Thirty five after the hour. He's as good as it gets. And what
he does, James Edwards writes for The Athletic you can fall him on x
at j L. Edwards the third he writes about the Pistons, about the
NBA and there's a lot to write about going on right now after some finals
in the NBA playoffs that we'll get to coming up at. James Edwards joins
us here on Xes and Bros. Across the great state of Michigan, throughout
the state of Michigan and the various markets Flint and Cadillac, Grand Rapids,
Grayling, Gaylord, Midland, Saginaw, Bay City, Pataski, Charlevoy,
Traverse City. That's where we are and that's where we can bring you this
coverage of a little NBA talk with James Edwards. James, good to have
you, buddy. Glad that we're back talking again about the Pistons a little
bit and as we look forward to the NBA Draft, it seems like we
say this an awful lot. Tell me where you think this franchise is in.
If you want to call it a rebuild, go ahead, But where
are they in the process of trying to get better in your mind. Good
to hear from you too, Matt, appreciate you having me on. I
think they're in a vulnerable state. It's a situation that I don't think anybody
could have imagined. Whether that's the fans, whether that's the players, the
front office, the ownership, the coaches. It is a very vulnerable state,
and usually out of vulnerability, big decisions are made. And I think
this team has to do something of great significance. It cannot afford to allow
all of these young guys to continue to develop and hope that they get better.
They tried that last year. It very clearly presented the worst season in
franchise history. So I think they're at a very vulnerable and almost franchise alter
in summer, and I think they're going to have to shake things up across
the board in order to try to one try to build back optimism within the
fan base, and two to get back on track in this rebuild and show
that there is progress and that these things aren't always linear. What's an example
of shaking things up? Yeah, I mean, I don't think they can
afford kind of as I mentioned, like, I don't think they can afford
to have as many young guys as they have. You look across the NBA
and you look across you look at these teams that are contending and in the
second round or still fighting in the first round. The majority of them have
made moves that made a trade or two that gave up young players to get
better players. You look at Minnesota with Rudy Gobert, you look at somebody
like Denver gave up picks and Gary Harris to get Aaron Gordon a few years
ago. You look at Boston and the moves that they've made throughout the years
to try to build this roster. Obviously, all that stuff starts with drafting
well and getting a guy or two that you can build around. I think
credit to Detroit, like I think Cad is that guy, and the hard
part is done. You've got a guy that got better in the midst of
the worst season ever while coming off season ending injury with a metal Rodney's leg,
and he walked away. I think if you didn't believe that Kate was
the guy, I don't see how you don't walk away from that. Now,
despite the record, it's I don't think a lot of it was his
fault. So they got the hard part done. They got the guy to
build around, and how it's time to go build around him. I just
think that they should highly consider moving on from one or two young guys.
James Edwards joins us here on Axs and Bros. You can fall on Twitter
on x J L. Edwards the third. I'm with you on that,
especially with the young guys you've mentioned, teams getting better OG. I don't
ob going to New York is a really good example of that too. I
continue to be amazed by a guy like Jalen Brunson. I could talk to
you all day about this, but I mean a second round pick and how
good he has been. When you say shake things up, I'm with you
on that. Does that mean I don't want to read too much into it?
So I want clarification. Would you not take advantage of the top five
pick your due in the upcoming draft? What if you've got number one overall?
Or would you trade that to try and get a stabilized veteran force that
might help some of these young guys along. I'd trade it. I would
trade it if it's one, two, three, four or five, whatever
it ends up being, I would trade it. You talk to people around
the league. This draft is not a desirable draft at the top. Obviously,
every year there are Hall of Famers or as soon to be Hall of
famers selected in drafts, So there will be one in this draft. Don't
get me wrong, Like that's just the way things shake out. Talk to
everybody across the league, and they don't know where that player will be picked.
That player could likely be picked at seventeen like he's picked at one.
I've been told that there are executives in the league that think picks one through
three could have some value in a trade. But I think a lot of
teams would probably be afraid to have the number one or two pick in this
draft because there is a little bit more margin for error in comparison to previous
years in previous prospects. So I think there is value. I think,
And I had a piece of n scuz last week or earlier this week where
talk to my colleague Sambasini, who is massive in draft coverage and one of
the best, And a lot of teams also see the number one pick this
year as like four or five six in a normal draft. So I caution
fans that if the pisans gets the number one pick, don't think that this
is like Lebron or Victor Winbinyamo or even Kid. This is more like I
would say Anthony Bennett type stuff. So I would one hundred percentury to pick,
and I'd even package it with a young player or two to try to
get because I don't know how much value. I don't know if those a
couple of young guys like an Ivy or during at their peak value right now
after this season. But if you have the number one pick to that,
it can kind of enhance that and you could probably get a good piece or
two or three from a team that's maybe looking to get a little bit younger.
One hundred percent agree one hundred percent with you. I'm so glad you
said that. But a couple of other things. You bring up Kid Cunningham,
and for good reason. I think he's a solid ball player, I
really do. What kind of leader do you think he is? Because I
think sometimes we get that thrown around an awful lot. It can be challenging
for a young guy to lead a team, especially through navigating these difficult waters
like he's had to. What kind of leader? How would you describe him
as such? Yeah? I think is a jitimate leader. I know it's
probably hard for people to see that just giving their record, but you know,
I hear stories about him talking to halftime, stepping up and speaking.
I hear stories about him at practice. I hear stories about him sitting with
guys on the plane to talk. This guy is somebody that all of his
teammates respect. I think one thing that's important to remember is Cade was that
guy coming up through the high school and college ranks. So all of his
teammates who are similar in age are very, very familiar with him, and
they all saw him as the guy as such, and there's a big respect
for what he did and who he is as a player, and even more
so now as their teammates, for him as a person. I think people
who haven't been around Kate, I think the best way to describe him is
like you can just tell he was raised right like his parents did a great
job. He's very polite, he's very just aware, he's not there's no
diva to him. I think he's very real, and I think it comes
across with his teammates. I think they genuinely appreciate that. I also think
that you hear stories, like for somebody like Simone Fantechio as soon as he
got to Detroit there in the middle of a West coast trip, and we're
out there and he tells the story of Kate comes up to him. They've
never met, and he's like, where do you like the ball? Where
can I get you the ball? And Simona, He's like, nobody's ever
asked me that before. And you hear anytime Simone talks about him, it's
as willing as it gets. So I think he just handles people the right
way. I think he speaks up in an aggressive way when he needs to,
but I think he also just leads by example, and I think he
has great respect in that locker room, and I think he also has great
respect from some of the star players in this league. Yeah, thanks for
sharing that. I think those are important anecdotes. I know you've written it
before, but it's still worth mentioning because not everybody knows that. It's a
great example of what kind of person, not just a player, but kind
of person. Kid Cunningham truly is you mentioned the draft now. I was
talking about this yesterday because Tyrese Maxi went off for forty six the other day.
You saw it the most points by an opposed tied for the most points
by an opposing player in a playoff game at Madison Square Garden. Ever with
Michael Jordan. That says something. He was in the same damn draft as
Killian Hayes. Everyone talks about Tyrus Haliburton and I loved Haliburton coming out of
Iowa State, but Max, he was taking twenty first overall. Another miss
by stan Van Gundy and the Pistons. So many foreign players, James one
that are mentioned, right, What's that? That one was actually Troy?
That was Troy's first draft? Well was that Troy's I'm sorry, you're right,
Troy. But the there's so many foreign players who are viewed near the
top and not as many college players. And this is tough for you because
you see all these guys and you write it, but so many fans and
usual members of the media, we don't watch guys play in France. Okay,
we don't know who a lot of these guys are. Why do you
think the league shift might be the wrong word, but has seen so much
of an influx on young players from foreign lands rather than college players. Are
the college players just not as good as we think? When we watch them
in the NC Douable League Tournament. What's your belief on that. It's a
good question. I think that some of it is intrigued, right, Like
it's hard to equate their leagues to the NBA, while I think historically the
natural comparison for the NBA has always been the college game, so there's some
of that. I also think that the Spurs and what they did early in
the late nineties and early two thousands, with the likes of Tony Parker and
Montagnobili, started to have teams look more European. And I mean, if
we're being honest, the best players in the league are not from here right
now, Jokic, Luca Giannis. I mean, you make a top seven
list, those three are in there, Embeied, so there's four. I
think there is a it's just been an untapped historically, hasn't been as tapped
dating back like twenty ish years as it is now. And I think they're
just trying to find diamonds in the rough and they're trying to the game has
just expanded so much globally. And I also think, like I said,
there's intrigue, like we're so able to watch available college games that I think
even scouts are like, Okay, well I've watched this guy since he was
twelve years old. Let me let me see what I can see over here
in these in these European state air countries, and see how I feel that
this equates to our game. So I think there's a little bit of it.
I also think, like I said, there's been a lot of talented
players coming from overseas, but I think primarily it's the intrigue in the ability
to not necessarily know how it will translate. But you see these skill sets,
and I also do think European players are more fundamentally sound in most cases.
That is, that is something that plays into it, for sure.
That's interesting. You talk You've been in every NBA arena, every NBA city,
talk to just about every NBA player, I would guess. Do you
think there is a growing concern from American based basketball players and who want to
play in the NBA and realize that there, you know, there's only sixty
four times sugar sixty four spots to get drafted. Do you think in general
they're worried about the security that America has in that regard with more Americans playing
in the NBA. I've never heard that personally, right, I've never posed
the question either, But I mean, you hear a lot of players talk
about players like you don't find too many that don't love Jokic, that don't
love Giannis and Lucas. So I mean maybe guys that are fringe roster guys
maybe have concerns. They probably also have concerns about the the age limit in
the NBA. But yeah, I haven't heard that directly. Yeah, fair
enough. James Edwards joints to share on Exus and Bros fall him on Twitter.
J Edwards third team president. Why is it needed and what type of
criteria does that person need to possess in order to get the job. I
think there's a couple of things. I think one that they just need a
funneling of leadership. It needs to be one person who is everybody knows who
they report to, everybody who knows that they are directed to, everybody,
somebody that can make the right player or the right call, the right shot.
It's all about having one voice be the final say. It's a position
that the Pistons had since twenty eighteen. It is a common position an NBA
franchise. I know a lot of people like to say that there's too many
cooks in the kitchen. I understand that that critique and what it is.
But if you look around most NBA front offices, there's an owner, there's
a team president, there's maybe a vice president, there's a GM and then
a coach. So there's usually three or four solid voices in an organization.
It's just a matter of making sure that everybody knows who's who's getting the final
say, and who everybody is, who everybody's direct what's the sort of looking
for direct talk, who they're directly talking to, and who they're directly reporting
to. I think that's of great importance. And then also I think,
yeah, there just needs to be a little bit more structure. I think
there needs to just be a different voice and team building. I think those
are the big things that that they're looking for, and I think there's some
big names that they're going to go after. Some of those guys are in
the postseason now, which is why if there are people who think that this
hobo search has gone on too long, it's really only been two weeks.
But there are protocols in place where if they want to go get one of
the best guys, and one of those best guys are they have a team
still playing. They got to kind of wait out that process. So it's
certainly a it's a it's a moving car. Currently, you're not just a
basketball fan and a basketball writer who covers the Piston that you're also a Detroit
sports fan. You see the symmetry that the Lions have built that has made
them so successful under Brad Holmes. Compare that symmetry to the symmetry in the
Pistons front office, if there is one, and how far they need to
go? Can you? I think that there, I think it seems like
Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes are more on the same page then I'd say even
a lot of president and head coaches, not even in the city, but
in the league. I think that's a big thing. I think that I
think that's the big thing. I think that those two really seem to value
the same types of players, the same type of the character. That's the
one thing that sticks out to me about them. And while I think in
the NBA you can have different visions of how NBA you can play different styles
in basketball all you can, but at the end of the day, it's
still quarterback, drop back handoff like it's still this It's pretty universal. But
basketball there can be different styles. Whether or not a style is outdated or
not, that's another conversation. But I do think that in terms of how
a team should be built, there seems to be a little bit of a
disconnect there with the Pistons and maybe Steven Alliance. All Right, lastly,
before I let you go, and I appreciate the time Monty Williams, how
can he be better in year two along the Pistons bench and how much say
will he have in personnel with this team moving forward? Yeah, if he's
back next year. I think one way you can get better is is I
think shortening a rotation, depending on what they do this offseason, if they're
able to add two or three legitimate NBA players, maybe keep that rotation down
to nine to eight. I think that's one way. I think maybe being
a little bit more emphasizing the development. Obviously, he comes from a program
where he was coaching veteran players and and and maybe had a different type of
emphasis. I think obviously this team is young and have some young players,
and that needs to be the focal point. But yeah, I think just
certainly like how many players he plays, trying to understand who he has as
a as a rotation and if he needs has to whittle it down to try
to give this team the best chance to win. I think that should be
the case. But yeah, if he is back next year, he'll have
some things to clean up himself. All right, you said that twice.
Then if he's back next year, why wouldn't he be Why wouldn't he be?
Yeah, they just won fourteen games. There's a chance, definitely a
chance. I think. I think it'll be interesting to see. I don't
I don't think it's as likely as people also as people think very interesting.
We'll be watching and we'll be reading The Athletic James Edwards, thank you,
my friend, great stuff as always, appreciate your time very much and your
friendship. Take care you got all right, James Edwards follow him on Twitter.
Jay Edwards, the third rights for The Athletic. Fantastic stuff. Really
enjoyed that conversation. Could have gone on a lot longer because there's a lot
of different things that we wanted to hit on. But maybe we'll do it
at another time with James and talking pistons and the NBA