Driving to the Basket: A Detroit Pistons Podcast - Episode 113: 2021-2022 Seasons in Review - Hamidou Diallo, Saben Lee, and Kelly Olynyk

Episode Date: August 17, 2022

This episode reviews the 2021-2022 seasons of Hamidou Diallo, Saben Lee, and Kelly Olynyk. Next two weeks: Isaiah Stewart and Cade Cunningham.

Welcome back, everybody. You're listening to Drive into the Basket, part of the Basketball Podcast Network. I am Mike, your host for today. Back at you with another set, actually, of player retrospectives from the 21, 2020 season. Another solo episode. I planned for it to be the last, hopefully for a long time. I think it's a lot more enjoyable to record with somebody else. Have it be a conversation.

And so I would imagine that you, the listeners, probably enjoy that format more, too, though. who knows, I could be wrong. I hope, I suppose, that you enjoy both formats equally. These are the last three before we get to first Isaiah Stewart and then finally Kate Cunningham. We're going to be talking about Kelly Olinick, Saban Lee, and my boy, Hamadudiala. And I'm not going to go too deep into the stats with these guys

like we did with Killian, with Marvin Bagley, with Sadiq, because they're kind of simpler players. There's a lot less to say in terms of what they did well at, what they didn't do so well at. So these are going to be more qualitative, which I think is fitting for Kelly, for Sabin and for Hamadu. So,

and as I mentioned, I think I'm going to limit this series to players who are going to be with the Pistons next season. I don't really feel too inclined to talk about guys who were on the team last year. With all respect to Jeremy Grant, the guys who were on the team last year,

but won't be on it next year. Though, in retrospect, maybe I'll do an episode on Jeremy at the end. Maybe he deserves that. And I realize in saying this that we've also got another guy as a couple weeks ago, I think, who was on the roster last season, and is going to be on the next season. That's Rodney Magruder. And I suppose also there's Braxton Key.

No, he's on a two-way. So let's kick it off with Sabin we, a little arbitrary, perhaps. Sabin, who may or may not be on the roster come the start of next season. Only two years in, still has a struggle. G-Leaks star, absolutely, but struggled at the NBA level, which I think was pretty predictable. And struggling his rookie season two, he had four big games, I think, where he scored 20-ish points. And I think it's a little bit harder to perceive a player's struggles when he's like the second or third string point guard on a really bad team. And the Pistons were, and this was absolutely for the best, a really bad team in his rookie season.

And also really bad in his sophomore season. That didn't play into how much he himself struggled. That was because of Sabin's own deficiencies. So let's go over first. Why did Saban do so well in the G-League and struggle so much in the NBA? In the first place, and this is just the necessary point of comparison between the G-League and the NBA, it has to be noted that the NBA is a drastically better league than the G-League. I mean, the G-League has some, like if you're talking in the context of the overall population,

I mean, the G-League has some incredible basketball players. In the context of the quality of players in the NBA, the G-League is far behind. I mean, these guys in the G-League are great basketball players who would stomp all over just about any of the game. but the NBA is way harder. I mean, I go over it. I know I say this a lot, but if you're the worst player in the NBA, you stick in the NBA for like one or two seasons.

I mean, you are an incredibly good basketball player, like incredibly good. You can say that guys in the NBA suck. It's more just that they suck in the context of an incredibly competitive league. So there's reason number one that the quality of the competition on both ends in the NBA is much higher. And reason number two is that the game is, played somewhat differently in the G-League.

I mean, the emphasis on defense there is nowhere near as much. Teams don't play opponents based on their weaknesses. Like Saban, for example, can't shoot. It's absolutely, he's made to suffer for that in the NBA. He was not in the G-League. So how does this play into Sabin in particular? So Sabin at the G-League level is able to just burn bad defenders and bad defenses who don't play him by sacking off of him.

He just burns them off the drive and scores at the rim. and that's how he gets his points. He started off fairly hot from three-point range last season in the G-League, but ultimately I think ended up at 26%. So he definitely struggled from there. But you know what? If you can just get those points by just burning guys, then more power to you.

But you can't do that in the NBA. I mean, NBA defenses rather will just absolutely exploit any non-shooter on the perimeter. They will make that player and his team. suffer for his inability to shoot. And then you look at some of the best players in the game like Janus. The fact that he can't shoot means that in the postseason, he needs to be surrounded by shooters. And he is.

And if his supporting cast should die and a couple guys, so shooting touch deserts them, then the bucks can be in trouble. That happened in 2019, for example, when Eric Bledsoe couldn't shoot. And so the bucks had three shooters in the four. And they were free to double team, Janus at all times. And I think I mentioned this was the Raptors. and they just had three long defenders to throw at him, and that made big problems for Janice.

Jimmy Butler gets away with it because he has good shooters around him, even if it's not for them. Bamatabio can sort of space the floor a little bit with his passing. That's hard to explain. Basically, Eric Spalester is a genius of a coach who can get around issues that basically nobody else can. But even then, I mean, you get out three shooters in the floor with them at all times, and these guys are just, of course, drastically better off the,

drive in in general than saving lee. So at the MDA level, he's going up against tremendously better defenders and defenses that will target his deficiencies. And those are big deficiencies. That's a really big deficiency. So can't shoot. Guys just sag off of him. And good luck to save him and driving into multiple coverage.

So that in the first place is going to, that accounts for his difficulty in the NBA versus his excellence in the G league. He was MVP runner-up in the G-League. It's worth noting that the G-League has had, I think, 20 MVPs in total. Chris Boucher may become the very first of all of those to actually make himself a long-term career in the NBA. So let's talk saving in the NBA. So as noted, can't shoot. Big deficiency means that he doesn't have access to three-point offense.

He's very high efficiency. It means that teams will sag off of him and make life more difficult for him and all of his teammates. Issue number two, he's not actually good off the drive in the NBA. T's doesn't have what you'd call functional NBA athleticism. I mean, the guy is a fantastic leaper in sort of combined situations, and T. he looks explosive, but he's not a functional leaper. At the NBA level, he scores him beneath the basket,

and his first step isn't enough really to burn the average decent defender in the NBA. Can do it in the G League, but not in the NBA. So what you have is a guy who kind of like Tyrese Maxy scores beneath the basket, but he doesn't have like the fantastic quickness that allows Maxi to do that. And even Maxi is doing it with like six inches to spare. So basically Sabin doesn't really have much to offer at all as a score. And so then issue number three is that he's also not good as a facilitator. The guy does not have particularly good court vision. It's not that particular not a particularly good passer. It just doesn't have great acuity at all,

good acuity at all at the NBA level at running an offense. So those are a struggles. Are they going to go away? Who knows? The piston's going to be patient with him. Who knows, again? And it's possible that he's not on the roster come opening night. He saw him in the summer league in the first game, play with what he was, he became injured in the second game.

Ended up in a walking boot. In the first game, he was playing with something that seemed akin to desperation and forcing a lot of offense and just not doing well at all. And, you know, if you can't perform even in Summer League, then things aren't looking too great for you. But he just doesn't really have much of what it takes at this point or anything really. He's really lacking in what it takes to be an NBA player. So, a bad season. And so I don't even get to his stats before I started talking about how poor he is in the NBA. 39% from the field, 23.3% from 3.

2.9 assists against one turnover, 5.6 points per game, and really bad efficiency at a shade below 50%. So that's saving. Let's move on to Kelly. I'll save Hamidu for the last because I remain pretty bullish on Hamidu, sort of, I'll explain. So Kelly Olinick was the only significant free agent acquisition in 2021 free agency. And the Pistons sacrifice. a good interior defender and also sacrificed the opportunity at an athletic big at the backup center spot. And they did this to provide more spacing, especially for Cade, and also to provide a guy who could do some creation off the dribble, because Kelly can do that. Not much, but some. And also, by all accounts, Kelly, just exactly this sort of guy whom Troy Weaver looks for in terms of character, just a very

well-liked veteran presence. So Kelly, 19 minutes per game. 45% from the field, about 33.5% from three, four and a half rebounds, three assists, one and a half turnovers, nine points per game. So Kelly got injured pretty early in the season. I came back and then really struggled to find his stride and really underperformed in comparison to his career baseline. Like his efficiency was fine, but in terms of floor spacing, he didn't really do a great deal. On defense, of course, he was weak as usual. And if you put Kelly Olinick at center, you're kind of just courting difficulty on the defensive end is the guy doesn't have the greatest defensive IQ at the NBA level.

I could say at the NBA level, of course, we're talking about the NBA level. At any other level, Kelly Olinick's defensive IQ may be fine. Just at the NBA, of course, everything moves at lightning speed and you've got to be able to make, especially as the primary interior defender, you have to be able to make those reads and decisions on just a lightning speed basis. So does not really have that acuity. he doesn't have the greatest lateral mobility, and he's not particularly strong. He just gets easily bullied by the usual suspects in the post.

On offense, didn't really provide that spacing, but he did provide some creation off the dribble, and that was a good thing. It's just if you're giving the ball to Kelly Olinick, I mean, it's pretty much just given the ball and hope he does something good with it, not a black hole, but not the greatest guy to operate within the confines of an office, within, excuse me, the context of an offense. I wish I had more to say about Kelly. I mean, it's not a bad player. He's just a pretty average role player who didn't have a great season.

I'll lay that at the feet of injury. I'm sure just that his presence in the locker room was a helpful thing. I think that if he'd had just a fuller, healthier season, you probably would have seen him perform at a somewhat higher level. But there's only so much that Kelly Olinick is going to give you. He had that blip as a rocket in those last, 20, now I'm looking at the stats right now, 27 games where he took a lot of shots and sank them drastically above his career baseline.

The guy's a career 47.5% shooter from the field, 36.5% from 3. And in Houston in those 27 games of just taking a lot of shots and handling the ball a lot for a bad team that was trying to be as bad as possible. He shot 54.5% from the field and upwards of 39% from 3.0.5% from 3.4. also grabbed a lot more rebounds. That was primarily just for, as a result, rather, of playing a lot more minutes. But average 19 points per game, you know, for a 10 point per game career score.

That was a blip. And the Pistons weren't bringing him in to be a good player. The Pistons were bringing him in to be a player who could provide spacing from the five spot, which would be helpful to the young players, particularly Cade Cunningham. And again, also just to be a veteran. Now, bringing him in did have a substantial opportunity cost,

one that ultimately, depending on how you're want to look at it, helped or hurt the Pistons. It hurt them in terms of on-court performance. It helped them in terms of ending up high in terms of draft odds, which ultimately got them the fifth overall pick. So they could have replaced Kelly with an athletic big. And the fact that the Pistons did not have an athletic big last season was a little bit mind-boggling. That's a very, very rare thing to be without it. They did not have one until Marvin Bagley, which was in February. So about four months into the season. So what are you losing by not a lot of? having an athletic big, a guy who can run the role very well, a guy who can catch lobs,

that's a very helpful option to have on offense, a guy who can finish at a high percentage in the restricted area on offense created for him by others. We saw Marvin Begg would provide all these things. It's just a very, very nice thing to have in any lineup, and the Pistons being without it hurt, and ultimately Kelly didn't provide what they were hoping for, again, in part because he missed a little bit over half the season in part, because he just didn't really play super well. while he was there. So did he have a good season? No. Did it matter? No. What will his role be next season? I mean, that's a big question because this team now has a lot of guys at power forward and center. Between Olinic himself, Sadiq Bay, who will probably see minutes at the four, Isaiah Livers, whose

best position may be the four, Isaiah Stewart who might see some minutes at the four, Marvin Bagley, whom I think will primarily play at the four, though maybe he'll effectively play to five on offense if he's next to a center who can stretch the fours, or maybe Olinic. Well, actually, no. Because the center he's with has to be able to defend the interior. So that's not going to happen. So where's the one that going to find his minutes? He may just be a guy, I mean, assuming he recovers a shooting touch, whom, Dwayne Casey,

who just, we'll put it this way. Maybe a guy who just ends up finding his way into the starting lineup because the pistons are having such struggles with shooting the ball. And you hope that won't happen. But if it doesn't, I don't know where Kelly's really going to find his minutes. Is it possible that he's traded? I don't know, maybe. Like maybe the Pistons trade him for a player who is not very useful,

whom Kelly provides more than, and catch a couple of second round picks in the process. I'd be trying to do that. But if he's on the roster next season, it could end up being a depth player. I mean, Dwayne Casey does have a propensity for treating his veterans with a degree of deference. But I don't know if that's going to get Kelly into the starting lineup. Same thing with Corey Joseph, unless there are issues with shooting,

assuming he can keep up last season's performance. I think he's the third string point guard. I don't think he's going to see much of any time, unless, of course, also injuries at the point card position. So, yeah, that's it with Kelly Olinick. And I realize at this point that this episode may end up being a little bit short. So maybe we'll talk Rodney McGrooter, maybe we'll talk Braxton Key. So moving on to Hamid O'Diel.

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See, drafkings.com slash sportsbook for terms of resources. Gambling, call win or a gambler. Tennessee, call our text Tennessee breadline at 1,800-8-9-9-9. In New York, call 8778-H-E-N-Y. Or text H-O-P-E-N-Y at 4-6-7-3-6-9. One bet per new customer, minimum $5 deposit, and wager, $200 issued as $8-25-3-bets. Now everybody who's been listening to this show for a while and knows that I'm pretty high on Hamadu, conditionally high on Hamadu. I believe that if he can develop a three-point shot, Hamadu could be like the third best guy in a championship team.

I mean, the guy is an athletic freak. He's excellent at attacking the basket. And yeah, if you can just get that three-point shot together, then you've got a pretty darn good player. Anyway, as far as the stats, about 49.5% from the field, 25% from three, five rebounds, one and a half assists, one turnover, 11 points per year. game. So Hamidu, of course, had his best stretch of the season during the COVID done. He posted

three straight games, two of them against San Antonio, one of them against New York, which he scored 28, 31, and 34 points. One of them was that really feel good win against the Spurs on New Year's Day, which he scored 34, not on great efficiency, but he did it. He did do it on very good efficiency in the previous two games, definitely. And they grabbed a lot of rebounds in two of them, too. I mean, Hamadu's pretty underrated rebounder. He's a good leaper. He was in the starting lineup throughout much of the season after Jeremy Grant went out with injury against the Pelicans. In early December, Hamadu came in, Sadieq Bay moved to power forward. Hamadu played small forward, and he did all right when there were plays being called for him, which didn't really last very long.

It was mostly just during that COVID time. For the most part, Dwayne Casey, being able to say this. Like when the guys came back from COVID, he said, I'm going to stop calling place for Hamadu. I'm just going to ask him to find his scoring in an impromptu fashion. And, of course, Hamidu's numbers went down at that point. Although he still posted some respectable performances, by all means. Definitely an exciting player to watch.

I mean, High Flyer. He just loved watching him dunk. There was this one game against the Toronto Raptors, in which I believe he had five dunks, including one that was basically bet his head well above the rim. I mean, the guy's a fantastic athlete. He's a great weeper. He's got great acceleration. He's super strong. He led the league in steals between December 21st and when Jeremy Grant returned in mid-February, racked up 46 and 27 games. It does not do so by gambling, usually just does so by coming out of nowhere. It remains of being super quick and then using that massive wingspan of his to poke the ball loose without

following and after that, of course, he's off to the races and something exciting happens. Wouldn't say he's the greatest defender. I mean, he's got the athleticism, the lateral mobility, just the acceleration and the length to stick with just about anybody. It's his defensive instincts, which needs some work particularly off the ball. Can that be improved? I don't know. That's a question mark. I like to think that it can. It's hard to tell for the player his age, whether it's just a lack of seasoning, whether it's something that can be improved with coaching or just something that's there. Some guys at his age you know, Marvin Bagley, you know. unfortunately, at least in terms of his ability to be an interior defender. Do I think

comedy would be a good defender? I think that's unlikely. Can he be an average defender? I think that's within the realm of possibility. He's just got to be able to make his rotations more astutely and just avoid some other off-ball mistakes. On the ball, he's pretty strong. But the majority of defense is going to be off the ball. Now, there are of course where issues brought on by the fact that he can't shoot. He went over those with Sabin. Homadu doesn't really have the issue of being unable to get to the basket when defenders sag off of him. He can still do it pretty well, pretty darn well, in fact. Of course, he could be much better if they weren't sagging off of him.

But it also just presents issues for the offense as a whole. Having a defender's sag off of you makes life more difficult for everybody else. That defender can just go help on whoever is trying to drive into the interior. Also means that Hamadu, of course, doesn't have access to shooting threes, and threes are a very high percentage form of offense. Like average half-court efficiency in the NBA last season was about 0.9-6. points for possession. So a guy who can consistently shoot 33% is actually a decently, that's a decently efficient half-court shot, not nearly as good as you would like it to be.

But it's pretty hard to be efficient if you're not shooting threes or you're not a center. So big gap in his game, definitely. And it could easily be the difference, that three-point shot having it, like having a reliable three-point shot at like 36% or above. And being a bad shooter, could be the difference between Hamadu being a pretty darn good player and being a depth player. So let's talk, and I've just got to say it again because I love talking about this. Let's talk about what Homadu could be if he could shoot the basketball. If he could shoot it at like 36%, even like 38% be a consistent three-point shooter. But let's first give the proviso, you know, the disclaimer or other.

It is very, very unusual for a player who has had Hamadu's struggles from three in college in the NBA for four seasons. And from the free throw line, he become a good three-point shooter. I mean, it's not to say that it's impossible. It's just the odds are definitely against it. He's a 27.7% career three-point shooter, not on high volume, but still not a good three-point shooter. He's a 63.5% career free-throw shooter, 65% last year. Free throw shooting is not a faultless predictor of if a player can be a good three-point shooter, but being a bad free-thrus shooter is definitely not encouraging in that capacity.

But also just he has struggled consistently. His form, of course, isn't all that great. Can you fix the form? Sure. Can all the work in the world make guys make just any player who is a bad three-point shooter into a decent three-point shooter? No. I mean, you have players who are incredibly hard workers and can shoot threes in practice, shoot a ton of threes in practice and can sync them, but just can't get it done in a game.

And as a result, they're just outright spacing liabilities. So it's not impossible that he'll do it, but the odds, just in terms of past data on other players, trends, are not in his favor. Insert Hunger Games joke here. May the odds be ever in your favor, blah, blah, blah. So with all that said, what can Hamadu do if he is a good three-point shooter? And I'm sorry if you're hearing this again. I'm just very enthusiastic about it.

So if Hamadu is a good three-point shooter, number one can shoot threes. That's helpful. Again, just very high-efficiency form of offense. number two can't be sagged off of, so that eliminates just an inherent cost of putting him on the floor. Number three would have a much easier time of getting into the basket because defenders would need to cover him decently closely. And defenders covering you decently closely, you have a much easier time of getting past him than if he is sagging all of you. And Hamadu is already quite good to get into the rim. If you make it that much easier on him, you know, fantastic.

Number four, if you're forced to close on on Hamadu Dielo, then you're done. I mean, if he can shoot three is reliably well, then you have to close out on him. And if he close out on him, he's going to blow past you. And he's so explosive that the help might not even get there. You know, he might just get to the room before anybody arrives. And if help does arrive, he's not a good passer, but he's definitely capable of making a decent pass in that situation. And number five, just in general, you've got a highly athletic player who's excellent at attacking the basket and can shoot threes. I mean, great.

There's a guy who can average high teens and points in close. create a lot of offense. Now, my dream scenario, do I think this is likely, no? It's possible, but this is just my absolute fantasy scenario, is how many who learns to shoot threes, go into the weight room, have him put on like 10 pounds of muscle. It's not impossible. I mean, the guy is well-built as it is, yet is sort of slim, definitely has space to add to that frame. And bam, you know, he's only 6'4, but he's super long. And, you know, there are definitely small forwards out there who are only about 6'5, and cool, you've got your small forward to the future, who moves Sadiq Beta Power forward.

Hopefully you have Jaylen Duren, who's able to rebound a lot of balls and just serve as your athletic big. And you've got Jaden Avi at Shooting Guard and Kate Cunningham of Point Guard running the offense. And you've got two great athletes in Ivy and Diallo and a pretty darn good athlete in J. Win Duren. And I will say, I know that their references made to J. Winduron's athleticism as elite. I think he's a pretty good athlete. I mean, quite good athlete by NBA standards.

I wouldn't call him elite. he's a guy who does a lot of his scoring above the basket through length, this catch radius, rather than explosive weaving. I mean, he's definitely got the tools to do the job as far as catching lobs, being a strong role man in terms of being able to catch the ball over defenders, and in terms of just being able to finish above the basket, both on lobs and around the net. But wouldn't necessarily calm a lead, but still quite good. So that's pretty darn athletic lineup. And you've got ideally three guys who can effectively create all. offense. Maybe Sadiq Bay, if his ability to create comes along. You can listen to my episode

two weeks ago about my opinions on Bay's future as a creator. And sweet, you know, you've got a strong offensive lineup and hopefully Hamadu's defense comes along. Hopefully Ivy's a somewhat decent defender. I mean, I think Bay is a plus defender. Kate's a pretty good defender. And Duren has very, in my opinion, very high defensive potential. So can you win a championship of that starting lineup. I mean, if all goes well, maybe, is it a fantasy? Yes. Absolutely a fantasy.

I'm not going to leave that without proper qualification. So next season, I'd say a very important one for Hamidu, both in terms of seeing what he's going to be, since just like I said with Sadiq, I mean, you've got Hamadu reaching his age 24 season who have been in the NBA for four seasons. And as far as his future with Pistons, there would be looking for something good out of him.

Maybe they'll keep him anyway, like in a cheap contract. If he doesn't pan out, and it's like, okay, we'll pay you like $2 or $3 million a year. He'll be a depth player for now. And we'll just hope that you come along, or maybe they'll cut ties. But just in terms of his future, just in terms of what you can say or just what it's going to tell us about what he could be in the NBA. I think this is going to be a formative season. And I hope that he's just spending the entire time working with a shooting coach and shooting threes, because that's what he needs. that is the difference between him being a possibly pretty darn good NBA score

and a guy who would be very unlikely to see any sort of significant minutes on a real contender because if you can't shoot your perimeter player, that's a problem. It's a problem in the regular season, but it's a much bigger problem in the postseason. And again, it is a problem on the regular season. So it's not a butt. It's a problem in the regular season, and it's an even bigger problem in the postseason. Now, my hopes of last season, you know, from the last offseason, the 2021 off season, and that Hamadu would just spend the entire season shooting.

He clearly did not, which was a little bit discouraging, because he came in and just did not look good. And he got up to speed in terms of his, you know, he did better in terms of his effectiveness. But last season, he still couldn't shoot. And his performance on the whole was probably not, it wasn't the degree of development that the front office was probably hoping for. So hoping for big things for Amadu next season could be his last season with the Pistons

if he doesn't improve as a perimeter shooter. And if he doesn't improve as a perimeter shooter, he could have a very long future with the Pistons. There's also a good thing of, well, the next season is his last minute contract with the Pistons. Like, let's say he does well. And you want to resign him, then, you know, who knows, maybe you give him a risky, but not particularly lucrative contract. Like, I don't know, maybe like $14 million a year or for a few years.

That would depend upon. Of course, his desire to bet on himself or not bet on himself. But I'm getting way, way ahead of myself at this point. So that's Tommy. probably not thought of by many as an X-factor, but I'd say he could make a substantial difference to the future of this team if he can get it together. So let's talk finally about Rodney McGruder and Braxton Key.

So Rodney McGruder did not see much time in his first season with the Pistons. Was signed to a veteran minimum deal, came back, did not see much time in his second go-around with the Pistons. I mean, more than you would think, he did play 51 games, average 15 minutes per game. Yeah, in terms of splits,

43.5% from the field, about 40% from 3. About two rebounds, one assist, one half a turnover, five and a half points. And really found his way into the lineup in mid-January and largely stayed there. He had some games in which he played very few minutes, but also, of course, traded to Denver in the bowl-ball trade, which was ultimately aborted. He actually sued, actually, I don't know if he suited up, but he was officially with the Nuggets for one game. And the trade got voided. By all accounts, his teammates were very happy to have him back. McGruder is largely around or was largely around the last two seasons, or certainly last season, because of his veteran presence and also to provide some shooting. But by all accounts, he is an absolute professional, really

liked by his teammates. And of course, he was signed to a one-year veteran minimum deal in recent weeks. So he'll be back next season. What does he provide? Yeah, I just said it. The absolute veteran presence. and then some shooting. I mean, the guy's a legitimately good three-point shooter. Now, that's what he is at this stage of his career. So he's basically just there to play whatever minutes are needed. Next season, well, you see many minutes. I mean, the team is deeper than it has been in the last two seasons.

I would say that just like with Kojo and Lennox, Kojo being Corey Joseph, I'd say that he only sees time in case of injuries or the Pistons really struggling shooting the ball or probably both. But I personally was not surprised to see Rodney come back. And I guess I'm a little bit glad that he's back with the team. He's the 15th man in terms of standard NBA contracts. He provides, by all accounts, a great veteran presence.

And he can shoot the ball if necessary. And finally, we move on to Braxton Key, who remains on a two-way contract. Last season, about 46% from the field for the Pistons, 30% from 3, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, about 1, actually exactly 1 turnover, 8.5 points per game, 21 minutes, only played 9 games. He didn't join the Pistons until late March and Stemm was pretty much just present for that last stage in which the Pistons rather were trying to lose games. So what's Braxton Key?

Basically, Braxton Key, if you can get it together as a shooter, it's just an NBA depth rotation player who may be able to play some minutes in the postseason. It's probably your 10th man type. There is nothing special about him. He is tall enough. I mean, he's got good size. He's got decent wingspan.

he's fairly strong. He's decently athletic. He's a decent defender. He's not going to create any offense, but he's okay in terms of just, you know, cutting and just taking advantage of open lanes and sort of at scoring and transition. Like if you can get it together as a three-point shooter, then you've just got like a somewhat okay NBA rotation player on your hands, probably for very cheap, and that's a valuable thing.

As I mentioned, he is on a two-way deal. Those who are less familiar with what a two-way contract entails means the player, well, first, teams are allowed to carry two of them. The player does not count against the cap. I can play a maximum of 50 games with his team in any given season. Player is not eligible for the postseason. And the player can be cut at any time with no financial penalty to the team. So come up in any night, Braxton Key may not be even on the roster

if the pistons feel like they have a better option available in which to use that two-way slot. I doubt Buddy Beheim will be on the team. there either, but who knows. So will Braxton Keywood with the team next season? Absolutely no way of knowing. And we shall see. So that, folks, will be it for today's episode. Next one will be Isaiah Stewart. As always, want to thank you for listening. Catch you next time.