Driving to the Basket: A Detroit Pistons Podcast - Episode 48: Instant draft lottery reaction

Episode Date: June 23, 2021

This episode, recorded in the aftermath of the draft lottery, discusses the team's attainment of the first-overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, everybody. Welcome to Drive into the Baskets. Draft Lottery Win Edition as we're recording this about, I don't know, maybe like 20, 25 minutes after we got the big news, Detroit Pistons will pick first overall in the 2021 NBA draft. So, yes, awesome. All right, Tommy, how are you feeling? I'm still in shock, man.

Like, my hands are shaking. Like, this whole time we've been prepping for this, we've just been talking to people. and like I can't stop like physically moving. I just I didn't really consider the possibility that this would happen. It just didn't feel like something that would happen. Yeah, I mean, I actually felt differently. I mean, with all the pistons have gone through and then all the times they dropped in the lottery.

And I just, it's like I said on the Kate episode, yeah, for those of you who, who haven't listened, the episode we posted on, I believe it was Sunday. Sunday. That was our last, yeah, our last pre-lottery draft preview was about, about 50 minutes, 5-0 minutes with a Cade Cunningham and then some talk afterward that's now completely irrelevant because, because, you called this. In that episode, you called number one overall. So thank you. That's true. I did call number one overall.

I called fifth. Yeah. I mean, I just felt like, I just felt like it was time for something to go seriously right for the Pistons and for Pistons fans. and I'm just so happy for the team and for the fans and with the city of Detroit. And this is just huge. And, you know, it's proof that things go right. And I'll say to Troy Weaver, not to Troy Weaver. I mean, if you're listening to this podcast, Troy, thank you.

We really appreciate your patronage and hope to have you on someday. But definitely his first season with the Pistons went about as well as it possibly could have. you really revamped almost the entirety of the roster, literally Sekudemboa is the only player left. So, and you offload Blake Griffin, you send Derek Rose onto a team he wants to be with, you bring in, Diallo. You have the guys from the 2020 draft,

two of them are all rookie. You know, you've got a great team coacher going forward. I mean, this has gone about as well as it possibly could have. I'm not going to give him credit for winning the lottery, but he definitely did have a role in keeping the veterans out down the stretch. And even that one loss against Orlando was so clutch. I mean, it's just a lot of things had to go right. But before we go any further,

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Yep, I saw that too. Yeah, well, from Woj, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, this is, yeah. I mean, just, you know, I've talked for a while. Tell me more about how you're feeling what you think this means. I'm thinking about, I was in class, I was in an evening class when we made the Blake Griffin trade. And I was just like, what are we doing here?

Because that was, I think that was like peak, just directionless stupidity. And it's not like we're guaranteed contenders now, but it's so great. that we picked a direction and it worked out this beautifully. I just can't. Yeah. It makes all that feel, I mean, granted, you haven't won anything yet, but the fact that we feel like real legitimate hope for the first time and how long, how long do you think it's been? 15, 15 years minimum? I mean, I felt some hope during that first two months of the 2017, 2018 season when the Pistons came out.

I mean, this is, you know, obviously Tommy and I here just came on without any plan. to everyone we're just talking. So two very, very excited fans. So bear with us. But yeah, 2017, 2018, being in that season when the Pistons came out and beat the Warriors and beat the Clippers and beat the Celtics and whatnot, at that point,

I was like, you know, I just, I remember I used to watch this video that somebody made back during that period in 2014 and to 2014 to the beginning of 2015 after they waived Josh Smith and the Pistons went under 12 and 3 run before Jennings got injured. And they used to watch that video and feel really wistful. And at that point in that season, And I was like, okay, well, I feel hopeful again. Of course, we all know what happened.

But the first, the last time I mean, Pistons fans really had like true went into a season and said, you know, we're really, really on the right track and great things are ahead. I don't know, during the going to work era, probably at the last time that they, I mean, maybe the, maybe in 2005, even probably not too much past 2006 when the Pistons were still a good team, but probably not going to win the championship. Obviously, we're not saying the Pistons are going to win a championship now, but, but, you know, hope, like real hope for the future. I don't know.

It's been a while. Let's just talk about the lineup. I mean, obviously, I think Troy kind of mentioned that they wanted to run it back. I know they liked a lot of the guys that they had at the end of the year for the current iteration on the roster. I know that you think Josh Jackson will be gone. I certainly agree with that now. Well, I don't know if he'll be gone immediately, but, I mean, if he asked to be traded, I would say he's out. but they, yeah, I don't know if Josh Jackson is out.

I mean, what I'm thinking right now is just that the Pistons not only are going to get a guy who projects is a great player, but a guy who projects is a great player and a leader. I mean, we talked a lot about Jalen Suggs in terms of his leadership and just kind of get after it, work hard, and really wants to lead a team. And I mean, Cade, you know, he doesn't have that kind of manic energy that Jalen Suggs does, but he's a more skilled player. and by all accounts, super mature, super poised, and a guy who can lead both on the court and in the locker room,

where the, you know, in the Pistons in the locker room, I think we'll have no shortage of leaders between he and Isaiah Stewart and apparently Jeremy Grant, and, you know, who knows me being Killian Hayes, I don't think he'll ever be a vocal leader, but seems like he has it in him. But the Pistons have a guy, you know, assuming they draftcade, which seems all but certain.

I mean, I can't think of any scenario in which it would make sense for them to do anything else. It's not like you had, you know, Oklahoma City with two and five. Even then, it would be quite highly questionable to pass on Kade. So, yeah, you've got a guy who's not only super skilled, but is also project as a guy who will lead this team. So that's just what I'm thinking about right now. As far as who Lee, who goes this summer, I think they still could kill it still keep the yellow at a reasonable price because why not? I mean, honestly, a guy who can play a great sixth man roll off the bench, I think. Just Josh Jackson is going to find himself really fighting for his NBA life probably because after this last season, I mean,

I doubt anybody is any more impressed with them than they were before. Yeah, what are your thoughts as far as going forward? I'm just thinking about the starting lineup and, uh, well, now it projects out as Kate Cunningham as your point guard. He's just where he's your lead ballhandle. I don't know where they slot him in. Yeah. That's the great thing. You can slot him anywhere. Yeah, one through three, honestly, he'll be, he'll be completely fine. Yeah, four. I think you can I think Sadiq is a good fit. I think Sadiq is a great fit next to him, not ball dominant,

shoots a three ball well. Jeremy Grant is another dynamic guy who's going to be able to certainly make the most because Jeremy can get to the rim. And, you know, given that he is probably one of the more, he's probably one of the better rim runners on the team. I think there's going to be a lot of action there. Isaiah Stewart.

In our Cade Cunningham episode, the thing about the Cade Cunningham episode, episode that was different from all the other ones was, you know, we kind of talked about how Mowbly, Suggs, green, how they would fit next to the current group of guys. But when it came to Cunningham, it's just like, look, this is your legitimate chance at a superstar. You need to make the most of him. You need to absolutely fit the roster around this. You have your guy. Now make the most of him. So I'm thinking about, like, is killing the guy you want to ride with? Like, if you think is like I even talked about like I think he's going to be better off ball and I think that's

an ideal role for him honestly but if his catch and shoot threes don't come along just move on honestly because you don't need him anymore like his main thing was supposed to be ball handling and passing and he's not a creator he's not an offensive creator Kate Cunningham is Cate Cunningham is an offensive creator and generates opportunities better than anybody in this draft like it's not even a question well yeah no i mean not sure if cooper true if cooper is a fun passer but kate cunningham is that guy i just like what do you i mean i think that's the question is killing would you would you stick with killian to this point if he can't hit his catch and shoot threes then he's done in the NBA i mean he's you know you see what guys can do who are good

who are really good pastors but can't shoot and that's elford payton i mean he's really piqued that in the NBA. I mean, you look at Ben Simmons. That's neither here nor there, but I mean, that's basically, that that boils down to just define points. The ability to hit, to, to shoot, basically the ability and the willingness to shoot catch and two threes and do so on good percentage is just going to be a necessity for him as it's a necessity for almost everybody in the league. There are very few players, guys like Janus who can get away with not doing it. But even Janus, you saw it can be an issue in the playoffs. We saw it. So that's just, that's going to be a basic necessity. So if he can do that, then he has a shot at becoming, what I've said is not ideal. But now in this situation, we become much more palatable, is kind of like a Lonzo Ball 3-D in pass point guard who doesn't really drive. Though I think Killian will not have the same sort of aversion of contact that Lonzo Ball inexplicably has. And who knows it will be as good of a defender. But, I mean, if he becomes that now, then, okay, that's fine.

You know, that's perfectly fine. If he never develops into a guy who can actually beat guys off the dribble in the pick and roll, then okay, well, now you're much more willing to live with that. If he's just a guy who can play secondary ball handler and like I said the last episode, a guy who now has an open lane to exploit when Kate gets him the ball, even if he doesn't, even if it's best for him not to shoot right away, then he's a guy who's going to be able to exploit that open lane or just have an easier time getting into the interior. and he's still a very good passer with very good vision who makes the right play. He needs more seasoning, of course, as we saw last season. But in a worst case scenario, you might decide that, hey, you know, we want Diallo in the starting lineup just to have more athleticism. And because, you know, we feel he gives more than enough as far as ball handling. And then maybe you try Killian as kind of like a Lou Williams type who just, you know, assuming he can develop and off the dribble game.

But that's a lot to ask. Yeah. Yeah. whether you start Killian or Hamadu, think about the defense on this team, the length, the size. Nobody on this lineup in the starting lineup is shorter than 6'5, and they all play great defense. Yeah, well, I'm not sure about it, I would say about great, but they're all plus defenders. Yeah. Like, Stewart is, I mean, Stewart certainly showed he has what it takes, even as a rim protector.

I mean, he did very well as a starter. He started against mostly awful teams, but it's capable of rim protector, very good paint protector. we've been over that really hard to get around that guy when he's defending you one-on-one and you have Killian yeah i think plus defender they of course a plus defender grants i think his defense will improve as well it wasn't bad last season but he had such a mammoth offensive load and there are very few guys who can play that kind of elite defense while i'll also carrying that and then yeah of course you have kade who will need to work on his defense against against smaller quicker guards because his wider mobility isn't great.

But five plus defenders, I mean, that's great. You know, no matter what you want to say. If you put Hamidu in there, then you have another athletic defender. But, you know, that's, you see if that happens. But I know we did bring up the, you know, do you trade? Was it with Cade? You know, do you trade Isaiah Stewart? Yeah, that was a question that I had had in that episode.

I'm still not sure because, like, look, I mean, I know we all love Isaiah Stewart, but he's not the most vertically gifted player. and I want to see Cade throw some lobs. I mean, I know that your question was, where do you find a guy who's a better fit than Isaiah Stewart? Because Isaiah Stewart, obviously, he does very many good things, especially for a team that's going to have this kind of defense. There's going to be transition opportunities.

Isaiah Stewart runs the floor as well as any center, you know? Yeah, there's all these questions. There are questions. Of course, they're not questions that you even try to answer in the upcoming season. So they're not, you know, I'll write for it with Isaiah for at least a season. not, I'm not saying, all right, get rid of him right now. Let's see how that goes. I do think Isaiah Stewart is going to be a very good player in this league.

Yeah, the only question you have with bringing Kate Cunningham into this lineup is, yeah, is basically blows down to, I would say, do you long term want to keep Kelly in there when ultimately you don't have the most athletic starting lineup otherwise? That's, that's really, I would say, the primary weakness that lineup would have is that, you know, Kay, it's not a super athletic guy. Isaiah just isn't very vertical. bay isn't very vertical and doesn't have much burst and Kalyan of course is Kaelian. So do you try out, you know, maybe it proves necessary. But I mean, basically, if you resign Hamadu, you have perhaps a remedy for that. And then Hamadu on his own have said it. I think he has, of course, we have K8 on the team.

I think that Hamadu probably has the second or third highest ceiling of any of the youth, you know, whether it's here or Killion. Yeah. With the pistons, he shot 39% on threes apparently, a little volume, but that's significant improvement over his career averages. Absolutely. Yeah, if he can keep up, I mean, even 35%, he's incredibly valuable because, look, think about it. Like, I've said this probably on 20 different episodes. I love the Miami heat, drive and kick offense.

We have the, like, potentially one of the best offensive generators, you know, potentially coming into the league. and this guy is going to spearhead that. And now you have Jeremy Grant. You have Hamadu Diyah, two very, you know, gifted in terms of burst guys on the wing. Sadiq Bay, just, he's not that guy. I mean, he has, he was starting to add a little bit more to his bag to, like, kind of work around it. And then I don't know how his passing out of the post was. That's probably just something that he didn't get to show a lot of.

But, you know, these are all guys who are, they're going to demand coverage on, And, well, Hamadu has got to continue to prove himself. But theoretically, these are all guys who are going to demand coverage on the perimeter. And that's going to make things a lot easier for anybody trying to get into the lane. Like, we just needed that guy to get it going. And now we have it. Yeah. So for me, it just really hasn't quite hit home that the Pistons have one of those really, like there was, I don't remember who said this.

And I'm definitely not trying to take his words from mine. So if you listen to this podcast and it was you who put it at this. way. You know, just come to us on our Twitter to the basket pod and tell me and definitely I'll be more than happy to credit you because you put it super well that the Pistons now have one of those sort of jumbo creators, one of those big guys like Donchich or Bubler or even pardon, one of these guys who can helm and initiate your offense at an elite level and are just so valuable. You got Cade who's just this great all around six foot eight, 220 pound player who might be able to, might be one of those guys you can ultimately turn to in the playoffs and say, here's the ball.

This is a big moment. Score for it. You know, take it and score or take the ball. It's not a big moment. Take it and score. Take over a game. Like, when was the last time the Pistons, like with the exception of that one season from Blake Griffin, who was operating in an inherent disadvantage because he was, this is the way I would put in anyway. He's, he's not a perimeter initiator.

But whatever the case, he, yeah, the Pistons, when was the last time the Pistons really had that kind of takeover player? And when did they last have that kind of takeover player who was this young? I think you look and you say Grant Hill. And Kate has been comp to, I've seen him comp to Grant Hill in some ways. Of course, he's not anywhere near as athletic as Grant. He's a better shooter than Grant Hill was. It never projects as such. But yeah, it's just that we've been on this podcast up and down constantly, of course,

about just your need to have that elite offensive talent in order to win a championship in the NBA and the Pistons. certainly have the opportunity to take a big step in that direction. So all that said, actually, we've been joined now by Dante, where the late arrival to this recording. Yeah, how are you doing, man? Well, I was running around the block naked, so that's why I was late. Gotcha.

You know, good thing you're a lawyer, and you can defend yourself in court for that. There's no defense for that way. I don't think how much the case, though. I don't know if I get in front of the judge and I say, hey, the Pistons moved up for the first time in the new draft lottery rules history, he would say, oh, you're good, you're fine. So nothing would actually happen to me if I explain. What if he's a Raptors fan, though?

If he's a Raptors fan, I just wouldn't be in that courtroom. Well, I think about it way of putting it, you'd probably be in present without a trial. Oh, my God. That would be like Game of Thrones trial by combat. Well, you can take him. He's probably an old man. You got it. Yeah.

With all that being said, I was screaming every single time it wasn't the Pistons. And I couldn't. I still can't really believe it. I feel like numb. Like I was like shaking. I don't know if I should see a doctor. No, we all said the same thing. My hands are not been steady since we started recording.

Oh, it's insane. Well, it's franchise defining, right? And so I was just going over it. No, it can be. Yeah, I was just going over it with some of my friends who were here. It's just Kay's the type of player who will bring relevancy, not only to the Pistons. It seems like to the city of Detroit, right? Yeah.

It's invaluable, man. I literally just said to my dad, I was like, hey, he's not just the face of the Pistons. He might be the face of Detroit sports. Yeah, no, I was thinking about that. Like, New Orleans, how irrelevant were they before they got Zion? How irrelevant had the Pistons been for the last decade and a half? Like, we might be relevant. They had Drew Brees. You know, he actually had that, that. Oh, no, I was talking about the Pelicans, not New Orleans, the city. Oh, okay, gotch. Well, I mean, actually, if you're talking about the city of New Orleans, Drew Brees and then Zion

had this thing where Drew Brees came over and kind of like ceremonial, he brought him a jersey or something to ceremonially handover the, you know. Yeah, remember that in the hotel room. Yeah, exactly. Hey, I lost Stafford. This is our... I'll trade Stafford for... Don't hate Mike, don't do it, don't do it.

It's not worth it. No, no, listen, I'm looking at my Stafford Bobblehead now. I would break that thing in half if it meant I could re-experience what I just experienced about an hour ago. That was... I've never felt excitement like that with the Pistons in the last like six, seven years. Like it's crazy. What I said to Mike before we started recording was I bet that's what it's like when the nurse hands you your first child. And Mike said, no, it's probably not as good as that.

No, no. Yeah, it's probably better. He says probably better. He said it's probably better. Yeah. No, I said, I said, no, I don't think being handed your first child feels that good. I got to ask you guys a favor. So just for all the listeners, I wasn't actually in the, excuse me, I wasn't actually in the Discord where all the.

boys got on a voice chat. I had a bunch of people over at my house. So what exactly happened? What did I miss? I got to know what I missed. You guys must have exploded. So yeah, so we, I'm sure a lot of you, a lot of your listening are from the, actually learned of us from the Detroit Pist and Sub-Rit. We have a Discord server that's posted on that sub-reddit. So yeah, a lot of us were together just simul watching a stream of the draft lottery, a fully legal stream, mind you. And yeah, it was just when we got to number six, it's just this hush while the guy takes forever to pull the, you know, to pick up the placard. And it's not the Pistons at six. And that's more like, thank goodness. And then it's not the Pistons at five. And then there's a lot

of excitement. And then the commercial break. You screamed, Mike. Like we all yell, but like I could hear you clearly. Yeah. So we, we come back from commercial break. And it's like, you have these guys in the screen you have Fred Van Fleet and I don't remember who was for Cleveland but who cares is the Caval doesn't matter. It's Kobe Altman and then I think Matumbo or no it was a Lodge one it was a Lodge of one. I was just looking at Ben. Kobe Altman's for these for the cabs and then you have many of a big Ben and Olajian one and at that point it's kind of like you know I was still confident it's kind of like you know little voice in the back of my head's like this be honest this the Pistons and this is like top four and these are with three teams who have who have one I guess the Raptors well actually the Raptors

with when they drafted all-time great Andrea Barney. Ah, yes. But at that point, that was like the one point in which I felt with the piston. I felt like, I guess at the time, part like this is a little voice in the back of my head said, okay, well, the piston's made of the top four and they'll pick four. But autumn was like, okay, it's really possible and I'm going to believe. And we got to number three. And it was like, all right, we're home, man, we made it.

We're going to get Cade. We're going to get Mobley. We're going to get green. And then it got to number two. And I was, I was, like, I was, I think everybody was feeling. pretty good at that point. And I was feeling good. And then suddenly they picked Houston at number two. And I was like, oh my goodness. That's actually not what I said. I just started screaming. That's not accurate. You got loud.

No, it's. We all got loud. We all got loud. And I was like, I was like, my goodness, this actually happened. You know, I had faith that something good was going to happen for the Pistons and something good happened. I mean, it was just great. And I don't really remember the like the like the much about like the five minutes after that to be honest. This is everybody. I was just walking around my room and like I have my mic, my microphone. So everybody could like could still hear as I was like talking to everybody walking around. I was just like oh my God, oh my God, like a million times.

Like that's all I could say. That's all I got like I just yelled yes really loudly every time the pistons didn't get picked. And then when I saw like the red lines on the number two placard, I was like, oh my that was it. Oh yeah. that moment when I saw Houston there, I was like, because you know what they usually do, or what they did at least, I think, last year before. Yeah, they usually just say who got the number one rather than the number two. So they were picking the number two pick.

And yeah, and like you said, you saw those red lines and I just like, just everything just shattered into a million pieces. I was like, wow. I just completely lost my composure. Could I remind everybody, Mike called number one. He called it when we recorded a. few days ago and the man is a genius. I was just like, I just felt good about it.

Like, I just felt good. I felt like something good is going to happen. And for any of you who believe in draft karma, for the team that did kind of tank, but never really put out that lineup that was just going to lose constantly and even managed to win one by accident down the road. I mean, the magic just tried to put out the worst lineup they could. Thunder tried to put out the worst lineup they could. the Cavaliers, where the Cavaliers.

And, yeah. This also reminds me of, we had a question recently, do we regret signing Jeremy Grant for the number of games we won? No. No. See, you remember what we said in that question? Yeah, you remember what my answer was. Yeah, my answer was, we'll see, there's no way to tell right now. We will see win the pistons, just like in the lottery,

because, you know, if they win those extra games because of Grant, and they end up sixth, then they win the lottery, then who cares? but I mean the whole win the extra games thing now the only the only function that would have I mean it would only matter if the Rockets had won but you know that didn't happen so yeah that that that signing out went great a lot of things went right for the Pistons though a lot of things went right and let me let me just say this because people were so critical of the Pistons in the off season specifically Troy Weaver it's like what are they doing with Grant what are they doing with Plumley what's this trade what's that trade who are they signing who are they drafting

look at us now right and I understand that a huge part of that that is the lottery look, but this is a team who, I'm doing air quotes, but they built the right way. It seems like they did because you want to think we were rewarded by some karmic justice because we really went out there, put a decent, acceptable product on the floor, night after night, never outright tank to the degree of like the process sixers and look at what we're rewarded with. A starting lineup of Cade, Hayes, presumably, Bay, Grant, and Stewart. That's like if you decided to rebuild a team on 2K and that would be the team you have after two seasons. It sounds made up.

Everybody's like 21 or 22 years old aside from Grant. Tremendous upside of multiple positions. Like this is, you got to pinch me. It's crazy. Yeah. Do you think we play on opening night? That was my rant. Doubt it, but I think that the piss, well, here's the thing that K doesn't really have quite

the same hype as say Zion Williamson. Not Zion, yeah, but he's definitely. He's pretty good as far as number one. We've been talking about him since he was 16. Yeah. So it's a big thing. He's just, he's not quite as exciting to watch.

It's just like Luca doesn't get like opening night books because even though he's an incredible player, he's less exciting than say Zion or a Curry or a LeBron or whoever else. But one thing is that this, the Pistons are no longer, not, I never cared about this. And this is just kind of like the underdog mentality of the Pistons in general. They're no longer a national nothing of a team who has done nothing and had nothing notable happened to it for a long time. I mean, this is now a team that has the first overall pick and a stack draft. And it just came to mind.

It's nice to, I imagine it is nice particularly for the players and for the organization, just for the Pistons to be back on the national coverage map. And they are. And they are. I've seen, have you guys checked Twitter lately? Because people are blowing up. Like Pat McAfee was tweeting about it. This is, K does not like, because last year's class.

had very little fanfare, but like, as far as number one picks go, like maybe Kate isn't as hype to say a Zion or an Anthony Davis, but he's, he's up there. He's a pretty good number one. He really is. He is. And people are taking note and this is, this is a game changer.

Like, this changes everything. I, even if we had picked second, I would have been ecstatic too, like for green or Moble or whatever. But number one is just, it changes a lot of things,

a lot of things. Can I just say, the team that you, like, how bad we were or how low we finished. We are not a bad team. No. It's not.

No, I don't think so. Like, we are at a very, very good, I mentioned this at some point in one of the previous episodes. Like, whoever comes to the Pistons is entering a very good situation.

Like, this is not Houston where, you know, you have, you know, immaturity issues, draft picks are completely gone. Like,

they got the second overall pick. They'll probably end up with, if I had to guess right now, I would say, I would take Jalen green. But. Me too. Okay.

Me too. If what? If you got in, if you got in second or third, that reason? No, if I was the Rockets, I'm saying I would pick. If you're the Rockets, gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. I don't.

They have Christian. I just, I wouldn't do it. Like, they have, they have Kevin Porter Jr. But they have Kevin Porter Jr. Yeah. I mean, just the trouble is, I mean, you don't think about overlap, obviously. But if I were them, I might consider going, you know, just saying, okay, I'm going to try to ride Kevin Porter Jr., who's not a point guard, in my opinion, is not a point guard. and go and say okay well christian wood we got some good run out of him and maybe we'll pick

mowbly and and try to get an additional draft asset for wood i wouldn't yeah i would say who's so who's third is it cleveland that's third or toronto's fourth thank god's third when i saw that they moved up i was so upset so if they if they draft green if they they draft jalen green then uh i mean i don't know how high they are in garland i've never really i'm just i'm just not that well-educated on Garland. If they don't think that he's really the future, I don't think Suggs is out of the question, and then they keep sexton. But for the Raptors, yeah, obviously you want Jalen Green in the Raptors. There's no doubt about that. And either way, I'd say Kyle Robbery is now gone. Yeah. Unless they're in a mostly. Yeah, I think Suggs would be a decent replacement for Lowry.

Yeah. And I mean, yeah, he's certainly got that same sort of character as, Yeah, and that way you can continue playing Fred Van Fleet's kind of as... Can we do an episode on Book Night number one? Look, we... You know how awesome it is that we don't have to do those episodes anymore? Oh, my God. And you know what's funny? Each episode will be as fun as the last because we just get to talk about,

oh, we could do so much. We could do where the Piston's going to make the playoffs next year. What does the starting lineup look like? I can only think a two. We actually have less of the last. talk about now but i don't care i'm upset i disagree we do a lot to talk about yeah what we have what we have to talk about is guys what we're yeah what we're gonna do is guys who are in probably the 20 to 30 range yeah we'll be pre-dum oh jared butler those are some of the names yeah kind of

looking at yeah because uh roster space is going to be kind of at a premium next season even if the pistons go in with like no none of the minimum contract veterans and i find it very unlikely that they'll do that because you have, of course, your presumptive starting five, you have Diallo Plumley, who's, I think they'll keep Plumley, just, you know, for the culture impact. And he doesn't have really much trade value, I would say anyway. But, yeah, I mean, just a side note on Plumley. There was, there was some talk during the trade deadline that there was some interest in it

and maybe a little bit for the Nets, maybe from the Celtics. That was in a time when both of those teams really just needed help at center. and now, I mean, in the off season, you just, you know, use like a mid-level or whatever, really, just to get help at center. And you don't have to pay any assets at all, but I digress. I still think we have. My bad.

Go ahead. Go ahead. No, I mean, I'm just thinking about the roster space. I mean, I don't think the pistons are going to bring in four rookies either way. No, I think that they would really. No, no, certainly not. I think they prefer to package all three of those straight up. Yeah.

Yeah. They could probably move the first. wrong with just like two of the better ones honestly well they have 37 42 and 52 is it yeah 52 is pretty useless but you never know i mean 37 and 42 are not nothing no those aren't those aren't bad picks uh 52 well is it 40 it isn't 37 and 42 and 52 yeah so 52 of course your chances of getting a decent player in that ranger border on zero but still it's but you know it's it's pick and the non-guaranteed factor is probably yeah something to a contest that's yeah that's what's it's nice. Why second round picks are more valuable now is that you don't have to guarantee a contract.

You can come up with the salary structure that you want, of course, within the bounds. And it just gives you a lot more flexibility. Like arguably, unless there's somebody at number 30 who's undoubtedly better than at number 31, the 31st pick. If the players are equal, the 31st pick is more valuable than the 30th pick, just because that flexibility. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm sure we're all on the same page with that. They're certainly going to package those and try and move up. Absolutely. They're going to try. whether they do or don't is another question. But I feel pretty confident that Troy can get something done.

Yeah, you don't want to. I mean, I would say that Saban Lee will be on a standard NBA contract next season and will probably be in the G League. I think I'd say that Cory Joseph has certainly gone now. I really doubt they'd keep on at this stage. Yeah, there's just no space for him. I mean, in the past, it's like, okay, you play him in the starting lineup alongside Killian Hayes and whatever.

but, you know, I just don't see that as really being a realistic option now. Yeah, letting Corey Joseph go, that covers the entirety of K's contract for the year. Yeah, that's like 10 million. I mean, it's not a huge, I was actually about to ask you guys, we have some money to play with next year once Griffin's contract expires. Like the Pistons, do you think they, I mean, it's still Michigan, but do you think we have potentially some actual free agent pull? Oh, I think so with the younger guys. Like if the court, I don't know, my dad was just saying, and for what this idea is worth, Kate is going into a situation where he's surrounded by 20, 21, 22.

Like, there are guys his age that he's going to be buddies with, you know. And I could see younger free agents kind of looking at what's going on in Detroit and being like, that's where I want to be. I can totally see. And guys were like Jeremy Grant's age coming off their, uh, the, uh, the contracts they signed as extensions and stuff. Yeah. Exactly.

Yeah. Exactly. ...icked up with his unrest, uh, restrictive free agents. Because like a lot of these young players, they can't leave if they're, team doesn't want them to. So you're still talking about guys who are like in their mid-20s, but there's potential on this team now. Yeah, you're in good salary setting because presumably if you want to keep the yellow, you get them locked up for three or maybe four years. And, you know, who knows what will happen with Lee and Hayes, but, uh, well, whatever the case,

you've got Hayes and you've got Stewart and you've got Sadiq Bay and Cade basically, you've got the three of them, once the first three are moving on to their first contract off their entry levels, I mean, K to only be a year behind. So you've got basically good salary distribution in there. I mean, you have, you have time to do something with that cap space before you have to use your bird rights to re-sign those players. So it's not just getting the talent. It's being able to operate within the salary cap in a way that you're going to be able to get the necessary talent before you sign those big contracts. Because, you know, for those who are unfamiliar with Bird Rights,

the NBA is a soft cap. You can use all sorts of exceptions to exceed it. Bird Rights is the main one. If you have a player who's been with your team for, play for your team for three consecutive, at least three consecutive seasons without, well, whatever. This gets complicated. I'll explain it.

We'll do an episode kind of on the, it would have been on the CBA before a free agency. But this is just in good shape in that capacity. You can have your, your, just in good shape. in terms of contracts starting ending at the same time. Jeremy Grant, of course, will end in two years, and they'll have to spend money to keep him, assuming that they want to,

which I suspect they will. The Pistons just won the lottery. It's true. It's starting to sink in. It's true. It's true. I'm going to buy an NBA jersey. I remember the last time I wanted to really buy one was Christian Wood.

I was like, I'm only going to buy it. if he stays with us. And then before that, it was to buy us here. But no. Cade Cunningham. Let's go. Oh, I'm buying a jersey.

What, what jersey design are you getting for your Cade Cunningham jersey? Oh, well, let's be. Well, it's a new, it's a new city jersey every year, right? So should we wait until. You know what? Maybe they'll give us some cool throwbacks now that we're, like, actually going to be a relevant team. Oh, my God. If they do like that, they had kind of the streetwear look with which Big Sean was modeling.

I don't know if you guys saw that on Instagram. It looked like a patchwork kind of jersey. was really cool. And if they do a K jersey and that, I'll just give the NBA my credit card. They just have it. I'll buy their entire stocks that nobody else can have them and I'll line my bedroom with them. They just, they actually, the, the Pistons just posted a picture of Ben Wallace

FaceTiming with Rip Hamilton. Yeah. With Rip Hamilton after the drafts call. I mean, it's just, it's so great that those guys still care so much about the Pistons. I mean, I know Chauncey is coaching. Well, we'll probably soon be coaching another team. but and who knows what sheet is doing it's never really know what that guy i've never really seen anything about him in a while guys but this could have been an this could have been us talking about

getting the sixth pick oh don't even start i never thought it was going to happen i honestly was great of it that's what i was so anxious that whole time i thought you were referencing that that's what i called yeah because i did i did say number six dude i called fifth i can't talk too much Oh, no, we were, we were pessimistic. And Mike was like, no, actually, Mike had a that so Raven moment. He knew. Yeah. Well, I said top three, but if I was going to have to pick, then I was going to say, yeah, this good thing is going to happen for the pistons. We're going with number one. So yeah, Dante, good job. Forcing him to say it. Exactly. So really, it's equally my, it's equally on me as well. Sure. Yeah, because this was definitely what made the ping pong balls go in

this fashion. Or we can start the new narrative that the lottery is fixed in, in, in, um, I mean, I don't know how anybody could argue this because it's exactly the point of the lottery. But hey, man, the lottery is fixed in favor of teams who really need to get the first overall pick. I don't think that's really realistic. All right, anyway, any closing thoughts about tonight before we end. Tommy? There's hope for the first time in a long time. I just can't believe that.

Like, for so long, it was just like, all right, maybe we'll be decent. Maybe we can, like, it actually happened. it's going to take a while it's good when kade steps onto the floor for the first time then it's really going to hit me yeah yeah i uh i have some closing remarks one sure number one pick in the 2021 NBA draft goes to the Detroit pistons oh yeah those are those are some pretty words yeah i was furiously scrolling on twitter while Tommy was talking I need to see if there's a way to like make that that might alarm.

I don't want to associate that with an alarm. Like a new text notification or something. I got to change my phone background. Those are my closing thoughts because I have that design of Sadiq holding the Larry O'Brien. I got to change it to Cade now. So mine, my closing thoughts is what I'm thinking about right now is that throughout the season and we saw increasingly good things for the Pistons and their future, whether from the youth and just the turn to a youth movement and so on and so forth.

But underlying, I think the narrative of all three of us and how we felt about the season was that things are on the right track. But this is the retooling. We might only have this one chance to pick high in the draft. And man, it's really important that we hit high, that we get a high pick in the draft. And we did. That's what I'm thinking. Hell yeah. Yeah.

So, all right. We will be back with another episode posted early next week. we expect will probably just start getting into those picks in the late first round. But honestly, I couldn't really tell you. I'm having still a little bit of difficulty putting together coherent thoughts right now. Oh, I'm about to, as soon as you sign off, I'm going to go run through a wall if that's okay. Oh, you're the Kool-A. I'm about to scroll the next four hours, dude.

Boy, we did it. We made it. Yeah. All right, folks. So thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time.