Driving to the Basket: A Detroit Pistons Podcast - Episode 18: Drafting for the Pistons, Part 3: Killian Hayes, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, and Cole Anthony

Episode Date: August 18, 2020

This episode, the third and final segment of a pre-draft lottery series on potential draftees for the Pistons, profiles Killian Hayes, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, and Cole Anthony.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, everybody. My name is Mike. I am here with Tommy. Welcome to another episode of Drive into the Basket. This will be the third and final part in our series on potential draftees for the Pistons. At the time of recording, the draft lottery is only, I believe, five days away. So we'll see fairly soon where the pistons will be picking in the draft. So hope for good things. So point guard, you know, we've gone over the importance of having a modern center. You know, what's really valuable at that position. We've talked to. about wings and just how essential that position is. Point guard really doesn't require much explanation. Point guard's going ideally to the guy who runs your offense. So these days, the position has changed quite a bit from what it used to be five, 10 years ago. It used to be guys. The point guards could be very ball dominant guys who are just handling the ball all the time. You still see Derek Rose fits that mold. That's an increasingly uncommon archetype, just because it's so valuable for guys to be able to play off the ball. And also, So offenses are just very, very fast-paced these days.

Like, for those of you who are watching in the days of the seven seconds or less sons, I think that was the name. They were revolutionary in terms of the pace of which they played. These days, they would be below average in pace. So things are just moving very quickly. Often that's on the back of prolific ball movement. And just having a group of guys in the courts who can all play off the ball, who can really play whatever role and not whatever. role, but who are for versatile, we'll put it that way. Also, you're seeing an increasing number

of really top-level players who have not reinvented themselves, but have added passing into their game, even if only as drive-and-kick players. Like you saw that definitely with Kauai last year, where he was able to rack up a goodly number of assists off the driving kick just because opponents really had to respect him. So we're going to go over four point guards today. The first will be Cole Anthony. Why don't you take it away, Tommy? Thanks. So Cole Anthony is the 6-3-190-pound point guard out of UNC. And you might be kind of wondering why bring him up. Because if you follow mock drafts, he's usually projected kind of outside the Pistons range. Like most mocks have him in about like 10 to 14. I have him sixth based on what I saw from him. And I think it's important to contextualize the stats with the film. And there's a lot to impact with Cole. So coming into the year, he was actually regarded as a top five or a top three pick in the draft. His game won.

He broke the UNC record for points in a debut with 34, and that was along with 11 rebounds. But that success was short-lived. And the question of who was to blame for UNC's 14 and 19 final record, it's a key part of understanding the discrepancy among draft analysts' rating of Cole Anthony. Like you mentioned a few weeks ago, we did talk about the importance of modern offense. in the episode where we discussed Christian Wood and some of the best big men in the draft.

And the key point of that episode was that spacing is just really, really important. And UNC did not have that this season. They didn't even have a lot of talent this year outside of Cole. So let me go talk about some of their issues. As a team, they shot just over 30% from three. And I think they allowed 33 or 36%. but besides Cole, they only had one good shooter in their starting lineup. It was Brandon Robertson who shot 36%.

So it probably was that they allowed 33%. But the rest of their guys, they just didn't need to be guarded hard from beyond the arc. Their starting center Baycott is just not a good player for Cole. He had no range. It wasn't all that athletic. So he wasn't really a lob threat in the half court. And that puts Cole in a really tough place because, you know, he's a very strong player and he can he can drive and take it to the hole.

But if the paint is clogged, they can really take that away from him. So San Vicenny of the athletic pulled other college coaches on Cole. And the reviews were mixed, but it became pretty obvious that Cole was the priority to stop. And since UNC didn't have much else to try and stop, Cole was that target. And one coach had this to say. He didn't play on a typical North Carolina squad. He didn't have the benefit of playing with a ton of shooting. Obviously, because of that, we could commit a lot of attention to Cole

because they just didn't have the normal offensive player power that they were used to having. And if that's not good enough for you, the head coach of the Tar Heels, Roy Williams even said that the 2019 team was, quote, the least gifted team I've ever coached in the time that I've been back here. And that's pretty solid criticism. So that was, of course, during a bad losing streak that the Tar Heels were experiencing while Cole was out. So all this is just to contextualize the numbers. Yeah, and definitely the numbers were not good.

You're talking, I believe 39% have actually got the stats right here. So yeah, you're talking 38% from the field, 35% from 3. which is, of course, promising, 75% from the line, which is, you know, which is pretty mediocre, but good enough. Definitely a guy who had a major workload at UNC, but pretty similar to how, to what Anthony Edwards had to deal with in Georgia, or at Georgia, rather. So I would say how I would summarize Cole Anthony. It's just, he's a decent athlete. He works hard. And he's got that, that ability to create offense for himself with his shot. So, and he really has to do that,

because he's pretty mediocre at reach in the basket. It doesn't help that he's pretty undersized at about six, one and a half and shoot, excuse me, barefoot, which now barefoot is the, is the gold standard for measuring height. At only about six, four and a half wingspan, he's not very long either. And his court vision just kind of, I think, really leaves a lot to be desired. It's definitely worth contextualizing his struggles overall. But I think, you know, in that just it was hard for him to score because the team around him was pretty bad. but I also think he just doesn't have much upside as a pass or poor core fission.

So, yeah, it's like you said, it's very, very unlikely that, you know, barring just like a major jump before the draft, which would be kind of strange, especially because, you know, NCAA basketball is over, has been over for some time, which is always the case when the NBA season ends. But, and the combine will not be, well, I'm hoping that. they can do good work at the combine, but they're not going to be able to put up, you know, put players in the floor together,

unless they just throw everybody in the combine into a bubble, which would be quite a feed. So what do you think about Cole's ceiling? Well, I don't think it's that low, because, like, you mentioned that you think he's not that, that he's mediocre, I think, at getting to the basket. I don't necessarily agree with that, because going back to the spacing issue,

he was taking some tough shots at the basket because Bacott and I can't remember their power forward, but he was not like a spacing power forward. So they always had two bigs in the lane. And every time Cole drove, and he was, you know, given the ball back when they couldn't get offense going, which was a lot. So he was just taking really, really tough shots. And I think that he would really benefit from NBA spacing because when he was playing at UNC, I mean, teams were forcing him to take really tough. threes, leaning threes, pull-up threes, because it was so difficult for his teammates to create for

him. So he had to create for himself. And like this college coach said, you just send your best guys at him. So getting to the hoop for him was pretty difficult in the half court because Beacon and Garrison Brooks. It was Garrison Brooks. They just couldn't pull defenders away from the hoop. So Cole ended up taking some really, really tough shots at the rim. And I think he honestly did pretty well. When you watch his film. It's really impressive, the stuff that he was hitting. It would be easy to expect his percentages to be worse, honestly. So yeah, like, I believe with NBA spacing, Cole could be a lot better. He's a very athletic three-level score, and he's capable of taking tough shots. Only issues with him, really, that I see is that from three, he's a bit streaky, but he can get

hot, and that's why he's like always going to be. He's going to be a threat. And he will draw coverage. He does take some tough floaters and mid-rames that I think he should try to cut back on. But at the same time, having that option in his bag makes him more dynamic. Yeah, it's definitely players like, of course, Steph Curry, but guys have come more recently on the scene in that respect. Damien Willard, who put a lot of work into taking longer shots prior to last season and indeed finished off at Oklahoma City with one shot shot with Paul George in his face. Trey Young, definitely, same sort of guy.

Guys you really have to cover well beyond the three-point line, that's a major asset. That said, a couple things I disagree with. I would say, I don't know if Cole can be called a very good athletes at the MBA level. At the NCAA level, sure, you know, he's an elite athlete there, but just the NBA is just an incredibly athletic league. We've just seen it get more and more athletic. So I would say his athleticism is okay. But, you know, much like Trey Young's athleticism is really nothing to phone home about. He's just an incredible shooter.

So, but also, you know, regardless of the circumstances under which Col Anthony was playing in college, he's just the defense, especially the rim, including the rim defense, he's going to face in the NBA are going to be that much more difficult. So I'm not sure of just having that proper spacing is really going to make him significantly better. So, but nonetheless, like we both said, it's probably fairly unlikely that the Pistons will select him, given up the fall, as they can fall, is ninth, I believe. Yep. And, yeah. So what do you see as a favorable NBA Cup? I like Kemble Walker with a little bit less passing.

That is one of his issues. Part of it, I think maybe is because, you know, he didn't have too many scoring options, but he did average. I think it was close to four assists, but almost as many. any turnovers, which that's not good. And you don't see, like, really good passing from him. I just think he's pretty good at penetrating. I think I really do believe that NBA spacing would really help him, though. So I guess that would just be something you'd have to see.

Hopefully, he goes to a situation where, if it's not the Pistons, you know, somewhere where he can excel in that regard, just having more options. What about his floor? What do you think could be the case on the other side of the equation? If he's not shooting well, I mean, he could be a bust. I think he does have probably the highest bus potential out of these guys, but it's kind of hard to really see what he is because he just, he had such a bad team around him at UNC this year.

Yeah, that's fair. I think the difference between him and say Edwards is that as far as I know Anthony's issue is not with shot selection, I'd say, I mean, I think it's not a stretch to say a less talented score than Anthony Edwards, less potential as a score. But I just look at this guy and sure he was dealt a bad hand, but he's not in a week. I would say he's probably not much better than above average

as an athlete at the NBA level. So I would say his absolute best. I wouldn't comp him to Kemper Walker. I'd comp him to Trey Young. This is extremely generous, extremely generous. Like Trey Young is a very good basketball player. I don't think he'll ever have the shooting for that. But the other one I like is Colin Sexton.

If his passing doesn't work out, I like the Colin Sexton comp. Just like that volume score with like not great boxing. Yeah, a terrible defense, though. If I remember correctly, I didn't pay as much attention to how well he did in this past season. I know in his rookie year, he'd scored not awfully, but in terms of his overall impact, he was terrible. But, you know, he picked it up in this last season to a degree, certainly. I feel like he's known for like intensity. Colin's excellent. I mean, that's always a good trait.

So, yeah, I would say if Cole Anthony can just become this excellent shooter from outside the three-point line that opens up a lot of options. But I think the fact, I don't think he can be a league guard in the NBA. I just don't think he has the core vision and the passing for that. So how do you think, what do you think is of his degree of applicability to the pistons? I mean, if you were drafting him in a vacuum, how would you say, you know, is this a good guy for the Pistons to select? I really liked him pretty much all year. Like, he was kind of one of my guys, and I guess I am higher on him than most,

and I am not sure if he'd be a great fit for the Pistons, especially starting a rebuild. He might really struggle early on because he is going to probably be, like, you're more ball-dominant guy. And if his passing's not there, that kind of puts the Pistons in a tough spot, because you don't want a guy who's not a great. passer to be handling all the time. But I mean, the Pistons do need a point guard. And if they do fall in the draft, I think he'd be a good option. Yeah. I've got to say, I would not want him on the Pistons.

I think if they do fall, even if he jumps as a result of his combine performance, which I don't think is super common, but I suppose it can happen. I would rather that they take. So here, I've said in the last two episodes, I've like a guy with a higher ceiling, and that's still the case. I don't want somebody with this much bus potential. And also, I just think that there are people who will be safer picks who also have a higher ceiling on the board before Cole Anthony. I don't want anybody necessarily who's playing center, unless it's maybe Wiseman.

I just think that there will be better options out there, even if they drop to eight or nine, a guy like Devin Basil, for example. Yeah, I like Wicel to, yep. So anyway, we'll move on from there to the next entry, who is Killian Hayes, French point guard Hayes is

going to be about 19 the start of next season 6.5, very dense 215 pounds. Not super dense, but he's very, he's quite strong. 6 foot 9 wingspan, so he's got very good size.

So you can sum him up as a potential lead guard. I guess that's got good size, solid basketball IQ and athleticism, good vision and passing, the ability to create offense a decent level. And also a good score on the paint, very strong at least at the Euro Cup level in France, and are reliable enough defender.

His main downsides, questionable ceiling. You never know if this guy's going to be more, better than solid at anything. And also just this absolutely, utterly bizarre bias toward his left hand. I mean, you want to say right-hand or left-hand dominant. I mean, this guy, in terms of left-hand dominance, is about as far to one end of the scale as you can possibly be. So I'm looking at his pros.

I just want over some of those. I mean, he's a guy who can do all around pretty well as a point guarder. You know, he can create the offense you're looking for. He's actually pretty good to get into the bad, getting into the paint. And when he gets there, he's got good touch around the basket. Of all these guys, he was the best at pull-up shooting, like, by far. That's definitely an asset. His three-point shooting, actually, he did pretty poorly throughout most of,

throughout the 20 games of his regular season. But then he went on to the Euro Cup. which is, sorry, what I said? Yeah, okay, anyway, whatever. So he went on to the Euro Cup, which is the qualifier for the Euro League. Euro League is the second best league in the world. That's where Donchich played. So there in a 10-game tournament, he shots 39% from three-point range on about four three-point

attempts per game, which is vastly higher volume than he'd ever attempted before. I think his pretty attempted during the regular season was about 2.5. So you've got a guy who can potentially score from the perimeter on pull-ups and in a paint who's got very solid court vision. He's a good passer. And definitely capable of playing as a lead guard. He's particularly good in the pick and roll. Again, just your cons, your main con that you look at is like this guy is ridiculously obsessed with his left hand. It just makes him super predictable.

And honestly, if you make him drive right, he will not go to his right hands. he'll pivot and try to pass with his left, sometimes on the backhand, and that makes him quite turnover prone, and it's like great on one side, and it's not really quite as good on the right side of the point on the right side of the court. So I think that's what you're looking at is a major weakness. And again, just that he may not be any better than solid in any aspect of his game. But I think he's got a, I think he's got a ceiling at the low end of the top 10, which is more than acceptable for picking the pistons. Yeah, absolutely. For me, I have him second, and it's weird to have him second for me because like just like everything you mentioned like he's got such a complete game

except for like his left hand dominance but it's weird to be not it's it's almost like his game is almost unremarkable there's just not too much flair to it he's just very solid and some people might appreciate that but my real like excitement with him is the vast improvement that he's shown just in the last couple years in the pre like last year in the french league he was shooting under 20% from three. And then, like you mentioned, he boosted that to 39%. And he's still only 18. And then on the offensive end, he's got this really nice stepback that I like. And that's one of the toughest shots in the league to make. And it's one of the most difficult to guard. And he's capable going strong with the rim, kicking out or finishing once he's there. He's just got a good,

solid, all-round game. He's got, it doesn't have a ton of moves. I think that would be like a key thing for him to focus on, like, improving and just diversifying his offensive. skill set and his handles and just his weapons. But yeah, no, he's got a lot of potential. I think the ringer has him number one. Yeah, I don't know if I take him number one. I know that he's well thought of just as an overall solid point guard. I mean, of course, if you're going with a typical, you know, a typical draft,

he'd probably be going, you know, 8th, 9 to 10th, I think in this draft he'll go probably top four. That, of course, depend upon the draft order. So if we're talking about MDA, MDA comps, I'd say his ceiling is probably Eric Bledso. So just in terms of his overall versatility, though Bledsoe has certainly suffered as a shooter at times, which is a problem. And then that's no sure thing for Hayes at this point, though I think it's looking good, particularly because he's just an excellent free-drow shooter, around 90%. And that's generally just a good sign for somebody developing and just developing a good jump shot in general or becoming a good shooter. And as we said, yeah, he performs pretty well from mid-range.

That pull-up is a very useful skill just in creating space and giving you a defender, just another thing to think about. So, yeah, but he's got that strong body. He's got a good wingspan. He's actually taller than bled-so. So again, you're looking at a guy who's maybe at the, maybe around 10th in terms of your overall ranking in point guards, and that's not star level by any means.

but it's solid enough. What do you see as his NBA comp? I still really like the DeAngelo Russell comp. I think that's the most common one. It's the left-hand guard, who's kind of got a pretty nice scoring package and not particularly explosive. I think it might be more of a problem for Killian

just because he is so left-hand dominant, and that makes him a little bit more predictable. So just again, emphasis on him developing his right, hand and he knows that like he did an interview with mike schmits of ESPN and he did talk about like he knows he needs to work on his right hand and uh considering like you mentioned he shot 90% on free throws two years ago he was shooting 67% that's another area where he like just made really incredible improvement 90% from free from the line is that's solid in any like any league that's fantastic yeah and the NBA to make you one of the best free throw shooters in the world

I mean, assuming proper volume. Right. And since he, I don't know what his attempts per game was, but he does have it. He is able to get to the rim. So I assume that that is something that he can make full use of. Yeah, it wasn't so great. Only two attempts per game. He was playing about 27 minutes.

So that's, you know, well, actually, yeah, yeah, he's not that great at that yet. So, yeah, I would say in terms of his floor, I think he can, I'd say his floor is probably back a point guard. I think he's a guy who's going to be able to make himself a career. I don't think he's going to be a bust. So if we're talking about applicability to the Pistons, I would say that, you know, if you're picking four or five or maybe even three, or some arguments could be made for two in this draft,

you can certainly do far worse. I doubt he'll ever be a star, but again, if he can reach that point of maybe like 10th best point card in the league, that's fine as long as you've got other really. high-level talents on the team. I just think he's solid. He's going to be very solid and be very, he'll be quite versatile,

provided he can fix that left-hand dominance. Yeah, what do you think about? I mean, I think you basically already said it. You'll draft him high if he's available. Yep, I have a number two. I feel like that is high, but I like how, I like how versatile he is,

and I think he has one of the better, like, all-round scoring packages, so I would take him second and be happy with that. All right, with that, let's move on to our third entrance. That is Tyrese Halliburton looking at a guy to 65, 175 to 180 pounds. Got a 6-7-and-a-half inch wingspan. Be about 21 at the start of the next season. So why don't you take it away, Tommy?

Yeah, so Halliburton's another guy. I feel like I'm higher on than most. I have him third on my board, and he's generally seen as like a 4-3-7. But I have seen him where, like, in some cases, people are really attracted to him as a team with a more established offense just because of his fit. Because Halliburton, I think he could fit just about anywhere. And he's an interesting case. He gets comped to Shea Gillis and Alexander a lot because physically they're very similar.

But their play styles, I don't like that comp really at all because their play styles are kind of almost opposites. Shea likes to drive and he has decent shooting mechanics, but he's so good at getting to the hoop despite his lack of size. is Halliburton, on the other hand, he plays skinny in the sense that he's very contact diverse. He's learned to play around it a bit, but he's a point guard, so you want him to have more levels of scoring. But at Iowa State, he averaged 50% on field goals and 42% from three, including 43% last year.

This was his sophomore season that was cut short due to, I think, a hairline fracture in his wrist. He was, I think he was going for a defensive stop and he hit the ground hard. So maybe that's something to keep in mind. But he's a great passer too. He averaged 6.5 assists against 2.8 turnovers. And these are all great numbers, especially when you consider his play style because like I mentioned, he's not that great at getting to the basket. And usually that makes a player a little bit more predictable. You can kind of play him a little bit more closely. But that wasn't really too much of an issue for him, at least not in NCAA offense.

Yeah. But going into his offense, his passing is really, really nice. He's got great cross-court vision when he drives, and he can make the tough pass and find the open man on the other side of the court. That can be especially helpful in a drive-and-kick offense, and that's what I want the Pistons to do,

because I think that's how you make the most of your talent, especially if you have a lot of floor spaces, you can drive, try to collapse the defense, and I think he would be a perfect fit in that type of offense. What do you think? Yeah, I would profile him as just a super versatile guard. Yeah, the guy who can shoot three, he passes very well. It's an excellent basketball IQ.

He takes good care of the ball. He can play some solid defense on the other end. The main knocks against him, very thin frame. It's not a high-level athlete. by NBA standards and probably not particularly high ceiling. But like you said, the guy fits anywhere, the excellent perimeter shooting. That's always going to be a huge asset in the NBA. It's worth noting he didn't do too great from beyond the break,

or above the break rather at the NBA, I should be at NCAA level. I think that can be easily fixed. But yeah, he's got that great basketball. Like he was an excellent passer, particularly as a pick and roll passer. Absolute workhorse in the NCAA, about 37 minutes per game. It ranked in the top 30 in division. one into double-a basketball in minutes. He's good due to running the floor and finding teammates in transition.

That's helped by the fact that he's a pretty good rebounder. He makes good use of his size, and he can parlay those rebounds in the transition opportunities. And even though he's not explosive, he's quick. You can also say about him he is mature and poised, certainly beyond his years. The cons you're looking at, like you said, not explosive, not the greatest at scoring in the basket.

It's going to be even harder for him at the NBA level if he can't bulk up because he's just going to have so much more trouble at finishing through contact. I think the, I would say that he is not an ideal lead guard. I see him as more of a combo guard. The Pistons would really like to find a lead guard in this raft. He's more of a combo guard, a kind of guy who can function certainly as a secondary playmaker, but would benefit from having a point guard next to him who can create offense.

It's something in which I don't think Calverton will ever be particularly good. He's savvy enough to score on the paint, but he's bad at getting there. And that frame is going to be an issue if he can't add to it since he's very tall and rangey. I mean, you have some kind of, you know, you can, you have Will Barton who does fairly well in the league, nonetheless, but you can get bullied on defense and it's going to make it. It's just going to make it harder for you to even harder for him to score at the basket. Also, I don't think his ceiling is that of a start, like by any means. You know, good complimentary player, but it really depends on what you're looking for if you're the pistons. If you're looking for just a guy you know will be good, I think you can make that.

at that point here. Norfolk looking for a guy, you know, really shooting, just shooting for the highest again. Also, shot form is weird. It's low with very little elevation. It makes it easy to close out on him. Right, exactly. I was going to mention that.

His shot form, it is really strange. It's slow, and he starts his shot from his torso, and then he releases it pretty far in front of him. And he said that it's because when he was learning to shoot, he wasn't quite strong enough for a more traditional form. but in the NCAA it worked. I mean, we mentioned average, like, 42% both years at Iowa State. And that was on 5.6 attempts per game this year.

So I agree. I had the same kind of idea where you have him as like a secondary ball handler, especially in transition. He's really, really good there with that high IQ passing. But in the half court, you have him as the guy who's like kind of moving around on the perimeter, trying to get loose from his guy. and then you have a more dynamic ball handler, somebody who's better at getting to the paint,

maybe D. Rose or somebody else in the future, get there, try to draw some more defense. You kick out to Halliburton, and that'll give him more time for that release, and maybe he gets more of those off. That's kind of like the ideal role for him in my mind. Like you said, I don't see him as a star. I don't really even have a very good comp for him

just because I don't look at him and his game and I don't see that. for anybody, like with that form. But I guess just a really good 3-and-D player with some really good passing jobs. He just can't be the lead guard in my mind. What do you think? Yeah, I would say a very optimistic comp,

I would say probably a ceiling at the NBA level with somebody like C.J. McCollum, the version of C.J. with better passing, a better basketball IQ, less quickness. And that'll depend on him being able to add a pull-up jump shot to his game. So CJ is a guy who also struggles to really score on the paint, even get there. And he makes his bread and butter is three-point shooting and shooting off the dribble.

So he's also a guy who can function as a secondary playmaker, absolutely, but really benefits from playing next to a point guard. This is Damien Willard, one of the best point cards in the world, of course. He's been insane in play-ins. I think, and I don't, I haven't looked at how well he did today, but over the three games span before today, it was every, like, 51 points, 51 points for games. So it's really, so he really benefits from playing next to Willard because he's not the, he can create for himself, but he's not really going to get to the basketball very easily,

whereas Willard certainly can. So that's definitely very respectable. I think his floor is, there's any number of players who are good enough to stay in the league based on, you know, basketball IQ and shooting, but really aren't particularly remarkable. If we're talking applicability to the piston, I like him in this particular draft. He's at this sort of really kind of weird juncture for me, at least, in which he's a safe pick, but, you know, good enough probably to justify taking him with that safe pick, of course, depending on where the piston's fault.

We're talking a guy who probably won't be a star. The pistons are selecting at, you know, fourth or fifth. or above you could certainly do far worse. He's got all the tools to be a long-term contributor, fits in to any offensive scheme, and he can defend well also. It'd be much better if he can put on some weight. I think it'll always be a shooting guard

who can maybe fill in a point guard and a pincher in certain lineups. And more passing is always welcome. And like I said before, the NBA is becoming that league in which a lot of guys have developed chops as a passer, even prudimentary. It's just, it's real good to have all of your players be able to participate.

in that driving kick game. And it's often said, just can't teach basketball IQ. That's said about Lamello as well. I don't think it applies to him quite as much. We'll get to that soon because Halliburton's got the mandatory skills really necessary to capitalize on that, namely shooting,

which is the mandatory skill in the NBA. So I take it you would feel pretty good if the Pistons draft him as well, just based on position. Yeah, and I think people will really like him because he does seem like, he's like a, when you listen to him talk, he's just a very personal,

and a mature sounding player. And I know, I can't remember his name, Langoy, wrote a piece about him being like a very hardworking player that, like, would maybe buy into the culture of, like, Pistons basketball. So I don't think he's a threat to leave either. He chose to go to Iowa State and he seems very loyal. He talked about wanting to stay with his childhood coach and the guy who believed in him.

And I think that that type of loyalty, a small market, you can't not mention it. So hopefully the Pistons, if they did draft him, would be in a position where they're good enough that he would want to stay. And I think that he'd be a fine addition. I feel pretty confident that he would be at least a good shooter in the NBA so long as he is able to get that jump shot off. And he said that if that doesn't work for him in the league, he'd be willing to learn a new jump shot. Maybe that's something that he's already working on. Who knows?

He definitely mentioned that he's aware of his weird form. being a problem, he talked about this on his interview with ESPN. He said that his coach brought his young child in, put the kid in front of him, and the kid was blocking his shots because Halliburton's release is so low. So as Halliburton puts on more strength, I think, maybe he can raise his release, get the ball off faster. But for now, I think he'd be a pretty good piece to add. I don't love the idea of him starting as point guard right away.

I do think I would prefer for him to start as a combo guard. If he is proving to be dynamic and capable of more full-time ball handling, that would be fine. But key improvement for him, again, maybe fixing the shot if necessary, and then getting to the basket more because he, that's probably my biggest criticism of him is that there were games, despite all those minutes that he played per game, there were like a lot of games where he did not get to the line one.

once he just plays a very contact diverse game. But I like this fit for the Pistons. I think he could be a great complimentary player. Yeah, I think it could be a long-term piece as well. And it's like you said, his attitude seems really great, and you can never have too many guys like that on the team as well. And with that, we will move on to the most talked about point guard in this year's draft. That would be the controversial lamello ball.

So this is definitely something on which Tommy and I disagree. So you'll hear that discussion in a few minutes. How I would describe a mellow is flashy point guard who couples excellent size of ball handling with pro-liff court vision and passing, but has enormous, very worrisome holes in this game, and in my opinion, questionable attitude. So I got 6-8, 6-7, 6-8, 180 pounds, about 6'9 plus wingspan. It would be about 20 years old at the start of the next season, I believe. It might be 19.

I don't remember exactly. I believe it's 20. In any event, when you look at his pros, just a fantastic passer with top-notch court vision. Just at 6-7 or 6-8, he's got excellent size already

with potential for, run for more growth. Ben Simmons was drafted, I think, 6-9 and grew another inch before he started in the NBA. So O'Mello handles the ball extremely well. He's pretty safe with it, and he's just got a fantastic basketball IQ

on the office. offensive end. Unfortunately, the list of cons is pretty extensive. Biggest question mark is as a shooter. That's a pretty huge point as shooting, unless you're a center, and even then it's very valuable. But unless you're a center, shooting is the mandatory skill in the NBA. If you can't shoot well, then you got problems, basically. And I would say that's particularly true, a point guard. The issue with Lamello right now is, well, he doesn't have any pedigree as a shooter. He shot, like, very poorly in the MDL. which is not a very good league.

Just worth noting that the MDL, I would place below the NCAA, because the best players in the MDL, for the most part, are guys from the NCAA who did not get drafted. The NCAA at least has NBA caliber talent in it. So hideous shot form.

Like, for those of you who are maybe a little less familiar with mechanics, the idea is that you want to have as little extraneous movement as you possibly can. You basically just want to have your jump and you want to have your wrist moving, just so there's this little variant. as you can possibly have. I think Twyai Leonard has the prettiest shot in the NBA right now.

And basically, yeah, the only part of his body that really moves is his wrist, you know, aside from his legs when he's jumping. So, well, Mello has this hideous form in which he basically pushes up for his rib cage before kind of moving his shoulders a bit and then taking the shot. And it's like, there's just so much that goes wrong with that. So it's really nice if you come into the NBA able to shoot because that's, you know, that's one worry west. You know that they've at least got that skill.

But occasionally you have guys to severely regress like Markell Faults, who shot just fine in college, but they're rare. But here's what happens when you're not a good perimeter shooter. And this didn't happen to Lamello in the MDL because defenses just aren't. They don't play them like that. Same thing in the NCAA. They won't play non-shooters in a particular way, the way that they're played in the NBA. And there's a good example for Pistons fans here. And Bruce Brown, who did quite well, not as a score at all.

as a passer in the summer league, West year's summer league, because defense, not only because the quality of the competition was much easier, because defenses weren't playing them, how they played them in the NBA and how you get played in the NBA, if you're a guard or forward who cannot shoot, is that defenses will just sag off of you.

You know, they'll say, okay, we're going to take, like, five or six steps back, to the top of the paint, and we're going to invite you to shoot. We know that you're not going to shoot on good percentages. If you get hot, then we'll start covering you, but other than that, we'll just let you shoot. And because if I'm your defender, I've taken a bunch of steps back.

And therefore, if you try to drive against me, then I'm going to have a much easier time stopping you. Also, because I know that you have to play on the ball, it's a lot easier for my teammates to defend your teammates one-on-one. And then just your options are much less. So it's just, it's a critical weakness if you can't shoot. It's just a really big problem. And also, like, beyond that, like, first off, passing and handles are not enough without shooting.

Like, if you cannot shoot, then your passing and your overall impact are going to be much less valuable. That's just the way it is. And, like, for example, do you really see any non-passing point guards who succeed in the NBA? Like, Alfred Payton is the only one I can really think of. You have Ish Smith who can be issued passably what? I guess, from close to mid-range, but even then he's still kind of a liability in that respect. So I don't think a scoring ceiling is very high. And again, you don't see any really stark regards to donut high scoring ceiling.

I don't think he'll ever be a particularly good shooter. I don't think he'll ever be particularly good again in the basket. It's not particularly athletic. And beyond that, question is about his attitude because the guy more or less disdain defense in the NBA in Australia. you. And though he has potential as a defender, that's just that's a giant red flag to me, a guy who just decides he doesn't care. I don't think they're really apologies to be made for that. So the real question is, does he, in any event, does he possess the will and the focus to fix the holes in his game? And can he fix the holes in his game? Because some guys are bad

shooters and they never become better shooters. Again, I'm not saying that's a lamello, but it's a possibility. So after that, a protracted profile, I know you have considerably. different thoughts. I guess not considerably different. I think we have him in about the same spot on our boards, but I know I am a lot higher on him than you are. For me, I know part of it is just like a fear of missing out because his passing. Like you said it's excellent, and it really, really is.

His court vision is just exceptional. I feel like he will be able to hit the cross court passes, you know, those touchdown passes that you see Lonzo throw sometimes. You can tell that he's had a basketball in his hand since he was four, and they've said as much. But there are some cons to that because I read an article about him where it said that LeVar Ball had him shooting, I think, on full-size hoops when he was like six, and you can't learn decent form when you're that young because you don't have the muscle

to get the ball up, and you really see that. So LeVar, to get Lamello to play better, he had to play against older kids, bigger competition, and you really, really see that in his game in the sense like he doesn't play strong. So even though he's 6-7 now, that was kind of like a late, not late, but a recent growth spurt. He doesn't play with that size just yet, even though he has it now, he still has to learn to play with it.

There was one play in a game with the Ilawar Hawks in Australia. where he had a guy on his heels in transition to the basket, and instead of going up strong, he just kind of stopped right before the restricted area and tried to put up like a little push shot, and it bounced off. You know, he had the guy who I think was even smaller than him on his heels. That's absolutely a moment where you go up strong.

But he's just not used to doing that because, you know, in his days at, like, Chino Hills, I think he reclassified so that he could get into that school a year earlier. And he was a lot small. than those kids, but he still played well against them. It's just his whole game has been about compensating for his size by just shooting really, really long jumpers and being creative. And I think that's a blessing and a curse because right now it shows itself in bad ways

in the sense that like in the NBA, he shot 25% from three. That's just terrible. That will not fly in the NBA. And if that's all he's doing, I mean, he would have to learn to go really, really strong to the rim like Ben Simmons, but like we said, he's contact diverse. But you did mention that in the NBL he was still defended like a shooter. I think that's because he was doing it on pretty high volume. He averaged 6.7, three point attempts per game.

But the shots that he takes, I feel like if he just kind of took away the bad parts, like the bad decisions that he makes. So he has a tendency to shoot really bad pull-up threes, like off-balance threes. And with his horrible form, he doesn't really need to do that. He has like a sort of, I don't want to say score-first mentality, but he has the confidence to pull up from anywhere, and you can tell that he takes full advantage of that.

As far as his passing, the creativity is there. I mean, you would think it's just flashiness, but I really believe that it helps him because he makes these no look passes or he looks one way and then he shoots the ball the other. I think that creativity is an asset. I don't think it's just for the sake of Flash. I really think it helps him. What do you think? I mean, I would say nobody's, you know, nobody who's watched him play is going to argue that he's not a fantastic passer.

I think obviously it helps him. When I'm talking about flashy, it's kind of like, you know, there's some hype around it. Like look at his highlight videos. And yeah, he's a flashy passer. You know, he can make flashy passes. He's got a flashy call handling moves, but that's not enough to make him a good NBA player, even a passable NBA player. So when it comes to his shooting, or a shot selection rather, of course, you've got to ask,

why is he taking these shots? You know, what in his mentality is choosing is making him think I should take these shots. Anthony Edwards was taking those shots, in part because it was poor shot selection, because he really should have been passing more, but in part because he had to, you know, in a way, just like Cole Anthony, if already had to. I mean, the guys just had no help. That wasn't really the case with Lamelle, even though his team sucked. He wasn't taking shots because he had to.

He was taking shots, those shots, those really kind of flashy, long-range shots because he felt like it. As far as his mechanics go, I don't think really his childhood, you know, his development as a basketball player and his childhood, I really had much to do with it. Kids, as they get older, when they're young, they're basically just going to have to throw the ball at the basket. if they want to score on a tall rim.

And even Wanzo said in his rookie year, he was not strong enough, and he too was basically just throwing the ball at the basket. So you always, I would imagine, you know, have to be changing your form over time to reflect not only the game, but your own difference in size when you're able to shoot, you know, with the more typical form. So I don't think it's a matter of, I don't think it's a matter of, I don't think it's a matter of that he just developed bad habits.

I think his shot form just sucks. No, I think that's pretty much it, though. Like, he just didn't. You said you need to adjust. I don't think he did. I mean, even in Australia, he said his coach just says, you can take whatever shots you want, just go out there. I mean, honestly, Lamello was just such a huge marketing tool for them.

I don't really think. He was. I mean, he was, but I would say, I mean, if a shot form sucks that much, you should really be putting in the work. Yeah. Whatever, you know, whatever the case, I mean, I think he possibly can. I don't know why he has that shot for him right now.

I mean, I don't think it's as simple as that he didn't have to develop because, you know, he did have to play. It's possible to fix, but it's just so, it's just ugly. And my issue with Lamello is I'm not sure he'll work hard enough to fill the holes in his game. I suppose, but I mean, the thing that you mentioned, like, as you grow older, your shot form changes. I mean, he didn't really change his form. he just started shooting from further and further away. I mean, in his high school games, he was pulling up from half court.

No hesitation. And, I mean, that's obviously something that you have to cut from your game, especially with the percentages he's shooting right now. He can't be the type of player who's taking super long threes unless it's like a matter of, you know, I feel like I have this guy. And with this form, I mean, he does shoot it from, like a little bit from his chest. And it is still a bit of a push shot. But I know Dwayne Casey believes that you can teach shooting.

that might be a factor in the Pistons decision to draft him. But I think if he just cuts down on the really, really bad attempts, like the ones where he's like pulling up from three, like, leaning and without passing or really early in the shocklock, he's just too talented as of a passer to do that. But I think he just needs to cut back on the really bad looks and just focus on taking better shots. I think that's like shot selection that I think the Pistons will teach him. I think he can boost his three-point percentage, maybe even to 30s.

I mean, learning a new shooting form that might hurt him initially, but I think it's worth the risk. I mean, I think it has to happen, period. I don't think you're going to be a consistent shooter with that shot for him. Cutting out the bad shots will definitely help, but more or less than the NBA, I mean, if left wide open, you have to be able to reliably hit, you know, a solid one-third of your shots or the defense really benefits from not covering you. And again, we're talking reliably.

Not like one game in which you'll hit three out of four, another game in which you'll miss six. Like we're not talking about Langston-Galloway reliability here prior to the current season. Like we're talking about that you have to be a respected shooter who's going to hit your shots. Like nobody was going to leave Galloway wide open regardless because he's known to be able to hit the shots. You know, a savvy coach may have said, oh, he's in the middle of a slump. But there's also that if he gets hot in the game, he's probably going to roast you. So whatever the case. if Lamello can't get up to that level,

then he's an instant liability, regardless of his passing. Now, I'd also like to talk about his scoring ceiling, which I don't think is particularly high, and I don't think that that should get lost in all the look at his passing and his ability to handle the ball. Like I said, you look at the ranks of the elite point guards. None of them are anything less than high-level scorers.

You know, Steph Curry, Damien Willard, Trey Young, Kemba Walker. You mean, you look at Chris Paul, who could score a whole lot more if he weren't so dedicated to also creating books for his teammates. I mean, the guy is the best pure point guard of his generation. He's unbelievably versatile. But he's also one of the best shooters in NBA history that flies under the radar because he does everything else well also. So, well, Mello, I don't know if he'll ever become a good shooter. I mean, there are some guys who come into the league as bad shooters and get a lot better, like Kauai Ler, for example.

but there are also those you know i think for for every one of those you've got a lot more guys who don't and also i don't think lomel will ever be a particularly good score on the way to the basket he's you know even if he gets stronger it's just he's not explosive those handles are nice but he's going to be up against mbba level defenses who will probably throw their best perimeter defender on him and if you can't score at a high level you know he's going to have to be able if you can't basket is a point guard. If you can't create your own offense in that respect at a reliable level, then your Lonzo, more or less, I hate to make that comp. But Alonzo, despite, you know, tremendously improving his three-point shooting is still, you know, in doing it,

I think he shot like 37 percent on high volume, like more than six degrees per game, which is, which is good. It's not a leap, but it's good. But he was nonetheless a score below average efficiency because he cannot create any offense for himself for the most part. He's very bad at that. He's also, he's also, begrudiously bad to get in the free throw line. And there's no guarantee that Melo will be able to reach the basket either. I know you say that you think he just avoids contact because he's never had to do it before. I just don't think he's particularly talented at scoring at the hoop.

And I think his strengths are primarily found in his court vision, his passing, and his offensive basketball IQ. But, and that's not good enough if you're, I mean, that's good enough to be like a top 15 point guard in the league if you're a decent shooter. and decent get in a basket and you have great cork vision. But if, you know, but you're not, you're not going to be a star with that, which is why I really don't truly understand the hype around him. I think part of it is the highlight, like the highlight real effect, because you watch his highlights, the stuff that he does make, like the passes, the handles, and then the difficulty of the shots that he does make on these highlight films,

it is insane because he's taking horrible shots, but they look good when they go in, but the percentages are bad. I will admit that. My thing is, I feel like one, I just have to disagree. I don't think, I can't imagine him just being really bad at getting to the basket for the rest of his career. I think within a few years, he would learn to play with his size, unless it was like a mental thing, but I really, I don't think that would be the case

because he seems like a very confident player. And I think he just needs to, I don't know, like understand that he's a lot bigger now. Oh, the strength and touch as well. Who knows if he has to touch? Yeah, I mean, he hit some of those long floaters. And I hate that shot, but it does show touch. He shot 73% from the line, so not good. But I don't know.

I just, I can't imagine him being like this bad of a score for the rest of his career. I feel like he has enough shooting touch shown in the film that I watched that I think he could add acceptable shooting, especially if he was taking significantly better shots. I don't know if he'll ever have a pull-up game. He has a very short, I don't know if short is the right word, but really quick release because his form is so just let me get the ball up as quickly as possible because, like I said, I really do feel like he was just trying to learn to play against bigger players. And if you're playing against bigger players, if you can get the ball out of their hands fast, out of your hands faster, that's one way to, you know, beat them off the dribbler or beat them off

in the half court on your own. but I just can't see a scenario where he doesn't get at least better at the basket. Scoring, I understand. You know, I'm 100% there with you. It's not likely for any player, you know, to get a lot better at scoring, especially when you've seen what he's doing. But most players don't start by taking these shots and they're still maintaining such high volume. I don't think he's a lost cause by any means.

I'm just, I'm wary of the three. things. At first, like I said, I don't think is, well, I'll go with that at number three. He can't shoot now. Right. That's always a worry. Yep. Because, you know, there's no guarantee that'll become a significantly better shooter. He could, and some people might say he probably will, but I don't think there's any guarantee. Obviously, there's no guarantee. And will he ever become a good shooter? Of course, there's a question there. And number two is again, and maybe I'm thinking more poorly of his attitude than he deserves. Does he really have that focus and the work ethic, but particularly a focus necessary to say,

well, you know, why isn't enough that I'm just a super flashy passer? I've been hyped all this time. I've been hyped throughout high school. I've been hyped. I was hyped in the NBL. I'm being hyped right now. Like, why do I, you know, I think I'm fine as I am. I'd just rather continue playing my own game.

Number three is that it'd be very nice for the Pistons to get something out of this draft. you know, something good out of this draft. And if you're picking between like, like between Killian Hayes and Willemel ball, I'd take Hayes in a second. And sure there is that fear of missing out. But I think the Pistons, there's no guarantee that they'll get, you know, this could, depending on next season goes,

be the highest draft pick that they get for the next 10 years. Hopefully not. I'm hoping that they'll continue and get another couple of draft, you know, another couple of high draft picks, but there's no guarantee. But I think it's very important for them to get something good out of this draft. And Wamello could bust. I think a lot of people believe, well, he's got his elite handles and his elite passing, he'll be fine.

I would say his, like, I don't know what the guy's ceiling is. I can't really think of anybody comparable. Like somebody who's really an amazing passer, but isn't a particularly good score. Like Old Rondo doesn't really compare at all because he was unstoppable on the way to the basket. But I take his floor is just a much worse version of Simmons. like you can say, oh, just he'll be fine with what he has, but I think I feel pretty strongly that he won't. I mean, you look at Simmons.

He's brilliant at reaching the basket, and it's scoring at the basket, and he's extremely athletic, and he's a great pastor, but he's still something of a liability because he can't shoot, and that makes him a forfeit with Embed. It cuts down on options and so on and so forth.

The guy really can't play much of an off-ball role. Well, Mello is nowhere near the athlete of Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons is a fantastic athlete. Lamello, I would say, is just somewhat above average. And it's just shown no indication of that sort of QD of being able to Reese the basket. And also Simmons, there's also the fact that this is on the other end of things, but Simmons isn't just like an all-world defender who can guard four positions. And Lamello probably can play certainly can play better defense than he played in the NBA,

but I don't think he'll ever be elite in that capacity either. So I think if he doesn't become a considerably better score, this is a guy with definite bus potential. Yeah, I can agree with that. I mean, for me, it is partially just the fear of missing out. I originally had Devin Vassell over him. That was the only change I made since we started these episodes. I mean, you know, you watch his film. His games, I think they might still be on Twitch.

I watched a few of those. And I switched. I had Devin Vesel fourth and Lamello 5th, and I switched them. just because if he does reach, you know, like a fairly amount, a fair, just like a percentage of, like, what he's hyped up to be. I mean, I still think he could be, you know, a pretty passable, you know, good starting point guard. Maybe not the best, but in this draft, you got to take the value where you can find it.

And while there, I think there's a lot of value in like complementary pieces who can play off the ball, having, you know, a go-to dynamic guy. maybe not a go-to score, but a guy that you maybe feel comfortable putting the ball in his hands in a clutch situation and seeing what he can do. I know I'm repeating myself at this point. Just my issue with him is that I don't think his ceiling is as an elite point card. I know you're not disagreeing with me here.

I just think that the hype around him is far too much. That's that I don't think sufficient attention as being given just to his player archetype, which is a guy who's very, very unlikely to be an elite level score or even a high-level score. And so I don't think that ceiling is too great. And I think he's, I think, you know, he can be, I guess, at a top 15 point guard, which is nice, but not great. And I think the bus potential is there. And I don't think, and people, I've seen this brought up in many mediums. It's like, oh, well, Melo ball, the pistons will draft him until, you know, he'll restore some importance to Detroit basketball and they'll get more attention. It's like, sure, who knows how long that'll

last. But that's how long it will last is much less important in the fact that I don't care about hype. And I don't think any other Pistons fans should care either. I know that that's a lot of fans are, you know, myself included to a degree, feel a little annoyed at just how nobody cares about the Pistons. Like it bothers me when a national writer comes out and writes about the Pistons and he clearly hasn't done any research at all. And it's like, come on, man, have a little respect. both for yourself and for the business. But I don't think that whatever media attention or hype you can bring to Detroit really matters. I think that I think that Detroit's, well, first off, it's about winning for me.

It's about winning. I think for any fan, it's really about winning. And for the team, certainly it's about winning. But also you have the fact that Detroit has spent the last 12 years just in a me, of failure. It's just, it's just been the year after year it has just been, you know, almost invariably disappointing. There has been no meaningful success at all. And nobody has a reason to care about the Pistons. The only reason, I mean, the Pistons are, they're not a big market team. They don't come from a major destination like New York City or Los Angeles or even San Francisco

or, you know, even like the Texas teams. The only thing that will restore the Pistons to relevance in the National Eye is if they become a good team again. It's like you said, my biggest thing is just fear of like, oh, maybe this guy will turn out to be super good, or not, if not super good, like really exciting to watch. And we'll have missed out on him for, you know, of course, super exciting to watch is less important to me than wins games. But whatever the case, it's like, oh, we've missed out on a unique player, it'll turn out to be really good in the league. But I don't think that's worthwhile. I don't think that's a worthwhile reason to pick him. And I think based on what has been said about Troy Weaver's ideal.

candid to the draft is just a very focused, very hardworking player. I don't think that Lamello is likely to be high in his list. I would take him. I would not take him over Hayes or Edwards. It's just, it's really tough to, again, it's just that fear of missing out. It's like, do you take him at number three or do you go with like a guy like Tyrese Halliburton? Do you look at FDia, who's probably going to have a higher floor? Do you look at Wiseman who, you know, I don't want to risk another drummond, but has seems to have a pretty high ceiling. I'm just, I'm just, just very wary of Lamello. Yeah, I mean, all those questions there will make the draft exciting.

Yeah, well, I hate to say it, but I'd be a lot more excited about this draft if there were more talent. It's just like the Pistons. They finally suck in a year in which the draft is so weak. That's why I want us to be bad for a few more years. There's a lot of good talent in the upcoming drafts. I mean, hopefully we can get bates. Not a good dreaming at this point.

That would be fantastic. I mean, I've said this in previous episodes. I'm concerned the Pistons. I mean, of course, no fan wants to watch the team suck, but I'm concerned that the Pistons will be back in purgatory. It could happen. They could be back in purgatory this season. If Griffin plays a lot and he gets back to like 90% of his L-MDA form

and Christian Wood is on the team and he plays really well. And Derek Rose plays well and you've got good overall health. It's like the East sucks. You could easily end up in the 9th or 10th seed. And maybe a little bit better than that. I don't think you're ever going to want a playoff series with that unless you see major leaps from the Pistons draft. D and Seku.

But, you know, it's a concern, and I know it's a sucky concern because you never want to say, oh, I don't want my team to be, you know, to be better. But it's like the Pistons were in that awful spot between, like, bad enough to get a good draft pick and good enough for it to actually mean something. I don't want to watch a team that's a 10th seat. It's not exciting. And it's not, I mean, I'll watch them anyway. Like, you know, let's be real here.

I'm going to watch them play regardless. Like, the word, the most unpleasant season of Pistons basketball for me absolutely was 2016, 2017, when it was just watching an injured, Reggie Jackson lead the offense while being one of the worst players in the league, and that he who shall not be named coach making just about every bad coaching decision he possibly could. And I watched through that, you know, I'm going to keep watching the games, but I'd rather take temporary pain for long-term gain. And also, you know, if you've got young players on your team

are somewhat exciting, I mean, that can be enough. And it's also like, yay for hope. But, yeah, but I'm just not sure. That was another downside of the Griffin trade. It's like, well, if it doesn't work out and you're not a good team, then now you've got Griffin there both taking up cap space and also making you just just good enough to not be bad enough to get a good pick. And the Pistons have not picked higher than seventh in the last 17 years. The last pick they had that was less than seventh was the Darko pick.

So the Pistons, I mean, part of it's like, okay, you know, you never got good luck in the draft lottery, but you should not be depending upon good luck on the draft lottery. So, you know, it's a crappy thing to say that, hey, this draft isn't, you know, super strong. You never know, guys can surprise you. But to say that this draft isn't particularly strong, so we really need the pistons to probably suck again. So in any of it, yeah, the draft at the time of this recording is five days away. And all we can do is hope for the best and then wait another two months for the draft that actually happened.

Yes, and I guess we'll see what happens and hopefully the Pistons pick high and we can come back to this and talk about maybe the likely outcomes and give a little bit of insight or our guesses, I guess, on what we think will happen. For sure. Yeah, we'll be able to give considerably more targeted draft analysis once we know where the Pistons are picking. Of course, if we know the Pistons are picking like fifth, which despite the fact that they finished fifth worse in the standings, they're actually extremely unlikely to pick fifth. If we find out the pistons are picking fifth to sixth,

then of course the range of players who, you know, who will go over becomes more apparent, you know, like who might the piston's actually draft because it's kind of pointless saying, well, Anthony Edwards would be great when there's no chance he'll be on the board of fifth. So in any event, want to thank you all, as always for listening, and we will catch you next time.