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conversation and look, if you're not
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that everyone has a reason to listen. But we'd really encourage you to go

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up and rate, review and subscribe
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on with the NBA Finals and then
some important news not It's just another quick

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podcast would not be possible without them. Let's start talking hoops, though,

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so we'll go into the NBA Finals
first. Some of you may be listening

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to this on a Friday, some
of you may not be. This is

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I think it's still evergreen because the
Miami Heat just have some things they have

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to deal with. And after Game
one, the biggest topic really was the

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Gore and Dragets injury. He has
a torn plantar in his left foot and

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he has not given up hope of
returning apparently. But that's like an injury.

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I know, you're in the finals, and so I guess just talk

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yourself into playing if you can.
But that's not an injury that I think

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you can bank on him coming back
from. He's thirty four, and that

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stuff is painful. I even WinCE
just talking about it. As Bobby Marks

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of ESPN noted, Joe Johnson suffered
a similar injury during Game two of the

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twenty thirteen first round matchup with the
Chicago Bulls, and while he did get

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injections in his foot before each game, he was struggling and he just really

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wasn't that effective. Shott ended up
shooting two fourteen in a Game seven loss,

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again all per ESPNS Bobby Marks.
So when you lose Goren, drag

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like that is huge, and I
would declare this series over. I don't

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want to say it's a sweep.
The Heat are scrappy. They've gotten here

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just because they have this obsessive focus
and intensity and execution that only gets you

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so far, though, and you're
growing up against top end talent in Los

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Angeles, and I promise I won't
solely dilute this argument down to that,

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but they have the two best players
in the series, with Anthony Davis and

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Lebron James. You're already kind of
had a disadvantage there, and I think

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you could come into this series like
I did, where I considered picking Lakers

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in five. I ultimately picked Lakers
in six just because of how well the

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Heat have played so far. But
we're getting to a point where even when

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the people you think on Los Angeles
in terms of their supporting cast, don't

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have the games that you want them
to, someone else will. Even when

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Roger Rondo isn't hitting his shots like, he's still making an impact as an

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extra ball handler now, and we've
seen him a little bit more engaged on

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defense. The Alex Caruso minutes are
just absolutely huge for the Lakers, and

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that's not a fluke, like it
never was a fluke, but like we're

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well past the whole Alex Caruso as
novelty thing. It's been known that he's

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fairly good for a while. Even
Dwight Howard doesn't have the best game,

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but you know, he didn't score, but made some okay plays on the

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defensive end. Then he comes out, the Lakers are going smaller, and

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then that's when they destroy the heat. After Miami jump out to that thirteen

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point lead in Game one, it's
just without drag that all just becomes even

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more overwhelming because the Lakers were well
on their way to winning that game.

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And again, enter really as heavy
favors to begin with, but in Drag,

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I don't Without him, I don't
see how Miami's half court offense really

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functions or gets to the level of
solvency. And it's exacerbated by the fact

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that bam Adebayo, as I record
this is listed as doubtful four game to

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do the next strain that he suffered, and just looking at Draggage's absence,

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though specifically Miami's half court offense has
absolutely plummeted inefficiency when he's been off the

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floor during the postseason. And look, if you have Bam, I think

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he really helps you. And in
fact, he has the Heat's biggest among

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rotation players half court offensive rating differential
on the team. At the same time,

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like he's just not that traditional prober
someone who's going to face up and

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put pressure on set defenses or you
know, you're not gonna look at drags

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to draw a ton of fouls or
even necessarily get to the rim. But

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he has the pull up jumper in
his arsenal. He's slippery when he's driving

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inside the arc, and he is
there. You know, he's driving over

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fourteen times per game during the playoff, which is the second most on the

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Heat, shooting better than fifty percent
on those looks. So having that in

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between options, someone who's gonna be
able to fire up off the drib a

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little bit more, Bam just gives
you more of that facilitation. And he

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might need to be in more stand
still positions in a lot of this than

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than drags. And so not having
him, like it feels like it's going

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to be absolute, really crippling for
Miami's offense, you still have Jimmy Butler.

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Tyler hero has played well overall in
the postseason, but how much can

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you actually count on him to pick
up this kind of slack when a lot

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of this stuff. Look, he's
had his games, and he's been better

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at getting through traffic and like finishing
through contact than I ever would have imagined

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in this postseason. A lot of
his success though, like what happens when

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defenses aren't Keaton on both drag At
Gen Butler, and they only have to

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worry about one of those two.
And the other thing is is like some

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of Miami's lineups without drag Its just
have not been good offensively. Their most

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used one, which has been good
offensively, but it's still nets in the

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playoffs almost a minus seven points per
one hundred possessions. The fact of the

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matter after that is too, there's
no there's no lineup without draggas that had

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logged up to fifty possessions aside from
one of them entering Game one. And

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so now you're dealing with all these
small samples when you have to tink of

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your rotation. And look, it's
good to get Kendrick Nunn in there,

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I tend to default to him just
being overrated at this point. It's not

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even just a matter of if people
are saying he came out of nowhere when

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he really didn't. It's just I
don't know that I trust someone who's so

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much better with the ball in his
hands and seems like he's a little bit

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uncomfortable playing off the ball. That
being said, someone who's a legitimate threat

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pulling up off the dribble from three
and he got some minutes, got the

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chance to run some pick and rolls
in Game one that could end up being

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huge for the heat, just to
getting him him acclimated, and if he

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can do, you know, he's
not going to replace druggish playmaking. I

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don't think he ends up really replacing
even the pressure that Draggers puts on defense

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when the balls in his hands,
but he might come close. And he's

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obviously their best option because you know
you're already playing Tyler hero a bunch.

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Replacing Bam is arguably harder. Just
Miami is not a team like they can

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do okay if you need a limit
looks at the rim, but like when

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it comes to actually protecting the rim
and the paint, like they've been crucified

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00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:05,000
their all season essentially, and definitely, you know, post January first,

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post December first, however you want
to look at that, and nin your

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options are probably played Kelly Olinic a
bunch of minutes because the Andre Goodalla's backup

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center while lineup that definitely intrigues me
and worked in the conference finals, isn't

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gonna fly even when you're going up
against the Lakers with an Anthony Davis at

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center. And it might even be
more untenable if the Lakers are going with

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dual biggs, having Dwight and Davis
on the floor at the same time,

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and there's just all of these problems
one on top of the other, and

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looking defensively, just at the matchups
in general, Miami switched a bunch in

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the first game, and I don't
know, I don't know how sustainable that

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is because it didn't look sustainable in
that game. And if you're really worried

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about having Jimmy Butler go up against
Lebron for too many possessions, like then

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00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,440
just use Andre Goodala on him and
maybe try and find ways to get Jay

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Crowder more reps against him, because
there can't be situation where he's just going

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00:10:00,919 --> 00:10:03,639
up against Tyler Hero and he didn't
even shoot her. The data against Tyler

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00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:07,879
Hero specifically, but Miami was basically
as a team on the possessions in which

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00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:13,480
Hero at least partially defended Lebron James
Los Angeles, excuse me, as a

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00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,960
team was averaging around two points per
possession. And so like, just those

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00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,559
situations, whether it's Kendrick None,
whether it's Tyler Hero, like, it

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just can't happen. And so I
don't necessarily I won't say I know what

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00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:28,200
the answer is, But can you
get away with saying that one of these

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guys between Davis and Lebron is going
to eat and so rather than switching,

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00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:33,480
rather than playing man, rather than
even trying to get back to his own

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00:10:33,519 --> 00:10:37,639
can you just throw more doubles,
more traps at Lebron just because he's the

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00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:43,039
primary ball hand there enforced Anthony Davis
to beat you, obviously not on open

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00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:48,879
looks, but to the point where
he's done fantastic of hitting these unassisted shots

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during the playoffs, Like, just
continue to force him to make those shots,

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even giving up the occasional catch and
shoot three opportunity wide open or not.

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That has to be fine too,
because those were shots that he was

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00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:03,320
fairly shaky on during the regular season. He's shooting about forty percent on them

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though in the playoffs, like you
can live with that. I'm not even

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00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,840
sure if it works though, just
because now you're talking about, well,

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00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:11,960
what do you do with Anthony Davis
anyway, Like we're just gonna say,

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00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,879
oh, you can go for forty
points. And he's even shown that when

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00:11:15,919 --> 00:11:18,919
he's going to run into traffic,
he's done a pretty good job of passing

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00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,039
out of it. It feels like
a no win proposition there, and it

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00:11:22,039 --> 00:11:24,200
gets easier if you have BAM,
because I would just say, like,

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look, BAM needs to see more
time on Anthony Davis than Jay Cratter,

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00:11:28,279 --> 00:11:31,240
Like that would just be have BAM, just like stick with him and track

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00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,159
him everywhere. If your rim protection
is not great to begin with, and

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00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,399
especially if they're the lineups where Davis
is going to be at the five anyway,

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00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,159
and you don't have to worry about
a Dwight Howard, just go that

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route. I'm sure sp Welsh has
something up his sleeve. I don't know

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00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:48,519
how accurate a referendum game two will
be on their approach, just because if

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00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:50,360
they don't have Bam, he's someone
you expect to return this series, whereas

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00:11:50,399 --> 00:11:54,840
Dragets just feels it feels unlikely.
I'm not saying this like because I have

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00:11:54,879 --> 00:12:00,120
any information or because I'm a doctor. It just you know, porn plantars

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00:12:00,159 --> 00:12:03,039
nothing to really screw around with,
and I know these are the NBA Finals.

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00:12:03,039 --> 00:12:07,399
I know to just go for it. Still it feels just I'd be

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00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:09,200
I'd be surprised if he comes back, and if he does come back,

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00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,960
I'd be surprised if he has a
huge, net positive impact on Miami in

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00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,759
general. I don't want to be
two down on the Heat, though,

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00:12:18,799 --> 00:12:20,879
if you can get to a point
where, look, they did a good

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00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:22,759
job, like if the Lakers supporting
cast, if you're gonna have contavious call

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00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,519
of Pope shoot three of ten from
the floor, if you're gonna have Ray

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00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:28,840
John Rondo, I think he was
two of seven or something, and it

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00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:33,840
was one of five from three like
that. Those nights can happen from Los

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00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:39,600
Angeles supporting cast, and that's encouraging. The other encouraging thing would be they

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00:12:39,639 --> 00:12:43,799
were the Heat were a minus twelve
points in the three point battle. That's

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00:12:43,799 --> 00:12:46,080
not going to happen every single night. Even if you don't want to write

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00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:52,200
the Lakers performance in Game one off
as a fluke, Miami shot just a

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00:12:52,279 --> 00:12:56,919
disastrous percentage on wide open threes.
They were four or fifteen in that in

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00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:00,840
that game, twenty six point seven
percent compared to LA's eight point five percent,

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00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,200
which is actually right around where they
should be. I think where the

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00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,039
biggest difference was is that when you've
put any sort of pressure on Los Angeles

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00:13:07,039 --> 00:13:13,120
shooters, they really haven't performed all
that well. They're averaging under one three

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point make per game when defenders within
two to four feet. They were three

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or five on those looks in Game
one, and so you were moving in

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two of those, and that differential
is sort of cut in half. Bamy

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can kind of look to that is
I don't know if you would call it

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a controllable, but there's gonna be
regression and progression to the mean there where

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the heat are going to shoot better
from three. They were a nightmare from

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above the break in this game specifically, I had this jotted down. There

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were four twenty four on above the
break threes. That's sixteen point seven percent.

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They were the second best or the
absolute best above the break three point

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shooting team during the regular season.
They've been not as good in the playoffs,

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which is or they've been the best
above the break three point shooting team

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in the playoffs, excuse me.
And during the regular season they were second

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in above the break three point percentage, So like that's going to normalize for

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them, and I think that ends
up being just just a monster deal.

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So the other thing that I think
you could probably look at is fourteen free

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throws for them is not enough.
I don't know how controllable necessarily that is.

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And I need to do another makol
Ba here because I'm a windows surfing.

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The Heat were first in above the
break three point percentage during the regular

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season. They hit thirty eight point
five percent of their above the break threes.

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In the postseason they have ranked lower. They are safe with thirty five

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point seven percent. Even though that's
not great, that's with their perform their

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performance in Game one caked in there. They've been much higher after that.

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That's still a way higher percentage than
sixteen point seven percent, So that's something

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that's going to normalize for them.
The other the actual question I would have

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is you could say that there will
be a progression to the mean here,

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gorn Jockage isn't necessarily someone who they
depend on to generate free throw looked,

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But will they go up from the
number of fourteen that they had in Game

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one? Because you can't lose that
battle as egregiously as you did during that

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first game where you only have those
fourteen free throws. You were they were

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third in three throw tenth three in
the postseason entering Wednesday night, and so

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to drop off that substantially, you
would imagine that it will it will go

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back up again. And someone like
a you know you could you point immediately

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saying we'll dragics. She isn't going
to have zero free throw attempt in most

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games, but you're not going to
have go on draggit. And so how

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do you put more pressure on defenses
in the interior that a lot of that's

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going to fall to Kendrick Nunn,
where if he's playing twenty minutes, like,

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you can't have him just not attempting
three throws at all, particularly when

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Las out there and they're attempting twenty
seven to year fourteen. And that's like,

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it doesn't thirteen free throws doesn't necessarily
feel like a huge difference for some

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reason. But when you look at
it, the Lakers looking at points scored

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were a plus fourteen from the found
line, and like, that's just absolutely

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monstrous. So can you figure out
a way to generate more free throw at

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temps? Jimmy Butler is going to
be a huge part of that. Five

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free throw temps feels low for him. I think the issue would be,

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you know, Bam, you kind
of rely on for some of that as

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well, and if he's not in
Game two, you're not going to get

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that from Mikelly Olenick. You're not
going to get it from a Meyers Leonard.

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And perhaps that's the appeal of like
playing smaller, because you could have

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Andre Godalo with the ball in his
hands and it's just a smart player and

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maybe he can do that for you, just put that little extra pressure on

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the Lakers interior defense. I'm really
just spitballing here, and so that's another

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thing. Then, as I'm talking
myself into it, that just really doesn't

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feel like Miami's necessarily in control of
You've lost your Bam and Bio is the

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second highest free throw tempt rate among
the Heat in the playoffs, so he's

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00:16:49,679 --> 00:16:52,600
gone, you can expect more from
Jimmy Butler. I think that helps.

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Kelly Olyncks is actually fourth in free
throw tempt rate for this team during the

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playoffs. And then you also have
Derek Jones jing where if you can get

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him going downhill, like you maybe
run some picking rolls with him as a

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screener. But then the Lakers aren't
there. You know, they're not going

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to fear his jumper in those situations, So those are just a little bit

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more easier to defend. Can you
just then plan on getting out in transition

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more? Something that I might consider
is like, can you just run wing

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wing picking rolls to death with a
Jimmy Butler Jay Crowder just effectively two shooters.

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There's is that Tyler hero and Jay
Crowder situation. And yes, I'm

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calling Jay Crowder a shooter here,
even though his splits from deep have just

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been absolutely wild thirty five point seven
percent for the playoffs, did shoot it

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materially better after a very poor Conference
Finals. In Game one against the Lakers,

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he was four or seven from beyond
the arc. Those are things that

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they can maybe try again. I'm
not given thought to this, but I'm

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also sort of just spitballing in real
time, because that's how hopeless this situation

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feels right now. I don't want
to count out the heat. There's that

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level of stop underestimating Miami, you
dumb ass, like that's absolutely there.

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At the same time, no Dragic
not having them at a Bio, just

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knowing that the Lakers were probably better
to begin not probably they were better to

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00:18:03,039 --> 00:18:07,039
begin with him. Look, you
couldn't even argue that Lebron James just has

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a more pronounced performance. In Game
two, he threw up twenty five thirteen

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and nine. He only took seventeen
shots. It feels like he could take

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a great deal more. It feels
like he could get going downhill even more,

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particularly if bam Ata Baio isn't going
to be in this game. So

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Miami's best hope, aside from that
three point discrepancy normalizing, aside from getting

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to the to the line more,
is to probably hope that the supporting cast

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for the Lakers continues to struggle offensively, because if the Lakers on most nights

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get what they do out of Rondo
again two of seven, Kuzma one of

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00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:41,960
seven, Contavious Coo Hope three of
ten, you should technically be in a

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00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:47,440
better situation. But because Lebron James
and the Davis were so good, because

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you know you're getting great minutes from
from Alex Caruso, even just getting serviceable

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minutes from from Markief Morris, there's
I don't know what the answer is,

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Like, it's not just cross your
fingers. If you can get the three

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point stuff can normalize and get to
the full one more, that's probably your

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best bet. And just maybe you
get really freaky with the rotation. Are

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we going to see a bunch more
of Solomon Hill? And how much does

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that help? He was oz four
from three in game one? How much

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00:19:11,599 --> 00:19:15,119
more bandwidth does Andre Goodala half twenty
five plus minutes in game one? And

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looks for the record, you can't
read too much into single game plus minus,

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but Tyler Hero was a minus thirty
five in a game Miami lost by

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00:19:22,079 --> 00:19:25,720
eighteen. And look, the game
just wasn't that closed even when you were

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00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:26,400
watching it, so that accounts for
some of it. But he was a

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00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:32,440
minus thirty at halftime. Igadala was
a minus twenty five there, and maybe

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that's also something you look at,
is Tyler Hero specifically is going to have

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better game six of eighteen from the
floor, two of eight from three the

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Lakers can put you know, they
have a lot of athleticism to throw at

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him, but he's also shown that
he can hit some difficult shots during the

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playoffs, and so a few of
these things, like it's again, I

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want to stress it's not a matter
of crossing your fingers that you can get

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more free throws. But some of
these things are going to normalize in the

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00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,160
Heat's favor. It's just that you
have to look at the Lakers and wonder

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is there gonna be enough regression to
the mean or are they going to have

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enough struggles for the Heat to really
be in a position to win. And

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if you miss Bam for more than
this game too, because we're assuming the

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Heat are going to be down to
oh and if they're not, look kudos

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to them. If you miss him
for more than a game, then it's

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00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:19,400
just absolutely hilariously, hopelessly futile for
them. That's just how it feels.

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And so that's where I'm at with
this. The Draga chapps since right now

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and then whether he comes back,
that just feels like a blow that even

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00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:33,359
the Heat are not going to be
able to withstand. You've counted on restaurants.

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door Dash. Two more topics that we

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00:21:59,599 --> 00:22:03,160
definitely need to jump into is Doc
Rivers was hired by the Philadelphia seventy six

341
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,960
ers to be their next head coach. He signed a five year deal per

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00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,440
Woge. That was something that happened
very quickly. He left the Clippers basically

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00:22:11,519 --> 00:22:17,240
seventy two hours but before the announcement. And I've said this multiple times on

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00:22:17,279 --> 00:22:22,240
the podcast, I'm reticent to comment
too heavily on head coaching hires and just

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00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,240
critiquing them because they just know even
the worst NBA head coach just can see

346
00:22:26,319 --> 00:22:30,240
and read and think the game so
much better than I can. This feels

347
00:22:30,319 --> 00:22:34,039
like an okay fit, an interesting
fit, one that could really work out

348
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:41,680
in Philly's favor. I'm still just
sort of like on it because you look

349
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,599
at what happened with the Clippers.
You have the athletics report that there was

350
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,039
strife in the locker room and he
didn't really do much to unite it.

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00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,079
We've seen the Clippers blow three to
one leads in the past. We know

352
00:22:51,279 --> 00:22:56,279
that the dynamic during the Lob City
era was fractious, particularly towards the end,

353
00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,319
and that players weren't necessarily happy with
how Doc Rivers handled it. And

354
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:00,880
so while he means so much to
the game, and just with this social

355
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:07,119
justice stuff, the things he said
after the Donald Sterling racism debacle with the

356
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:11,680
Clippers, like he's absolutely important and
he's a great coach, as people pointed

357
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,400
out, you know, him coaching
Ben Simmons after having Blake Griffin, a

358
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,440
crafty big and then Rondo sort of
this non shooting guard at that time.

359
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,720
Is he able to unlock something in
Ben Simmons? Is he able just able

360
00:23:22,759 --> 00:23:25,799
to quote something more out of Ben
Simmons. It seems like if he wanted

361
00:23:25,839 --> 00:23:29,359
outside volume from Simmons at all.
You would have gone with a Tylo or

362
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,279
Mike D'Antoni there, And I'm just
knowing that there's issues. This was per

363
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,279
Keith Poppy of the Philadelphia Inquired or
like stated this, and it's just sort

364
00:23:37,319 --> 00:23:40,960
of this open secret that some Sixers
fans do seem like they refuse to admit

365
00:23:41,279 --> 00:23:45,759
the dynamic between Joel Embead and Ben
Simmons, not just functionally but emotionally psychologically

366
00:23:45,799 --> 00:23:49,400
doesn't seem like it's the greatest.
And so is he the guy Doc Rivers

367
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,079
to take you through this, I
honestly don't know. I don't think you

368
00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:56,559
could guarantee that Mike D'Antoni would have
been any better. Maybe he gets a

369
00:23:56,559 --> 00:23:59,759
little bit more inventive on offense,
but some of the stuff that the Clippers

370
00:23:59,799 --> 00:24:03,440
team did, particularly before this Kauai
Paul George's era, like that was great

371
00:24:03,519 --> 00:24:07,200
that last season Clippers team, And
so Doc Rivers, I'm not trying to

372
00:24:07,279 --> 00:24:11,799
box him in anywhere. And I
think that's I mentioned this on Salmon Ali's

373
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:17,240
podcast he hosts Red Nation Hoops also
Bluelyar podcast that I feel, particularly among

374
00:24:17,519 --> 00:24:22,920
black head coaches that we coten them
into these stereotypes where it's there these raw

375
00:24:22,039 --> 00:24:26,319
rock coaches, there are these predominant
leaders. And I do think that Doc

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00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:30,480
Rivers can be a good leader.
And I would say this about tylu who

377
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:34,400
I would think would even be more
of just a galvanizing presence here. But

378
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:40,759
with Rivers specifically, I almost worry
about the opposite. It's he's this coach

379
00:24:40,839 --> 00:24:44,359
who's kind of I don't want to
say hung back. We's coached so many

380
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,640
veteran teams. He's not someone who's
gonna force shoot around. It's not going

381
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,400
to force practices during the middle of
the season. I'm not sure if that's

382
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,559
what this Philly team needs. They
feel like they might need a level of

383
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:57,720
forced A caliber accountability a little bit
more rather than this independence. And maybe

384
00:24:57,799 --> 00:25:02,160
Doc Rivers can adapt what he was
doing for the past few versions of this

385
00:25:03,039 --> 00:25:07,079
Clippers team, and perhaps the twenty
eighteen twenty nineteen season is just proof of

386
00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,960
that, where they went through some
turnover, they weren't even really expected to

387
00:25:11,039 --> 00:25:15,480
make the playoffs. They didn't have
that conventional superstar, and yet Tobias Harris

388
00:25:15,559 --> 00:25:18,160
played so well, Daniela Gallinari played
so well, Jekyl as Alexander had played

389
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:23,480
so well for them, and that's
like, that's that's where I'm That's what

390
00:25:23,519 --> 00:25:26,720
I'm getting at here is I don't
want to box Doc Rivers and to say

391
00:25:26,799 --> 00:25:29,920
he can't handle this situation. I
just feel like we haven't seen him in

392
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,920
anything resembling it most most certainly in
the near like past, but even even

393
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:40,000
in the distant past going back.
But on the flip side of that,

394
00:25:40,599 --> 00:25:44,839
he's also coming off of coaching Tobias
Harris through his best season essentially in twenty

395
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,319
eighteen twenty nineteen for at least most
and a half of it. Anyway,

396
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:49,319
is there something he can on the
lock there? I would remain skeptical a

397
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,000
little bit of that, like maybe
more a little bit more of the postseason.

398
00:25:52,079 --> 00:25:55,640
But he was never even at the
peak of his parents in LA.

399
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,599
Peak of his power is not parent
parents in LA. Wasn't someone that you

400
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,319
could on to be that the Jimmy
Butler type in crunch time, Like,

401
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,400
yeah, there's a level of shop
creation there. There's not the same table

402
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,440
setting, there's not the same pressure
being put on the rim. And that's

403
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,000
why I think for this team,
like that's what's going to to find this

404
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:15,559
Doc Rivers higher, and maybe it
was any coaching higher. Is the personnel

405
00:26:15,559 --> 00:26:18,400
actually more so than the coach?
And so I'm looking at this through the

406
00:26:18,519 --> 00:26:22,880
lens of, well, well,
Doc Rivers change this team enough as currently

407
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,839
constructed for it to be a success, And that's probably not the way to

408
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,279
actually look at it. It's can
they do enough on the margins to make

409
00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:33,200
this team a better fit together on
the court, Like forget about the off

410
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,680
the court stuff, like maybe that's
where the main concern is for Doc Rivers,

411
00:26:37,079 --> 00:26:40,079
But on the court like this,
no matter who's coaching, I don't

412
00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:42,160
know that this team is a great
fit for one another. It's not trade

413
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:47,000
Joel or Ben Simmons just yet.
That's just been The Sixers aren't going to

414
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,160
go that way. ESPN Tim Montents
reported this a while ago after they were

415
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:55,119
eliminated. I believe. But can
you move I'm assuming that Rivers would want

416
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:56,720
to keep Harris, but can you
figure out a way to move Horford?

417
00:26:56,799 --> 00:27:00,640
Like, what do you do to
sweeten that deal? And if you don't

418
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,759
like, does Doc Rivers empower these
players in any different of a way?

419
00:27:03,759 --> 00:27:06,440
Does he like throw out some different
lineups? Does he have more of the

420
00:27:06,519 --> 00:27:08,240
cache than Brett Brown and be like, hey, Al, you're coming off

421
00:27:08,279 --> 00:27:11,880
the bench like hardcore. It's not
even a matter of you'll still play starters

422
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,680
minutes, but we're gonna pay you
all this money. You're gonna play fourteen

423
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,319
fifteen minutes per game and that'll be
that. I honestly don't know. They

424
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,279
still feel like they need to make
moves on the margins to open up everything,

425
00:27:22,319 --> 00:27:26,400
and whether if that's not trading Al
Horford or even at Tobias Harris or

426
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:30,920
finding a smaller scale move to you
know, they can step ladder some stuff

427
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,440
because they have Mike Scott, they
have that Year Smith. So you're looking

428
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,720
at a combined almost eight million dollars
in salary there, I believe, and

429
00:27:36,759 --> 00:27:40,160
so you can do things to move
up from that. Is there any just

430
00:27:40,279 --> 00:27:42,640
like free agent move that they can
make to add another layer of shooting and

431
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,480
ball handling? Does doct Rivers unlock
something in shake Milton like, is he

432
00:27:45,559 --> 00:27:48,440
going to be the real deal for
a full season? There? IM not

433
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,240
gonna go too much longer on this
because we do have a Sixers look Ahead

434
00:27:52,279 --> 00:27:55,240
podcast coming to you. We were
waiting for the head coaching higher and I

435
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:59,400
believe it'll be up on Monday.
If you're listening to this on a Friday,

436
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,559
so get ex for that. The
final note, I will say,

437
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,960
Josh Richardson kind of feels like a
doc Rivers player, and I'm interested to

438
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,279
see how he does under him.
Next up, and finally, some Kyrie

439
00:28:11,279 --> 00:28:14,400
Irving talk, because because why not, we haven't done that on this podcast.

440
00:28:14,519 --> 00:28:18,440
And in a minute two of his
quotes from a podcast with Kevin Durant

441
00:28:18,519 --> 00:28:23,319
are making the rounds now. This
transcript is comes from CBS Sports and he's

442
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:29,079
referencing the nets is higher of Steve
Nash. I don't really see us having

443
00:28:29,279 --> 00:28:32,079
a head coach. Irving said,
Kadie could be a head coach. I

444
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:36,279
could be a head coach some days. Durant agreed with this in the sense

445
00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:38,839
that he called in a collaborative effort
in Brooklyn, and like that's not too

446
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,960
spicy. Everything in the NBA's a
collaborative effort. The coaches defer to their

447
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:45,799
stars. Steve Nash is also new
to this, so you have to lean

448
00:28:47,079 --> 00:28:51,000
on your stars. Irving's comment is
just more curious to say, I don't

449
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,839
really see us as having a head
coach. What does that even mean?

450
00:28:55,319 --> 00:28:56,559
Like, just what does that even
mean? I know it's Steve Nash,

451
00:28:56,599 --> 00:29:00,279
skip the line, and that's a
fact as well. He's still is the

452
00:29:00,319 --> 00:29:03,440
head coach of the Nets. I
don't like you have to. Maybe this

453
00:29:03,559 --> 00:29:07,880
is a discussion I've already had with
Steve Nash. Maybe it's just a matter

454
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,680
of, you know, a weird
comment. Speaking in the moment. I

455
00:29:10,759 --> 00:29:14,720
totally get that. I just don't
even really know what to make of it.

456
00:29:14,799 --> 00:29:17,880
It just seems like that's not something
you say off the cuff, would

457
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,680
be my guest. The other thing
that he said is this for the New

458
00:29:21,759 --> 00:29:25,400
York Post one thing I've always been
comfortable with. I felt like I was

459
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,400
the best option on every team I
played for down the stretch. Irving said

460
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:30,799
on the Etcas with Kevin Durant podcast, this is the first time in my

461
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:36,279
career I've looked it down and be
like that motherfucker can make that shot too,

462
00:29:36,319 --> 00:29:38,000
and I'll probably do it a lot
easier now. Everyone was quick to

463
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,240
point out that Kyrie Irving played with
Lebron James for three seasons, which is

464
00:29:42,759 --> 00:29:47,240
a fair thing to point out after
a comment like that. Some of us

465
00:29:47,279 --> 00:29:52,519
went as far as to post graphics
of Kevin Durants like crunch time efficiency for

466
00:29:52,599 --> 00:29:56,559
his career versus Lebron's, and Lebron
outstripped him clearly. Irving, of course,

467
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:03,680
he came out with a to it
and on social media and he basically

468
00:30:03,759 --> 00:30:10,279
said that this was a yep,
a media driven thing from clickbait society.

469
00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:12,400
Clickbait society was his words. He
also said again for The New York Post,

470
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,599
why must it always be brother against
brother? Why if I'm addressing anyone,

471
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,599
I'll say their name. Come on, y'all, don't listen to the

472
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,640
false narratives. Let people live their
lives. It's just a game. Talk

473
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:23,519
about the art, talk about the
sport. We talk openly, we talk

474
00:30:23,599 --> 00:30:27,000
freely, but because we live in
a clickbait society, it becomes something bigger.

475
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:33,640
I kind of get that sentiment a
little bit, and there are narratives

476
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,839
that people jump on. There's a
level of Again he's speaking, is it

477
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,279
off the cuff, and he's just
really trying to build up Durant at the

478
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:45,119
same time, like, dude,
come on, you can't expect people not

479
00:30:45,519 --> 00:30:49,359
to read into those comments. Given
the circumstances under which you left Cleveland,

480
00:30:49,519 --> 00:30:53,440
and you want a title in Cleveland
playing with Lebron is not just something that

481
00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:59,880
you forget. And so this at
best was just poorly phrased. And I

482
00:31:00,039 --> 00:31:03,519
don't think we need to put pitt
NBA players against each other, like I

483
00:31:03,599 --> 00:31:06,440
just don't. I know that people
are gonna take sound bites, small pieces

484
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:07,799
of them and just run with it. Like I get that part of it.

485
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:12,680
And there can be a level of, you know, a level a

486
00:31:12,759 --> 00:31:18,000
lack of accountability to it all,
and myself on this podcast can be guilty

487
00:31:18,039 --> 00:31:22,480
of perpetuating it at points. This
is just like I don't understand it with

488
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,880
Kyrie is he's clearly smart. Like
if you're gonna say something like this,

489
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:32,160
whether it's an accident or not,
it's gonna be interpreted as something. Don't

490
00:31:32,279 --> 00:31:37,440
blame the media or fans for looking
at it verbatim quote and wondering why you

491
00:31:37,599 --> 00:31:41,119
said it in that it framed it
in that way, like just come out

492
00:31:41,119 --> 00:31:44,480
and say I didn't mean it like
that. I'm not saying even always it

493
00:31:44,559 --> 00:31:47,720
to us that if you really don't
care, then don't then don't say anything

494
00:31:47,799 --> 00:31:52,079
like don't don't acknowledge it. But
he said these words. It's just such

495
00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:53,880
a curious case and I've look I've
said on this podcast as someone who will

496
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,880
make jokes about the Kyrie situation,
it does feel that certain coverage of him

497
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:04,359
is on and like we went through
it with the Disney bubble for the NBA

498
00:32:05,039 --> 00:32:07,880
and when the players were deciding if
they wanted to go or not, like

499
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:13,279
he made actual great points and they
were dismissing them because of the source.

500
00:32:13,359 --> 00:32:15,279
It was Kyrie. That's really unfair. I don't know how culpable he is

501
00:32:15,799 --> 00:32:20,000
in that framing, just because things
like this happened and he's had, you

502
00:32:20,039 --> 00:32:22,480
know, you look at his Instagram
or things that he says. It feels

503
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:27,559
like he's trying to be too philosophical, too intuitive, introspective, whatever.

504
00:32:28,079 --> 00:32:30,200
But I also I don't know what's
going through his mind. But I do

505
00:32:30,359 --> 00:32:34,200
know that he said this, like
he said, this is the first time

506
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,480
in my career I've looked it down
and been like, that motherfucker can make

507
00:32:37,559 --> 00:32:40,559
that shot too. So I don't
know if he thought and he also said

508
00:32:40,559 --> 00:32:43,480
it and he'll probably do it a
lot easier. Maybe he just thought it'd

509
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:45,240
be more difficult for Lebron. Did
you think that Lebron's didnt thinks it's a

510
00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:49,759
pass first anyway where Kevin Durant's not
going to feel like that. Maybe he

511
00:32:49,839 --> 00:32:52,000
can explain that, or he doesn't
have to. He doesn't. Oh it's

512
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,839
anything, but he said this.
So the Kyrie every stuff, this NET

513
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:59,359
situation, it was always combustible following
to Kevin Durant injury. Knowing how injury

514
00:32:59,359 --> 00:33:04,039
prone Kyrie Irving is, You've added
another layer of combustibility to it by rolling

515
00:33:04,119 --> 00:33:07,359
with not only a first time head
coach, but someone who's apparently not even

516
00:33:07,519 --> 00:33:10,519
a real head coach. According to
Kyrie, that's mostly a joke there.

517
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,839
And now I'm just what's going to
happen in the offseason. Joe Harris is

518
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:16,440
a free agent, will they resign
him? If they resign him, or

519
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,279
they used their mid level? Is
there a trade to be made? Durant

520
00:33:20,359 --> 00:33:22,960
said, karath Lvert can be their
third star, but are they still going

521
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:27,519
to go after someone else? And
how many games does Durant play next year?

522
00:33:27,519 --> 00:33:30,319
How many games is Kyrie Irving play? Where does Durant look like post

523
00:33:30,359 --> 00:33:32,519
achilles injury? So many questions with
this team, not the least of which

524
00:33:32,599 --> 00:33:37,440
is just at the top with Kyrie
Irving. Just are there going to be

525
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,359
too many distractions, whether he means
to create them or not. Like the

526
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:45,240
media can say, he can take
something relatively innocuous that he says, run

527
00:33:45,319 --> 00:33:47,480
with it, turn it into something
it's not. It feels like that might

528
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:51,960
often happen in Brooklyn, and I'm
also curious to see it's like this is

529
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:53,720
going to be a leaky Fawcett situation
where things aren't great off the bat.

530
00:33:53,839 --> 00:33:57,400
Are guys in the locker room gonna
be talking like we saw at the Clippers

531
00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,079
with the Clippers earlier this year and
then after the season even really just at

532
00:34:00,079 --> 00:34:04,599
any point with the Clippers, or
we'll just be sort of self sabotage where

533
00:34:04,599 --> 00:34:08,880
they're making these open comments and nets. The level of combustibility there is absolutely

534
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:13,440
tantalizing, polarizing. I won't be
able to look away as we lead into

535
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:15,599
next year. But enough of this, Let's get into some Detroit Pistons talk,

536
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:20,800
trades, free agency, draft,
Christian Would, the development of lu

537
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,400
Konar, Bruce Brown, all of
it, Blake Griffin, Derek Rose,

538
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:28,760
what's going on with this team with
Lazarus Jackson of the Detroit bad Boys and

539
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:34,559
also the host of the Everybody Versus
Pistons podcast, The Weight is finally over.

540
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,199
Football is back. You might not
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541
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543
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word bet online. You're online sports book

550
00:35:15,159 --> 00:35:20,480
experts. Last, thank you so
much for coming back on the podcast.

551
00:35:20,559 --> 00:35:22,880
It's been way too long. I
didn't anticipate it being this long, but

552
00:35:23,079 --> 00:35:27,280
apparently you know we're at a point
we're going to have like an NBA season

553
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,280
play out every one point five years
at this point. I guess hopefully it

554
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:35,039
changes soon. But but how are
you doing? I'm doing great, Dan,

555
00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:38,599
My team hasn't played for quite some
time, So I've just beenking kind

556
00:35:38,599 --> 00:35:45,840
of like in the wilderness, wondering
the individual group bubbles for the teams who

557
00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:50,360
didn't make the big bubble. The
national NBA bubble in Florida have started a

558
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,000
couple of weeks, and so that's
been just like a steady, like slight

559
00:35:53,119 --> 00:35:58,400
drip of content that's helped out.
But yeah, man, like think things

560
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,760
have been Things have been kind of
dry out here in Pistons Land. What

561
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:05,760
are you doing? Oh, I'm
no complaints over here. I am I

562
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:07,440
have not run into the same problem
as you, since I'm not covering one

563
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:12,280
specific team, But I am curious, though, like what happens during this

564
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:15,519
time? Are you do you end
up like because I'm sure there's a ton

565
00:36:15,559 --> 00:36:19,639
of overthinking here, but do you
end up kind of talking yourself more into

566
00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:22,159
like the Pistons situation, or are
you like lower on them than you might

567
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,599
normally be, just because you've had
so much time to think, rethink and

568
00:36:25,639 --> 00:36:32,239
then overthink your rethink about this team. I think the overthinking, rethinking,

569
00:36:32,559 --> 00:36:39,000
unthinking rethinking happened a lot around the
draft, but as far as like the

570
00:36:39,159 --> 00:36:44,360
direction and orientation and personnel of this
team. I feel like that's pretty that's

571
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:49,639
pretty standard, right, Like we
it's tougher to say what the team.

572
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:52,159
It's easy to say what the team
needs, it's tougher to say exactly how

573
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:59,280
they will address those needs until you
know this season actually ends for everybody,

574
00:36:59,679 --> 00:37:02,119
right and that that hasn't happened yet, and so you can go out,

575
00:37:02,159 --> 00:37:06,519
you can identify targets and everything,
but the targets are going to stay the

576
00:37:06,559 --> 00:37:09,400
same in you know, June or
September. So yeah, I mean,

577
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:14,039
look, the draft targets I feel
like could change on a whim with them

578
00:37:14,159 --> 00:37:16,320
being at at number seven before I
kind of get through the draft. Though,

579
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,679
this was the as I'm like doing
these primers I try in especially because

580
00:37:20,679 --> 00:37:23,840
it's been so long since I like
was watching the Pistons and look just fully

581
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:25,880
to confess, like, you know, when you're getting into the heat of

582
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:29,559
the playoff race, like you know
what the Pistons are not at the time,

583
00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:31,239
I wouldn't have watched us either.
Yeah, so it's like I had

584
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,719
to go back and like kind of
like remind myself of stuff. Like I

585
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:37,159
know, I feel like I'm very
versed in Christian Wood because I've given a

586
00:37:37,199 --> 00:37:40,760
lot of thought about free agency.
But I'm going back and I'm I'm looking

587
00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:44,800
at like their cab sheet, like
their roster, like what these players have

588
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:49,360
done, the contract situations, both
both long term and like immediately, and

589
00:37:50,079 --> 00:37:53,559
I can't I don't have a feel
like for their future. And so my

590
00:37:53,639 --> 00:37:58,320
question to you to start is like
it's it's like you know, ten piece

591
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:01,719
layered, is are they rebuilding?
Because I feel like nationally the perception was,

592
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,159
oh, they traded Andre Drummonds,
so they must be. But like

593
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,480
at the time, I was kind
of like, I feel like this might

594
00:38:07,559 --> 00:38:09,320
say just more that they don't want
to pay Andre Drummonds because you still have

595
00:38:09,639 --> 00:38:13,599
like Derek Rose, and I know
that he could be moved easily, but

596
00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:16,000
Blake Griffin cannot be moved easily.
And if he's healthy, and you decide

597
00:38:16,039 --> 00:38:19,559
to keep him, and you decide
to keep Luke Kenard, and you know,

598
00:38:19,639 --> 00:38:22,480
say coo like makes a mini jump, and like you still have Bruce

599
00:38:22,559 --> 00:38:24,599
Brown and you signed someone in free
agency, and Christian Ward's back, and

600
00:38:24,639 --> 00:38:29,000
you still have Tony Snell, Like
you could probably pretty easily talk yourself with

601
00:38:29,119 --> 00:38:32,760
relative health for the Pistons into contending
for one of those lower rung playoffs seeds

602
00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:37,480
in the Eastern Conference. And so
I'm my question to you is just are

603
00:38:37,559 --> 00:38:42,119
they rebuilding? Like? What are
they doing? The Detroit Pistons are in

604
00:38:42,239 --> 00:38:45,559
fact rebuilding, don't They don't want
to tell you that because they would like

605
00:38:45,679 --> 00:38:52,559
to sell season tickets and they would
like not to tell you that because I

606
00:38:52,679 --> 00:38:59,719
think the association of tanking and a
lot of fans minds is like the full

607
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,280
of any six Ers style rebuild,
tear down where you win, you know,

608
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:07,840
thirteen games a year and everyone's miserable
all the time. But they are

609
00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:13,480
rebuilding. When Troy Weaver, the
new general manager of the Detroit Pistons,

610
00:39:13,559 --> 00:39:17,199
was hired, the word he used
was restoration. So that is what we

611
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:21,159
were calling. It is not a
rebuilding. We're not taking it is a

612
00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:27,480
restoration of the team. But a
restoration by any other name is thirty wins.

613
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:30,760
So it is It's going to be
what it is. But I do

614
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:34,840
think this team does not, you
know, want to win you know,

615
00:39:35,039 --> 00:39:39,199
fewer than like twenty games, right. I think that they would like to

616
00:39:39,559 --> 00:39:45,519
establish good habits among some of their
younger players, and good habits are easier

617
00:39:45,559 --> 00:39:50,239
to build when you like win occasionally
when you go you know, you know,

618
00:39:50,559 --> 00:39:53,800
only two weeks instead of a month
between wins. I do think that

619
00:39:54,239 --> 00:39:59,199
they want to show veteran players that
if you come to Detroit, like,

620
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,639
we will value you properly, and
we will use you to the extent of

621
00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:06,599
your abilities, and uh, like
we we have a home for you.

622
00:40:07,079 --> 00:40:08,320
And so I do think that,
like, despite the fact that you know,

623
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:13,119
Derrick Rose hasn't been offloaded and they
haven't shipped Blake Griffin out of town,

624
00:40:13,559 --> 00:40:16,760
that those guys are going to be
there to help instruct and help them

625
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:21,280
and help them compete in a night
in a night out basis. But I

626
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:23,400
don't think those guys are going to
play, you know, eighty two games

627
00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:28,480
if we have if we even have
eighty two games, right, of those

628
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:31,440
guys are gonna play eighty two games
this season, right, I mean those

629
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,920
are guys that even if you gave
them the option of playing eighty two games,

630
00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:39,079
they're probably not playing, right and
uh and uh, you know a

631
00:40:39,159 --> 00:40:43,000
lot of other stuff feeds into that, right, Like the Pistons do have

632
00:40:43,039 --> 00:40:46,239
a lot of cap space. But
I don't think like there's been a persistent

633
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:50,679
like undercurrent. There's always been a
rumor that like Fred van Fleet is a

634
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:54,119
guy that the Pistons' targeted. I
think that was more true earlier this season

635
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:58,599
when they were trying to compete for
one of those lower tier playoff spots.

636
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:00,760
I don't think that's as true now. I think now they're going to look

637
00:41:01,039 --> 00:41:06,440
towards the draft or the lower ends
of free agency for a point guard to

638
00:41:06,519 --> 00:41:08,960
kind of handle that situation. I
do think they would like to bring Christian

639
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:13,719
Wood back, but I were and
we're going to talk about Christian Wood admit

640
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:15,719
it anyway, so let me not
spoil that. But yeah, this team,

641
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:19,599
this team is definitely rebuilding. I
think they would like to try and

642
00:41:19,679 --> 00:41:23,719
pull off a lot of what the
Charlotte Hornets did this past season though,

643
00:41:24,119 --> 00:41:29,159
where they were very clearly rebuilding,
but they were playing their young guys a

644
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:34,079
lot, still managing to compete on
most nights. You know, DeVante Graham

645
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,239
was the most improved player candidate.
I think they would love to see that

646
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:40,079
kind of a jump from one of
their young guys. And if my memory

647
00:41:40,119 --> 00:41:45,280
serves, the Hornets won like twenty
eight twenty nine games, and we're on

648
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,960
pace to you know, win in
like the thirty four thirty five range,

649
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,400
and because of the flattened lottery odds, right like, they were still able

650
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:57,000
to accomplish that and get the number
three overall pick. So I think that

651
00:41:57,159 --> 00:42:00,559
that's kind of what the plan is
for Detroit. You know, Pete night

652
00:42:00,679 --> 00:42:06,639
end night out, when you know
between thirty and thirty five games and you

653
00:42:06,719 --> 00:42:09,440
know, let the lottery odds that
are a little bit flatter kind of go

654
00:42:09,599 --> 00:42:14,079
as they do. Yeah, Charlotte
was on face win like twenty nine thirty

655
00:42:14,119 --> 00:42:15,559
games, and I think though,
well, you touched on a key point

656
00:42:15,679 --> 00:42:22,320
just because of the I don't know
that the lottery format has completely dissuaded tanking,

657
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:24,840
but like we've seen where teams can
jump up, particularly I mean like

658
00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:29,360
the Knicks have gotten screwed in both
of the past two lotteries basically, and

659
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:31,000
then like just last year, looking
at what happened when the Lakers jumped to

660
00:42:31,079 --> 00:42:35,880
number four and then that kind of
determined like the Anthy Davis trade. Basically,

661
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,400
it doesn't like it's still it can
pay to tank, but like so

662
00:42:38,639 --> 00:42:43,400
much like it was never really bankable
and now it's just even less so because

663
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:45,960
the flattened odds at the top and
then just like you know, those six,

664
00:42:45,039 --> 00:42:49,480
seven, eight nine teams, like
just having substantially higher odds than they

665
00:42:49,519 --> 00:42:52,320
did to begin with. What I
find sort of interesting is so like,

666
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:54,440
if they are rebuilding, I would
think, I know you mentioned that Derrick

667
00:42:54,519 --> 00:42:58,920
Rose would contribute. If he's still
there, I would almost wouldn't the inkling

668
00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:00,920
be like, wouldn't you be kind
of surprised if he started the season in

669
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:04,719
Detroit or at least like finished it
by the time the trade deadline is,

670
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,480
which might be in the spring at
this point whenever the heck, like the

671
00:43:07,559 --> 00:43:09,679
schedule ends up being, so that
would be one. And then just the

672
00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:14,679
follow up is like, do you
see any scenario in which Blake Griffin is

673
00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:17,360
not on this team to finish next
year? Because if you're rebuilding, he's

674
00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:20,800
not a guy to have. But
when you just look at what he's owed

675
00:43:21,159 --> 00:43:23,639
on his contract, like prime break, when Blake Griffin is healthy, like

676
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:28,639
he's all NBA caliber, we saw
it the season before this one, but

677
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,519
two years seventy five point eight million
for someone who's having like these knee problems,

678
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:36,519
you probably do need to include a
sweetener or take back like really crappy

679
00:43:36,599 --> 00:43:38,440
money. And I don't know,
like if you're rebuilding, like you definitely

680
00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:42,880
shouldn't be including anything degrees the wheels
of a trade. And then I don't

681
00:43:43,119 --> 00:43:45,400
the other thing that's kind of difficult. I don't look at a team that

682
00:43:45,519 --> 00:43:47,199
said and say, like, oh, they're like if Blake Griffin's healthy,

683
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:50,719
like he would make them so good. And so even if they're sending back

684
00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:54,239
like a minimal asset or no asset
or just like a like a contract spot,

685
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:59,719
basically I don't necessarily see the fit
anywhere. Yeah, I think the

686
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:02,360
part you bring up that like nobody
is a Blake Griffin away from winning a

687
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:07,679
title. I think that is the
thing that keeps Blake in Detroit in the

688
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:13,000
long term. I don't think that
there is a there's not a big need

689
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:16,000
to trade Blake Griffin, right,
Like, by himself, he is an

690
00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:19,840
all NBA player, But I still
don't think I think he's more in like

691
00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,079
the Bradley Beal territory where he's not
going to make you good enough to make

692
00:44:22,119 --> 00:44:28,920
the playoffs on his own, and
he's also like not going to play as

693
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:32,320
often as Bradley Beale. Right,
Like, even under the best of circumstances,

694
00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:37,079
you want Blake to be properly load
managed, and so like, I'm

695
00:44:37,119 --> 00:44:40,480
not you know, I'm not worried
that Blake's gonna play and we're gonna win

696
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:45,599
forty games by accident. That that's
not a concern. So I think both

697
00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:49,440
Blake and Derek start the year in
Detroit. I think only Blake finishes the

698
00:44:49,519 --> 00:44:53,039
year in Detroit. We'll see what
the Pistons end up doing in free agency

699
00:44:53,119 --> 00:44:59,480
in the draft, but Derek Rose
as an expiring deal for like a little

700
00:44:59,519 --> 00:45:04,119
bit less in the mid level if
I'm remembering correctly, that's exactly the type

701
00:45:04,159 --> 00:45:09,920
of thing you you flip at the
deadline for some second round picks in order

702
00:45:10,039 --> 00:45:15,840
to you know, further the restoration
Detroit we were talked about, and Derrick

703
00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:19,199
Rose has been a model citizen in
Detroit. Right there, you could tell

704
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:22,239
that he was out and he was
he was very effective when he was on

705
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:28,000
the floor. The team took great
pains to keep him healthy at the start

706
00:45:28,039 --> 00:45:31,480
of the season. I'm limiting his
minutes, like very extremely, not playing

707
00:45:31,559 --> 00:45:35,280
him back to backs, things like
that, I'm bringing him off the bench.

708
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:38,159
I do think that if he were
to start the year in Detroit,

709
00:45:38,159 --> 00:45:40,400
I think he would be the starter. I think it'd be too difficult to

710
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,880
keep him out of the starting lineup, and and he was starting by the

711
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:51,840
end of the season anyway, And
yeah, I think that the it really

712
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:57,519
just depends on like the what who
is a Derrick Rose away from from winning

713
00:45:57,559 --> 00:46:00,360
a title? Because it's much easier
to fit Derrick Rose into a lot different

714
00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:02,880
scenarios than it is to fit Blake
Griffin right from a money perspective and from

715
00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:09,119
like a play style and and you
know, bench scoring situation right, And

716
00:46:09,159 --> 00:46:12,159
I mean, like you mentioned,
the money is just so cheap, and

717
00:46:12,159 --> 00:46:15,079
I almost wonder if they can't get
like a lower end first for him,

718
00:46:15,199 --> 00:46:19,760
just because the point guard free agent
market is like brutal. There's I mean,

719
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:22,599
after Fred van Fleet, you're like, you're talking about dragics. Is

720
00:46:22,679 --> 00:46:27,480
good? You have Jeff t and
Jordan Clarkson is even a point guard?

721
00:46:27,519 --> 00:46:30,360
Like how excited did those names get
you? And I mean even the more

722
00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:34,280
intriguing like Chris Dunn and danfi Melton
restricted free agent names like those guys are

723
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:37,840
defense first for someone if you're looking
for scoring and a little bit passing.

724
00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:40,519
And the thing that I found fascinating
too is even though Rose played under thirteen

725
00:46:40,639 --> 00:46:45,719
hundred minutes last season, he was
still seventh I believe now, yes,

726
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:49,519
seventh in a corner three pointers assisted
on and so, like, I feel

727
00:46:49,559 --> 00:46:52,920
like he could bring value to a
team that maybe swings and misses on a

728
00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:54,920
point guard and freeency one more likely. You know, they can't address that

729
00:46:55,159 --> 00:47:00,000
in free agency and so. And
it's like if they need another shot creative,

730
00:47:00,119 --> 00:47:02,719
like would if Dallas is just all
twenty twenty one everything with their cap

731
00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:06,199
space and they don't want to make
any major moves, like, it feels

732
00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:08,280
like Derek Rose would be an interesting
name there. He was mentioned with the

733
00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:12,639
Lakers a bunch of times leading into
the trade deadline. You would know better

734
00:47:12,679 --> 00:47:15,760
than I whether they would like consider
strongly moving him before the season started,

735
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:21,400
but I would almost expect like a
frothier trade market for him this summer then

736
00:47:21,480 --> 00:47:24,000
we saw leading into this past trade
deadline. Yeah, I think once the

737
00:47:24,039 --> 00:47:29,280
season gets started and we see how
teams kind of play out wherever they're at,

738
00:47:29,719 --> 00:47:31,559
especially since like we don't know a
lot of the structure of what next

739
00:47:31,599 --> 00:47:37,239
season is going to look like it'll
be, it'll be once we actually start

740
00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:39,880
playing basketball. For the twenty one
twenty two season. I think it'll be

741
00:47:40,199 --> 00:47:43,920
uh, I think you'll see a
frothier trade market. I think you'll see

742
00:47:44,039 --> 00:47:47,880
like teams figure out like what what
they're like backup point guard needs are,

743
00:47:49,039 --> 00:47:54,039
like who is actually closer to like
that that playoff high tier calendar, like

744
00:47:54,119 --> 00:47:57,280
if you like, if you look
at the playoff teams like right now,

745
00:47:57,440 --> 00:48:00,880
like nobody really needs a backup point
guard right like the Nuggets are set,

746
00:48:01,239 --> 00:48:05,599
the Lakers. We mentioned like Derek
Rose being linked to the Lakers, and

747
00:48:05,679 --> 00:48:09,119
like that is one intriguing possibility the
Clippers, it remains to be seen,

748
00:48:09,239 --> 00:48:15,000
like what happens with with that entire
team right after after their ignominous playoff exit.

749
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:23,079
The Celtics don't really need another like
point guard sized initiator. And so

750
00:48:23,480 --> 00:48:28,199
yeah, yeah, I'm not I'm
not. I'm not overly concerned with like

751
00:48:28,360 --> 00:48:31,960
where Derek Rose like ends up,
but I do think he'll be traded before

752
00:48:32,039 --> 00:48:36,320
the end of the twenty twenty one
twenty two season. I guess at least

753
00:48:36,320 --> 00:48:38,039
into the season. You just hope
that he remains obviously plays well enough.

754
00:48:38,079 --> 00:48:40,519
But normally when he's been healthy,
he's played well, So it's yes,

755
00:48:40,599 --> 00:48:45,360
can he remained healthy enough to keep
that trade value up. So two names

756
00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:49,280
that I'm going to be fascinated by
since we like we're saying that the Pistons

757
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:52,760
are rebuilding. I'll start with Christian
Wood because he's a free agent. He

758
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:57,480
I think freshly turns was twenty five, so he's still like, uh,

759
00:48:57,679 --> 00:48:59,760
he's still young, and so it's
not like a matter of all, we

760
00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:01,679
can have this guy for the next
four years because he runs counter to our

761
00:49:01,719 --> 00:49:06,519
timeline and I don't really think necessarily
that teams give that much credence as much

762
00:49:06,519 --> 00:49:09,280
as fans or you know, want
to be analysts like myself, I'm just

763
00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:14,280
I really like Christian Wood, and
just the season he turned in, Like

764
00:49:14,400 --> 00:49:17,679
the things he can do on offense, it feels like he can score twenty

765
00:49:17,719 --> 00:49:22,360
something points entirely within the flow of
the offense, and yet like he has

766
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:25,559
a little bit of a like more
more nuanced to his game where it's like,

767
00:49:25,639 --> 00:49:29,280
yeah, he's okay, like putting
putting the ball down, and like

768
00:49:29,360 --> 00:49:31,199
he can even make some moves in
traffic, going going baseline. And so

769
00:49:31,239 --> 00:49:34,239
I really like him, and I
think he can end up being a better

770
00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:37,920
defender than people have talked about,
Like he covers a lot of ground.

771
00:49:37,119 --> 00:49:39,760
It seems like in the half court
where maybe it's not maybe it's like frenetic

772
00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:45,480
ground I would call or chaotic ground, where does it mean anything? So

773
00:49:45,639 --> 00:49:47,960
maybe I'm off on that. That's
just me like watching him. But a

774
00:49:49,039 --> 00:49:50,559
lot of people have been like,
well, you know, if they can

775
00:49:50,559 --> 00:49:52,400
get him for like a little bit
more than the they have cap space,

776
00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:55,159
so it doesn't matter like his early
bird rights are whatever, like, so

777
00:49:55,360 --> 00:49:59,800
they can basically pay him whatever he's
going to get. But I actually think

778
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:01,320
that even though there are so a
scant few teams with cap space, I

779
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:05,760
actually feel like he's going to get
noticeably more than the mid level, which

780
00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:07,800
is going to be like somewhere between
nine point two and nine point seven I

781
00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:10,280
would guess, depending on where the
cap ends up. And so if you're

782
00:50:10,360 --> 00:50:14,400
the Pistons, like I mean,
one, how high are you specifically on

783
00:50:14,960 --> 00:50:17,519
Christian Wood? And then two like
what is the number where you look at

784
00:50:17,559 --> 00:50:22,000
it and go, you know what? Like you have fun in like Charlotte

785
00:50:22,039 --> 00:50:23,840
where you know where you go,
you go join that shit show in New

786
00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:30,480
York or something. Right, So
I wrote a piece titled something like the

787
00:50:30,599 --> 00:50:36,000
Pistons don't have to retain Christian Wood
at all costs, and fans like reacted

788
00:50:36,079 --> 00:50:38,320
like I like cut off their heads, and so like, I think I

789
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:44,039
think Piston's fans are like really truly
excited about Chris bringing Christian Wood back.

790
00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:49,519
I think the team is also like
fairly excited about Christian would coming back.

791
00:50:50,119 --> 00:50:53,119
But there is a line, right, I do think it's higher than the

792
00:50:53,159 --> 00:50:58,920
mid level that nine million figure you
mentioned. I would say like it's somewhere

793
00:50:59,079 --> 00:51:04,960
in like the nine to twelve thirteen
million dollars range. When we got the

794
00:51:05,039 --> 00:51:08,320
report that Montrezl Harrold was going to
make like twelve million dollars that he was

795
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:12,480
seeking like a twelve million dollars a
year free agency deal, and that was

796
00:51:12,599 --> 00:51:15,360
like, yes, absolutely. If
if my the sixth man of the year

797
00:51:15,519 --> 00:51:20,119
is only getting twelve million, like, bring Christian Wood back for sure.

798
00:51:20,679 --> 00:51:23,239
But if you know, the Knicks
come out Day one and they're like,

799
00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:28,400
hey, Christian Wood, here's eighty
million dollars over four years, it's like,

800
00:51:28,559 --> 00:51:30,800
yep, okay, Nope, have
fun with that, because like I

801
00:51:31,559 --> 00:51:36,800
we like, we can't match that. Christian Wood's real a really good player.

802
00:51:37,320 --> 00:51:40,840
It's it's interesting to me that,
uh, you know, Pistons fans

803
00:51:40,880 --> 00:51:46,039
are you know, classically obsessed with
with defense and rebounding, and yet they

804
00:51:46,199 --> 00:51:51,840
let Christian Wood like so readily into
their hearts. A guy who does not

805
00:51:52,119 --> 00:51:57,119
really defend either position fairly well and
and well, he does rebound the crap

806
00:51:57,159 --> 00:52:00,760
out of the ball. I'll give
him that, But it's really tricky to

807
00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:04,519
construct the envision like how the Pistons
are going to be constructed, Like with

808
00:52:05,119 --> 00:52:08,280
Blake, Griffin and Christian would right, like those are two not super great

809
00:52:08,480 --> 00:52:13,719
defenders. If you play those two
guys together, you could ask Blake to

810
00:52:13,800 --> 00:52:15,519
guard centers, but then that's that's
putting Blake in a lot of like one

811
00:52:15,639 --> 00:52:21,199
five actions that I wouldn't want to
do. Yeah, and that's also like

812
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:27,039
asking Christian to like drop properly and
then learn to use his length a little

813
00:52:27,079 --> 00:52:30,079
bit better. Christian was much better
as like a weak side help defender,

814
00:52:30,239 --> 00:52:35,159
a guy who could like read and
react to the drive. The guy who,

815
00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:37,599
like, if you, if you
managed to slow down the perimeter defenders

816
00:52:37,679 --> 00:52:40,719
like as Bruce Brown like often managed
to do, could come by and like

817
00:52:40,840 --> 00:52:44,320
give you a lot of like weak
side help. And a guy who got

818
00:52:44,519 --> 00:52:46,639
a lot of his blocks that way, but as like a point of attack

819
00:52:46,719 --> 00:52:51,039
defender, as a guy who's like
operating as the fulcrum and like a drop

820
00:52:51,079 --> 00:52:54,320
screen, a drop a drop scheme
allaw. Like Brick Lopez, he was

821
00:52:54,400 --> 00:52:59,119
not very good, just point blank, and so like you know, he's

822
00:52:59,159 --> 00:53:05,559
a he has very clearly defined strengths
and weaknesses, and his strengths are very

823
00:53:05,679 --> 00:53:08,159
very valuable, and his weaknesses,
you know, aren't really that bad for

824
00:53:08,239 --> 00:53:12,360
a team that's not gonna win a
whole bunch of games. And so like,

825
00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:15,320
yeah, I think I would be
interested in bringing Christian Wood back at

826
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:19,480
like you know, three years forty
million, right like that that sounds perfect

827
00:53:19,679 --> 00:53:23,280
sure. But again, like if
you know, the Knicks or Charlotte or

828
00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:28,239
somebody else like wants to pay him
like you know, eighteen nineteen twenty million

829
00:53:28,239 --> 00:53:30,480
dollars a year, you like say
thank you, and then you point to

830
00:53:30,599 --> 00:53:34,719
other free agents like, hey,
like look what we did for Christian Wood.

831
00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:37,079
We can do that for you,
right, Like come on down,

832
00:53:37,159 --> 00:53:42,199
Harry Giles, like we got him. Look at your paid man. What

833
00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:45,880
would if it's like four and sixty
because it's almost easier to go higher on

834
00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:50,239
the dollars if it's three years like
if you can go shorter term and it's

835
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:52,440
higher, But like I feel like
four and sixty is where it might start

836
00:53:52,480 --> 00:53:55,280
to get like uncomfortable for me at
least where I look at it and go

837
00:53:55,360 --> 00:53:59,239
for the team because I'm pro players
getting as much as they can. I

838
00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:01,159
love that, you know, I've
mentioned this a bunch of the podcast,

839
00:54:01,199 --> 00:54:05,880
Like Trevor Rees is basically gone wherever
he's gotten the most money and then figured

840
00:54:05,920 --> 00:54:07,519
out how to get to another team
like later on in the season. I

841
00:54:07,639 --> 00:54:10,599
respect that, Like I want players
to get paid, so but from a

842
00:54:10,639 --> 00:54:14,400
team perspective, like I feel like
four sixties where it starts to get like,

843
00:54:14,920 --> 00:54:17,320
oh, like what do we do
here? Yeah? Four sixties where

844
00:54:17,360 --> 00:54:21,840
you start being like, well,
will you take a team option on the

845
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:25,440
last year or you're well like partial
guarantee or something, right, it's like,

846
00:54:25,559 --> 00:54:30,960
well will you take it decreasing so
you make like twenty million this year

847
00:54:30,280 --> 00:54:35,039
and like twelve million in the final
year. That's when you start getting like,

848
00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:38,440
let's do some accounting tricks type of
stuff. But but yeah, that's

849
00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:44,599
not that's not unreasonable from from a
contract perspective, what's that that's fifteen Yeah,

850
00:54:44,679 --> 00:54:46,679
yeah, that's that's not bad,
like yet I have no feel for

851
00:54:46,719 --> 00:54:51,000
the market, I think because if
I'm not a big like Tress guy,

852
00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:55,880
I feel like you can approximate his
value rather cheaply. So if he got

853
00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:59,119
like twelve million a year, I
don't know if that would be a bromer

854
00:54:59,199 --> 00:55:01,760
for Christian would but I I guess
would certainly be encouraging overall. But this

855
00:55:01,880 --> 00:55:06,159
this summer is just so twisted because
of the lack of cap space and then

856
00:55:06,280 --> 00:55:09,519
also because like how many teams are
going to be like a little bit twitchy

857
00:55:09,559 --> 00:55:14,159
when it comes to spending money at
all because of the gate revenue and overall

858
00:55:14,199 --> 00:55:16,320
revenue they lost this season, and
then they're going to lose something next season,

859
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:19,320
Like it's either going to be shortened
or they're just not going to have

860
00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:22,320
fans in the stadiums. For I
would hazard, you know, at least

861
00:55:22,519 --> 00:55:23,960
a portion of it, if not
all of it. And so I'm wondering

862
00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:27,320
how much that ends up factoring in, because my gut would say, like,

863
00:55:27,400 --> 00:55:30,639
even in this limited market, I
think would probably gets like fourteen plus.

864
00:55:30,840 --> 00:55:34,800
But then again, I'm like,
I have zero idea what to expect

865
00:55:34,840 --> 00:55:37,679
in free agency at this point.
Yeah, I think if there were,

866
00:55:38,400 --> 00:55:42,480
if there if this was a better
like free in class overall, right,

867
00:55:42,559 --> 00:55:45,480
if there were, if there were
a lot of bigs who were better than

868
00:55:45,559 --> 00:55:51,079
Christian would and he was a lot
of people's like see or d plan and

869
00:55:51,199 --> 00:55:52,920
that they felt like, okay,
like we have to like break the glass

870
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:55,760
on Christian Wood or else, like
we're gonna we're gonna end up with nothing.

871
00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:00,400
I think it'd be I think it'd
be more in that arena. But

872
00:56:00,840 --> 00:56:04,559
with the way free agency currently stands
now, right, like he's competing with

873
00:56:04,719 --> 00:56:08,800
like you know, it's like him
and like Jeremy Grant and like uh and

874
00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:14,880
like Bobby Portis and like some other
guys out there says like he's the he's

875
00:56:14,920 --> 00:56:17,800
the number one option for teams,
but I think teams are also aware that

876
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:23,079
he's not, you know, your
classic free agent overpay right, Yeah,

877
00:56:23,159 --> 00:56:27,559
I think I think that's a great
point. The other player that interests me

878
00:56:27,719 --> 00:56:31,199
for this team now, and it's
he's younger. So Luconard twenty four and

879
00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:36,559
was having a hell of a season
before his knee tendonitis really became an issue.

880
00:56:36,639 --> 00:56:40,320
Six basically sixteen points, four assists, shot almost thirty eight shot over

881
00:56:40,440 --> 00:56:44,719
thirty seven percent excuse me, on
pull up three pointers and was at thirty

882
00:56:44,800 --> 00:56:47,199
nine point nine percent from three point
range. Overall, shooters tend to be

883
00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:51,239
valuable anyway. He's a career forty
percent three point shooter. But the fact

884
00:56:51,239 --> 00:56:54,039
that he kind of turned into like
this, I don't want to say secondary,

885
00:56:54,159 --> 00:56:58,039
but like, you know, tertiary
or third dairy if we want to

886
00:56:58,039 --> 00:57:01,000
put it that way, like playmaker
and could hit more of those complicated jump

887
00:57:01,079 --> 00:57:04,480
shots. It feels like it could
really up his value. But then at

888
00:57:04,519 --> 00:57:06,559
the same time, it's like,
well, he's coming off a season in

889
00:57:06,599 --> 00:57:08,840
which he played twenty eight games,
and then you know, the other person

890
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:12,320
on my shoulders like, well,
that might be a nice opportunity to extend

891
00:57:12,400 --> 00:57:15,840
him, Like maybe he wants to
bag the lor term security more than ride

892
00:57:15,880 --> 00:57:19,360
it into twenty twenty one restricted free
agency, where there will be or should

893
00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:22,239
be more cap space available, But
you also don't know where the salary cap

894
00:57:22,639 --> 00:57:25,159
lands, and so where do you
ultimately land on him? Is one is

895
00:57:25,199 --> 00:57:28,920
he still a part of do you
think they're long term future? And two

896
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:32,480
would you expect them to aggressively pursue
an extension with him if he is or

897
00:57:32,519 --> 00:57:36,239
is that something they just let ride
out until twenty and twenty one. At

898
00:57:36,280 --> 00:57:40,840
this point, I don't think.
I don't think the team or him,

899
00:57:42,199 --> 00:57:49,920
he and his representation are extremely interested
in an extension at this time. I

900
00:57:50,079 --> 00:57:55,079
don't. There were there were a
lot of like smoke and rumors that he

901
00:57:55,159 --> 00:58:02,599
could have returned earlier from the knee
tendonitis but didn't for whatever reason. I

902
00:58:02,719 --> 00:58:08,079
mentioned this in almost like every podcast
I do about about the Pistons. But

903
00:58:08,199 --> 00:58:14,440
there was like a very infamous blow
up in Sacramento with Lukenard and the coaching

904
00:58:14,519 --> 00:58:20,480
staff his sec Yeah, second year, I think that, you know,

905
00:58:20,559 --> 00:58:23,440
he started the year on the bench, like there was a he was doing

906
00:58:23,480 --> 00:58:28,000
a lot of his damage against bench
lineups, and the bench lineup of Luke

907
00:58:28,039 --> 00:58:31,119
Canard and Derrick Rose was like absolutely
shredding teams earlier in the year, and

908
00:58:31,199 --> 00:58:34,840
so that was fun to see.
But you know, as a guy who

909
00:58:35,119 --> 00:58:37,079
would like to get paid, you
know, I'm sure he would love to

910
00:58:37,159 --> 00:58:40,079
start for a team, you know, I'm sure he would love to start

911
00:58:40,119 --> 00:58:45,519
ahead of Bruce Brown, right,
just just to be Frank and so and

912
00:58:45,960 --> 00:58:51,679
with a brand new GM and who
you know has no prior allegiance to Lukenard

913
00:58:52,599 --> 00:58:57,000
and with a brand new front office
who like you know, hasn't really taken

914
00:58:57,000 --> 00:59:00,599
a deep scout on him. I
do think that they are using the this

915
00:59:00,800 --> 00:59:04,280
is like, this is one of
the real benefits of the organized team activities

916
00:59:04,360 --> 00:59:07,480
of the like the mini camps,
is to like for the new front office

917
00:59:07,519 --> 00:59:09,360
to like see, like, okay, like what do we have in a

918
00:59:09,400 --> 00:59:14,719
guy like Lukenard before the draft,
before free agency? And you know,

919
00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:19,000
Luke was in trade rumors, uh, you know, way back in February

920
00:59:19,719 --> 00:59:22,320
when when the season was still going
on. And so I don't think that

921
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:27,960
I don't think that the team is
I think the team looks at Luke is

922
00:59:27,960 --> 00:59:31,800
like a value proposition, right like
if if the market is it turns out

923
00:59:31,840 --> 00:59:37,280
to be like super duper bearish or
super super duper bearish, and you know,

924
00:59:37,559 --> 00:59:40,000
no one's offering anyone anything. You
can go to Luke and say like,

925
00:59:40,079 --> 00:59:44,920
hey, like here's four for sixty
and the same kind of Christian would

926
00:59:45,000 --> 00:59:49,000
range like and he has to actually
legitimately consider it like that, I think

927
00:59:49,039 --> 00:59:52,480
that's a win for the team.
But you know, conversely, yeah,

928
00:59:52,480 --> 00:59:55,159
I'm sure Aaron Mintz is like saying
like, hey, like Buddy hell makes

929
00:59:55,199 --> 00:59:59,920
like twenty three million dollars a year, right, Like Luke's that good?

930
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:04,800
It is like a guy as a
point and so and so, Yeah,

931
01:00:04,880 --> 01:00:09,679
I I really struggle with with what
to do with Lucanard. My my personal

932
01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:14,440
thing has just been like if you
if you really don't want to extend him,

933
01:00:14,480 --> 01:00:17,320
and you really don't think he's conduced
to a rebuild, you know,

934
01:00:17,519 --> 01:00:22,360
pull off the trade with Phoenix that
you talked about at the deadline. Now

935
01:00:22,400 --> 01:00:23,880
that we know exactly where Phoenix is
picking in the lottery, you can figure

936
01:00:23,920 --> 01:00:28,599
out, like is that protection worth
it or not? That dead deal I

937
01:00:28,679 --> 01:00:32,400
think got bogged down because of the
pick protections. And so now that Phoenix

938
01:00:32,519 --> 01:00:37,880
is picking tenth, you can do
like the tenth pick one of the excess

939
01:00:37,960 --> 01:00:42,480
Phoenix guards for Lucanard, like yes
or no? Right, And and if

940
01:00:42,519 --> 01:00:45,519
that's the if that works, like
you move forward with a younger a younger

941
01:00:45,599 --> 01:00:49,360
player out of this year's draft.
And if it doesn't work, you know

942
01:00:49,719 --> 01:00:52,000
you Lukenard is still a really good
player that you're happy to You're happy to

943
01:00:52,039 --> 01:00:57,079
have on your team, happy to
have his restrictive free agency writes for So

944
01:00:58,679 --> 01:01:01,000
do you do if you're the Pistons, and I think I would do it

945
01:01:01,280 --> 01:01:06,039
speaking on behalf of the Suns.
Their fans might be outraged by this,

946
01:01:06,119 --> 01:01:09,719
but I think I would do something
like I would, I would do number

947
01:01:09,800 --> 01:01:14,360
ten and something for Luconard. I
still think it's not going to be a

948
01:01:14,400 --> 01:01:19,039
Bridges or a Johnson, but like
applied Jerome, like taking that flyer unless

949
01:01:19,239 --> 01:01:22,480
you know, unless you think that
you're going to really go all in on

950
01:01:22,559 --> 01:01:25,079
a Chris Paul trade or something.
And I wouldn't say that you should give

951
01:01:25,159 --> 01:01:29,440
up that same value for Paul because
the money he makes. But unless you're

952
01:01:29,440 --> 01:01:31,800
gonna take a bigger swing, I
would think like Luconar's like a solid double

953
01:01:32,159 --> 01:01:36,239
for them if he's healthy, and
then you can focus on because he's so

954
01:01:36,400 --> 01:01:38,039
cheap, and if that doesn't really
cost you too much, like then you

955
01:01:38,119 --> 01:01:43,119
focus on in free agency or via
other trade avenues of like just beefing up

956
01:01:43,199 --> 01:01:46,519
that that four spot in the rotation. Yeah, if I if I was

957
01:01:46,679 --> 01:01:52,679
Detroit and you offered me, you
know, Javon Carter and ten for Luconard,

958
01:01:52,960 --> 01:01:57,000
like I would very much seriously consider
that. Yeah, absolutely, that

959
01:01:57,079 --> 01:01:59,480
might be a deal breaker from me. If I'm Phoenix Javonne Carter. It's

960
01:01:59,519 --> 01:02:02,920
like his alarm goes off and he's
already picking up people on defense. I

961
01:02:04,000 --> 01:02:07,440
feel like Javon card is a classic
Detroit Piston, which is kind why,

962
01:02:07,679 --> 01:02:12,920
kind of why I want him.
So my next question here is about the

963
01:02:13,000 --> 01:02:15,480
rookie. So this is like kind
of deviating. We know that he's supposed

964
01:02:15,480 --> 01:02:19,119
to be a part of their future, and it's been so long since I

965
01:02:19,239 --> 01:02:21,840
really, like, you know,
was watching say Hu Damboya, and so

966
01:02:21,920 --> 01:02:24,639
I went back and watched some stuff, and I want to know what your

967
01:02:24,639 --> 01:02:28,039
impressions are of him. The one
thing that I was just going to note

968
01:02:28,119 --> 01:02:31,880
like beforehand, is he seems like
way more confident on offense then I feel

969
01:02:31,920 --> 01:02:36,400
like I remember watching in real time, but that I ever would have expected.

970
01:02:36,639 --> 01:02:38,639
And so like he just took some
shots where he looked okay when he

971
01:02:38,719 --> 01:02:42,119
was moving off the dribble, but
he just sort of took some shots and

972
01:02:42,519 --> 01:02:45,480
maybe his takeoff points were just weird
and seemed too early, but like he

973
01:02:45,599 --> 01:02:47,400
just it looked like he felt so
sure of himself. And I was torn

974
01:02:47,519 --> 01:02:52,719
between like impressed and then almost concerned
with his shot selection, if that makes

975
01:02:52,760 --> 01:02:55,199
any sense. No, that makes
total sense sake, we had a very

976
01:02:55,320 --> 01:03:00,920
uneven year, right, there was
a I think his the first he spent

977
01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:04,599
the first part of the year in
Grand Rapids in the G League, just

978
01:03:04,719 --> 01:03:07,119
like playing basketball. I think that
and I think that was really helpful for

979
01:03:07,239 --> 01:03:12,480
him. I think the coaching staff, led by Donnie Tendall, who was

980
01:03:12,559 --> 01:03:15,000
no longer a part of that Grand
Rapids Drive staff, I think that was

981
01:03:15,039 --> 01:03:19,880
a really beneficial coaching staff for him. They really looked to put him in

982
01:03:19,920 --> 01:03:25,039
advantage situations. I think that was
great for him personally. Then he joined

983
01:03:25,360 --> 01:03:30,760
the Pistons, you know Blake Griffin. After Blake Griffin's injury, he was

984
01:03:30,840 --> 01:03:35,119
kind of thrown into the rotation and
for the first twelve games he played really

985
01:03:35,199 --> 01:03:38,880
well. He was he was making
his open shots. He was a really

986
01:03:39,400 --> 01:03:44,559
intelligent off ball cutter, which is
like an element of Wayne play the Pistons

987
01:03:44,599 --> 01:03:46,719
haven't had in a very long time, and so it was extremely noticeable.

988
01:03:46,760 --> 01:03:49,639
It was like, oh, hey, like this dude cuts bassline, Like

989
01:03:49,679 --> 01:03:52,559
he got lebron on like a bassline
cut, and that made you like,

990
01:03:52,639 --> 01:03:54,760
oh, okay, that's really like
that, Pops. But it was like,

991
01:03:55,039 --> 01:03:57,840
I know, he played better defensive
year, but it was also a

992
01:03:57,880 --> 01:04:02,599
regular season Lebron. Yes, and
it's also like it's like Wednesday night,

993
01:04:02,840 --> 01:04:06,719
the Pistons are in town Lebron.
So yeah, it's like, I don't

994
01:04:06,719 --> 01:04:10,000
I don't think he was I don't
think he was fully engaged, but it

995
01:04:10,079 --> 01:04:12,679
was still it was still noticeable that
a rookie could get Lebron like that.

996
01:04:13,840 --> 01:04:15,519
You know, he had he had
his highlight play of the year, like

997
01:04:15,599 --> 01:04:19,159
the big dunk over Tristan Thompson that
I got, like they got like literally

998
01:04:19,239 --> 01:04:21,400
like the jump talking about it,
which at the point he was like,

999
01:04:21,480 --> 01:04:26,199
oh, okay, like that that's
really cool, and then he just kind

1000
01:04:26,239 --> 01:04:30,800
of fell off a cliff right,
lost a lot of confidence. Like the

1001
01:04:30,079 --> 01:04:34,840
coaching, like dway Casey talked openly
about how they wanted to send him back

1002
01:04:34,880 --> 01:04:40,360
down to the G League to get
his confidence back in a shot looked very

1003
01:04:40,519 --> 01:04:45,480
aimless on on offense at times.
To be fair, the offense, the

1004
01:04:45,559 --> 01:04:49,559
motion offense doesn't really didn't really give
him a lot of opportunity to like handle

1005
01:04:49,639 --> 01:04:53,719
with the ball on his hands or
do anything but like staying in the corner

1006
01:04:54,239 --> 01:04:58,480
or attacking transition, and so like, I think both sides kind of deserve

1007
01:04:58,559 --> 01:05:01,119
some blame for that, but he
didn't make a supreme effort to get himself

1008
01:05:01,159 --> 01:05:06,360
engaged in the offense either. And
you know, as eighteen nineteen year old

1009
01:05:06,400 --> 01:05:11,559
wokies tend to be, he was
super bad on defense, just like just

1010
01:05:11,719 --> 01:05:15,719
like really not good on defense multiple
times, like even in the G League

1011
01:05:15,760 --> 01:05:17,159
level. I'm just like looking at
the screen, is like he doesn't know

1012
01:05:17,199 --> 01:05:20,119
where he is, Like he literally
just like does not know where he is

1013
01:05:20,199 --> 01:05:25,920
defensively. That's pretty bad. And
so I think that there is and like

1014
01:05:26,159 --> 01:05:30,199
I say, even saying that,
like I hold a ton of optimism around

1015
01:05:30,239 --> 01:05:34,320
Seku Duboya for this team just because
of the simple fact that like he's nineteen,

1016
01:05:34,880 --> 01:05:42,239
right like he and he's nineteen,
and he didn't completely embarrass himself at

1017
01:05:42,280 --> 01:05:45,039
the NBA level during his rookie year, right Like Okay, sure he's not

1018
01:05:45,159 --> 01:05:48,480
Jason Tatum and he's like you know, starting an Eastern Conference finals game at

1019
01:05:48,559 --> 01:05:53,360
nineteen Like sure, okay, whatever, but but he looks to be good.

1020
01:05:53,840 --> 01:05:58,599
There's definite, there's definitely like a
lot of things there. The comparison

1021
01:05:58,679 --> 01:06:01,559
a lot of you see, a
lot of analysts make is to Pascal Siakam

1022
01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:05,679
and like you look at Pascal Siakam
didn't even get to the league I think

1023
01:06:05,800 --> 01:06:12,719
until like twenty two, right,
and his development curve is just like the

1024
01:06:12,840 --> 01:06:15,039
stuff of legends to the point where
like I think he was getting, like,

1025
01:06:15,119 --> 01:06:19,000
you know, he was making giant
leaps every off season. I think

1026
01:06:19,039 --> 01:06:24,199
it's unfair to kind of place that
type of expectation on to say, Ku,

1027
01:06:24,320 --> 01:06:26,840
I don't think he's going to I
don't think he's gonna get like,

1028
01:06:26,880 --> 01:06:29,920
you know, eighty percent better every
off season for the next five years.

1029
01:06:30,400 --> 01:06:32,320
But I do think that, you
know, if he's starting from a point

1030
01:06:32,360 --> 01:06:36,039
that's a little bit higher than Siakam
and has a little bit more linear development

1031
01:06:36,079 --> 01:06:40,480
curve, I do think there's a
possibility he ends up kind of like in

1032
01:06:40,599 --> 01:06:44,519
that range where he's like a very
clear all star, like a really great

1033
01:06:44,960 --> 01:06:47,840
secondary option. A guy who's just
like an absolute terror in transition, can

1034
01:06:48,320 --> 01:06:51,760
make his own shot in the half
court, not really create for others.

1035
01:06:51,840 --> 01:06:56,800
But that's okay because you're you're happy
with the quality of looks he creates and

1036
01:06:57,639 --> 01:07:00,559
gets to a place where he's like
a really effective defender. Dwayne Casey has

1037
01:07:00,599 --> 01:07:06,079
talked about how good he's looked physically
in training camp, so like that's a

1038
01:07:06,119 --> 01:07:11,320
big bonus. He did look like
very winded at times last season, and

1039
01:07:11,440 --> 01:07:15,000
that was a that was a criticism
of him during the pre draft process,

1040
01:07:15,119 --> 01:07:17,880
was that he wasn't always like fully
engaged and and everything, and so like

1041
01:07:18,239 --> 01:07:21,199
he's addressed that. I think that's
a little bit good. I think he

1042
01:07:23,679 --> 01:07:28,199
really needed to see like what it
took to compete for eighty two games at

1043
01:07:28,239 --> 01:07:30,960
the at an NBA level in order
to like understand like where he needed to

1044
01:07:31,079 --> 01:07:34,480
be, and now he's on the
process of getting there. So I will

1045
01:07:34,519 --> 01:07:38,880
hold a lot of optimism for sake
of Nuboya, with the like, you

1046
01:07:38,960 --> 01:07:42,360
know, expectation that he's not going
to light the world on fire next year

1047
01:07:42,440 --> 01:07:45,559
or anything. One of the things
that I like about him is I feel

1048
01:07:45,599 --> 01:07:50,239
like he should pretty easily be able
to if he improves, like overall defensively

1049
01:07:50,400 --> 01:07:55,800
play at the four without it feeling
like they're going like downsizing. I know

1050
01:07:55,920 --> 01:07:58,400
six eight isn't really like a downsizing
for a four line up, but he

1051
01:07:58,519 --> 01:08:00,760
was a little bit better at rebounding
that I thought he was gonna be.

1052
01:08:00,159 --> 01:08:02,760
I am curious though, like how
when you flip to the other side of

1053
01:08:02,760 --> 01:08:06,519
the floor like, how hopeful are
you that he'll develop like more of a

1054
01:08:06,679 --> 01:08:11,800
feel for the game from the from
the perimeter, because I feel like looking

1055
01:08:11,840 --> 01:08:14,280
at like when he was driving to
the basket or even getting through traffic,

1056
01:08:14,320 --> 01:08:16,399
like I feel like that's going to
be okay. I'm just wondering, like

1057
01:08:16,479 --> 01:08:20,039
what he's going to look like if
he's getting to his spots in like the

1058
01:08:20,079 --> 01:08:24,000
mid range or like the super short
mid range like can float range, or

1059
01:08:24,000 --> 01:08:28,319
if you think he's ever gonna be
like have you seen the stroke or just

1060
01:08:28,439 --> 01:08:30,840
anything that would make you think that
he can be like a lee average shooter

1061
01:08:30,920 --> 01:08:35,199
from beyond the arc one day.
I think that once he gets the lower

1062
01:08:35,279 --> 01:08:39,159
half of his body like a little
bit stronger, I think that will help

1063
01:08:39,239 --> 01:08:43,960
his shot immensely. He has a
little like a double like wrist flick at

1064
01:08:44,000 --> 01:08:47,560
the top of his shot that I
think if his lower half like isn't aligned

1065
01:08:47,600 --> 01:08:53,720
properly and not strong enough, can
cause like real problems going like left or

1066
01:08:53,800 --> 01:08:56,960
right instead of like longer short,
and so I think getting that ironed out

1067
01:08:57,000 --> 01:09:00,079
will be huge for a shot.
And I think like as he develops physically,

1068
01:09:00,520 --> 01:09:05,479
you also get like less concerned about
the defensive end as well, right,

1069
01:09:05,600 --> 01:09:10,680
Like if he's you know, as
he learns to play NBA defense and

1070
01:09:11,279 --> 01:09:15,720
he obviously like has the frame to
defend you know, both forward positions,

1071
01:09:15,880 --> 01:09:18,600
and like you know, with the
way the league is trending, like you

1072
01:09:18,920 --> 01:09:24,760
can throw him at the five,
you can throw him on five's four stretches.

1073
01:09:24,840 --> 01:09:30,359
Maybe he doesn't only pay your audience. I am endless lobbyists for small

1074
01:09:30,399 --> 01:09:33,239
ball fives. Yeah, so you
can you can throw him on five,

1075
01:09:33,319 --> 01:09:36,760
so he's not playing five. But
like you know, like in a similar

1076
01:09:36,840 --> 01:09:41,039
way to the way the Celtics like
through Jaln Brown on bam amount of Baio

1077
01:09:41,119 --> 01:09:43,960
in the Eastern Conference finals, you
hope to be able to do that with

1078
01:09:44,039 --> 01:09:48,119
Seku like in time, right,
And so yeah, there's definitely, uh,

1079
01:09:48,560 --> 01:09:51,880
there's definitely. I definitely envisioned world
and like where he works out on

1080
01:09:53,239 --> 01:09:58,840
both ends, sticking with just some
players on the roster, and there's so

1081
01:09:58,880 --> 01:10:00,880
many different directions I could take.
But who intrigues you more long term for

1082
01:10:01,000 --> 01:10:04,039
this team. Is it Bruce Brown
who kind of just seems like he is

1083
01:10:04,079 --> 01:10:09,000
a special place in Piston's hearts,
Or is it is it Fee where it's

1084
01:10:09,039 --> 01:10:12,039
like, oh, that guy can
shoot and I feel like he should be

1085
01:10:12,119 --> 01:10:15,920
worse defensively, but he's not.
And so they're both on your cheap o'deals

1086
01:10:15,960 --> 01:10:19,560
non guaranteed that will be guaranteed for
sure of one point seven million next season.

1087
01:10:19,600 --> 01:10:24,079
And so I'm wondering if one of
them is more tantalizing to you,

1088
01:10:24,199 --> 01:10:28,720
if you're the Pistons long term,
than the other. It's it's You're This

1089
01:10:28,880 --> 01:10:31,159
is a bad question for me because
I'm a big fan of Bruce Brown.

1090
01:10:31,279 --> 01:10:35,079
I'm driving the Bruce Brown bandwagon,
and so yeah, for me, it's

1091
01:10:35,159 --> 01:10:40,239
it's Bruce just because of like the
strides he made as a passer this year

1092
01:10:40,359 --> 01:10:45,119
were so unexpected, you know,
coming out of school, he was viewed

1093
01:10:45,199 --> 01:10:49,560
as like a combo guard, like
really athletic, and then it came to

1094
01:10:49,680 --> 01:10:53,840
his rookie year and it turned out
his calling card was like really great on

1095
01:10:54,000 --> 01:10:57,479
ball defense, right, or like
really great, really great defensively, to

1096
01:10:57,520 --> 01:11:00,239
the point where he started like fifty
games because the team felt like they needed

1097
01:11:00,279 --> 01:11:03,279
his defense, you know, that
badly. And then we get to a

1098
01:11:03,359 --> 01:11:08,880
second year and a bunch of injuries
happened and the team likes to keep you

1099
01:11:08,920 --> 01:11:12,199
know, Derek Rose coming off the
bench playing in twenty five ish minutes a

1100
01:11:12,279 --> 01:11:14,920
night, and so all of a
sudden, Bruce Brown is You're starting point

1101
01:11:14,920 --> 01:11:18,760
guard and that sounds terrible, but
he was actually like not bad at it,

1102
01:11:19,319 --> 01:11:23,760
right, like he he it was
very simple, right, like very

1103
01:11:24,039 --> 01:11:28,399
uh it's like not like doing anything
crazy, but you know, using his

1104
01:11:28,520 --> 01:11:33,520
explosive first step to attack defenses,
especially in drop coverage, using a lot

1105
01:11:33,560 --> 01:11:39,000
of jump passes to full defenses and
get the ball to shooters and big men.

1106
01:11:39,720 --> 01:11:43,399
And as the season went on,
he did a much better job of

1107
01:11:44,119 --> 01:11:48,319
like getting into the chest of big
men and then dropping off passes to his

1108
01:11:48,439 --> 01:11:51,840
bigs. So you saw a lot
of passes get to Christian Wood that way.

1109
01:11:53,199 --> 01:11:58,159
You saw he'd he'd take like two
dribbles kind of you know, look

1110
01:11:58,239 --> 01:12:00,039
the big in the eyes and then
like pets passed too, like a cutting

1111
01:12:00,039 --> 01:12:05,039
saku, right and so, and
he even like busted out a floater,

1112
01:12:05,199 --> 01:12:09,560
like a really nice floater, which
is something you wouldn't expect from like the

1113
01:12:09,680 --> 01:12:12,760
six five like athletic guy, but
he had he has a good touch on

1114
01:12:12,760 --> 01:12:15,960
the floater. So it is what
it is. So yeah, I really

1115
01:12:15,239 --> 01:12:20,840
enjoy the like Smorgas board of like
what Bruce Brown offers, I don't know

1116
01:12:21,159 --> 01:12:27,279
if he's ever like good enough to
be your starting point guard or good enough

1117
01:12:27,319 --> 01:12:30,399
to be like you're starting shooting guard, unless he's a much better shooter from

1118
01:12:30,479 --> 01:12:33,319
three. So this is this is
like the market smart path, right,

1119
01:12:33,640 --> 01:12:38,439
where like if you go from like
twenty nine percent from three to like thirty

1120
01:12:38,560 --> 01:12:42,920
six percent from three with the occasional
like I make five threes and a half,

1121
01:12:43,239 --> 01:12:45,439
and like your coach tears your hair
out, like that's the supremely and

1122
01:12:45,600 --> 01:12:48,239
like you make pick and roll reads, and you have great on ball defense,

1123
01:12:48,319 --> 01:12:51,439
and you like make plays happen,
Like that's a really valuable proposition.

1124
01:12:53,640 --> 01:12:58,479
But if his shooting, which was
and he shot better from three this year,

1125
01:12:58,840 --> 01:13:01,119
but a lot of it was limited
to the corners. He was he

1126
01:13:01,399 --> 01:13:05,279
shot in most of his threes from
the corners, and he shot better percentage

1127
01:13:05,279 --> 01:13:10,760
from the corners than on the wing, and so and it was all catch

1128
01:13:10,840 --> 01:13:14,279
and shoot threes, right, No, nothing off the dribble. And so

1129
01:13:14,520 --> 01:13:18,079
if you ever get him to a
point where he's comfortable taking off the dribble

1130
01:13:18,159 --> 01:13:23,840
wing threes and hitting them at even
like a thirty four percent clip like that,

1131
01:13:24,119 --> 01:13:28,960
that like opens up an entire world
of possibilities for Bruce brown SVI and

1132
01:13:29,119 --> 01:13:32,279
like SPI, on the other hand, there is a like much more like

1133
01:13:32,479 --> 01:13:38,880
limited set of possibilities, right,
Like sp is like you, He's a

1134
01:13:39,119 --> 01:13:42,640
really great shooter who can pass a
little bit if you close out on and

1135
01:13:42,720 --> 01:13:45,800
too hard, and that's kind of
who he is. But as we've seen,

1136
01:13:46,039 --> 01:13:50,079
like that's that's extremely valuable role player, right, especially if that guy

1137
01:13:50,159 --> 01:13:55,359
is not terrible on defense, which
uh, spe managed to elevate his defense

1138
01:13:55,520 --> 01:13:59,039
to that level this season, which
was like the really pleasant surprise, right,

1139
01:13:59,079 --> 01:14:02,520
Like there were times when see would
you would there were times when Svie

1140
01:14:02,680 --> 01:14:08,800
was preferable to the coaching staff to
Luke just because they offered a lot of

1141
01:14:08,840 --> 01:14:12,600
the same things. But Spee was
just a much much better defender. And

1142
01:14:12,760 --> 01:14:15,840
so yeah, like you know,
you hope that Spee turns out to be

1143
01:14:16,079 --> 01:14:19,880
Duncan Robinson, which I feel this
is this is a little unfair because I

1144
01:14:19,920 --> 01:14:24,880
feel like every white dude who can
shoot is going to get compared to Duncan

1145
01:14:24,960 --> 01:14:28,039
Robinson for like the next three years. But like the in this case is

1146
01:14:28,039 --> 01:14:30,920
actually kind of apt. I mean, if we want to be kind of

1147
01:14:30,960 --> 01:14:32,840
we could call him like Wayne Ellington
with a little bit of defense, like

1148
01:14:32,920 --> 01:14:35,560
if that's a little bit better of
a one. He's a little bit taller

1149
01:14:35,640 --> 01:14:40,960
than Ellington. When Ellington was six
four, I think, and he's we're

1150
01:14:40,960 --> 01:14:43,840
six three, maybe he's sixty seven. I did not realize he was that

1151
01:14:43,920 --> 01:14:46,520
big. He's he's got a negative
wingspan. He's a t rex. So

1152
01:14:46,680 --> 01:14:49,680
that that doesn't help him defensively.
I think it helps the shot a lot,

1153
01:14:49,720 --> 01:14:54,680
though I struggled with this one when
I was trying to think about it

1154
01:14:54,720 --> 01:14:57,239
myself, and when I was looking
at the numbers, like you see,

1155
01:14:57,279 --> 01:15:00,560
Bruce Brown's passing numbers stood out to
me, and just he turned the ball

1156
01:15:00,640 --> 01:15:04,800
over so often early on in the
pick and roll and was at twenty percent

1157
01:15:04,880 --> 01:15:08,119
on turnovers in the pick and roll
possessions for the season, and then yet

1158
01:15:08,159 --> 01:15:10,880
he was like drawing fouls out of
the pick and roll more than I realized

1159
01:15:10,880 --> 01:15:13,840
when I was looking at the numbers, and so I think I would default

1160
01:15:14,000 --> 01:15:15,039
to him, but you made me
look this up while you were talking.

1161
01:15:15,039 --> 01:15:18,920
I didn't realize he shot like twenty
two percent on above the break threes and

1162
01:15:18,960 --> 01:15:23,439
he was at thirty five point six
percent on catching shoot threes overall, so

1163
01:15:23,479 --> 01:15:28,000
it was like encouraging but not encouraging
if that's like so heavy on the corners.

1164
01:15:28,159 --> 01:15:30,199
I don't know that there were enough, like any evidence that he would

1165
01:15:30,279 --> 01:15:33,399
hit any off the dribble threes like
Marcus Smart would, because even when Smart

1166
01:15:33,560 --> 01:15:38,079
was shooting like you know, negative
percentage from beyond the arc, he was

1167
01:15:38,119 --> 01:15:41,039
still taking those off the dribble threes, and just haven't seen that from Bruce

1168
01:15:41,079 --> 01:15:46,119
Brown yet. But I think because
he's probably he has more proven commodities than

1169
01:15:46,760 --> 01:15:49,880
Spie, I think I think I
would side with you, just because with

1170
01:15:50,159 --> 01:15:53,760
the Ladder, you know that he
can shoot, but then it's like everything

1171
01:15:53,800 --> 01:15:56,439
else is kind of up in question. And then with Bruce Brown, it's

1172
01:15:56,439 --> 01:15:58,520
like, well, you know that
he could defend and that he can check

1173
01:15:58,840 --> 01:16:00,920
certain number one options long periods of
time, and then if he's also going

1174
01:16:01,000 --> 01:16:04,560
to be, you know, a
pretty good passer and he can you know,

1175
01:16:04,880 --> 01:16:08,640
defenses are still going to give him
like the I don't even know what

1176
01:16:08,760 --> 01:16:11,039
treatment do we call, like the
Rondo treatment at this point where they just

1177
01:16:11,079 --> 01:16:13,920
like even if he's hitting his threes, they're not going to care, but

1178
01:16:14,039 --> 01:16:16,199
that's still fine. And so I
think i'd be I'd be with you,

1179
01:16:16,399 --> 01:16:19,560
but I don't know, especially now
that I know that Spi is six seven,

1180
01:16:20,000 --> 01:16:24,439
I'm almost like want to be leaning
towards him. Yeah, well the

1181
01:16:24,520 --> 01:16:28,159
other thing, okay, I'm gonna
give you to two other things. In

1182
01:16:28,199 --> 01:16:31,199
Bruce Brown's favor. After Andre Drummond
was traded, he was the team's best

1183
01:16:31,279 --> 01:16:35,039
rebounder. Like I am, I
am not kidding. He was averaging like

1184
01:16:35,520 --> 01:16:41,079
eight rebounds a game or something insane. And the you look at it his

1185
01:16:41,159 --> 01:16:45,920
turnover numbers, I think if okay, I'm doing this off at the top

1186
01:16:45,960 --> 01:16:47,560
of my head, I did not
look this up. I think like a

1187
01:16:47,760 --> 01:16:51,800
full like twenty percent of his turnovers
for the year came in the first two

1188
01:16:51,840 --> 01:16:57,039
weeks he turned he had he I
don't know what was happening earlier in the

1189
01:16:57,119 --> 01:16:59,840
year, but he was turning the
ball over like crazy for the first couple

1190
01:16:59,880 --> 01:17:03,960
of games and then he settled down. And so I'm not I'm less concerned

1191
01:17:04,000 --> 01:17:08,640
about like, if he's your if
he's one of your long term like backcourt

1192
01:17:08,680 --> 01:17:11,279
options, is he just a turnover
machine? Like No, I'm not.

1193
01:17:11,319 --> 01:17:14,039
I'm not as worried about that.
The pull up shooting, like you mentioned

1194
01:17:14,079 --> 01:17:15,880
where he's not even taking them like
that is a much bigger concern of mine.

1195
01:17:15,960 --> 01:17:20,079
Yeah, you sold me, I'm
sold. I mean why choose might

1196
01:17:20,119 --> 01:17:26,279
be my especially if if you have
thirty million dollars gaps bring both those guys

1197
01:17:26,359 --> 01:17:30,239
back to that point. So I
don't really know where the cap is going

1198
01:17:30,319 --> 01:17:32,319
to end up, but I have
the Pistons at If Tony snow picks up

1199
01:17:32,319 --> 01:17:34,960
his player option and they what you
will, yeah, I mean I would

1200
01:17:34,960 --> 01:17:40,039
assume he would unless there's like a
I don't know who's paying, like Tony

1201
01:17:40,039 --> 01:17:42,560
Snell, like a three year deal
where he makes substantially more. So,

1202
01:17:42,960 --> 01:17:45,680
assuming he picks up his player option
and they I'm assuming they just renounce,

1203
01:17:46,039 --> 01:17:51,199
than they'll probably I would think that
they'll obviously you'll have Brun Brown Spee.

1204
01:17:51,359 --> 01:17:55,600
I'm assuming they'll just leave Thomas's money
on the books, like I have them

1205
01:17:55,600 --> 01:17:58,039
at basically thirty million, Like it's
like right, It's like I haven't at

1206
01:17:58,079 --> 01:18:01,239
like twenty nine point six or something. Are there any free agents aside from

1207
01:18:01,439 --> 01:18:04,680
Wood And that's his cap holds included
here, which is that's just so convenient

1208
01:18:04,720 --> 01:18:08,399
one point seven million dollars cap hold. By the way, that's just great

1209
01:18:09,560 --> 01:18:13,399
for them. Are there any free
agents or even trade targets where they can

1210
01:18:13,479 --> 01:18:15,399
soak up at money attached to assets
that you've given thought about that you'd like

1211
01:18:15,479 --> 01:18:19,479
to see them go after with all
this money that they have, because I

1212
01:18:19,560 --> 01:18:24,359
think they there's Atlanta, and then
if we're assuming that New York like doesn't

1213
01:18:24,399 --> 01:18:27,359
guarantee any of the deals that they
have, like, those are the only

1214
01:18:27,439 --> 01:18:30,520
two teams that are slated to have
more cap space than Detroit right now.

1215
01:18:30,680 --> 01:18:33,800
I believe Miami could get there,
but I think Jay Crowder and Dragics have

1216
01:18:33,880 --> 01:18:38,560
played their way into some pretty lucrative
one year deals. Yeah. No,

1217
01:18:38,720 --> 01:18:42,600
absolutely, I think you have.
You have the situation flipped a little bit.

1218
01:18:43,079 --> 01:18:46,279
Unfortunately. I think the team will
bring back Thon and not bring back

1219
01:18:46,359 --> 01:18:49,560
Kyrie Thomas. I think that's how
that makes zero sense to me. Is

1220
01:18:49,600 --> 01:18:54,039
that Dwayne Casey driven. I'm still
good years right now. I agree with

1221
01:18:54,159 --> 01:18:56,640
you, that doesn't make much sense
to me. But yes, that's Dwyane

1222
01:18:56,640 --> 01:19:01,800
Casey driven. Dwayne Casey loves Thons
energy on a consistent basis, which is

1223
01:19:01,920 --> 01:19:05,279
fair for and you know, he
plays hard, which is important for a

1224
01:19:05,359 --> 01:19:12,159
young team. But that's like all
he does, and so like we were

1225
01:19:12,199 --> 01:19:15,439
talking about this off air, but
like like I was really looking forward to

1226
01:19:15,560 --> 01:19:18,439
Justin Patton just like demolishing Thon and
training camp. So like Troy Weaver could

1227
01:19:18,439 --> 01:19:20,960
be like, no, I'm taking
away your pacifier, Like you can't have

1228
01:19:21,079 --> 01:19:24,520
this dude who like just plays hard. I'm sorry, Dwayne, but like

1229
01:19:24,600 --> 01:19:27,600
now he's hurt. And so like
don gets to go up against like Adam

1230
01:19:27,640 --> 01:19:30,199
Woodberry for the entire training camp and
it's like okay, sure, like of

1231
01:19:30,279 --> 01:19:33,640
course he's going to make the team
next year anyway. I mean, I

1232
01:19:33,720 --> 01:19:39,720
guess it helps that, like you
know, was his fourth I can't remember

1233
01:19:39,720 --> 01:19:42,279
if his team option was declined.
Like no, he's supposed to be restricted.

1234
01:19:42,279 --> 01:19:45,439
It's like I don't even know who's
giving him, Like they shouldn't even

1235
01:19:45,479 --> 01:19:47,720
be tendering him a qualifying offer.
Who's giving him four point nine million dollars?

1236
01:19:48,560 --> 01:19:51,039
Is that his qualifying offer? Yeah? I mean he was picked tie

1237
01:19:51,119 --> 01:19:54,560
because the Bucks swung. I think, wasn't he number ten? I believe

1238
01:19:54,600 --> 01:19:57,319
he was a mistaken. Yeah he's
ten, But like, yeah, I

1239
01:19:57,359 --> 01:20:00,960
didn't I didn't think his qualifying offer
it would be five million dollars. That's

1240
01:20:02,279 --> 01:20:05,399
based on what you know, I
said before we recording, I'm completely biased.

1241
01:20:05,439 --> 01:20:09,199
But you get Justin Patton healthy and
you give him the minutes that you're

1242
01:20:09,199 --> 01:20:12,279
going to give though on that's what
should happen exactly that that's my plan as

1243
01:20:12,319 --> 01:20:16,399
well. But to answer your your
initial question about cap space, I do

1244
01:20:16,720 --> 01:20:21,279
there are like a lot of bad
contracts. There are a surprising number of

1245
01:20:21,319 --> 01:20:25,880
bad contracts out there, considering all
the bad deals that we're signed in twenty

1246
01:20:25,920 --> 01:20:29,840
sixteen are coming to an end.
And so like that was my initial concerns,

1247
01:20:29,840 --> 01:20:31,520
like, oh crap, like all
these like sour sixteens or whatever aren't

1248
01:20:31,520 --> 01:20:33,399
going to be out there. We
can't get any draft picks. I think

1249
01:20:33,439 --> 01:20:36,840
the Twins like the lone Wolf out
there signed in twenty sixteen that's still on

1250
01:20:36,880 --> 01:20:41,119
the books, and it's like oh
hey, like you know, Al Horford

1251
01:20:41,199 --> 01:20:43,600
sucks. Now, It's like all
right, like yes, let's do this.

1252
01:20:44,279 --> 01:20:46,039
It's like I'll take I'll take Al
Horford, but like you gotta give

1253
01:20:46,079 --> 01:20:48,960
me like a bunch of picks,
Like sure, I don't care, Like

1254
01:20:49,079 --> 01:20:54,600
you wouldn't do it for justyb I
mean like thy Bill end some picks.

1255
01:20:54,800 --> 01:20:58,479
Wow, that's like the thing like
I'm like still like, if you include

1256
01:20:58,520 --> 01:21:02,039
thy Bill, the picks obviously get
worse. But like is like, and

1257
01:21:02,119 --> 01:21:03,840
you also got to think about the
roster, right, Like can you ever

1258
01:21:03,920 --> 01:21:06,800
play thy Ball and Bruce Brown at
the same time? I mean, do

1259
01:21:06,880 --> 01:21:12,000
you care about how many bricks are
related? It's like if you like to

1260
01:21:12,079 --> 01:21:15,800
score points, the answer is no. But like, I think my problem

1261
01:21:15,840 --> 01:21:19,000
with that one I don't know.
I honestly don't know what, Like Philly

1262
01:21:19,039 --> 01:21:21,199
would give up to Grease the Wheels
for now Horford trade, But if you're

1263
01:21:21,199 --> 01:21:24,960
the Pistons, Like, I'm actually
still pretty I think he's a terrible fit

1264
01:21:25,039 --> 01:21:27,199
in Philly, But like, if
he's healthy, Al Horford is still good.

1265
01:21:27,479 --> 01:21:29,920
And if you have Al Horford and
Blake Griffin and they both stay healthy,

1266
01:21:30,000 --> 01:21:31,880
like that might be the way that
you stumble into thirty five ways.

1267
01:21:32,960 --> 01:21:36,279
That's fair, But I feel like
I feel like at that point, if

1268
01:21:36,319 --> 01:21:41,800
you if you rehab Horford's value to
like that point, it's like maybe you

1269
01:21:41,840 --> 01:21:45,199
could flip him again. It's like, or if you rehab Blake Griffin's value

1270
01:21:45,199 --> 01:21:48,359
to that point, you can flip
Blake because at that point there will only

1271
01:21:48,439 --> 01:21:53,319
be what like another year and a
half of Blake Steel. True, it's

1272
01:21:53,399 --> 01:21:57,239
it's much easier to be like,
oh, we'll pay Blake eighteen for eighteen

1273
01:21:57,279 --> 01:21:59,920
months instead of for twenty four months. I don't you know. That's that's

1274
01:22:00,119 --> 01:22:02,960
GM math. Don't ask me to
explain it, you know. So Al

1275
01:22:03,039 --> 01:22:08,199
Horford's one guy. Eric Gordon is
another guy. I was going to ask

1276
01:22:08,239 --> 01:22:11,720
you about him. I have no
idea what Houston's gonna look like in six

1277
01:22:11,800 --> 01:22:17,239
months. Their owner is like going
out of business or whatever. They they

1278
01:22:17,359 --> 01:22:25,800
are extremely limited and basically like they
built a Mike D'Antoni team and then fired

1279
01:22:25,920 --> 01:22:28,800
Mike D'Antoni. So like if you
need a head coach, like, I

1280
01:22:28,840 --> 01:22:30,159
don't know who would take that job. I don't know who would be a

1281
01:22:30,159 --> 01:22:34,000
good fit for that job. Houston
is just a really confusing situation to me.

1282
01:22:34,439 --> 01:22:39,159
And so the problem there is that
they don't have any picks, right,

1283
01:22:39,199 --> 01:22:43,520
they already traded all their picks well, and so they can sneakily unless

1284
01:22:43,520 --> 01:22:45,840
I'm reading this wrong and I've tried
to triple check it, they can move

1285
01:22:45,880 --> 01:22:49,119
their twenty twenty two first rounder,
and so the sort of like poop poop

1286
01:22:49,119 --> 01:22:53,479
platter of sweeteners. I've thrown out. There is Daniel House Junior, and

1287
01:22:53,600 --> 01:22:56,600
that pick there has to be some
protection on it because there's a chance that

1288
01:22:56,680 --> 01:23:00,640
Houston's just got awful by then,
Like I could see his near where James

1289
01:23:00,640 --> 01:23:04,119
harn just wants out, and so
would you do that? Like those two

1290
01:23:04,279 --> 01:23:08,159
plus Eric Gordon like, is that
a deal that you'd be willing to accept?

1291
01:23:09,039 --> 01:23:12,760
I like, that's I'm willing to
look at my options right, like

1292
01:23:12,920 --> 01:23:15,680
if that's the only way I can
get another future first round pick, like

1293
01:23:15,840 --> 01:23:19,680
sure, but like that, I'm
not immediately like taking that deal. It's

1294
01:23:19,680 --> 01:23:24,079
an intriguing pick though, because I'm
I think I look at it as like

1295
01:23:24,239 --> 01:23:27,560
I've viewed like the that Lakers twenty
twenty four pick that New Orleans has that

1296
01:23:27,680 --> 01:23:30,000
can be optionized to twenty and twenty
five, I see does like a highly

1297
01:23:30,079 --> 01:23:32,760
valuable asset just because Lebron will be
like eighty at that point. He might

1298
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:35,920
have left in free agency or whatever. But like gms like don't have that

1299
01:23:36,039 --> 01:23:40,640
type of lifespan. But in like
Detroit, like twenty twenty two is close

1300
01:23:40,680 --> 01:23:42,920
enough where if you're Troy Reaver,
it's like, well I just got here,

1301
01:23:43,239 --> 01:23:45,279
I'm still gonna be here. I'm
gonna be the one using that pick,

1302
01:23:45,560 --> 01:23:47,279
So if he wanted to roll the
dice like that might be a situation

1303
01:23:47,319 --> 01:23:49,600
where it's okay. And look,
if the protections are like top three or

1304
01:23:49,640 --> 01:23:53,479
top five or something, I think
I would do it because it doesn't seem

1305
01:23:53,520 --> 01:23:57,279
as you mentioned a lot with Tilman
for Tita. And then look the James

1306
01:23:57,319 --> 01:24:00,479
Harden stuff. He's gonna be a
free agent in two years two and then

1307
01:24:00,520 --> 01:24:03,039
who knows how Russell Westbrook is going
to age the deal certainly is not aged

1308
01:24:03,359 --> 01:24:05,920
well at all. PJ. Tucker
is going to be a free agent after

1309
01:24:06,000 --> 01:24:10,399
next year, Robert Covington will be
a free agent, and in uh,

1310
01:24:10,439 --> 01:24:12,560
well, I guess twenty twenty two, so that doesn't matter. But if

1311
01:24:12,720 --> 01:24:15,720
they want to move him when he's
an expiring contract, I think I make

1312
01:24:15,840 --> 01:24:18,279
if I'm a franchise, if I'm
in front office that believes that even if

1313
01:24:18,279 --> 01:24:20,359
I miss, I'm still going to
be there in twenty twenty two, I'm

1314
01:24:20,439 --> 01:24:24,840
rolling the dice. If Houston's giving
up it's twenty twenty two pick, Yeah,

1315
01:24:24,880 --> 01:24:27,560
I would. And then you also
add on the fact that you like

1316
01:24:27,680 --> 01:24:30,920
immediately flip House for another like top
forty pick it's like okay, like now,

1317
01:24:31,119 --> 01:24:35,920
like I can see that absolutely,
but I'm thinking of there's another guy

1318
01:24:35,960 --> 01:24:40,680
I'm thinking of, and that's Harrison
Barnes, right. Like I again,

1319
01:24:40,760 --> 01:24:44,439
I don't really know what Sacramento is
doing, but I do know that they

1320
01:24:44,439 --> 01:24:47,239
would like to like keep that team
together in the form it currently is.

1321
01:24:47,640 --> 01:24:50,800
But like, Harrison Barnes is like
not really a long term piece there,

1322
01:24:51,359 --> 01:24:56,079
And sneakily, he doesn't make that
much money. I think he only makes

1323
01:24:56,079 --> 01:24:59,199
like twenty one million. Yeah,
he's a first of all, he's the

1324
01:24:59,279 --> 01:25:01,479
king of entering agency at the right
time, and so like he gets there

1325
01:25:01,520 --> 01:25:04,880
in twenty and sixteen and he's able
to decline his player option and signs another

1326
01:25:04,920 --> 01:25:09,520
four year deal, where it's like, yeah, he's making slightly less money

1327
01:25:09,600 --> 01:25:12,640
I think when he reslated to in
his player option, but he got four

1328
01:25:12,760 --> 01:25:16,039
guaranteed years. I think it what
was it eighty it's eighty five million,

1329
01:25:16,199 --> 01:25:18,239
and it's on a the If you're
the Pistons, though, you look at

1330
01:25:18,279 --> 01:25:20,600
it and you're like, well,
it's on a declining scale. So the

1331
01:25:20,680 --> 01:25:24,399
final year is eighteen point four.
No, that doesn't seem like a bad

1332
01:25:24,439 --> 01:25:28,199
deal to eat at all. No, yeah, and that enables them to

1333
01:25:28,359 --> 01:25:33,960
resign boy On right, Bovich,
Yeah, damn it, Boggden, and

1334
01:25:34,039 --> 01:25:39,199
I enables them to resign Boggden,
Bogdanovitch. You know, I don't know

1335
01:25:39,840 --> 01:25:43,800
what they're new front off, who
did they hired somebody as their GM?

1336
01:25:44,079 --> 01:25:46,600
Right? I think I don't know. If I thought they were still looking

1337
01:25:47,479 --> 01:25:50,039
and I was not mistaken, I'm
going to be that'll be a really bad

1338
01:25:50,079 --> 01:25:53,159
miss by me. It's a Joe
Dumars. Yeah, we're supposed to be.

1339
01:25:53,479 --> 01:25:56,119
Joe Dumars is leading the search for
the news. He's like kind of

1340
01:25:56,239 --> 01:26:00,600
sort of leading the search. I
think, was it Monte McNair is now

1341
01:26:00,760 --> 01:26:03,039
like, oh no, they did. They hired mods McNair as their general

1342
01:26:03,119 --> 01:26:05,359
manager. Okay, Okay, there
there we go. They Okay, So

1343
01:26:06,039 --> 01:26:09,840
I don't know. So I don't
know. So if I if I didn't

1344
01:26:09,880 --> 01:26:12,239
know that they have a GM,
like, I definitely don't know what money

1345
01:26:12,319 --> 01:26:15,920
McNair like wants to do with that
team. Maybe he's not even that attached

1346
01:26:15,960 --> 01:26:19,000
to Bogdanovich. And so it's like
like that, you know, getting money

1347
01:26:19,000 --> 01:26:21,560
off the books to make sure he
can keep him long term isn't an issue,

1348
01:26:21,800 --> 01:26:25,399
and it's not even next season,
like they can do it under the

1349
01:26:25,520 --> 01:26:29,640
tax pretty handedly, like unless he
costs something like absurd. But I think

1350
01:26:29,680 --> 01:26:32,039
it's in future seasons where you're talking
about Fox, like getting his MAX extension

1351
01:26:32,159 --> 01:26:35,079
kicking in, that's the issue.
Yeah, you gotta pay dear In Fox

1352
01:26:35,159 --> 01:26:39,600
in two years, and then you
got to pay Marvin Bagley the year after

1353
01:26:39,680 --> 01:26:43,319
that. Somehow, I'm like wondering
if they're even going to pick up Marvin

1354
01:26:43,319 --> 01:26:45,199
Bagley's fourth year team option at this
point the way things were going out there,

1355
01:26:45,439 --> 01:26:48,880
Yeah, that's a if you know, if you could get you know,

1356
01:26:48,960 --> 01:26:53,520
if you get that guy as a
as a second draft guy and be

1357
01:26:53,600 --> 01:26:56,119
like hey, like well, well, it's like you guys don't really like

1358
01:26:56,239 --> 01:26:58,960
Marvin Bagley anymore, Like we'll take
him in the Harrison Barnes deal, Like

1359
01:26:59,039 --> 01:27:01,680
no problem, you only have to
attach like a future second now instead of

1360
01:27:01,760 --> 01:27:04,880
like some future first. It's like, I'll take a look at Marvin Bagley.

1361
01:27:05,239 --> 01:27:09,479
Him and Christian Wood are basically the
same player, right, better than

1362
01:27:09,600 --> 01:27:13,960
one. Uh yeah, Marvin Bagley
eleven point three million in his fourth year.

1363
01:27:14,079 --> 01:27:17,560
Like the rookie scales are getting like
sneaky expensive for the players who are

1364
01:27:17,640 --> 01:27:21,479
drafted higher. That's that's that's a
lot of money. But yeah, no,

1365
01:27:21,560 --> 01:27:25,680
I'd still take a look at Bagley
though. So yeah, those are

1366
01:27:25,720 --> 01:27:29,119
my that's my three guys, Harrison
Barnes, Al Horford and Eric Gordon.

1367
01:27:29,359 --> 01:27:31,279
If you have any more, I
would absolutely love to hear them. This

1368
01:27:31,479 --> 01:27:35,399
is this is exactly what the Pistons
should be doing, is renting out their

1369
01:27:35,439 --> 01:27:39,199
cap space for picks, and so
sure, give me, give me some

1370
01:27:39,239 --> 01:27:41,399
more options. Yeah. So,
while I was first going to say,

1371
01:27:41,439 --> 01:27:44,199
like, there's no like actual free
agents you've looked at that you actually want

1372
01:27:44,239 --> 01:27:46,159
them to sign, I think it's
it's pretty clear that they shouldn't be like

1373
01:27:46,239 --> 01:27:48,960
throwing the bag at Fred van Fleet. But it feels like if you have

1374
01:27:49,079 --> 01:27:53,439
some money to play around with,
like, do you go after like one

1375
01:27:53,479 --> 01:27:57,720
of the younger guy like youngish guys
like a doesn't Malique Beasley just not appeal

1376
01:27:57,800 --> 01:28:00,760
Do you try and go after Josh
Jackson is like a third draft guy,

1377
01:28:00,760 --> 01:28:02,479
if you want to call him that. At this point, I like that

1378
01:28:03,000 --> 01:28:09,039
third draft. I think all the
guys that I'd be interested in would come

1379
01:28:09,119 --> 01:28:12,680
in at like the mid level are
less and so I'm less worried about the

1380
01:28:12,880 --> 01:28:16,119
use of cap space for those guys, right, Like I have some interest

1381
01:28:16,239 --> 01:28:20,560
in d'y Anthony Milton, but but
I don't know that d'y Anthony Melton is

1382
01:28:20,560 --> 01:28:25,039
going to get like more than the
mini mid level from anybody. I have

1383
01:28:25,199 --> 01:28:29,720
some interest in Nerland's Noel, but
you know Neryland's Noel and and Harry Giles.

1384
01:28:29,720 --> 01:28:31,920
So I think the King's declined his
fourth year options. He's an unrestricted

1385
01:28:31,960 --> 01:28:38,800
free agent. But both of those
guys are, you know, our backup

1386
01:28:38,880 --> 01:28:42,520
big men in a league where backup
big men are not very valuable. Neither

1387
01:28:42,560 --> 01:28:44,880
of one of those guys is going
to break the bank. I have,

1388
01:28:45,279 --> 01:28:48,520
you know, some interest in Chris
Dunn, you know, all defense,

1389
01:28:48,720 --> 01:28:54,600
all NBA defensive candidate like Chris Dunn, but like that, but defense makes

1390
01:28:54,680 --> 01:28:58,079
you less money than offense. And
so like I again, i'd think he'd

1391
01:28:58,079 --> 01:29:01,239
be in like the d Anthony Melton
like minim mid level range. Who else

1392
01:29:01,399 --> 01:29:05,880
there was? There's a couple other
guys. Malik Beasley is like, he's

1393
01:29:05,960 --> 01:29:10,680
not the same player as Luke Kennard, but like, you know, three

1394
01:29:10,760 --> 01:29:15,319
point shooting two guards who don't defend, Like I'm you know, I don't

1395
01:29:15,359 --> 01:29:19,199
want two of those guys, and
so I'm don't I used to have a

1396
01:29:19,239 --> 01:29:23,960
lot of interests in Malik Beasley back
when he was like playing defense and now

1397
01:29:24,199 --> 01:29:30,199
not so much. Yeah, I'm
yeah, just like this, this team

1398
01:29:30,479 --> 01:29:33,079
needs to tinker around the edges,
and so like, sure, like a

1399
01:29:33,159 --> 01:29:39,960
Josh Jackson for the minimum, why
not you look at like bringing in like

1400
01:29:40,000 --> 01:29:44,359
a Dj Augustine to be like a
mentor to the draft, to the point

1401
01:29:44,399 --> 01:29:48,039
guard you draft, Like sure,
and you're assuming that like Derek Rose is

1402
01:29:48,079 --> 01:29:54,680
gone and what would normally be February, Like sure, you want an old

1403
01:29:54,720 --> 01:29:58,079
head point guard around, Like,
I have no problem with that if if

1404
01:29:58,239 --> 01:30:00,720
you you want an old head big
man around, right, Like, you

1405
01:30:00,800 --> 01:30:04,800
can always find a guy like a
like a Duane Deamond, right Or is

1406
01:30:05,439 --> 01:30:11,479
Aaron Bain's is an option rights he's
a straight on free agent? Okay?

1407
01:30:11,479 --> 01:30:14,159
I would yeah, I would like
I'd take Aaron Bain's back in a heartbeat

1408
01:30:14,239 --> 01:30:16,199
to teach than Maker. And don't
remember what stan Van Gunn he was like,

1409
01:30:16,279 --> 01:30:18,960
yeah, we're not gonna be able
to keep him. It's like he

1410
01:30:19,119 --> 01:30:23,720
was so open that season about Bains
and I think that was the KCP free

1411
01:30:23,720 --> 01:30:26,720
agency year two. I loved the
sound bites coming from him. Sorry,

1412
01:30:26,760 --> 01:30:30,039
that was a random asside. No
is no. The worst thing that reminded

1413
01:30:30,079 --> 01:30:32,680
me that he paid Boban seven million, that he's a third string center is

1414
01:30:32,720 --> 01:30:36,960
just like, why so many unforced
errors? That's the story of the stampaink

1415
01:30:38,000 --> 01:30:41,079
in the air. Just unfortunate head
coach of the Clippers. That's actually not

1416
01:30:41,159 --> 01:30:44,439
going to happen. But I think, Oh, I hadn't thought about that,

1417
01:30:44,640 --> 01:30:48,000
But I like that a lot.
Actually, the names I had given

1418
01:30:48,039 --> 01:30:50,960
to like not free agents, like
looking at trade targets is I sort of

1419
01:30:51,000 --> 01:30:55,880
wondered most of because I'm not sure, like what the the actual salary dumping

1420
01:30:55,920 --> 01:31:00,279
market is gonna be ahead of last
guy, Like you do this same thing

1421
01:31:00,279 --> 01:31:01,960
as everybody else where. You'd like
slap a four year max in front of

1422
01:31:02,000 --> 01:31:05,159
back brandon Ingram. Let the Pelicans
match, and like you don't care about

1423
01:31:05,159 --> 01:31:10,319
the cap space since whatever, but
like on the like two percent chance you

1424
01:31:10,359 --> 01:31:13,239
could get brandon Ingram to come here, like you absolutely like try for it.

1425
01:31:15,239 --> 01:31:16,399
Yeah, some teams should do that. And if it's Detroit where like

1426
01:31:16,439 --> 01:31:18,520
you're not anxious to use your cap
space and you just want to tie it

1427
01:31:18,600 --> 01:31:21,640
up for forty eight hours. I
think it now is like do it.

1428
01:31:21,920 --> 01:31:26,279
I'm one hundred percent and to do
it. The actual free agent one of

1429
01:31:26,319 --> 01:31:30,159
the free agents I thought about for
them was west of wand from Orlando.

1430
01:31:30,279 --> 01:31:32,199
He's restricted and like he's not the
greatest shooter, but he showed that he

1431
01:31:32,239 --> 01:31:35,159
could hit some stuff off the dribble
and he gives you a lot of positional

1432
01:31:35,279 --> 01:31:40,119
range on defense. I've named him
as like teams like as a target for

1433
01:31:40,159 --> 01:31:43,680
teams that even have like the mid
level, just because I think Orlando really

1434
01:31:43,760 --> 01:31:46,600
likes him, probably more so than
ever with the following me. He seems

1435
01:31:46,640 --> 01:31:51,279
like the perfect Orlando player. Says
like, I don't know if they'd be

1436
01:31:51,359 --> 01:31:55,199
willing to let him go, just
as like a guy who like is long

1437
01:31:55,520 --> 01:31:59,039
and athletic and plays defense, it
doesn't really shoot, Like sorry, arrange

1438
01:31:59,079 --> 01:32:01,039
you wing with a question. Jumper
has Sam Presty written all over it.

1439
01:32:01,479 --> 01:32:04,520
Well that's a good point. Actually, yeah, I actually have him.

1440
01:32:04,560 --> 01:32:08,439
I think I feel like the Pacers
might make a run at him. But

1441
01:32:08,640 --> 01:32:11,920
that's the free agent stuff is like
it's sort of like if they can take

1442
01:32:11,960 --> 01:32:15,079
get like those type of gambles.
And you mentioned someone already like they're either

1443
01:32:15,199 --> 01:32:17,359
cheap or like the younger guys.
I don't think you throw an offer at

1444
01:32:17,399 --> 01:32:19,760
Malik Beasley. He's probably too expensive
to poach. But like if you know

1445
01:32:19,880 --> 01:32:24,239
the Kings are gonna match like Bogey, like I would absolutely just try and

1446
01:32:24,319 --> 01:32:26,760
drive up the price on him.
That's a risky game because if you end

1447
01:32:26,840 --> 01:32:30,800
up with him, yeah, that's
a problem. And this isn't This isn't

1448
01:32:30,840 --> 01:32:31,920
the climate like where the nets were, like, yeah, we're gonna give

1449
01:32:31,920 --> 01:32:36,039
whatever to Otto Porter Junior and Tyler
Johnson and Alan Krab and then we're gonna

1450
01:32:36,079 --> 01:32:39,479
end up with two of those three
guys. Anyway in the future. I

1451
01:32:39,680 --> 01:32:43,279
look forward to Otto Porter Junior getting
to Brooklyn at some point, so there's

1452
01:32:43,319 --> 01:32:46,279
probably risk there. Brandon Ingram's like
a no brainer, but after him,

1453
01:32:46,319 --> 01:32:48,319
it's kind of like, you know, if you try to drive up the

1454
01:32:48,359 --> 01:32:51,680
price text I'm restricted free agents,
you might end up with that restricted free

1455
01:32:51,760 --> 01:32:57,439
agent, right or like even like
unrestarched guys like like sure, we'd call

1456
01:32:57,560 --> 01:32:59,840
up Joe Harris and be like,
hey, Joe, like do you want

1457
01:32:59,880 --> 01:33:03,279
to like be the like best version
of Steve mccailu possible for you know,

1458
01:33:03,560 --> 01:33:06,119
twelve million dollars a year, and
it's like, yeah, we could absolutely

1459
01:33:06,119 --> 01:33:10,159
do that, but like, what
what's the marginal difference for that from this

1460
01:33:10,279 --> 01:33:13,039
team? And it's not it's just
not very high. And so yeah,

1461
01:33:13,159 --> 01:33:15,560
like it's it's it's kind of tough
playing the free agency game for the Pistons.

1462
01:33:15,840 --> 01:33:19,439
This is part of why content for
the Pistons is so hard. It's

1463
01:33:19,439 --> 01:33:21,800
just because like, oh, we
can't even do anything sexy. It was

1464
01:33:21,840 --> 01:33:26,920
like, oh, man, like
let's let's bring in Netherlands Noel. It's

1465
01:33:27,000 --> 01:33:30,359
like that's that's the clickbait. Yeah, yeah, that's that can probably only

1466
01:33:30,399 --> 01:33:34,720
generate so many eyes. I've thought
more along the lines of like can they

1467
01:33:34,920 --> 01:33:39,800
latch on as like a third party
in a trade or is there a team

1468
01:33:39,840 --> 01:33:42,199
that's out there that that's kind of
looking to create cap space? And the

1469
01:33:42,279 --> 01:33:44,720
one that I kind of zeroed in
on this would be more so for just

1470
01:33:44,800 --> 01:33:48,840
strative cap space, is like Dallas
has the potential to get cap space even

1471
01:33:48,840 --> 01:33:51,520
if Tim Hardaway Junior opts in,
should they be able to like dump some

1472
01:33:51,640 --> 01:33:57,000
of their like middle rung price deals
and so, like you look at a

1473
01:33:57,079 --> 01:34:00,600
Dwight Powell and Adlon right like what
kind of compensation do you need to take

1474
01:34:00,680 --> 01:34:05,479
on those sorts of deals or are
you like kind of involved as the third

1475
01:34:05,560 --> 01:34:12,199
party facilitator in a bigger deal where
it's like I feel like, you know,

1476
01:34:12,399 --> 01:34:14,920
in a Golden State deal, Like
I don't know what type of compensation

1477
01:34:14,920 --> 01:34:16,640
you would need to take on and
Andrew Wiggins. But like let's say I'm

1478
01:34:16,640 --> 01:34:21,680
Milwaukee where there's like an Eric Bletsoe
and you end up with him, Like

1479
01:34:21,880 --> 01:34:26,199
what type of compensation would you be
looking for in those types of situations?

1480
01:34:26,279 --> 01:34:29,319
And just as like a so Dwight
Powell has three years and thirty three point

1481
01:34:29,359 --> 01:34:31,720
two million left and he's coming off
and Achilles injury. The Lawn Right,

1482
01:34:31,800 --> 01:34:36,800
who's like a quality player, has
two years and seventeen point five left.

1483
01:34:38,479 --> 01:34:43,760
Yeah, I would be interested in
Delon Right for sure? Is that someone

1484
01:34:43,840 --> 01:34:47,239
you'd take on without like needing real
compensation? For you would need like some

1485
01:34:47,560 --> 01:34:51,399
I think if I'm if I'm remembering
correctly, Dallas owns like a future Piston

1486
01:34:51,520 --> 01:34:57,199
second, and so I'd probably try
and get that back. But like what

1487
01:34:57,319 --> 01:34:59,520
I need like a first to take
on Delan Right? Like no, I

1488
01:34:59,560 --> 01:35:01,239
can you know you could do?
You could do some seconds. You could

1489
01:35:01,239 --> 01:35:04,359
do a fake second, like one
of those top fifty five protected seconds that

1490
01:35:04,439 --> 01:35:09,079
like don't ever actually turn into anything. They have states twenty second. I

1491
01:35:09,119 --> 01:35:12,439
don't, but number thirty one seems
like that might be. Yeah, that's

1492
01:35:12,479 --> 01:35:14,920
that seems like a high price.
You probably asked for that, but but

1493
01:35:15,000 --> 01:35:17,640
don't end up getting it. As
far as Eric Blitzo goes, I've talked

1494
01:35:17,640 --> 01:35:23,439
to my dear friend Ty Windish about
Eric bledso multiple times. Eric Blitzo would

1495
01:35:23,479 --> 01:35:30,159
join the long long list of Milwaukee
Bucks to Detroit pistons the Highway pipeline,

1496
01:35:30,119 --> 01:35:34,359
joining luminaries like Thon Maker Tony Snell. Let me see if I can do

1497
01:35:34,439 --> 01:35:38,319
this off. Top man Justin Patton
was actually in the He played for the

1498
01:35:38,319 --> 01:35:42,319
Bucks G League team. A Brandon
Knight played for both teams. Brandon Jennings

1499
01:35:42,479 --> 01:35:45,399
played for both teams. Uh,
come on, orson Iliosova, Uh,

1500
01:35:46,239 --> 01:35:51,600
I can Chris Middleton, that's the
big one. Uh, There's there's more.

1501
01:35:53,319 --> 01:35:57,600
Uh. But yeah, there's there's
a long history of of a Milwaukee

1502
01:35:57,680 --> 01:36:02,319
to Detroit connection. But for to
take bledsoe he is at he has three

1503
01:36:02,439 --> 01:36:05,960
years and fifty four point four,
but the final year is like three point

1504
01:36:06,079 --> 01:36:12,079
nine guaranteed, so he's really at
like two years and it's sub forty.

1505
01:36:12,640 --> 01:36:16,159
Yeah, I would. I would
still get first, just because not necessarily

1506
01:36:16,199 --> 01:36:21,319
because like Bledsoe's an objectly terrible player
or anything, but because like you're doing

1507
01:36:21,399 --> 01:36:26,159
a division rival of favor? Are
you doing a championship contender of favor?

1508
01:36:26,560 --> 01:36:29,840
It's like you like, no,
I want the broncton first. Right,

1509
01:36:29,880 --> 01:36:31,840
they have a first from Indiana this
year. I think that's top twenty.

1510
01:36:32,199 --> 01:36:35,039
You'd want that. I think that
becomes helpful. Like if they want to

1511
01:36:35,079 --> 01:36:38,920
go after Chris Paul and okay se
he doesn't want to take on long term

1512
01:36:39,000 --> 01:36:41,920
money, and they're like, well, we already have a trullion first round

1513
01:36:41,960 --> 01:36:45,840
picks. Anyway, if you're willing
to find a home for Eric Bledsoe and

1514
01:36:45,079 --> 01:36:48,279
like they don't want Like if they're
like that first round pick, let's say

1515
01:36:48,279 --> 01:36:50,399
the Bucks are giving up another one, like a twenty twenty four first round

1516
01:36:50,399 --> 01:36:54,279
picker. They're also giving up Donte
DiVincenzo. Okay, so he might be

1517
01:36:54,279 --> 01:36:56,119
able to talk to them into like, yeah, just give us like your

1518
01:36:56,119 --> 01:37:00,239
poopoo pladder of expiring contracts and then
find another home for Eric Bledsoe and so

1519
01:37:00,520 --> 01:37:02,039
yeah, or you mean like you
could do something like hey, like you

1520
01:37:02,119 --> 01:37:04,960
know, okay, see like we'll
send its, like we'll send you the

1521
01:37:05,359 --> 01:37:10,399
final year of Tony Snell's deal and
sorry, he's too good of a shooter

1522
01:37:10,520 --> 01:37:15,880
for okay, or like you you
give us like the one of the like

1523
01:37:15,159 --> 01:37:18,680
four first you got for Paul George, right, like one of the like

1524
01:37:18,840 --> 01:37:24,640
the the like Miami twenty twenty one
first or whatever, right, like never

1525
01:37:24,760 --> 01:37:28,560
when that was considered like one of
the tastiest trade chips in the league and

1526
01:37:28,680 --> 01:37:33,079
now it's like, oh, that
pick is gonna suck. Yeah yeah,

1527
01:37:33,199 --> 01:37:36,800
but like yeah, so I would
I'd be I wouldn't be mad at something

1528
01:37:36,880 --> 01:37:42,319
like that. Uh, your last
guy was Wiggins. Wiggins. It was

1529
01:37:42,399 --> 01:37:45,319
kind of like a reluctance because I
don't know, like when you think of

1530
01:37:45,359 --> 01:37:47,640
Warriors trade package, like yes,
they have the trade exception, but like

1531
01:37:47,680 --> 01:37:50,279
if you want to get like a
real player or something that's you know,

1532
01:37:50,359 --> 01:37:56,159
if they're gonna go like big blockbuster
and dangle both Minnesota's pick and this year's

1533
01:37:56,239 --> 01:37:59,439
number two pick, Like it's not
just you're not getting back a player that

1534
01:37:59,560 --> 01:38:01,119
just fits to that trade exception.
Or even step laddering it. And so

1535
01:38:01,159 --> 01:38:04,600
that's where Andrew wiggins salary gets so
interesting. Like what if they want to

1536
01:38:04,640 --> 01:38:08,359
pull off a mega deals and want
to keep throwing out like they can try

1537
01:38:08,359 --> 01:38:13,159
and get Oladipo and Miles Turner from
Indiana because you just have those two ridiculously

1538
01:38:13,239 --> 01:38:15,680
high picks and you have the ability
to match money. But it's like Indiana

1539
01:38:15,760 --> 01:38:18,800
could probably talk themselves and like building
up Wiggins because they do that with every

1540
01:38:18,840 --> 01:38:21,720
single wing that they get, apparently. But at the same time, it's

1541
01:38:21,760 --> 01:38:27,439
like Andrew Wiggins is owed three years
and like ninety four million dollars I believe

1542
01:38:27,520 --> 01:38:29,680
is the number. I'll double check
that to make sure I'm not wrong,

1543
01:38:29,880 --> 01:38:33,479
but he's at three years and ninety
four point seven million. Yeah, I

1544
01:38:34,680 --> 01:38:41,720
don't it'd be really weird to take
Andrew Wiggins, because I really wonder like

1545
01:38:41,840 --> 01:38:45,520
if you could flip Wiggins again later
down the road. You know, he's

1546
01:38:45,560 --> 01:38:50,439
still only whatt like twenty five six, and so you're like eleven or something

1547
01:38:50,520 --> 01:38:57,720
that's obviously wrong exactly, but but
he's a known quantity, but he's going

1548
01:38:57,800 --> 01:39:02,600
to be entering what will be his
athletic prime, and so like I've seen

1549
01:39:02,760 --> 01:39:06,119
some very odd scenarios, right,
You've seen like, oh, like you

1550
01:39:06,239 --> 01:39:12,000
trade Blake to you know, Golden
State. I don't know how that would

1551
01:39:12,039 --> 01:39:14,520
work with Draymond, but like sure, like you know that that's how they

1552
01:39:14,560 --> 01:39:19,720
get another like all NBA player in
there. I would I would be interested

1553
01:39:19,800 --> 01:39:24,479
in taking on Wiggins, but like
it would come because of the money in

1554
01:39:24,560 --> 01:39:27,560
the years, it would come at
a very heavy price. It wouldn't necessarily

1555
01:39:27,640 --> 01:39:30,960
be this uh this number this year's
like number two pick, but like that

1556
01:39:30,079 --> 01:39:34,000
Minnesota first for sure. Uh yeah, I don't know if they would ever

1557
01:39:34,039 --> 01:39:36,720
be in a position where they'd offload
it like straight. I mean I would

1558
01:39:36,720 --> 01:39:40,319
agree from the Pistons perspective, if
you're eating that much, if it was

1559
01:39:40,359 --> 01:39:44,239
a straight cap space or something you
obviously need something like that, I would

1560
01:39:44,319 --> 01:39:46,439
rather the Minnesota pick. I think
that's actually the more valuable asset than the

1561
01:39:46,520 --> 01:39:50,119
number two pick. But I don't
even know what Golden State's like thinking in

1562
01:39:50,199 --> 01:39:53,880
that regard. So I think the
first two names for me, and then

1563
01:39:53,880 --> 01:39:56,439
I had Eric Gordon listed, but
you already talked about him. But I

1564
01:39:56,520 --> 01:39:58,560
agree with you. I think that's
what the Pistons should be looking to do

1565
01:39:58,600 --> 01:40:01,319
with their cap space. I'm just
curious to see how aggressively teams are looking

1566
01:40:01,359 --> 01:40:05,880
to dump contracts this summer. Yeah, and you know, with with the

1567
01:40:05,920 --> 01:40:11,399
global pandemic, with a lot of
teams, with a lot of owners who

1568
01:40:11,439 --> 01:40:15,800
are facing you know, various levels
of economic uncertainty. I do think there

1569
01:40:15,039 --> 01:40:20,159
there's like a big possibility that we
see some contracts dumped. And luckily Tom

1570
01:40:20,279 --> 01:40:24,560
Course's money is not in anything tangible. I think, yeah, he does,

1571
01:40:24,680 --> 01:40:30,680
like he's like a he does real
estate and some other like less uh

1572
01:40:30,119 --> 01:40:34,640
shady stuff that we don't we've actually
we've actually talked about on the site.

1573
01:40:36,079 --> 01:40:40,279
But but yeah, like he's not
hurting for money, right, Like he's

1574
01:40:40,319 --> 01:40:43,800
not in He's not in like you
know, physical locations in the way they're

1575
01:40:43,800 --> 01:40:46,720
like Tillman, Furtita or Herb Simon
are and so like, I don't think

1576
01:40:46,760 --> 01:40:49,319
Tom cors is gonna be hurting for
money anytime soon. They bought a G

1577
01:40:49,479 --> 01:40:54,520
League team like during all this,
so it's like, okay, yeah,

1578
01:40:54,600 --> 01:40:57,640
Tom Course is fine. Shout out
to the Suns, by the way,

1579
01:40:57,840 --> 01:41:01,560
definitely makes sense to sell your G
League team. So I think this is

1580
01:41:01,640 --> 01:41:04,640
the question that's probably just most interesting
to Pistons fends. Maybe they're tired of

1581
01:41:04,640 --> 01:41:09,279
it at this point. Who,
like, what is the ideal scenario for

1582
01:41:09,359 --> 01:41:13,720
the team at number seven? So
the ideal scenario for the team at number

1583
01:41:13,720 --> 01:41:17,039
seven is Killian Hayes. That's the
easy answer, but it's also the correct

1584
01:41:17,119 --> 01:41:21,239
answer. I think you're I know
he's been like a favorite of like the

1585
01:41:21,359 --> 01:41:27,079
Pistons Twitter, but I think you've
been pretty like thoroughly and aggressively driving his

1586
01:41:27,159 --> 01:41:30,159
bandwag. I get If I'm not
mistaken, that would be correct. Okay,

1587
01:41:30,600 --> 01:41:34,319
I've been I've been driving his bandwagon
since uh, you know, since

1588
01:41:34,439 --> 01:41:39,560
last season when he was playing for
Shelle. But like, you look at

1589
01:41:39,600 --> 01:41:45,960
a guy with his profile, a
six five left handed three levels score at

1590
01:41:46,000 --> 01:41:51,079
the point guard position, who is
also not who was also a good defender

1591
01:41:51,199 --> 01:41:56,560
with the potential to be like a
great team defender, who shot you know,

1592
01:41:56,680 --> 01:42:00,279
eighty nine percent from the line,
who also comes with like a prepackaged

1593
01:42:00,319 --> 01:42:03,800
elite level skill in his passing ability. Like, I don't understand why that

1594
01:42:03,840 --> 01:42:08,319
guy would drop to seven, especially
in this year's draft, but it looks

1595
01:42:08,359 --> 01:42:12,199
like he might, and so if
he's available, you should absolutely take him

1596
01:42:12,560 --> 01:42:17,119
right after Killy and Hayes. Things
get a little dicier. There is a

1597
01:42:17,239 --> 01:42:21,439
segment of Pistons fans that would,
you know, grab the sure thing and

1598
01:42:21,560 --> 01:42:27,720
like a a Anyeka, a Kongu
or an Obi Toppin, right, like

1599
01:42:27,800 --> 01:42:31,479
guys that you know are going to
be effective players at the NBA level,

1600
01:42:31,560 --> 01:42:36,960
probably not stars, but effective players. There's a segment of Pistons fans that

1601
01:42:38,000 --> 01:42:41,720
would really like to swing for a
home run. Right. These are the

1602
01:42:41,760 --> 01:42:47,920
guys who want like Patrick Williams out
of Florida State or Pokashevski, Alexei Pokashevski.

1603
01:42:48,159 --> 01:42:49,880
Right. I think that's how you
say is I'm going to trust you

1604
01:42:49,960 --> 01:42:54,079
because I'm only like I'll say,
shin deep in draft coverage at this point.

1605
01:42:54,199 --> 01:43:00,399
Right now, right, there's uh
and then Troy Weavers. That's something

1606
01:43:00,479 --> 01:43:04,319
interesting during his introductory press conference,
but obviously he was getting asked about,

1607
01:43:04,319 --> 01:43:08,960
like his draft philosophy since he's known
as like this uh, this master draft

1608
01:43:09,079 --> 01:43:15,720
from his time in OKAC. He
said, we draft, we draft people,

1609
01:43:15,039 --> 01:43:20,239
not players. So he's looking for, you know, good human beings.

1610
01:43:20,840 --> 01:43:26,039
And so when you look at like
excellent human beings like Tyrese Haliburton and

1611
01:43:26,119 --> 01:43:31,039
Isaaca Coral like those guys are like
just a one human beings. There's been

1612
01:43:31,520 --> 01:43:34,520
you can find. There's like a
report and there's a piece in the Athletic

1613
01:43:34,880 --> 01:43:39,960
about how like ty Haliburton could be
like the mayor, like the governor Wisconsin,

1614
01:43:40,399 --> 01:43:43,600
like if he wanted to be like
later in his career, very much

1615
01:43:43,640 --> 01:43:46,560
like a Malcolm Brondon type, not
necessarily like in on court skill, but

1616
01:43:46,680 --> 01:43:50,239
in justin like the way he handles
himself and the way he's like appreciated in

1617
01:43:50,279 --> 01:43:55,279
the locker room and the positive vibes
he brings to to wherever he's at.

1618
01:43:55,720 --> 01:44:00,920
And so there's there's a lot of
and I like I have heard from people

1619
01:44:00,000 --> 01:44:03,520
who would know things that the Pistons
like are looking very deeply like at a

1620
01:44:03,600 --> 01:44:06,800
Tyrese Haliburton, and so like you
know, there there are a lot of

1621
01:44:06,840 --> 01:44:11,800
picks. But Killian Hayes is the
guy who's always stood out to me.

1622
01:44:11,920 --> 01:44:15,039
But the Pistons will have a lot
of options at seven, you know,

1623
01:44:15,119 --> 01:44:17,479
they'd have more options if they were
at five like they were supposed to be.

1624
01:44:17,920 --> 01:44:20,800
But what it is, what it
is, right, Yeah, the

1625
01:44:21,079 --> 01:44:26,600
Killian Hayes from just what I've known
and the preliminary, very little research I've

1626
01:44:26,600 --> 01:44:30,279
done. His like shooting splits like
kind of scare the crap out of me,

1627
01:44:30,760 --> 01:44:32,479
just the based off. I know
he's you know, he's still young,

1628
01:44:32,720 --> 01:44:38,760
but like the like his three professional
seasons, like you know, shoots

1629
01:44:39,000 --> 01:44:42,079
barely doesn't shoot threes his first years
at nineteen point two percent in a second

1630
01:44:42,119 --> 01:44:45,560
and thirty nine percent in his third, which is certainly encouraging, but he

1631
01:44:45,640 --> 01:44:48,760
just still wasn't taking them at like
this huge clip. So I'm yeah,

1632
01:44:48,760 --> 01:44:50,960
I think it was it was actually
lower, right, Like the thirty nine

1633
01:44:51,079 --> 01:44:56,039
is from EuroLeague, right, that's
only which was only ten games. Yeah,

1634
01:44:56,119 --> 01:44:58,920
and so when he played in the
BBL, I think he shot like

1635
01:44:59,039 --> 01:45:03,399
a lower like in the twenty nine, like thirty one range. But the

1636
01:45:03,640 --> 01:45:09,039
splits are what's interesting with Killian.
He's a very good all off the dribble

1637
01:45:09,079 --> 01:45:12,560
shooter, which is the more valuable
skill. Obviously, it's like the most

1638
01:45:12,640 --> 01:45:15,279
I feel like the off the maybe
it's like three point specific, but the

1639
01:45:15,319 --> 01:45:18,279
off the dribble jumper feels like the
most important shot in the league right now,

1640
01:45:18,720 --> 01:45:21,119
especially for a point guard. Right, yeah, for sure, question,

1641
01:45:21,319 --> 01:45:27,079
Yeah, but he's a really terrible
catch and shoot three point shooter,

1642
01:45:27,439 --> 01:45:30,439
and like for a variety of reasons, right, like his rhythms all off,

1643
01:45:30,840 --> 01:45:34,640
he shoots off the hops, sometimes
he shoots off the one two.

1644
01:45:34,760 --> 01:45:40,680
Sometimes he doesn't like hold his follow
through all the way. Sometimes it's just

1645
01:45:40,800 --> 01:45:45,239
like it's it's it's things you know
that you know, with time and like

1646
01:45:45,359 --> 01:45:47,359
with a good shooting coach, like
you can improve upon. And so like

1647
01:45:47,520 --> 01:45:50,760
I am really bullish on him figuring
out like the catch and shoot thing.

1648
01:45:51,079 --> 01:45:55,359
But that's also that like a deal
breaker for me because I don't really want

1649
01:45:55,399 --> 01:45:57,920
my point guard taking a lot of
catch and shoot threes anyway. I want

1650
01:45:57,960 --> 01:46:00,600
my point guard like dribbling and attacking
and and doing all the things that Killing

1651
01:46:00,640 --> 01:46:03,600
Hayes is actually really good at.
And so like that's why that's why I'm

1652
01:46:03,640 --> 01:46:10,560
like less afraid of like what Killing
Hayes has to offer instead of like you

1653
01:46:10,640 --> 01:46:13,880
know, you know, you compare
him to Tyrese Halibert, and I do

1654
01:46:14,000 --> 01:46:15,640
that very often because those are the
two guys who are kind of like mocked

1655
01:46:15,840 --> 01:46:21,079
as like those the second and third
best like point guards available in this year's

1656
01:46:21,119 --> 01:46:25,600
draft. Haliburton was an extremely good
catch and shoot three point shooter for a

1657
01:46:25,640 --> 01:46:29,199
point guard, which is like again
like not as valuable and just like a

1658
01:46:29,239 --> 01:46:33,800
really poor off the dribble shooter in
general. For his career at Iowa State

1659
01:46:34,119 --> 01:46:38,520
and Haliburton, I think had like
a he was he was the point guard,

1660
01:46:38,560 --> 01:46:42,279
but he had like a sub twenty
or close to twenty usage rate on

1661
01:46:42,399 --> 01:46:44,760
the season and like he was like
I alway, stay, it's like only

1662
01:46:44,840 --> 01:46:49,520
good player and so like I'm I'm
very dubious of like how effective like he's

1663
01:46:49,560 --> 01:46:54,560
going to actually be at the NBA
level, especially for a team who needs

1664
01:46:55,039 --> 01:47:00,159
playmaking and ball handling like the like
the Pistons do. But you know,

1665
01:47:00,319 --> 01:47:03,319
like if he's an excellent if he's
an excellent like human being and an excellent

1666
01:47:03,439 --> 01:47:08,880
role player, maybe he helps facilitate
like you bringing in a non point guard

1667
01:47:08,960 --> 01:47:12,399
star and like that kick starts things. So you know, you don't know,

1668
01:47:12,680 --> 01:47:15,079
but yeah, I would go with
Killiana. I'm gonna do that a

1669
01:47:15,119 --> 01:47:18,079
bunch of this conversation. I'm gonna
say a bunch of nice things about people

1670
01:47:18,079 --> 01:47:21,760
in the new circle back to like
I would rather have Killian. Well,

1671
01:47:21,920 --> 01:47:25,079
so the final thing I have to
ask you, and I've already kept you

1672
01:47:25,159 --> 01:47:27,760
way longer than I thought I would, which is I feel like a repeat

1673
01:47:27,760 --> 01:47:31,279
phrase from me whenever I have a
guest on what's one thing something that's like

1674
01:47:31,359 --> 01:47:36,720
misinformed about this team, undercovered,
underappreciated, underrepresentative, or what's just something

1675
01:47:36,800 --> 01:47:40,199
you'd like to talk about that I
did not ask you that I should have

1676
01:47:40,199 --> 01:47:45,439
asked you. I think something that
like only people would like we hinted at

1677
01:47:45,479 --> 01:47:49,720
it a little bit earlier, but
something that I think only like people in

1678
01:47:49,760 --> 01:47:54,840
Detroit like really noticed and cared about
was the G League team, right,

1679
01:47:54,920 --> 01:47:58,800
Like I spent a lot of time
like watching the G League team this year

1680
01:47:59,079 --> 01:48:03,840
because of of uh Seku Dabuya's development
and how he spent the first part of

1681
01:48:03,840 --> 01:48:10,159
his year in Grand Rapids. I
grew enamored with the professional coaching staff and

1682
01:48:10,680 --> 01:48:13,520
uh like the way that they were
utilizing the talent that they were given.

1683
01:48:14,079 --> 01:48:16,680
The Pistons, you know, had
a couple of two way guys and Jordan

1684
01:48:16,760 --> 01:48:24,960
Bone and Lewis King that I think
deserve rotation shots next year. It's like

1685
01:48:25,079 --> 01:48:28,439
that's really intriguing and you have to
have give again, Donnie Tendall a lot

1686
01:48:28,479 --> 01:48:32,119
of credit for those guys' development and
h you know, like I said,

1687
01:48:32,199 --> 01:48:35,640
Tom Gores bought a G League team, right like the Pistons. G League

1688
01:48:35,640 --> 01:48:41,199
team is going to move to downtown
Detroit, just like the team in two

1689
01:48:41,239 --> 01:48:45,159
thy twenty one, twenty two.
There have There hasn't been any any delays

1690
01:48:45,239 --> 01:48:47,960
or anything on that front because of
COVID. I think they're still constructing the

1691
01:48:48,039 --> 01:48:55,920
brand new arena. It's a very
small arena downtown and and so the G

1692
01:48:56,079 --> 01:48:58,920
League team will no longer be in
Grand Rapids. I think that's really big

1693
01:48:59,000 --> 01:49:02,039
for development, especially a team that's
going to be you know, rebuilding,

1694
01:49:02,039 --> 01:49:06,359
as the Pistons are. It's really
easy for a guy, like for a

1695
01:49:06,439 --> 01:49:10,840
future guy like say Kudmboya to like, you know, practice with the with

1696
01:49:10,920 --> 01:49:15,800
the G League team then you know, right across the street essentially and like

1697
01:49:15,960 --> 01:49:19,920
dress for an NBA game or you
know, you get in multiple practices right

1698
01:49:20,000 --> 01:49:24,840
like you the NBA. The NBA
doesn't practices often. You're able to go

1699
01:49:24,960 --> 01:49:29,680
practice with the G League team and
work on your skills that way, and

1700
01:49:29,800 --> 01:49:33,960
so like, I think that's a
that's an underrated aspect of like what a

1701
01:49:34,319 --> 01:49:40,359
rebuilding team needs. I think it's
something that Dwayne Casey especially knows the value

1702
01:49:40,399 --> 01:49:45,920
of from the development success that that
is and continues to be Raptors nine oh

1703
01:49:45,039 --> 01:49:49,199
five, and so that's something that
I'm just kind of keeping my eye on,

1704
01:49:49,760 --> 01:49:53,079
like, uh, you know,
and having said all that, like

1705
01:49:54,279 --> 01:49:56,840
is there going to be a G
League season next year? Like, I

1706
01:49:56,920 --> 01:50:00,479
don't know. G League is a
loss leader for the NBA, right they

1707
01:50:00,359 --> 01:50:03,960
was like will the owners want to
pony up for something that doesn't want to

1708
01:50:04,119 --> 01:50:08,439
doesn't make them any money and then
nobody watches and that they can't even have

1709
01:50:09,279 --> 01:50:13,800
fans and arenas for Like I don't
know, but like it's something that vastly

1710
01:50:13,880 --> 01:50:16,520
improves the product, So like are
they going to do it? It remains

1711
01:50:16,560 --> 01:50:19,439
to be seen, But like,
yeah, the Gelie team I think is

1712
01:50:19,479 --> 01:50:23,880
as an underrated aspect of what this
Pistons franchise has going. Yeah, I

1713
01:50:23,920 --> 01:50:26,920
think the one thing you mentioned that
I just love is just being able to

1714
01:50:27,199 --> 01:50:29,840
you could play in the league games
and then just just be like go to

1715
01:50:29,960 --> 01:50:31,640
practice with the ProTeam or just be
back with them. And like the Nets

1716
01:50:32,000 --> 01:50:35,319
have done that with like some of
their higher like they haven't had these like

1717
01:50:35,439 --> 01:50:38,640
higher profile young guys, but they've
done it with a lot of their younger

1718
01:50:38,680 --> 01:50:42,520
guys. But like that was like
a normal for like Nicholas Claxton to do

1719
01:50:42,640 --> 01:50:45,880
that or even like a clue Roots
or Mussa did that as well, and

1720
01:50:45,960 --> 01:50:48,960
so having that, look, having
the option is better than not having the

1721
01:50:49,039 --> 01:50:55,479
option Phoenix as well, I'm saying
exactly. Pistons fans were wondering if like

1722
01:50:55,600 --> 01:50:57,720
it's like, hey, we bought
the Gelie team, do we get Jalen

1723
01:50:57,760 --> 01:51:02,000
the queue. No, you do
not get jlen Leque. Sadly, the

1724
01:51:02,079 --> 01:51:04,720
G League is weird with stuff like
that, where you just have like players

1725
01:51:04,800 --> 01:51:08,439
that are but they're like playing with
other G League affiliates, but they're not

1726
01:51:08,800 --> 01:51:12,119
like members of those G League affiliates. That whole thing is it's less confusing

1727
01:51:12,199 --> 01:51:15,960
now because so many teams have G
League squads, but it's still like kind

1728
01:51:15,960 --> 01:51:19,000
of into the weeds stuff. Yeah, it's it remains amazing to me that

1729
01:51:19,119 --> 01:51:27,520
like teams don't value development as much
as you think they should, especially since

1730
01:51:27,640 --> 01:51:31,479
like the cost is so cheap,
right, Like they bought the G League

1731
01:51:31,520 --> 01:51:36,199
team for I think like like less
than ten million dollars, and so it

1732
01:51:36,359 --> 01:51:41,439
was like you could you could pay
the last year of Tony Snell Snell's deal

1733
01:51:41,960 --> 01:51:46,479
or you could have a GI league. That seems like a really easy decision

1734
01:51:46,600 --> 01:51:50,159
to me, right well, I
mean when you put it in those terms

1735
01:51:50,239 --> 01:51:56,520
like that's a no brainer. Yeah, well, last thank you so much

1736
01:51:56,560 --> 01:51:59,159
for this. For anyone who does
not already follow you on Twitter, they

1737
01:51:59,199 --> 01:52:02,680
need to remedy that immediately follow him
at last chance. That's at La z

1738
01:52:03,680 --> 01:52:09,399
h A n c E. He
is an editor for Detroit Bad Boys.

1739
01:52:09,479 --> 01:52:13,520
He is also the host of the
Pistons Versus Everybody podcast, a fellow Blueyer

1740
01:52:13,800 --> 01:52:18,159
podcasts. Follow that podcast on Twitter
at Pistons Versus Pod spelled exactly as it

1741
01:52:18,239 --> 01:52:21,720
sounds. Las. Thank you again
so much for giving me a bunch of

1742
01:52:21,880 --> 01:52:25,880
your time and rest assured, whether
you like it or not, I will

1743
01:52:25,920 --> 01:52:29,439
be pestering you again down the line. No, Dan, I would be

1744
01:52:29,520 --> 01:52:32,439
happy to have you pestered me down
down the line. Sometime. You are

1745
01:52:32,600 --> 01:52:36,479
taking me away from the fact that
you know the Aces are losing terribly right

1746
01:52:36,520 --> 01:52:40,399
now, so I appreciate it.
Anything I could do to help. I

1747
01:52:40,439 --> 01:52:46,640
will talk to you soon. Thanks
again, Thanks Dan, Sugar, Ray,

1748
01:52:46,760 --> 01:52:53,359
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1750
01:52:58,600 --> 01:53:02,560
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