Driving to the Basket: A Detroit Pistons Podcast - Episode 133: The Trade Deadline & the Rest of the Season (with Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press & The Pistons Pulse)

Episode Date: February 6, 2023

This episode, with guest Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press and the Pistons Pulse, talks the upcoming trade deadline, the offseason, and how to find some enjoyment in the remainder of the season.

Everybody listening to Drive into the Basket, part of the basketball podcast network. I am Mike, your host, with my guest today, Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press and the Pistons Pulse. Of course, you have another half of that show being frequent guest on here also. It's Bryce Simon. Omari, always a pleasure to have you on the show. Always great to be out here, Mike. Thank you. All right.

So let's dive right into it. We got the trade deadline coming up just a few days away. That'd be next Thursday. Definitely a big topic of conversation amongst Pistons fans. You know, what are we going to do? who's going to go. The Pistons trying to keep talent for next year. And I'm really excited to see how it goes.

That's why I'm actually going to be posting this episode on Monday instead of Wednesday because I'm completely obsolete 24 hours later otherwise. So maybe this is a little bit too broad of a question. But I suppose, you know, what are you hearing? What do you think if you had to make some predictions as to what's going to happen on, I hope to find out when the bell rings on Thursday, what would those be? My prediction is that Alec Bergson and Boyan Bogdanovick will both be here. on Friday. And I think those are the two players who have gotten the most

interest around the league, which makes sense when you look at their numbers. They're both having the most efficient seasons of their career. And they're also, you know, like Alec Berks is 30 or 31, going out 33. So there are two of the only real adults in the Trace locker room as well. You know, so I think for those two reasons, the Pistons are, you know, thinking maybe we should hang on to these guys. You know, maybe if we're going to make a leap next season. We need some veterans who can really put the ball in the hoop. And I think it really just boils down to that. So they'll continue to take calls through Thursday. And, you know, I don't think they received a promise or anything that they won't be dope. But I would be very,

very surprised if they're moved, I think that they're both going to be here through the offseason at least. With that said, I wouldn't be shocked if like some sort of smaller deal took place. like I know Dernard's Noel you know, the business I've been, you know, to use a phrase and kind of keeping the shrink wrap on them. And, you know, he does not have a feature on this team,

obviously to the same extent that those two guys do. Especially when you just look at their big man rotation with Bagley and Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. They just, you know, Nairlands has been an emergency option this season. So it wouldn't shock me to see him moved at all. But all in all,

I don't expect this to be like a basketball. trade deadline for the pincolns, I think, unless they receive just like a no-brainer we have to do this offer, we will see this roster mostly intact on Friday. Yeah, I mean, you don't foresee a trade. Like, the Knicks could definitely use some help. We could trade them, New Orleans, Noel, and Alex Burks, you know, get our pickback. I'm just joking. Yeah, that, yeah, I was, I was pretty happy with the trade at the time.

You know, sure, it's a salary dump to a team that, you know, it certainly had the cap space to absorb it, Norlin's Noel being kind of like a decent, a decent. Jalen Dern insurance policy and Alec Berks being an elite shooter, you know, and I think it was only one second round pick the Pistons got at the time. But, yeah, that's definitely worked out. Yeah, Nerlands, I just have to ask because I'm not sure. I never really understood about this. Why do you figure Dwayne Casey, even during times when the Pistons have been short or

two has been so hesitant to play Nerlands? You know, I will say that when the Pistons first acquired Nerlin's last year, you know, just from talking to people who would know, you know, I think the idea from coming to the season was always being more of the emergency option. You know, so I think some of that could just be the Pistas wanting that opportunity for Duren to be there. You have games like last night, you know, where it makes sense for Dernens to play, right? like Duren had three files at the beginning of the second quarter. And it kind of makes sense for him to come down.

And he doesn't, you know, to me it's probably just not up here, Duane decision and, you know, probably just leave it there. But, you know, I think that, you know, the goal for Nerlans, you know, from the start has been pretty different from the rest of the players on their roster. Yeah, that makes sense, definitely. What would you, in your opinion, what would it take at this point to, for the Pistons to trade Alec Berks, to trade Boy, I'm Bogdanovich, you know, what kind of offer would they need to receive?

If you get a really good draft pick, and there's a lot of reporting about like the unprotected, but even with that, if it's like an unprotected from like the Lakers where it's like, you know, not saying they would say no to that, but I think they want like a good first, right? They don't want like a 28th pick, first round pick. You know, you want something that probably has a greater chance

to, you know, swing to rebuild in a favorable direction. You know, so I think, I think it starts there. they're looking at it as we have a guy who was averaging 21 points. His true shooting percentage is like around 63%. Like he's been one of the league's best shooters this season or just best

all around scores. We look at how efficiently he's been doing it. You know, especially on a team that does not have Cade, does not have a true second option. He's just having a really fantastic season. So I think for Detroit, they're like, if we get 85, even 85, 90% of this player back next season, he's on a team-friendly deal

approximately guaranteed in 2020, 24, 25 for 2 million. And we need to turn this rebuild around next season. Like, we need to get to the next stage of this. What else can we get from way on that would make, not make an elite next season worthwhile? And I think that's what they're measuring, right? Like, you know, if you get a pick that may not convey for, you know, two, three years or it may convey, but it's like a really low first

to maybe get a role player with that. If you're not getting a bogey with that pick, you know, and I don't think you couldn't expect to get a player of that caliber, you know, for pick outside of the lottery. And even then, I think what bogey's doing now is, you know, you look at any draft. You probably only have four guys maybe who play at the level of bogey's at now. It just really becomes, like from a value proposition that we want to be good, what makes this worthwhile.

So, you know, that's why I just don't think there's going to be a deal that makes enough sense for Detroit. Because just the upside of bringing bogey back next season or even just bringing him into the off season and, you know, the parity will still be there across the league. and you know that interest will still be high. You know, maybe there are trades you can make them that make more sense than what you're being offered now, whether it's for another player or a better pick, whatever it may be, you still have that flexibility.

So for them to come off of the potential but they can get later, now I think it would just have to be a really, really, really good draft pick. I just, you know, it's just tough to see a team giving up that type of capital. But they would have to be a really good first round pick, I think, to start having that conversation and artists with this runoffice. Yeah, definitely. I think it's always worth considering that, of course, not all first-round picks are created equal.

Yeah, wait first round. I mean, that's right on the border the second round. Yeah, your chances of even getting a good role player are not great. I recorded an episode earlier in the season in which, and this was, man, probably not too far into the season in which, you know, my opinion was that, even at the time, even when it was clear that the season was probably going nowhere. Cade had, I think, bowed out for the season at the time, that also it would have pretty much just be a nightmare for the offense if Boyon, if Boyon were to be dealt, just in a way that even with a team that was clearly headed back toward the top of the lottery and, you know, could use, you know,

any assets it could get. It's just that it would be probably a bad thing for the development of the youth to pluck Boyan out of the offense and see what happened. Yeah, what are your thoughts about that, even just for the remainder of the season, you know, the impact it might have if the Pissons were to just trade him away and not replace him with somebody comparable. Yeah, I mean, you see how bad they are now. So, you know, you remove their best player for the equation. Yeah, I mean, we're probably watching historically bad basketball at that point, honestly, unless Jaden Ivy makes a leap.

And he could. You know, he could. I think there's a lot of regard every year who just things really click for him, you know, with the trade deadline or all-star break. And, like, I'm trained younger a few years ago after the Edwards a couple years ago. like some guys just don't figure it out around February March. It could be Jada. You know, it could be. But yeah, I mean,

you trade Boyan and he's given you a very efficient 21 a night. And no one else in the roster could give you anything close to that. Yeah, you're probably not going to be in grape shape. So I think that would most certainly put them in the forefront for the would-be chase of nothing else. But, you know, I think as far as the actual basketball

on the floor, I mean, you're already losing now, and then you take him out, you know, it gets pretty bleat. So, yeah, I don't know if anybody really wants to watch that. A lot of people don't really want to watch that. So, you know, that would be a complete, you know, let's just move on from this season and go all in on building for the future move, I believe. Yeah. I mean, my concern that would have been for the other players in the team, like particularly

the developing youth. And, I mean, what impact is, like, we don't see. And I think a lot of people also don't consider this, you know, what it's like for, for players to be losing. We, but I mean, obviously not you, I mean, we, the fans, don't see. Yeah. Like, you know, what it's like for young players, especially to be losing game after game after game and not playing in a functional offense.

Like, I've got to think that that probably would not be ideal for development either. It's that, you know, of course, it's easier for guys to kind of find their footing when they are clearly defined roles and aren't being asked to do too much. I think a lot of this is just a function of rebuilding, honestly. You know, I think you, like you have guys like Boyant and Jeremy Grant and, you know, Alec Berks and Kelly Olinic to kind of raise the floor and, you know, give players who've been around and know what they're doing and just give the offense a little bit more function. You know, but of course, teams still with injuries, you know, case out this year.

So that really, you know, I think threw a lot of things out of whack just given all of Detroit's, you know, offensive and defensive game planning at that, you know, or at least most of it kind of revolved around Cade, and now he's gone. So everybody else just has to pick up the pieces and nobody else in the roster can really do everything that he does. So I think seven of this is just inherent to rebuilding. I think it's a luxury to be able to rebuild

and have a functioning offense on the floor. And usually when you do that, you're not talking about a 21 team. You're talking about a 30 or 35 one team, right? You know, I think those are the teams that, you know, can play with some level of consistency every night. Like you're talking about the Wizards, right? where you have Bradley Bill, you have Coosba, poor Zingas,

but the roster as a whole is just not quite good enough to be good. Like you're talking about that type of team where you're creating an environment for a player to drive in. Even though it doesn't always happen. So I guess for me personally, I think when you kind of go through like a full rebuild, like the pisses are going through now, you kind of side up for periods where what you're putting on the floor

is just not functionally at all. And that's just kind of how it goes. You know, I don't think that. you get to fully rebuild and have all the rows on the floor, you know, field properly or, you know, all the players on the roster having their proper workload.

Like typically a lot of stuff is going to be mismatched until you actually become a good team. And, you know, I think that they're bad just because that's what happens when you kind of go through this process. You know, they just don't have the talent floor to be an organized team every single night or even most nights. Oh, of course. Yeah. I'm just thinking that this would make it even worse.

You know, yeah. And I would make it worse, and I do think that the front office still wants to have, you know, players in the room who are not young, right, and can still see the big picture and can still show up and play every night. You know, I think the example to Alex Burks, like, especially him coming off the best for this team for most of the season and still being as good as he's been. So I'm kind of going off on, like, a tangent now, but I see a lot of debate about the young guys starting to come off to the bench, their confidence or everything. I'm just like, look, you know, if you're a professional in an NBA, you've got to figure it out. You know, Alec Berks has a complaint. I mean, he's 31. Like, you know, I'm sure,

he'd probably rather be playing for a good team, but he showed up to work and he's done his job and saw as Boyon. So just having those guys sitting that example on the floor every night. To me, I think that goes a long way, you know, for them to still be as good as they have in the circumstance that really has not been conducive to them playing their best basketball. Yeah, I mean, they have both really played some of their best basketball, absolutely, and well into the 30s and, you know, in the case of Boyon.

What is their importance also, you know, in the locker room for this, you know, very, very young team that man aside from the two of them in terms of veterans, it's basically, well, I mean, if you take New Orleans-N-O-L out of the equation, that's just Corey Joseph, who certainly rarely plays, and Rodney Magruder is the very same. So, you know, what's their importance in the locker room and just in terms of leadership of the team? Yeah, I mean, I think it's been really important just to have two pros who are not only playing extremely good basketball on the floor, but I've kind of just been those voices in the locker room, having the young players backs and, you know, just sort of giving them the lay of the land.

Like I think, I think Bogi, his game is pretty similar to what you eventually want Sadiq to be. Alec Berks, just the way he's able to draw files, like non-thrises, like, I mean, Isaiah Livers, like Ivy, like a lot of these guys have talked about just wanting to steal things out of his back, you know, because he, his back is pretty deep. You know, he has a lot of veteran tricks. So that's the stuff that doesn't really show up to be in the way. loss record, but an aggress game is, you know, just the value of that is really hard to

replace when you do have it. And the persons are lucky to be as bad as they are, but still have two guys who are playing extremely well. I can set that example on the floor and off it. Yeah, definitely. It's good to have. On the other hand, it is, you know, perhaps a little painful that the two top performers in the team right now are both veterans. Yeah, that said, like back to the trade deadline. I mean, I suppose it's probably a season in which we're looking, looking at, you know, maybe something kind of unexpected, small happening, you know, even if that, like, a couple of seasons ago, of course, it was Hamadur Dielo. I mean, you had the Corey Joseph trade as well. And then last year, Marvin Bagley, would you be surprised, really, if this were a trade deadline in which absolutely nothing happened from the piston side? No, I wouldn't be surprised at all. I think the front office is looking at it, like, anything we can do now, we can still do over the summer, and we can do it with cap space and with a lottery pick. and just have way more tools in the tool chest to kind of get this roster to where it needs to be.

So, I mean, that wouldn't shock me at all. Like, if I had to put money on it, I would say that this ends up being a very quiet deadline for them. All right. Fair enough. Yeah. I mean, I know everybody, probably a lot of people out there who would appreciate something exciting happen. But, you know, for what it's worth, I concur, I think, you know, I would be surprised of anything very significant happened as well.

So, you know, speaking about looking forward to next season, I talked about this actually for the entirety of my last episode. But we've talked about it a bit incidentally here, just in terms of what the Pistons are hoping to do next season. In terms of, you know, you keep Bligh on, you keep Alec Burks, you know, want to hopefully make a step in the direction of the postseason next season. I mean, just, you know, to preface this,

did the front office really, like, what were the goals for this season? Were there any goals beyond developments? I mean, did the front office say, you know, we'd like to be a respectable team with such and such record. It was pretty much just like we're going to go in, you know, with the talent we have and prioritize developments. And if, you know, whatever happens, happens. Yeah, I think they wanted to take a meaningful step forward

compared to Troy Weaver's first two seasons. You know, I think the bogey trade, which, I mean, on paper, like that's a no brainer, right? But, you know, to get him and then extend him to me was very much a, it's time to start crawling out of the basement and be, start to resemble a good team move. You have K, like you added Ivy and Duren, all your 2020 pigs were entering year three.

You have bogey and you have Alec Berks. I think that, like even if they weren't necessarily making this a playoff or bust season, they definitely expected to see some sort of progress for the first two years. Kate getting hurt, kind of tossed a lot of that out of the window, obviously, but I don't, you know, I don't think this is probably going to be a developmental season

to the extent that the first two years were. I think the bogey trade to be very much was a, let's start playing some actual basketball now, right? Like, you know, if we miss the playoffs, you know, that's fine. Like we're not saying that this has to be the season that we make the big leap. But I don't think they expected to be as bad as they are now going in. And, yeah, just Kate being hurt, just ruined a lot of what the expectation was going into the year. Absolutely.

I mean, if Cade had remained healthy, what do you think this season would look like right now? If you had to, you know, just if you had to daydream a little bit. You know, I think they would be closer to like what OKC and what Indiana have been this season. Like you look at their rosters and, you know, I would say those rosters are probably pretty comparable to what the Pipsis have now. You know, I don't know if Kate was going to be as good as Shea has been for OKC. Oh, it's been so good. You know, but I would say that bogey would probably very easily be OKC's second best player.

You know, like some people who make an argument for Josh Giddy and, you know, I'm not going to argue against that. But I got to look at OKC or I look at. look at Indiana where Halliburton, you know, is an all-star this year. Like, he just had a phenomenal season. Yeah. Look at how bad they were when Halliburton was out, you know, for most of January as well, which is they kind of played like the Pissons are playing, but how Hala Burton just his scoring is his overall organization transforms that team.

And I think the Pissons will probably be in that bracket, right? Not the Houston San Antonio bracket, but the, we're building something. And there's something clearly brewing here. and we probably still missed the playing tournament, but nobody wants to play us next season, right? Like, I think the business would have been in that tier of team, where you're probably drafting between, you know, 14 and 9 instead of, you know, being in prime position for Wundee.

That good, huh? Yeah, like, I really do think that they, like, Indiana is essentially having close to what the business could have been. Like, I don't know if I would have predicted, like, 500, like, they're playing at 500 place with Halliburton, but, like, you know, I think, 35 wins would have been realistic for this piston's team. If Cape Rehouty for sure.

Wow. That would be a huge leap, definitely. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and if you consider like, well, let me put it this way. What do you think the expectations are for next season? And do you think that there is any pressure? Like, we know that Tom Gores has, you know, after his first, I think it was nine years, basically, or eight and a half seasons in which he really denied the Pistons, the opportunity to rebuild.

And then seemed to finally, after the failure of the grip and trade, say, you know, okay, well, it's time to do something different and kind of step back. Do you think that there is any additional pressure now being kind of being put down from above that, you know, it's, you know, I really want this team to take a leave next season. Yeah, I think that this rebuild, as always, they've got a scene doing most of the dirty work as a three-year process. And, you know, I think they got an eye at 2023 as being an ideal time to, you know, crawl out of the basement and then, you know, begin to really.

compete every night. You know, I think whether Troy actually comes on and says next season, this playoff or bust remains to be seen, you know, and maybe they don't quite communicate that, just with it really being case second season next year, but miss the most of this season. But with the cap space, though, have adding a never lottery pick, you know, I'm sure at least one of their 2020 picks

will, you know, have signed an extension by then. And, like, to be at, like, at that point, I think you look at the roster, you know, Ivy and Durham, in a year or two, you look at the roster and you could say this is a team that should be more competitive every night. And like I would expect that, you know, the front office would want to see some

level of postseason contention next year, for sure. Because after three years, you want to see some signs that what you're building is something that could actually lead to winning. You know, if you go into the next season, then really, with 26, 27 games again. I think that's a clear sign of something with

really, really wrong. So, speaking of Capspace, like looking to this summer, And I'm sure you share this concern, being a long-time business man, is, you know, we saw it with Dumars. Obviously, Weaver is not Dumars. Dumars had his heaping, heaping enormous share of fault during really the latter half of this tenure with the pistons. But just because you have cap space doesn't necessarily mean that, you know, you should spend it, you know, if the guys aren't there to really spend it on. I feel like this is kind of like a weak free agent class. Like if you had to really, and I know, this really speaks, really says a lot about the current season that we're talking about free agency.

in the beginning of February. But, you know, if you had to look at this summer's free agency class, just in terms of how this team could improve, you know, what's really what's going to be a ton of cap space. I mean, who would you look at? I mean, I know the one name, ironically, that comes up. You know, I think would come up for any observer at first. It would be Jeremy Grant, you know, even assuming he could be prized away from Portland.

But is there anybody you see in that class you think would be a good option for the business going forward? Yeah, I mean, I think Jeremy Grant, I was going to start there. you know like of course reporters come out that he's been offered this extension from Portland and the max extension at that well you know actually not possible it was a

max but definitely a very healthy number for Jeremy Grant and he's kind of sitting on it and it's like what's going on there? I mean of course we know you know how close he and Troy Weaver are and that wouldn't surprise me at all so I think if you're just looking at guys who kind of fit with the business

need and you know players who you know like would come to Detroit. Like I think, yeah, like Jeremy Grant makes sense. You know, the pisses are never going to be a huge market in every strict of free agency, but to me that, like, that just makes sense. Like, he knows these guys.

Like, you know, he knows the system. He knows Troy. And the pisses, you know, sort of ironically do need, like, a big body wing who can shoot at a defend. You know, Jeremy Grant's having a really fantastic season. And if you could go into the next season with him, K. Royon, Bogdanovick, you know, you probably

feel pretty good about competing every night, right? like I think that roots your floor a good bit, you know, especially if you get a leap from one of Jaden Ivy or Jalen Duren. Like that's a pretty solid team. So, yeah, this is not the strongest free agency class, but, you know, I think if he does want certain shit your free agency and kind of leaves his extension hanging, then, you know, he's probably at the top of the list for a lot of teams. And I do expect the physics will be involved in that. Harrison Barris has some of the tree, you know, if I think for a lot of the same reasons as Jeremy Grant being a guy who can defend shoot. you know i think at this point jeremy grant's probably having a much better season than harrison bars sat in a while but he checks a lot of the same boxes right uh beyond that like this class is not really super impressive right i can kind of look at the top and it's just like yeah like you know like there's some guys here who makes sense but you know you're probably not like um not a lot of guys that you probably

want to cash in most of that 40 billion in cap space for uh like yeah like kairie probably would be a I'm restricted free agent, but I don't think the Pinsons are going to go after Kyrie, right? Oh, please no. So those are the types of guys I'll look at. Yes, some guys who will be, like, restrict to free agents, too, like Grant Williams. I mean, we know what he can do. We see him in the playoffs. He's obviously really good.

To be, the Pissons probably look at Grant Williams and say, you know what? We just extend Isaiah Stewart because he's going to give us a lot of what Grant Williams would give us, you know, in that contract. So, you know, I don't necessarily see that being as likely. But, yeah, I mean, you said Jeremy. Grant to me that's like the best option for betrayed and you know and we'll see if Jeremy Grant feels the same way. I mean it seemed like Jeremy had a left on very good terms to put it that way. Do you feel like, you know, knowing what you do about Jeremy and knowing what you do about

his time with the team and, you know, the manner in which in which you do part of the organization, that's, you know, they're still on good terms? Oh yeah. No, I think so. I think so. You know, Portland was, you know at the top of Jeremy Grins list or you know one of the teams at the top of this list last year and you know it just worked out with the business of able to do that deal and get you know the Calf Space back but no I don't think there's any I don't think there's any bad blood there you know stay MBA he's been traded before you know he'd been looking at a good situation in Portland you know playing with one of his good friends and they talked about his relationship with Damien Lillard so you know

I think he's in a good spot and I don't think he posed against the piss us for sending him there. Yeah, it would definitely be interesting to see Jeremy back in the team, though, especially. Yeah, yeah, you bring him on. You know, trade him to Portland for the pick that ultimately brings you, ultimately brings you Jaylen Duren, you know, plus cap down for Kemper Walker. And then Jeremy circles back. And of course, you know, all draft dependent. But I feel like even if the Pistons were to, you know, were to hit the lottery, so to speak, and then get to draft Victor and assuming he's not, you know, another one of these huge hypermobile bigs who misses his first season. I feel like even in that situation, you bring back Grant, maybe Blayon has a future

on the bench just because of, I don't know, just where his defense is in the starting line. Like, would you be surprised at, you know, in that sort of situation, if the Pistons were to draft, you know, where to get the, and whatever, I mean, we're talking like tiny, tiny chances here. I'm not even sure why I'm bringing this up, honestly, because the situation is so incredibly unlikely. Let's say you draft Victor and Jeremy Grant's interested in a reunion. And so you have the two of them on the team. You could see the Pistons just playing boy on us, kind of like a high usage guy off the bench. No, yeah. Absolutely could. I think he's a guy who would accept his role. And, you know, there's a lot of, like, once you get past the top two in this draft, like, it's almost straight

wings all the way down, you know, from like three through eight or nine or ten. And, you know, unless it's, it's skew. It's just hard to see the logic in the defense has taken a never young guard anyway. You know, so I think a lot of it just depends on how to summer. shakes out, but, you know, especially if they bring in Jeremy Grant, you know, at that point, like, I still think bogey, starting bogey is a good option just because you could, you know, saw them in at the three. There's probably, he's still probably going to be the best shooter in the roster deck season, you know, stuff to see the pitch his draft to somebody or finding somebody else in

free agency who's going to shoot it as well. But regardless, I think he would be accepting of his role. I think I just wonder for this team, is he so good offensively that you can really afford bringing him off the bench, especially with Kay back. And now he doesn't have to, like, handle the ball and playmate guys, but you kind of slot him into his more natural role as a catcher shoot guy who occasionally puts a ball on the floor as well. Yeah.

Yeah, and speaking of draft coverage, Omari's co-host in the Pistons Post is Bryce Simon Motor City Hoops on Twitter. Check him out. He's been back in the trenches since, goodness, I don't even remember one. I don't usually do my draft research until the end of, until, you know, middle end of February. I don't start until then, but Bryce has, a level of energy that I envy put it that way.

All right, so let's move on to our final segment here. But first, a quick word from the sponsor. NBA fans, it's time to bring the hoops action in the palm of your hand at a drafting sport and official sports betting partner in the NBA. This week, new customer can bet five dollars and with $200 in bonus bets instantly. Plus, for a limited time, all new and existing customers, you get at no split, same game parley every day. Go to the driving sportsbook app today.

Opt in and place the same game parley in any NBA game. If it doesn't hit, you get a bonus bet back. For example, if you're a Pistons fan, you can bet on the upcoming Rising Stars game. Download the app now and send up with code TBPN. New customers can bet $5 in the NBA and get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Only a drafting sports book and official sports spending partner with the NBA with code TBPN. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions applies is shown us for details. So this season obviously has not gone as hoped.

You know, Cabe was out early on. The Pistons have had a lot of struggles. There has not really been a ton to be excited about. We've got how many games left, at less than 30, I think, at this point, right? Yeah, I think we're like 29 or 28 at this point. Yeah, so it's been forgettable, to say the least. And I just want to talk a bit, I mean, how can, you know, pretty much everybody, all of us find ways to find joy and the remainder of what has been a completely broken season? I mean, we can definitely talk about, you know, how this isn't the worst season we've sat through.

Like, you know, we just, we were discussing this a little bit before the show. Like for me, in this, whatever, the fact that this isn't the worst, isn't necessarily necessarily necessarily. Ellis, but the worst for me was like, uh, was, was 2016, 2017. Like, I feel like things were still happening. I'll put it that way. This team is headed somewhere. Like in the middle, those middle Van Gundy years were horrible, like absolutely horrible for me because the team was most likely not headed anywhere. And things were very bad. 2016, 2017, the pissens come off that competitive sweep against the Cavs. Reddy Jackson gets hurt. Uh, he gets played anyways, like one of the worst players in the league. Drummond decides halfway through the season. He doesn't

want to play. Uh, he regresses hard. Marcus Morris becomes a chugger. Uh, Casey, just completely loses it. Tobias Harris is like the only guy from that, uh, from, from that cohort who actually improves van gunny does a terrible job as a coach. The Pistons barely missed the playoffs. And of course, go on that to go on to the off season to, uh, to pass on Donovan Mitchell. Um, but, uh, yeah, I guess, I guess what was, I'm sure this season hasn't been like super fun, uh, for you either. It just is somebody who really ex the business to watch. Um, you know, what, what was your, if you had to look back, I mean, what was your least favorite season?

That's a business fan. Yeah. Yeah, so just for a little context of me, for people we don't know, you know, I was born and raised in Detroit. And, you know, I was probably starting watching the Pistons when I was 10 years old. And, you know, definitely asked a Pistons fan from around there until maybe sort of the until then when I was in college. I graduated Michigan State in 2016, just because I wasn't watching as much.

I was starting to get into more of the professional side of my career. So that kind of changes your relationship watching all sports, honestly. Yeah, of course. It's like especially basketball. so I kind of died out. But I was saying when I was watching them as like a peer fan growing up, it would be that first season after Allen Iverson, when they won and they got Charlie Villanueva and Bing Gordon.

And this is before they start getting like the high lottery, well, I guess mid-high lottery pick. So this was before Greg Marrose, before Brandon Knight, before Archie Drummond. And you're watching Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villeneueva, Rodney Stucky, Austin Day. I was just thinking the days on top of my head, who else was on that team? Like Chris Wilcox, I think, was on that team.

And it was just probably the first time since I really started seriously watching basketball and I was watching like a truly bad team, at least the previous season. Like they won 39 games and like probably halfway through the year, you realized, oh, this is not, this is not working right. Like the average trade is not going to work out as far as I'm actually being good this season. Yeah. But they still made the playoffs and you still have, like to watch a superstar in Allen Iverson, different and it was still just like a unique season it wasn't bad it was unique but that season was bad

because it's you fully moved on to this new era and it's immediately clear that it's not going to be good and if that that season I would say that first josh bill season which i believe is 2013 14 it's like on one paper it's like okay they have gagmarrow they have rindley drum and it's probably it's going to work out and then you actually watch some of the play and it's like oh this is yeah like this is some of the worst basketball i've ever seen so A lot of bad seasons sort of in that area, but those two for me kind of stick out as the, this seems going nowhere and whatever the plan was went dramatically wrong seasons. And I think, you know, as a fan, those always feel especially bad.

Yeah, so you did not like the Pistons trotting out a starting lineup that had basically zero reliable shooters in 2013? I mean, yeah. Yeah, you know, that was like pre, like the pre-stuff Curry boom, but it was also still post, like, Mike D and Tony and whatnot. So we still kind of understood like, you need at least three shooters out there. You can't play three bigs together. So no, that doesn't work out at all.

No, I mean, even Brandon Jennings at that time was a very, very unreliable shooter. And KCP was a rookie, completely unknown quantity. And that five-man lineup still is one of the least efficient in the last 15 years in terms of true shooting, sub-50% true shooting for that starting lineup of Brandon Jennings, KCP, Josh Smith, Gregman, Rowan, Andre Drummond, yeah. And it's funny because in the modern NBA, like Josh Smith would actually be a pretty good five. You know, like he's like the perfect modern five. If you could just get him to take a few or three-quarters, just as like as mobile as he was defensively as a medicism.

Like he would be a great five in today's NBA, I think. But you know. Got to give him a brain, though, a better brain. Yeah. Yeah. A decade ago, you know, teams could still type themselves into play a play at the three. So I guess I just show us how much an NBA exchange because there's no way any GM would do that now if I'm getting fired. Oh, oh no, absolutely not. Yeah, so definitely unpleasant times in the past for the Pistons. So, you know, in your opinion, for the next 28, get 28, 29 games, you know, what joy is there to be taken out of the season?

You know, like how, what enjoyment can be found in the remainder of the season, which I'm sure to many fans is just looking like a slog. Like, I feel like, you know, you've got the obvious stuff. Like, you know, Jayland Duren's having a promising season. like jade and i just showing you know showing some improvement um but you know we call it but and it's likely to be a you know more of a lot of the same you know that kind of like a heavy dose of veteran scoring and still a lot of frustration of defense that's probably not really likely to improve all that much uh i guess i have absolutely nowhere no idea where i'm going in this conversation because i just listed a bunch of things that aren't really going to be enjoyable to watch you know yeah yeah i think if you're a fan um you have to watch purely

for just process and the basketball, right? Like, don't care about whether they win or lose, this and that, look at how guys are improving or not improving from game to game. You know, I think you've definitely seen a lot of improvement from Ivy and during the season, and that's probably been one of the only things this season that's just been an objective good is that they've gotten ample minutes, like especially during, it's probably gotten way more minutes than anybody could have reasonably guessed. No, yeah.

And along with that, like Ivy, I think in a lot of ways has been the player you expect, which is good because, you know, medicine is translated and, you know, just the brim pressure and some of the shot making as well. But he's been shooting in the mid-range pretty well. And he's actually made pretty good strikes as a point guard. And all of these things are things I could pay off for him pretty bigly down the road, you know, that he essentially has started every game he's played this season. He's getting like these really important reps. and you see it's starting to translate to actual school development for him.

So I think like Ivy and Duren, if nothing else this season, just watching them go out the rest of the year. You know, they'll both be in the first team rookie conversation, I think, deserved to be so. Unfortunately, Duren's going to have to go against Walker Kester, but, you know,

but they'll both get a lot of attention for both of those teams. Like, and even the other guys, right? Like, I think Killion Hayes, you know, turning into an NBA kind of a point guard has been, you know, this storyline this season. Like Isaiah Stewart, like I think

from a pure skill development standpoint, what he's doing as far as not only hitting threes, but you're showing you see that second level of him like finding open shooters driving to the rim. I would say that I probably be more impressed with this a little bit this isn't than any other player

because it's one thing for, like you can make the argument for killing. I guess for me the difference is that killing is doing things we do he could do. He's just doing them better. Isaiah Stewart is doing things that when he was drafted, like we did not know that he could do. because he didn't do any of the stuff in college or in high school.

And he's already pretty decent at doing it, right? Like he's not J-Mond Green with the ball. But again, he's looking to make those extra passes and reads. And now he can build on this offseason when he's just going into the gym and doing one-on-one drill work. Like, that's going to be things that he can now capitalize on and continue to build on. It's like that shot and that playmaking.

And that makes someone extremely valuable player, just given what he can already do on defense. Now you add in the shooting in the perimeter. game and like I mentioned Grant Williams earlier but you know you're going to get a lot of that here and he's going to be a valuable player so for me it is you know like as a beat writer you're always trying to weigh all these different you know things as far as what's trade deadline week I got a hit on this you know reporting the young guys like once we get to this point next week start transitioning to the draft a little bit more you know like I know a lot of fans

are just dumped the season and hey you know I don't work for the business not much episode people but they should watch you know if you you know spend time with your kids you know go enjoy a nice restaurant, play some video games. You know, you don't, like, by all means, if you don't enjoy watching bad basketball, don't watch bad basketball, like that's, I wouldn't expect you to do that. But if you are looking for things to watch, then to me, just the pure, it's good of the element aspect for the young guys is something that I think a lot of fans could still get some enjoyment from watching because it has been there.

Yeah. I guess, I mean, you mentioned, well, Isaiah Stewart, number one. And so we mentioned Isaiah, Stewart and like at like my opinions on Isaiah Stewart like a power forward like whatever I have certain questions about what his future in the NBA my NBA might be you know beyond role player and role player is fine uh I think like the impression that I've always gotten is that he's just like absolutely a fantastic character got to have on your team just in terms of tone setting in terms of leadership and whatnot you know what is you know really what is Isaiah like or on the locker room

on the court you know what impact you think he has just on his teammates just by his mentality alone No, I think you're sort of won the money when you talk about just his character and him being just a good guy to have in the locker room. You know, I would say in this season he's even stepped up in that regard. You know, I think there's sort of been a void with Cade being out because from day one last season, he came in and he immediately assumed that leadership row after tough losses. Locker room wasn't open. So I'm using them you got like two players after games. And after tough losses, he was usually him. He'll come out and, you know, explain what happened and, you know,

take fought for the team. Like he was really big, one accountability and really good at just being available to the media and managing the media. And he embraced that side of the job, which you really don't see for a lot of veterans, that alone, you know, for a 19-year-old rookie. Yeah. So there's sort of been a void. And, of course, in the locker room as well, Kate,

it was kind of like that voice and that organizer. So Isaiah Stewart's kind of stepped up And like he's the guy like in the locker room a lot Like he'll check with us and make sure like hey Do you need to talk? You need me to talk. Oh, you don't. All right, cool.

Or, you know, if you do, he always makes himself available. It doesn't matter like that you can smack by 40 points. Like he always does that. Just a good guy to talk to in general. But you've seen that growth from this season just as a leader. And kind of knowing his place on the team and how he can impact winning. You know, the pistons like he was drafted. and, you know, they have worked with him on the three ball and, you know, eventually transitioning to be able to play the four and five.

You know, since pretty early in his career, he hasn't complained. He's embraced all the road changes. Really is a team first guy. Oh, yeah. You know, I think that, you know, of all the 2020 picks, he's probably the guy to have the best chance of getting extended. And, you know, I was going to say that on the pissous post. But, you know, we're talking about Isaiah Stewart. So I kind of dropped him on here first. Oh, great. I'm honored.

Yeah. I'll make it up to Bryce. I'll make it up to Bryce, but something else who we'll record tomorrow. But yeah, but there's a lot, you know, I think that he's brought to the team this year. And he's really stepped up. Like, he's really stepped up. You know, I think the business, that was a lot of core guys, but he's definitely toward the top of the list of our core guys for this day. Yeah, definitely.

Stewart seems like a great dude. The guy basically do anything that's asked him and without complaint. All right. So one last topic, and this is a guy I talk about quite a bit and don't generally have very good things to say about. but I think, you know, you and I talked about this, I believe, when you're last on the show, that was, I think, around the beginning of the season. So, Duane Casey gets a lot of flack. Like, in my opinion, some deservant flack for how he operates on the court. You know, what's the value that he continues to provide in this very, what has been a season that really wasn't what the Pistons had hoped and a season that's been very frustrating for the fans.

Yeah, I think I think the skill development has still been there. this season. You know, I know there's a lot of frustration with fans as far as Killian, kind of stagnating his first two years, but he's made some meaningful strides forward. And for me, it stands out that, like, Killian, like, preseason in, like, the first eight, nine games this season, like, he couldn't shoot a rocket to the ocean, right? Like, he was just missing everything. Like, his confidence was clearly shaken. And I think on both teams, he probably just would have been benched, right? Like, you know, he's not performing. So it is what it is. And, you know,

the way he said, no, we're going to stick with him. We're going to let him figure it out, work through it. You know, just give him that, you know, the top. and the opportunity he needs to do it. And he did it. He turned it around and he's been an NBA category point guard, now for about two and a half months. So that to be is, I think it just speaks to just the way and sort of an innate understanding of, like, confidence

and just giving guys the opportunity to work through things. I know Kenny has since moved back to the bench, but like to be like, you look at his play, like, you know, I think on paper is fine to start Ivy and Bergson over him. Like I don't necessarily say that as an indictment on Killian. And I just think it's, you know, he figured it out. He can play. He can perform.

You know, so that's kind of moving back to the road probably being long term, right? But, like, to me, like, that is a win for the closer staff to come by Killian Hayes this season. You look at, like, Duren, too. Like, the opportunity for the young guys has been there this season, even with Moby and Alec Berks, Ivy to start every game this year.

During the start at the last 19 or 20 games, like, I think you look at the player development, the player opportunity aspect of him. That has consistently been good. I say a Stewart even. Like, you know, he's, about the bench and start it, but for him to become capable three-point shooter already. Like, there have been a lot of wins on that forefront.

So I'll say nothing else, I do think that the player development aspect has still been there for this coaching staff. You have the wins are not been. Yeah. Do you think he's also, you know, provide a value in terms of, you know, keeping the locker room together, keeping the players? It seems like reasonably happy throughout, you know, what's, I'm sure been a very, very difficult season for a lot of them?

I think so. You know, he's approached this entire rebutting process as. as, you know, like, the most important thing is just to build these players up and get them to where they need to go, right? You know, I think you look at the win last record and just that's what I think, you know, things are going horribly wrong. That, you know, I don't, you know, again, like, this is going to be the third state year. They went fewer than 25 games or fourth or fifth year. Actually, you know, it's been a while since they've cracked 30 wins even. Yeah.

Yeah. So that does get frustrating. But, you know, players are like, the skill of work has still been there. You see other teams sometimes like that frustration sense. Like Eric Gordon with Houston, like he just straight up tails of camera. There has been no improvement, right? The pistols haven't had that. You know, they haven't had, you know, players who seem like they're really disconsent

in their rows. Like for even, you know, Bowie and Alec Burgess, you know, to be for him to buy in and not get frustrated with their situation. Like, they see the big picture. So that's the front office is someone that's, you know, the coach too. So, you know, you saw players kind of bought into like the long-term plan, even though the season's gone. That's cute.

So we've seen that as well. Like I do think that's something that Dwayne Casey has had a hand in. All right. This has been Omari Sankofa for the Detroit Free Press and the Pist and Spouse podcast. Omari, once again, I want to thank you for coming on the show. Always a pleasure to have you. Hey, thanks for having me, ma'am. It was a pleasure to join.

Great. So as always, folks, want to thank you all for listening. Catch you in the next episode.