built in a day), but if things progress as we'd like them to, this could be really good in a few years. Of course, that depends on how well the Pistons do with player development, and I'm not sold on Dwane Casey as a coach...we might need to look at finding the right person for that spot. I wonder if Larry Brown would ever come back (even with a walker, if needed...).

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

A lineup that looks something like:

Cade Cunningham
Killian Hayes
Saddiq Bey
Jerami Grant (or replacement)
Isaiah Stewart

could be a pretty competitive lineup for the 'Stones. It will take time to come together (Rome wasn't built in a day), but if things progress as we'd like them to, this could be really good in a few years. Of course, that depends on how well the Pistons do with player development, and I'm not sold on Dwane Casey as a coach...we might need to look at finding the right person for that spot. I wonder if Larry Brown would ever come back (even with a walker, if needed...).

couldn't disagree more, this team sucks, even if Cunningham ends up being a superstar, we're not even close to competitive


Grant is massively overrated and put up numbers after his usage went up, and his efficiently went down, we missed the chance to trade him



Bey looks like a quality player and Stewart is a full grown man with hustle


Hayes looks below average, outplayed by Saben Lee and Frank Jackson. First year, limited playing time, I get it, but I'm not counting on him as anything more than "fingers crossed"


So even if Cade is best case scenario superstar status, we have what? A super hustle forward playing center that can't really do anything other than be a fan favorite, a stretch 3/4 guy who is a quality rotation player in any lineup.... and what?


edit: I don't know why I'm so grumpy tonight, forgive my vitriol

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

I mean, you're probably going to end up being right, but it's always hard (if not impossible) to tell who's going to end up being good or not. I saw enough out of Hayes before his injury caused him a major setback to feel positive, and Bey and Stewart were pretty solid.

I think the idea that we hit on all of those guys (+ Cunningham) is fanciful, at best, and if it turned out that way, would go down as one of the greatest hit-rates on draft picks over any length of time. So I agree, the odds aren't good....but given the starting 5's we've put on the floor over the past decade, this one would be at least as good, I think.

[rdnk]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Weaver's been a lot less aggressive this offseason. Kelly Olynyk should be a better fit than Mason Plumlee next to or a change of pace to Isaiah Stewart and is an interesting buy on a small sample size. I see a 11-12 seed in our future this year.

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Weaver's been a lot less aggressive this offseason. Kelly Olynyk should be a better fit than Mason Plumlee next to or a change of pace to Isaiah Stewart and is an interesting buy on a small sample size. I see a 11-12 seed in our future this year.

yeah we'll still suck, and Olynyk should be another usage trade piece, but we ddin't really get a return for Plumlee, and Grant is still here, so, I'm not sure if cranking the usage in hopes to flip guys is working


or maybe that wasn't the idea

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

I don't see the master plan with Weaver. Somehow signing 5 centers didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and when it looked like he was course-correcting by offloading Plumlee, he basically just signed a replacement player (to steal a baseball term) right away.

I suppose you have to give it a chance to play out over the course of 3-4 seasons, but at this point, the Pistons have been irrelevant for over a decade. You can't keep waiting forever for these plans to bear fruit....

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Pistons are terrible, but they've won 6 of 8 and it's nice to see. The Bagley trade seems to be working so far, Cade getting more of the "clutch" priority over Jerami Grant is also good. Hayes seems way better off the bench. It's just nice to see the Stones win a few for a change

they'll probly lose every game the rest of the way lol, but this has been a nice couple weeks

[rdnk]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Yeah... I was wrong. I thought this team would be better this year.

At least it puts us in draft position to get one of Holmgren, Jabari or Banchero.

With Griffin's dead money coming off the books, there are avenues for improvement there too.

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Yeah... I was wrong. I thought this team would be better this year.

At least it puts us in draft position to get one of Holmgren, Jabari or Banchero.

With Griffin's dead money coming off the books, there are avenues for improvement there too.

But of course the Pistons underperformed their statistical odds and dropped to 5. Knew that was gonna happen.

But then a bit of luck (maybe?) as Jaden Ivey was there at 5, so probably who we would have taken at 4 (although probably not at 3). Fingers crossed he and Cade complement each other nicely, but who knows?

Draft-niks love our draft, which means....we'll probably continue sucking. Who knows, though?

[l3ulvl]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

But of course the Pistons underperformed their statistical odds and dropped to 5. Knew that was gonna happen.

But then a bit of luck (maybe?) as Jaden Ivey was there at 5, so probably who we would have taken at 4 (although probably not at 3). Fingers crossed he and Cade complement each other nicely, but who knows?

Draft-niks love our draft, which means....we'll probably continue sucking. Who knows, though?

Yeah we never know if a draft was good until years later when we bash the fools that took busts

I'm not a Grant fan, so essentially moving him for Duren is cool, and hopefully keeps us out of the Ayton sweepstakes and pretty much means we won't pay for Stewart

The Ivey comparison to JA is fun, but who knows

we mighta got lucky, we mighta swindled the Knicks, we might still be horrible

[pietasterp]

Re: ***Official Detroit Pistons Thread***

Well, another year, another wasted season for the good ol' 'Stones.

I fully expect them to not get the #1 overall pick and lose out on the Wembanyama sweepstakes. Whatever. I've given up hope that we're one guy away from being relevant again.

Dwane Casey seemed like a nice guy and a good person, and I know we were not putting a competitive team on the floor, but it was time for him to go. I don't think you can finish in dead last place every year and continue coaching a team, no matter what the circumstances are. We need a good X's and O's coach and someone that can develop young talent. I think it'd be great to bring Larry Brown back although he might just be too old for rigors of an NBA season at this point. They need to get the next coaching hire right, though.

I guess let's see what happens in the draft.