WEBVTT

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Thirty five after the hour. He's
as good as it gets. And what

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he does, James Edwards writes for
The Athletic you can fall him on x

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at j L. Edwards the third
he writes about the Pistons, about the

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NBA and there's a lot to write
about going on right now after some finals

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in the NBA playoffs that we'll get
to coming up at. James Edwards joins

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us here on Xes and Bros.
Across the great state of Michigan, throughout

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the state of Michigan and the various
markets Flint and Cadillac, Grand Rapids,

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Grayling, Gaylord, Midland, Saginaw, Bay City, Pataski, Charlevoy,

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Traverse City. That's where we are
and that's where we can bring you this

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coverage of a little NBA talk with
James Edwards. James, good to have

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you, buddy. Glad that we're
back talking again about the Pistons a little

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bit and as we look forward to
the NBA Draft, it seems like we

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say this an awful lot. Tell
me where you think this franchise is in.

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If you want to call it a
rebuild, go ahead, But where

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are they in the process of trying
to get better in your mind. Good

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to hear from you too, Matt, appreciate you having me on. I

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think they're in a vulnerable state.
It's a situation that I don't think anybody

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could have imagined. Whether that's the
fans, whether that's the players, the

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front office, the ownership, the
coaches. It is a very vulnerable state,

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and usually out of vulnerability, big
decisions are made. And I think

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this team has to do something of
great significance. It cannot afford to allow

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all of these young guys to continue
to develop and hope that they get better.

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They tried that last year. It
very clearly presented the worst season in

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franchise history. So I think they're
at a very vulnerable and almost franchise alter

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in summer, and I think they're
going to have to shake things up across

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the board in order to try to
one try to build back optimism within the

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fan base, and two to get
back on track in this rebuild and show

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that there is progress and that these
things aren't always linear. What's an example

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of shaking things up? Yeah,
I mean, I don't think they can

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afford kind of as I mentioned,
like, I don't think they can afford

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to have as many young guys as
they have. You look across the NBA

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and you look across you look at
these teams that are contending and in the

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second round or still fighting in the
first round. The majority of them have

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made moves that made a trade or
two that gave up young players to get

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better players. You look at Minnesota
with Rudy Gobert, you look at somebody

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like Denver gave up picks and Gary
Harris to get Aaron Gordon a few years

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ago. You look at Boston and
the moves that they've made throughout the years

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to try to build this roster.
Obviously, all that stuff starts with drafting

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well and getting a guy or two
that you can build around. I think

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credit to Detroit, like I think
Cad is that guy, and the hard

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part is done. You've got a
guy that got better in the midst of

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the worst season ever while coming off
season ending injury with a metal Rodney's leg,

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and he walked away. I think
if you didn't believe that Kate was

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the guy, I don't see how
you don't walk away from that. Now,

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despite the record, it's I don't
think a lot of it was his

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fault. So they got the hard
part done. They got the guy to

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build around, and how it's time
to go build around him. I just

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think that they should highly consider moving
on from one or two young guys.

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James Edwards joins us here on Axs
and Bros. You can fall on Twitter

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on x J L. Edwards the
third. I'm with you on that,

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especially with the young guys you've mentioned, teams getting better OG. I don't

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ob going to New York is a
really good example of that too. I

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continue to be amazed by a guy
like Jalen Brunson. I could talk to

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you all day about this, but
I mean a second round pick and how

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good he has been. When you
say shake things up, I'm with you

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on that. Does that mean I
don't want to read too much into it?

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So I want clarification. Would you
not take advantage of the top five

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pick your due in the upcoming draft? What if you've got number one overall?

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Or would you trade that to try
and get a stabilized veteran force that

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might help some of these young guys
along. I'd trade it. I would

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trade it if it's one, two, three, four or five, whatever

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it ends up being, I would
trade it. You talk to people around

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the league. This draft is not
a desirable draft at the top. Obviously,

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every year there are Hall of Famers
or as soon to be Hall of

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famers selected in drafts, So there
will be one in this draft. Don't

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get me wrong, Like that's just
the way things shake out. Talk to

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everybody across the league, and they
don't know where that player will be picked.

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That player could likely be picked at
seventeen like he's picked at one.

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I've been told that there are executives
in the league that think picks one through

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three could have some value in a
trade. But I think a lot of

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teams would probably be afraid to have
the number one or two pick in this

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draft because there is a little bit
more margin for error in comparison to previous

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years in previous prospects. So I
think there is value. I think,

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And I had a piece of n
scuz last week or earlier this week where

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talk to my colleague Sambasini, who
is massive in draft coverage and one of

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the best, And a lot of
teams also see the number one pick this

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year as like four or five six
in a normal draft. So I caution

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fans that if the pisans gets the
number one pick, don't think that this

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is like Lebron or Victor Winbinyamo or
even Kid. This is more like I

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would say Anthony Bennett type stuff.
So I would one hundred percentury to pick,

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and I'd even package it with a
young player or two to try to

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get because I don't know how much
value. I don't know if those a

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couple of young guys like an Ivy
or during at their peak value right now

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after this season. But if you
have the number one pick to that,

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it can kind of enhance that and
you could probably get a good piece or

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two or three from a team that's
maybe looking to get a little bit younger.

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One hundred percent agree one hundred percent
with you. I'm so glad you

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said that. But a couple of
other things. You bring up Kid Cunningham,

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and for good reason. I think
he's a solid ball player, I

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really do. What kind of leader
do you think he is? Because I

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think sometimes we get that thrown around
an awful lot. It can be challenging

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for a young guy to lead a
team, especially through navigating these difficult waters

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like he's had to. What kind
of leader? How would you describe him

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as such? Yeah? I think
is a jitimate leader. I know it's

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probably hard for people to see that
just giving their record, but you know,

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I hear stories about him talking to
halftime, stepping up and speaking.

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I hear stories about him at practice. I hear stories about him sitting with

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guys on the plane to talk.
This guy is somebody that all of his

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teammates respect. I think one thing
that's important to remember is Cade was that

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guy coming up through the high school
and college ranks. So all of his

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teammates who are similar in age are
very, very familiar with him, and

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they all saw him as the guy
as such, and there's a big respect

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for what he did and who he
is as a player, and even more

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so now as their teammates, for
him as a person. I think people

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who haven't been around Kate, I
think the best way to describe him is

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like you can just tell he was
raised right like his parents did a great

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job. He's very polite, he's
very just aware, he's not there's no

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diva to him. I think he's
very real, and I think it comes

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across with his teammates. I think
they genuinely appreciate that. I also think

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that you hear stories, like for
somebody like Simone Fantechio as soon as he

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got to Detroit there in the middle
of a West coast trip, and we're

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out there and he tells the story
of Kate comes up to him. They've

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never met, and he's like,
where do you like the ball? Where

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can I get you the ball?
And Simona, He's like, nobody's ever

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asked me that before. And you
hear anytime Simone talks about him, it's

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as willing as it gets. So
I think he just handles people the right

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way. I think he speaks up
in an aggressive way when he needs to,

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but I think he also just leads
by example, and I think he

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has great respect in that locker room, and I think he also has great

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respect from some of the star players
in this league. Yeah, thanks for

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sharing that. I think those are
important anecdotes. I know you've written it

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before, but it's still worth mentioning
because not everybody knows that. It's a

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great example of what kind of person, not just a player, but kind

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of person. Kid Cunningham truly is
you mentioned the draft now. I was

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talking about this yesterday because Tyrese Maxi
went off for forty six the other day.

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You saw it the most points by
an opposed tied for the most points

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by an opposing player in a playoff
game at Madison Square Garden. Ever with

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Michael Jordan. That says something.
He was in the same damn draft as

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Killian Hayes. Everyone talks about Tyrus
Haliburton and I loved Haliburton coming out of

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Iowa State, but Max, he
was taking twenty first overall. Another miss

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by stan Van Gundy and the Pistons. So many foreign players, James one

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that are mentioned, right, What's
that? That one was actually Troy?

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That was Troy's first draft? Well
was that Troy's I'm sorry, you're right,

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Troy. But the there's so many
foreign players who are viewed near the

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top and not as many college players. And this is tough for you because

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you see all these guys and you
write it, but so many fans and

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usual members of the media, we
don't watch guys play in France. Okay,

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we don't know who a lot of
these guys are. Why do you

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think the league shift might be the
wrong word, but has seen so much

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of an influx on young players from
foreign lands rather than college players. Are

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the college players just not as good
as we think? When we watch them

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in the NC Douable League Tournament.
What's your belief on that. It's a

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good question. I think that some
of it is intrigued, right, Like

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it's hard to equate their leagues to
the NBA, while I think historically the

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natural comparison for the NBA has always
been the college game, so there's some

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of that. I also think that
the Spurs and what they did early in

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the late nineties and early two thousands, with the likes of Tony Parker and

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Montagnobili, started to have teams look
more European. And I mean, if

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we're being honest, the best players
in the league are not from here right

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now, Jokic, Luca Giannis.
I mean, you make a top seven

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list, those three are in there, Embeied, so there's four. I

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think there is a it's just been
an untapped historically, hasn't been as tapped

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dating back like twenty ish years as
it is now. And I think they're

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just trying to find diamonds in the
rough and they're trying to the game has

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just expanded so much globally. And
I also think, like I said,

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there's intrigue, like we're so able
to watch available college games that I think

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even scouts are like, Okay,
well I've watched this guy since he was

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twelve years old. Let me let
me see what I can see over here

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in these in these European state air
countries, and see how I feel that

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this equates to our game. So
I think there's a little bit of it.

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I also think, like I said, there's been a lot of talented

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players coming from overseas, but I
think primarily it's the intrigue in the ability

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to not necessarily know how it will
translate. But you see these skill sets,

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and I also do think European players
are more fundamentally sound in most cases.

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That is, that is something that
plays into it, for sure.

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That's interesting. You talk You've been
in every NBA arena, every NBA city,

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talk to just about every NBA player, I would guess. Do you

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think there is a growing concern from
American based basketball players and who want to

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play in the NBA and realize that
there, you know, there's only sixty

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four times sugar sixty four spots to
get drafted. Do you think in general

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they're worried about the security that America
has in that regard with more Americans playing

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in the NBA. I've never heard
that personally, right, I've never posed

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the question either, But I mean, you hear a lot of players talk

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about players like you don't find too
many that don't love Jokic, that don't

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love Giannis and Lucas. So I
mean maybe guys that are fringe roster guys

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maybe have concerns. They probably also
have concerns about the the age limit in

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the NBA. But yeah, I
haven't heard that directly. Yeah, fair

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enough. James Edwards joints to share
on Exus and Bros fall him on Twitter.

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J Edwards third team president. Why
is it needed and what type of

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criteria does that person need to possess
in order to get the job. I

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think there's a couple of things.
I think one that they just need a

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funneling of leadership. It needs to
be one person who is everybody knows who

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they report to, everybody who knows
that they are directed to, everybody,

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somebody that can make the right player
or the right call, the right shot.

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It's all about having one voice be
the final say. It's a position

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that the Pistons had since twenty eighteen. It is a common position an NBA

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franchise. I know a lot of
people like to say that there's too many

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cooks in the kitchen. I understand
that that critique and what it is.

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But if you look around most NBA
front offices, there's an owner, there's

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a team president, there's maybe a
vice president, there's a GM and then

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a coach. So there's usually three
or four solid voices in an organization.

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It's just a matter of making sure
that everybody knows who's who's getting the final

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say, and who everybody is,
who everybody's direct what's the sort of looking

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for direct talk, who they're directly
talking to, and who they're directly reporting

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to. I think that's of great
importance. And then also I think,

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yeah, there just needs to be
a little bit more structure. I think

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there needs to just be a different
voice and team building. I think those

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are the big things that that they're
looking for, and I think there's some

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big names that they're going to go
after. Some of those guys are in

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the postseason now, which is why
if there are people who think that this

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hobo search has gone on too long, it's really only been two weeks.

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But there are protocols in place where
if they want to go get one of

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the best guys, and one of
those best guys are they have a team

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still playing. They got to kind
of wait out that process. So it's

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certainly a it's a it's a moving
car. Currently, you're not just a

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basketball fan and a basketball writer who
covers the Piston that you're also a Detroit

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sports fan. You see the symmetry
that the Lions have built that has made

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them so successful under Brad Holmes.
Compare that symmetry to the symmetry in the

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Pistons front office, if there is
one, and how far they need to

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go? Can you? I think
that there, I think it seems like

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Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes are more
on the same page then I'd say even

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a lot of president and head coaches, not even in the city, but

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in the league. I think that's
a big thing. I think that I

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think that's the big thing. I
think that those two really seem to value

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the same types of players, the
same type of the character. That's the

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one thing that sticks out to me
about them. And while I think in

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the NBA you can have different visions
of how NBA you can play different styles

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in basketball all you can, but
at the end of the day, it's

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still quarterback, drop back handoff like
it's still this It's pretty universal. But

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basketball there can be different styles.
Whether or not a style is outdated or

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not, that's another conversation. But
I do think that in terms of how

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a team should be built, there
seems to be a little bit of a

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disconnect there with the Pistons and maybe
Steven Alliance. All Right, lastly,

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before I let you go, and
I appreciate the time Monty Williams, how

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can he be better in year two
along the Pistons bench and how much say

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will he have in personnel with this
team moving forward? Yeah, if he's

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back next year. I think one
way you can get better is is I

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think shortening a rotation, depending on
what they do this offseason, if they're

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able to add two or three legitimate
NBA players, maybe keep that rotation down

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to nine to eight. I think
that's one way. I think maybe being

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a little bit more emphasizing the development. Obviously, he comes from a program

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where he was coaching veteran players and
and and maybe had a different type of

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emphasis. I think obviously this team
is young and have some young players,

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and that needs to be the focal
point. But yeah, I think just

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certainly like how many players he plays, trying to understand who he has as

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a as a rotation and if he
needs has to whittle it down to try

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to give this team the best chance
to win. I think that should be

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the case. But yeah, if
he is back next year, he'll have

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some things to clean up himself.
All right, you said that twice.

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Then if he's back next year,
why wouldn't he be Why wouldn't he be?

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Yeah, they just won fourteen games. There's a chance, definitely a

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chance. I think. I think
it'll be interesting to see. I don't

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I don't think it's as likely as
people also as people think very interesting.

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We'll be watching and we'll be reading
The Athletic James Edwards, thank you,

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my friend, great stuff as always, appreciate your time very much and your

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friendship. Take care you got all
right, James Edwards follow him on Twitter.

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Jay Edwards, the third rights for
The Athletic. Fantastic stuff. Really

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enjoyed that conversation. Could have gone
on a lot longer because there's a lot

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of different things that we wanted to
hit on. But maybe we'll do it

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at another time with James and talking
pistons and the NBA