Driving to the Basket: A Detroit Pistons Podcast - Episode 81: Where Things Stand Halfway Through the Season

Episode Date: January 19, 2022

This episode discusses the performances of Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey, Hamidou Diallo, and Isaiah Stewart at the halfway mark of the season, with some miscellaneous discussion besides. 

Welcome back, everybody to drive into the basket, part of the basketball podcast network. I am Mike here with Dante. Tommy, unfortunately, couldn't make it. He's already hard at work training for the NFL draft combine. He's got a draft promise from the Lions. They're going to take him in the fifth round. I don't even know how many rounds there are on the NFL draft. Seven.

There's seven. Great. Fifth round wouldn't be too bad then. Yeah. I'm projecting Tommy for third or fourth round. Third or fourth round. Gotcha. They say he plays every position.

Every single progression. Yeah, he's an iron man. Jack Mark Trades. Speaking of football, I'm glad that we're recording now, so I don't have to watch that abomination of a Cardinals performance. Oh, my God, them in the Rams. What a disaster. Yeah, I would say from what little I know about football, it's funny that the Patriots get absolutely whacked by the bills. It is fun. Whereas the 49ers won with Garoppolo at the helm. Oh, did you see the end of that Cowboys game? Yeah, that was, I don't watch much football, but yeah, that was a little embarrassing. It was delicious.

Absolutely delicious. Best part of my weekend for sure. Well, no, you know what, Mike, this is the best part of my weekend. Excellent. It's Monday. Right. I'm going to hear it. This is Monday. Yeah, maybe we should just jump in and get started. Indeed. So first thing we'll get into everybody's favorite topic, Kate Cunningham, the culprit of the finger point of doom. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was fun. Obviously, yeah, that was a bummer. It was a bummer to see Kate get tossed. I feel like, I don't know, I don't really care about this, but certainly gained him some notoriety. I mean, he's just, he hasn't been a Mobley who's, who's really front and center. He hasn't been, not just put it this way. I mean, it's just been very, very fundamentally sound. And that doesn't really get as much attention.

Is it, is it safe to say that Kate has arrived? I would say so. Yeah, I think so too. Honestly, and I don't know if this is just my fan bias, but I feel like, at least from the Pistons point of view, Kate is like the best player on the floor almost every time he takes the court. Oh, absolutely. Not that.

We're in Perthin's jersey. You know, there's another guy who sometimes is the best player on the court. We're going to get into him a little bit later. But Cade, man, like he's starting to figure out that when he attacks the basket, he's pretty well unstoppable, I think. Yeah, one of the big concerns about him, I didn't really have this concern, but one of the concerns going into the draft, really the biggest knock was, you know, is the guy going to be athletic enough to get to his spots in the interior and the NBA?

and even as a rookie, and I'm fully confident that he'll put on more strength and be able to use it. He already uses it well. He has no trouble getting there. He's got, you know, not really kind of traditional explosiveness, but he's definitely got enough of it, and he's very shifty. Yeah. And he's very, very, very patient. Like when you see him on the drive, particularly off the high pick and roll, he just is fully in control at all times and just knows, what to do. He's not a guy who's driving on instinct. He's always thinking,

no, you know what word I'd use, Mike? Surgical. Surgical. Surgical with the offense. And that that encapsulates his scoring and it certainly encapsulates his passing. But as far as scoring is concerned, like I said about going to the basket, attacking, he's got a very sophisticated way of sealing the defender off. You know, he uses his off arm very subtly to make sure that the ball is shielded the entire time. you know, he's reaching out and his arms are just so long, right? He's so long and lanky. He can just kind of lay it in.

And the defender really doesn't have a chance. And I feel like a broken record. I've said this so many times, but it's like he's too skilled for the bigs and he's, and he's too big for the guards. Like there's not much you can do when Kate Cunningham gets a full head of steam and he's headed to the basket. And to your point, he doesn't just do it off off the cuff, off the cuff, right? He chooses his spots wisely.

He's methodical. he's surgical and really he's been he's been getting it done we'll say that he's been getting it done yeah absolutely i agree the next frontier of course for him is funny as you know as figuring out ways to draw fouls but i mean i we were all told coming into the draft uh you know not really we're all told but much was made of his just excellent basketball IQ how he was smart beyond his years just seized the game in a way that few players can yeah and uh such that he was really the consensus this number one pick in a draft that had three guys in Evan Mowgli, Jalen Green and Kate, who could have gone number one in any given draft.

But I really didn't fully see it until, you know, really the last couple of months. It's, I still think it's a little bit of a shame. We didn't get to see him really just explore right out of the gates, you know, whatever. That happens. Well, you're going with the ankle injury, right? Like, you got to, well, consider, and this is, I think, man, I wish Tommy was here because Tommy has said this before. but I think fans really need to consider the human aspect here.

You know, think about Cade, right? He is heralded as the savior pretty much immediately for a franchise that's been in the dark for years and years, decades, really. And he comes in and it's immediately ankle injury, right?

So he's got to rehab his way back from that. He starts off slow, probably as a result of the lack of conditioning because of that injury. And then when he finally starts to find his groove, he gets COVID. And it's like, You can't, the poor guy just can't catch a break, but now that things are starting to fall into place, he is really showing out.

Yeah, absolutely. Really showing out. Yeah, he, yeah, it was the ankle injury, of course, which made it harder for him to get up the speed, the inability to participate fully in training camp or in preseason. And it probably cost him rookie to year, though. I really, honestly, couldn't care less about that. I mean, he really will have to have an excellent remainder of the season to beat out Evan Mobley.

He can push. He can push him. He can push him. He can push him, but the point. has been made. I didn't think of this myself. Somebody else said this and I completely agree with it. That when you come in and you're a player who really elevates a team and nobody expected the Cavs to be this good this season, they're one of the best defensive teams in the league. Jared Allen is part of that. But Mobley is a really big part of that. It's huge. Huge for them. Yeah. So he's been a major

component of the Cavs transitioning from joke to almost certainly making the playoffs. And that's just, I think that's going to be too much for Cade to overcome. And Wes, he is just fantastic. It may be. Yeah, that may be the case. And I think Pistons fans need to, listen, I love Cade, Mike loves Cade, Tommy loves Cade. We, listen, we get it. And Cade is playing great. But when you are, you couldn't have said it better, Mike, when you are elevating your team,

when what you're doing is being looked at through the lens of winning basketball, you have entered an entirely different conversation. Like, now you're a winning player. Now you're elevating your program. And it's funny because you've got to think, and this is something that Tommy has brought up several times, Mowgli, for as talented as he is, he was dropped into a much better situation than Cade was. And to his credit, yeah, without a doubt. And he's making the most of that situation.

So I'm not taking anything from Mowgli. Longtime listeners, no, I was, I think we all liked Mowgli, but I loved him. I was just salivating over him in some of the draft profiles. And he's a supremely talented player. But Cade was a little bit handicapped. So like you said, rookie of the year, who knows? Who really knows with rookie of the year? I don't care too much either.

But I think Mobley being a part of a winning program puts him a little out of reach for Cade right now, unless, like you said, he just explodes as a scorer. Yeah. Kade doesn't. Cade cannot elevate this team. I mean, this team is not elevatable, so to speak. I mean, it's got so many problems with it from shooting to athleticism to verticality. Of course, part of athleticism. But, yeah, there's just, there's no elevating this team.

Mowbly came into a situation, like you said, that was much better. Darius Garland has been very good. Jared Allen has been very good. Kevin Love has had himself a resurgence. Geez, who did they lose recently? Ruby. Rubio was having a real good season for them. Still couldn't really shoot very well, but he was really good for them.

Yeah, it's just things have gone very well for them, even losing sexton early. And sex and I've got to feel in some ways was addition by subtraction because it's very hard to run an offense when Sexton is on the floor. because he has to be the offense. So, yeah, that just gives Mobley an inherent advantage. But like you said, it's not to take anything away from him. I mean, he has a defensive monster. He's been good on the offensive side.

And in the draft, during the draft profiles, I mean, I just felt like the piston so badly needed an offensive initiator. And I don't think Mobley's ever going to be that. He came into a situation with Garland, who is again, been very good. It's been possibly freed up by the injury to Sexton to really be a point guard. And, yeah, that's why I had, it's probably the biggest reason. in why I had Green and Kate ahead of Mobley. Also, I remain concerned about his injuries,

you know, with a guy who is as tall and as mobile as he is, it is difficult to stay healthy. Yeah, and listen, let's not get a twisted here. I don't want to speak for you, Mike, but I still think unequivocally the Pistons made their correct. Oh, 100%. Yeah, for sure. You needed an offensive initiator.

You know, the Cavs and the Pistons were in different places as franchises. The Cavs were able to just pop Mowbly in there, and they've already got their Darius. Garland and I know Sexton got hurt, but they had him in a way you go, whereas the Pistons desperately needed someone to run their offense. And for what it's worth for rookie of the year, I just want to, I just want to toss this out there. Mowbly definitely has a firm grasp on it. And like we said, it's going to take a pretty big explosion from Cade to rip that away from him. But Cade is capable of that. I don't want to make it sound like this award is completely

out of reach. Like, it's like we said, his, his offense has got, like, he was going toe to toe to toe with Devin Booker the other night, like toe to toe. Like, it was a legitimate back and forth. It was, it was like a layup line for the two of them. They were just scoring at will. It's not just that. I mean, it's not just that Phoenix had McCall Bridges guarding him much at the time. And Bridges is one of the best defensive wings in the league. I'm like, and it doesn't matter because Cade's got, you know, he'll seal you with the off arm and he'll just lay it into the basket. He's got it. I don't even know if I want to call you.

You know the move I'm talking about where he he plants his feet and he like kind of fakes a like he's leaning one way. And then he gets the guy to jump every single time. And then he shoots from the other side. He's got just such a wide array of moves at his disposal. And I keep I can't belabor the point enough. He's 20. Like imagine what he can be at 24 or 25 like where I knew Cade was going to be good. I didn't know that he was going to be this good, this.

fast. Yeah, it's, I mean, not only is you that offensive initiator, I mean, it's, we'll put it this way. I mean, Mowgli can be maybe your franchise player, but like a Mowgli, if you don't have that guy who's going to initiate the offense and be a real good player next to him, but I put it this way. I mean, of course, the redrafts start coming out and it's like, oh, in a redraft, 40 games, another NBA career. Evan Mowgli would go first. It's like, you're kidding me. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, as, as we all say, said during the draft leadups, Kate is not only a really good player. He's also a guy who can lead a team that is also valuable. Clearly, he's just got a leader's mentality, a winning

mentality, and it's just, it's been a pleasure to watch him play. I mean, he's just, he sees, he sees the game in a different level for most players. Just the amount of patience he has. I mean, this is notable on the pick, and all the guy is completely unhurried. He's still kind of smoothing out the wrinkles as far as turnovers are concerned, but he's, he's just such a smart player and he's really showing his capacity right now as a three level score as well as mid-range game has really improved and you put together his ability to shoot pull-up threes, shoot for the mid-range and attack the basket and you know you add excellent court vision just general line queue on top of that is a very difficult player to stop in general also and that's just

one side of the ball like I mean is this safe to say Mike because this is what I was this is what I was thinking I would say that Cade's defense was solid enough out of the gate but I think to this point and based on what I've seen, I think I'm ready to categorize Kate as an impact defender. I'm not saying he's an all-world defender, but he is, he makes things happen on that side of the court for sure. And you couple that with his offensive game. It's like, yeah, Evan Mobley right now, rookie of the year, sure, but Kate is like maybe an MVP type of guy one day. Yeah, I think when it comes to his defense conditioning is perhaps an issue. Sure. And he makes, he makes some mistakes on defense. I mean, he's certainly a smart defender.

And I think some of it is just adjusting to the NBA pace and the level of, the level of competition in the NBA and, I mean, the speed of offenses in the NBA these days. But there's also the fact that being the guy on offense and carrying such a heavy offensive load is difficult. Not many guys can play. at peak performance on both ends. I mean, they often have to dedicate more on one end than the other. And LeBron James, one of the greatest athletes in the history of the world, was able to do it until he got into his 30s.

And now he just doesn't try on defense in the regular season. And he just really phoned in on defense for many years. He used to be a perennial all-defense selection, also being one of the very best scores in the league. And, I mean, that's exceptionally difficult to do. But, yeah, I mean, there's still physical growth to be had for Cade. Most definitely. Yeah, so I think the conditioning will improve.

I think he's just going to get physically stronger, too. I think I know he's going to get physically stronger. So, yeah, there's, yeah, I'm happy. And I just wish he had a role man who could jump. That would be so nice. That would be fantastic, eh? Yeah, I mean, we can take that on the next topic. I know we were planning on talking about this later in the show,

but I've got to mention Isaiah Stewart. this is just a topic on it's a shame because we were so high on Stuart West season you know it's like you know he's just a guy who makes everybody run and better he really knows what he's doing he doesn't know what he's doing on defense but he's just he just brings so much in the way of intangibles and how hard he works and then he's the starting center this season and he's got big problems yeah he he's taking a big step back um i i think probably the most notable facet of his game in which it's like oh man I'd say it's the shooting

he barely shoots which I think was a big part of what there was a specific way that we would articulate it in the offseason where it's basically like look Stuart is a physically limited five he's never going to have the height he's never going to have the vertical ability but the fact that he can space the floor

from mid range out you know theoretically means that you probably can keep him on the floor in crunch time. He can possibly be a starting center. When you couple that with his defense and rebounding, and to be clear, this is what we were saying in the offseason. We don't know what his ceiling is, but right now he doesn't even shoot.

And when he does, it's like not even close. So if he's not spacing the floor and he's an undersized center who can't jump, what are we looking at, probably a backup? Yeah, definitely. I mean, even, happened over the course of last season. I mean, he started shooting early on and he was doing well. And then there was just a severe decline in at first, just the accuracy of his shot, just in terms of his conversion rates, and then just hitting the backboard and not even hitting the rim.

I mean, his misses just grew ugly. And this season, yeah, he just, he doesn't even try to shoot when he does. Yeah, I'm just repeating what you said when he does. It's ugly. But I've got to say that if I said that last season that, yeah, as long as he can shoot, it's fine. Now I just, now I don't feel that way anymore, even if you can't shoot. Same. Yeah. There are two teams which field a starting center who is undersized and cannot jump. One is the pistons.

The other is the thunder. Jeremiah Robinson Earl, I think it's safe to say is not the long-term answer. It's starting center for the thunder. A lot of wins between those two teams, eh? Yeah, absolutely fantastic teams. Exactly. You know, the problem with Stuart, and I'm going to, I'm going to credit my dad on that, not that it takes a rocket scientist to see this, but I was watching the game with, I was watching the game with my dad, this most recent one. And it was Stuart matched up on Javelle McKee. And my dad goes, you know, McGee can probably just like post him up and, and like put the ball in the basket over him, like literally just lean over and put the ball in the basket. And that's pretty much what Javail was doing. Like there just isn't. Like, it's not Isaiah's fault, but he's not tall enough. He doesn't have the vertical to get up there and contest those shots.

Like once he's matched up against a bigger center, like we're talking about Javelle McGee. Look at what DeAndre Aiton did. It's like you can't, you can't have that guy as your starting center if you want to be a competitive team. And he certainly, certainly cannot play in crunch time in the playoffs, I'd say, unless it's in a limited role. That's how I feel watching him against. these big centers right now. Yeah, I wouldn't say even it's just a matter of crunch time. I'd say it's an issue in the regular season.

It's like even leaving aside the defense against tenors who are taller or particularly centers who are taller and can jump. I mean, White side gave him big issues. White side is not a particularly good center. It's not a starting center on the NBA anymore. No, he just happens to be like four inches taller and much better able to jump. McGee is having the best season of his career. I mean, he could start on a team that's got a lot of talent out on the perimeter.

But basically, it was, yeah, he couldn't handle Aden. Aten is much taller and can jump, considerably taller. He couldn't handle McGee. McGee is considerably taller and can jump. He couldn't handle Whiteside. He couldn't handle Mitchell Robinson. He couldn't, like, even earlier in the season, I remember Sabanis getting a rebound, and it's like, Sabanis isn't a particularly good jumper either.

I don't know how long he is, but he basically just held the ball above his head. Stewart was kind of like just out of luck. There's no way you're going to get to it. It's like when your older brother, when your older brother, just hold something up above your head. It's just a problem. Like on offense, he can't be a proper role man. Yeah. Because not only is he on the shorter side for centers, he can't jump.

So it's just difficult to get him the ball. He doesn't have the greatest hands either. I mean, you whip him a fast pass. He stands a pretty good chance of dropping it or just fumbling it. Yeah. And that's a turnover. Yeah. And on defense, and obviously the Wops are just not there.

And if you want to see the value of players who can jump and catch a, swabs, then look no further than the Phoenix game. I mean, it's easy right there. It's an extra option you have. And if your center can't defend it, the opposing center can't defend it. They got big problems in Stewart on defense, you know, on defense can't do that. You can't handle guys who can either bigger centers who can either just jump over him or even players who can sky or highway athletic who can sky and who can just put it over the backboard

right over his outstretched arm. He's long, but he can't get vertical like that. But just how he performs against. guys who are taller and can jump. I don't see, even if you can shoot great, but I don't think that's going to solve his problems as a starter. Even if you have a good role man and power forward

you can put next to him. Just the issues on defense are going to be there. And now a quick word from our sponsor. Hockey fans, draft king sports book, an official sports betting partner of the NHL has a no-brainer offer that'll make you a winner once any shot gets past the goalie. New customers can bet just $1

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Must be 21 or older. New Jersey, Indiana, or Pennsylvania only, new customers only, minimum $5 deposit and $1 wage are required. One per customer. Restrictions apply. See draftkings.com slash sportsbook for details. And if you have a gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. Yeah, Mike, I was going to ask you before we started recording and then I stopped myself.

Can I ask you an evil question that the listeners might not want to hear? Can I ask that evil question? Is that okay? Yeah, wait on me. Okay, I hate to do this. But so now that we're... I got to tell you, though, the answer is no, Santa Claus does not actually exist. Hey, listen, let's relax with the crazy talk, okay?

But so now that we're talking about Stewart like this and last episode, we had our whole, you know, thing with Killian, what do we make of the 2020 class, the lauded 2020 class? because the reason I ask from my perspective, your only long-term, for sure, impact player, I think is Sadiq Bay. And for calling those guys the core four, it's more like a core one. So what do you make of that 2020 class right now? So I would say if you get, it really depends on what we're looking. I mean, I guess we look at it on an altogether basis rather than like sure if Sadiq at number 19 gets you a long-term starter on a contender.

Of course, that's good. But you also had picks number 7 and 16 to look at. So, you know how we all feel about Killian. Obviously, rooting for him to improve, I don't think he's a fit in the starting lineup long-term, no matter what. If he ends up as a backup, it's because he fell, you know, right in that odd niche

of not good enough to start, but good enough to be backup. I think it's likeliest, you know, if he improves, I hope he improves, both for his sake, but also so the Pistons can trade him for some value, because I think that his time on the team became just, I'm missing on the term here, whatever the case.

I think just the clock started on him the second that Cade was drafted. Killiam was brought in to be the point guard of the future. Not only is he bad at that at being a point guard, but Cade is such a, I think just as capacity to be so much better at the role. So his days became numbered. That's what I was looking for. So I think he ends up being. traded. If he can play his way in the more value, greats. I don't think you're going to get

back number seven pick, even in a weak draft value for him. No. Trade. In fairness to Troy Weaver, I don't think anybody anywhere anticipated Tealian Hayes being this bad. However, though, to that point, it's not everybody else's job to anticipate that. It's Troy Weaver's job. I totally agree. But yeah, yeah, so I mean, obviously that's a big miss if it happens, if it happens that way, I don't have much confidence that Killian's can end up being number seven material. If he has number seven material, it's because he got a lot better as a ball handler. And in that role, he was just the big pick and roll guy in Europe and was allowed it for

his court vision, his passing, his work ethic. And some looks of three-level offense, maybe a guy who can develop a step-back three and so on and so forth. But right now it doesn't look good. It's only 50-something games in, I believe. leave, but right now looks really bad. Stuart, at number 16, I mean, what I said about Stewart at the time of the draft, I wasn't thinking, okay, this guy is going to start in the NBA someday.

I just thought if the guy can switch on defense, we're talking switch on smaller guys, you know, in isolation. You know, set a pick at a switch and then, you know, the point guard or the shooting guard or whatever attacks you. And so Stewart can do that. He can defend on in against quicker players. So if you can do that and if you can shoot, then it's a decent use of the 16th overall pick. And if you can do that, he shoot, he can shoot. Sure, you have an energy backup center.

And I was like, okay, you know, in any case, he can be kind of like team dad, even if he's not, doesn't turn out to be particularly good because it's undeniably good walk around presence. So if you can do that, that's a fine return on the, on the 16th pick, I, you know, the fact that he can't be a starter, you know, it's whatever. If you get a good long term rotation player at number 16, then that's fine. Yeah, I'd say it's perfectly fine. Saban Lee second round pick that's he hasn't been good so far and that's that's fine. I mean, you don't worry too much about

second round picks you want them to succeed. Saban just still has issues. He doesn't really is athleticism is nearly as functional as I hoped it would be. Like he doesn't really have the ability to drive in and then sky on one foot for example. He's vertical, but he's not like kind of lateral for you know, I don't know how to put it. No, I know exactly what you're saying. He can't. He can't fully translate it.

maybe the way. Yeah, it doesn't translate it. He's a very on the ground kind of player most of the time. And that's not really good. No. Obviously, he's not a good shooter yet either. But he is a second round. And that's, you know what?

You kind of take what you get with the second round. I just think, and maybe this is, like, I don't know. I suppose I take issue with the process a little bit. Because when you look at the draft, right, that 2020 class, the seventh overall pick, as of right now looks like an absolute disaster and then you take Isaiah Stewart with the 16th pick

you don't take and a lot of people forget this Stewart was picked before Sadiq right so if you take Isaiah there at 16 and Bay is not left on the board still at 19 and say something happens and you don't get to pick him what does this draft class really look like

and I think too when you have a team as lacking in talent to the extent that the Pistons are I don't think it's crazy to expect that those three first round picks make an impact and then stick long term. But, you know, if things work out a little bit differently, you're looking at a massive swing and a miss in the top 10. You're looking at, you know, kind of a backup glue energy guy at 16. And if Sadiq, you get snatched up, what are you looking at at 19?

And it's just, and then what happened? And I know you, like, you're the one who always says you hate talking about the butterfly effects. but it's like, what if we don't win the lottery the next season? What does the conversation surrounding Troy Weaver look like? I just, that's an area of concern for me. I'm not saying Troy Weaver's bad at his job. I'm not saying that he's done a poor job. I just have some questions.

And I think that had things worked out slightly differently, we're having a very different conversation about Troy Weaver. Yeah, it's entirely possible. He definitely benefited from the lottery boss following the right way if the Pissons ended up in the number six pick and drafted Franz Wrens Wagner has been good, but I don't, you know, I think this kind of guy who's maybe like your 2B option. He's no Kate. Yeah, he's an okay, absolutely. Not even close. He's a guy who can be kind of like a great role player, two B guy, you know, number two B option on a contender, perhaps. I don't think you're feeling nearly as excited about it. Now that your question's about, of course, the 2020 draft are completely valid. It was reported that at number 16, the Pistons originally won in Kneesmith. Does that mean that's you take Neesmith and then you move on and take Stewart in number 19? Oh, man.

Who knows? Man. And there's also, and Neismith hasn't been good so far. You know, by any means, there's time. But who knows what he could do? But I think that, you know, he looks like a guy who will probably cap off. It's a good motion three-point shooter, valuable. But, you know, who knows?

I mean, I've been all over the place about Sadiq this season, whatever the case. I don't know if after picking Stewart or if he picked Stewart at 16 because he knew, you know, It was just really out there of what the Timberwolves and the Mavericks were pointing out doing it at 17 and 18. I know that the Mavericks, Mark Hume had hired some guy who came from the world of online gambling, who really got executive power over what they did for quite some time. He was to let go by the new general manager who was hired this season because I think they just recognized they couldn't have him there.

But the scouting team reportedly was pretty pissed that he didn't take Sadiq at number 18 and took Josh Green instead. So who knows. Thank God, right. But, yeah, but, yeah, I would agree the jury is out still on Troy Weaver. We've spoken a lot that we don't really like what he did with this particular roster, like not having enough athletes, not having a center who can jump. To say the least.

Not having a good role man for K. Yeah. Yeah. And so I would say the jury is still out. I, of course, hope that he turns out to be a genuinely good general manager. There is some concern at this point. And as far as that draft, if Sadiq turns out to be a good long-term starter,

you know, even fourth or fifth best guy in a contender, you know, great. But even in a weak draft, if Killian turns out to be the flop that we're all concerned he'll be, that might be a significant miss. At the same time, we've also said if killing doesn't come in, if he isn't, well, he got injured too, but if he weren't awful before he got injured and terrible when he got back, who knows maybe you don't lose enough to end up with the case. Totally. No, and that's totally fair. I just, but in a vacuum, looking at that pick itself, man.

And this is the thing, too. Some people, you know, I've seen some people make the argument, oh, you know, Killian was always meant to be raw, he got hurt, this, that. Listen, there are a number of things you could say, but you are nuts if you think the plan a year and a half into his career was for everybody to be shocked every time that he scores. Like, that certainly was not the plan. I do wonder what Weaver's thoughts are on his play. maybe that's like a post-season somebody will ask him that at a presser or something but right now

it's not looking too great but yeah i just wanted to ask about that 2020 class i think maybe we would do well to have a future episode where we grade troy wever to this point i think would be a good future episode but for right now i guess we can leave it there yeah i've said about his strategy for this season you know not having that lob man not having strong remodners on the team you know not having that role man it's like out of the guy just screwed up or he has a plan that's beyond my comprehension at the moment but i suppose we'll see i suppose we'll see how the team looks next season yeah but when it comes to hazy yeah i think it should be reiterated that the guy and i'm not saying this to dump on him but he's definitely been remarkably

bad by any you know by any stretch but who knows maybe we'll see some improvement just the the catching point for me is that there's i don't think there's any conceivable way to make him a good fit next to kate so we'll see what we'll see but uh we can there's um you know, a young player about whom we both feel quite a bit better. That's Hamidu Dioa. Good transition. Yeah, there's definitely not a complete player. I mean, it has to be noted about Diela right now that his inability to space the floor.

Not only means that he's lacking a useful tool, but is a severe disadvantage. It's one that doesn't matter this season. It's just something. It'll make the difference between him having trouble in the league. You know, being a bench player is not being able to shoot is a big problem. and being conceivably a valuable starter in the league, hopefully for the Pistons. Yeah, that's a swing skill for a guy who I continue to maintain

as a second highest ceiling in the team. He showed some new things this season. Like we both know, he's hyperathletic. He's fun to watch. I mean, that's one thing. He's just so much fun to watch. And this is the thing with, you put it perfectly, Mike. You put it perfectly.

In my time, following the Pistons to the extent that I do, I don't think I've ever seen a player whose future projection hinges so drastically on one skill. And by that I mean, if his shooting comes along and he could shoot, you know, say better than average, his ceiling is, yeah, the second highest on the team. And if he can't shoot, his floor is, you know, a hustle bench guy who can make an exciting play once in a while. And that variance is, that's really something. So if I'm the pistons, I'm locking him in a gym and making him shoot threes all summer. Now, I don't know if that's going to work or not.

But what I do know is that Diallo is, I think he could be a piece here. I think he can be a piece here for a long time if he can just figure out that shooting. And you speak on his athleticism. I actually went back and I watched some Jalen Green tape from the G League. And, like, Diallo is every bit the athlete that Jalen Green is. In some areas, he exceeds Jalen. And we were just salivating over Green's athleticism and his ceiling and the ways that he was able to finish. Like, ignoring Green shooting, just the ways that he was able to finish at the basket.

That's something that we were so high on in the pre-draft process. And Diallo can do all that. So if Diallo can shoot, maybe him and Kate are the one-two punch we're looking for now. That's a big if. but it's something to consider. And your assessment that he has the second highest ceiling on the team, I think is 100% correct, 100%. Yeah, you can't, I mean, you always see you can't teach athletics.

I mean, you don't have to be an elite athlete to be an elite player in the NBA. It's certainly helpful. But, yeah, DLO is top 10 athletes and incredibly athletic league. And, you know, who knows, maybe there's just kind of like a group of guys between like five and 15 and you don't need to classify it as kind of like a top 10. whatever. He's a freak athlete even the NBA level. And, you know, yeah, all of his dunks against against the Raptors were pretty great. Number one, it's just fun to watch and play. But number two, of course, that's absolutely functional athleticism. It's helpful on both ends. You can stick

to guys in isolation on defense. He's a genuinely good rebounder, which is certainly important for this Pistons team. His ability to just carve his way through the interior, some of the shots he takes are bad. But it's, if you put that all together, like, just is his ability to attack the basket, which is impressive, particularly in light of the fact that people know he can't shoot. Defenders know he can't shoot. They're playing him at a disadvantage on the drive because of that, and he's still very good at getting there and scoring. If you had a three-point shot to that, not only is he no longer a spacing liability. And, I mean, of course, I've said this in the past.

You know, I'm repeating myself, but not only is he not a spacing liability, but you've got him into a position in which defenders have to attack closeouts. this almost point was for them to attack the close out. It's probably better to let him shoot because if you try to close out and you're done. I mean, you're finished and you can make the right pass. Yeah, if help arrives in time, he has the vision and the willingness to make the right pass. So, yeah, and if he can shoot pull-up threes and oddly enough, at times, his form looks better on pull-ups than on spot-up threes. If you can shoot pull-up threes, it's like fantastic.

Now you've got big problems guarding him because you have to play him close and you're kind of damned if you do and damned if you don't. excuse the language. So, but yeah, if you can't shoot, then you kind of out of luck. If you can't shoot, he's just going to be what he is now. And what he is now is useful. He's an energy guy. He's a hustle guy. He's fun.

I can't say that he's, you know, a long-term answer in the starting lineup. But if the shooting comes around, definitely, and I think it bears mentioning as well, his defense. I, you know, we talked about, and I'll go back to this past draft class again, Jalen Suggs. we raved about Jalen Suggs' defense and one word that kept coming up was relentless. You know, Jalen Suggs is this hounding defender, constantly making things tough on the ball handler.

And I see a lot of that in Diallo. I'll be like full disclosure here. I'm going to have to go back and watch the tape on his actual, like from a play to play perspective, what his defense looks like on his man when that guy does not have the ball. But as far as just when you're watching the game and sort of just keeping an overview on everything.

He's a splash defender. He is the amount of times he's stolen and inbound. Like another team's inbound is it's got to be like five or six now this season. Knocking the ball away when his guy is trying to size him up or when the man that he's defending is on the way to the basket, he's able to do that. And just it's like I said, he's a splash defender. And I think a lot of that comes from his tenacity.

you know, his willingness to fully engage on defense, to stay mentally and physically present, you know, in the moment. And that's something that a lot of guys just don't have the capability of doing. So I know we keep talking about the shooting, but to tie it back to the shooting, you're looking at an all-around player if he can figure that out. So the ceiling is, you know, second highest on the team. And when you've got a guy like Kate on your team, the second highest is nothing to sneeze at. nothing. So for all of our feet, fingers crossed on the shooting. Yeah, definitely. He's

got excellent length. I mean, he's got a wingspan of about 6-11. He's 6'5. I mean, 6'11's a great wing span for a guy of that size. He's quick. I mean, I think it should be reiterated. He is very explosive and very quick in a league of freak athletes. I mean, these guys

are incredible. The standard of athleticism in the NBA is really something else. I mean, it's higher than ever. he's able to scope out when he should go for steals he doesn't gamble he's always in position in which he can recover if he doesn't get it but i believe he continues to lead the league in steals over the last three weeks or so by a wide margin and they're good steals it's not like no they're not fluky steals he's not just it's not fluky steals i mean you had you had to bring up this name that's none of us like from a very dark bygoing era but andre drummond who got his steals by constantly gambling and it's not just it's not just it's not full of stealing and it's It's like, you have to, it's like, do we have a stat that's like, okay, he has this many steals. How many open baskets is he given up because he went for a steal when he shouldn't have? Yeah. And that's not the issue with Dio.

It's like, is it stealing a net positive when everything is considered. And Diallo is absolutely is. I mean, this is just, Drummond is a statistical quirk. I mean, we all know that it's, you know, I can't think of another player in the league right now who has, whose stats are so much worse, a player is so much worse than his stats than Drummond is. That's got to be tough for you knowing that he's your favorite player. I know that's pop-old. Oh, Drummond.

Oh, yeah. He's, I miss him so much, yeah. But, yes, I mean, he's a statistical anomaly. Whatever the case, you know, the average player who's, who's very high in steals is doing well on defense. Curry is another kind of anomaly. He's not a good defender. He gets a lot of steals.

Whatever the case, he always steals are real. They're not from gambling. He's not a defensive liability. He sometimes has some focus issues, but he's only 23. So whatever the case, there's a lot to hope for. there and certainly is a lot of fun to watch. And if Jeremy Grant does come back, it's like, please put the guy, keep the guy in the starting lineup and kick Killian out.

Now, that's what I was going to ask you, Mike. That was going to be my follow-up question. What is your confidence level that this breakout here? And I feel comfortable calling it a breakout for Diallo. What is your confidence level that his spot is, at least for the time being, is solidified? Because mine, knowing Dwayne Casey, probably around 50%, whereas I think with a competent coach, it's 100% the case that Diallo needs to stay in the starting lineup.

But with Casey, I just don't know. So I want to know your thoughts on that. I'd give it, like, a 75% chance that it'd stay in the starting lineup. Killian's role has declined, as minutes are declined. He's no longer on the floor late in games. I think that there's some acknowledgement that he's not the right guy. I wouldn't put it outside the realm of possibility. I don't think it's likely, though, that Frank Jackson will be begun the starting shooting

guard and he returns. Just if only, you know, major factor there is that Casey. just loves to have him off the bench to do, you know, it's like whenever Frank is on the floor without, you know, without Cade, for example. It's, oh, we can have every possession to end with a Frank Jackson shot, which isn't ideal, but it's the way that Casey's operated with him. But I feel fairly confident that it would be Della who would stay in the starting lineup.

I think Casey recognizes his value as just a hyperathetic dude who can make plays. Though it has been noted Casey has openly said that he doesn't call place for Diela. And I think that was apparent from the very, from the very beginning once the other guys returns. Oh, definitely. Yeah, Casey runs an offense. His offense almost invariably utilizes three players. That is, well, you know, unless you've got like a guy like Jeremy Grant in there, and you can just hand in the ball and say, okay, do stuff.

But, yeah, Jenner, but Grant is generous. I mean, if you're running, if he's running like a free following offense, like an actual real honest to goodness offense, he uses generally three players. One of them is the center and the center is in it because he's setting picks and bowling the basket. Those three players right now are Sadiq, Kate, of course, and whoever's on the floor at center, generally Wiles, who has been pretty good lately. But the fact is Casey just can't run a five-man offense. So Diallo, he said, oh, well, Diallo generally just has to find his opportunities. Where they come? Through him, yeah, through improvisation, which is not ideal,

but this is the coach that the team has. Yeah, and yeah, look at his scoring numbers, right? Yeah, it's generally been good. He takes some, he takes some not so great shot sometimes. which, you know, whatever the case, for whatever reason he takes them, I mean, the mid-range pull-ups, you know, no knock on deal of, because hardly anybody can make these efficients. He's not one of them.

That's fine. Very few guys can. And I hope that those, you know, when he becomes a, if he becomes a good perimeter shooter, I think those will disappear. So whatever the case, certainly a bright spot. So speaking of Jeremy Grant, I know that is still a hot topic, you know, on the trade markets.

And probably Atlanta may have gone by the wayside as an option, just now that they've traded Cambridish. You think for sure? Do you think for sure Atlanta's out of the picture there? Unless they decide to move Collins, that would require Collins to really want out and grant to be the best offer they got. Yeah. And I find that unlikely. I mean, John Collins is such a talented score. I mean, he's been an excellent three-point shoot of the last couple of seasons.

he's shooting upwards of 40% this season. He's having a putrid season from the post, but he could score from there in his previous seasons. He's a great role man, consistently great role man. I mean, the guy is extremely athletic. He's got a great touch on the interior. Yeah, imagine him in Cade. Yeah, that would be fantastic.

And he's squeezed into a weird spot right now, because Trey Young, of course, is one of the premier heliocentric creators in the NBA. And then you have Clint Capella. who does a lot of work on the role. And so Collins is just kind of stuck in a weird spot. Because if you have Capella on the floor, you really want him on the role. He's can't shoot.

You know, you can spot up Collins on the perimeter. So his shots per game have declined, I believe, in each of the last three seasons. So he's just in a weird spot there. I've heard some negative things about his attitude. But, you know, if you can trade Grant for Collins, then cool, you know, I would say make it happen. How do you feel about like a hunter? or an Okongwu. Like, is that off the table for you completely, or you think there's something there?

I don't know. I mean, that would boil down to what we think about, like, what else is available and what the future would hold, like, what are the prospects, what are the realistic prospects for trading grant during the off season? And, like, I don't think, I think it's valuable drop if you go in the next season with them, not only because he's not going to be able to play a full season for somebody, but because though he is extension eligible, I mean, if he's a guy who can, put up 20 plus points on good efficiency while playing strong defense.

He's probably going to book to hit free agency and just get a contract there because your extension, the contract extension you can get is dependent upon your current salary. I don't remember exactly what it is. It could be that that would be enough for him. But so if it's, if you really, you know, if you're Troy Weaver and you feel like, well, you know, the prospects probably aren't going to improve at the draft. Because at the draft, you have less interference from the step union rule, which says you I can't go two consecutive years without a draft pick without a first round pick.

Now, the clock resets after you make your actual pick. So after you make your pick, now it's just the next two years that matter. So what happens is that the team drafts the guy and then trades him. So they have made the pick. So at the draft, you have more picks that are available. But, you know, if you feel like you're going to get the best value, now at Kongwu undersized, different from Stewart and that he's a way better leaper, very athletic guy. But I'm not really sure how I feel about him.

Not that I would not want him to be the center of a package. I think Hunter, a talented player, has already had two injuries on the same knee, same meniscus, in fact. I'm no physical therapist. I don't know how menacing that is, you know, how foreboding that is. Yeah, but it gives you pause. It gives me pause, definitely. And he really hasn't gotten to play enough in the NBA to really demonstrate what he can do.

Yeah. But if you can get Collins fantastic at this, still think Patrick Williams is a possibility. That's what I was going to say. I'm still in the Patrick Williams train, I think. I think that's probably my, I think it's equal parts likely and equal parts beneficial to the Pistons. And that's why I'm firmly in that camp. I think, listen, where there's smoke, there's fire.

And we know, I think we know for a fact that Weaver was really looking heavily at Patrick Williams. And so that doesn't just go away over the course of, you know, a season where I know William suffered an injury. but I think up into that point, he performed decently well. And I don't see how anything that he did on the court would turn Weaver off from that initial upside he may have thought that he had. And so, and I think the Bulls too are in a position where you add grants and all of a sudden there's another option come playoff time. So I think that's a mutually beneficial trade. And I think that both parties would be motivated, at least it strikes me that both parties would be motivated to, get something like that done. Yeah, I think it's not out of the question that something could really

come out of left field. By all accounts, you know, from reliable sources, I'll just say it's straight out. When it comes to sources, I mean, they're basically four I really trust when it comes to national insiders. Of course, Shams and Woj and you add Mark Stein and Zeklo on top of that. There are also, it's a really crappy sources who they have nothing to lose by just saying, oh, I've heard this. Like if it doesn't turn out to be true, hardly anybody remembers it. If it does turn out to be true,

cool, you've gained some clout. Like, I'm not trying to trash talk anybody. It's just that there are very few national sources that I trust. So all sorts of news comes out, but Chams has made it very clear that the market for Jeremy Grant is very strong. And why that is, is it, okay,

you have Grant who, even with his poor shot selection this season, even with Dwayne Casey, basically using him as okay here, Jeremy, please take the ball and create for me. Even being part of a bad offense that doesn't really give him very much space to operate. If you take out his first three games, he was scoring 20 points at about 56% true shooting, which is quite solid for a guy who's creating quite a bit of his own offense. If you put him on a good team and he can be number 2B or number three,

I mean, there's a guy who can provide you with a good, efficient 20 points per game while playing strong defense, like stronger defense because he doesn't need to get the crap beat out of him on offense anymore. Yeah. So, yeah, he's, that's a valuable player. He's also under a bargain contract for the next season and a half. And, you know, who knows, maybe he'd take an extension. I think, you know, he wouldn't be able to get the max salary at that point.

But he's extendable pretty soon, I think, come next November. I don't know. It's usually two years to the day. If you're on a three-year deal, it's usually two years, I believe, to the day when you sign your contract. I don't know how the NBA is going about that now, given that that was, you know, the weird COVID offseason when free agency was November, which is not common. So I think they would probably measure it up to this upcoming off season, whatever the case. I believe I saw that somewhere actually is easily confirmable. Like Bobby Marks, who's kind of like the cap crew came out.

I'm pretty sure I saw him write something about what Grant could get. So that's why Grant is valuable. I mean, that is a valuable player. And so. And let's not miss this. Sorry to interrupt you, Mike. Let's not miss this. For an episode where we've been relatively down on Troy, this is, this can certainly

be marked in the win column. So I fully expect grant to be traded prior to the deadline. And if you reflect back on on the move itself, what you basically did was you took cap space that you weren't going to use for making a push anyways. You used it to acquire, you know, a young guy who from a cultural perspective was an absolute home run of a fit, someone to bridge you from one season to the next so that every game is not a blowout. And what's about to happen is you're going to take that guy who gave your fans something watchable for a year and a half. And now you're about to flip him for, you know, if all we're hearing is true. And like you said, it's coming from reputable sources that the market for grant is the,

the hottest for any player in the NBA, you're about to get a pretty significant return for what ended up being, you know, a year and a half's worth of cap space that you weren't going to use anyway. So that's a big win for Troy Weaver. So I'd like to make it clear for every move that I may not agree with,

specifically in the draft, for every move that I might question, you can point to this Jeremy acquisition and sort of say, not bad. Yeah, I completely agree. It's a situation in which you very well make it. a respectable hall. I mean, in addition to all the things you've said,

you might get a respectable hall in the trade market for nothing more than cap space. And that's great. And I don't know if he's the hottest commodity right now. You never know what's going on with Ben Simmons, for example. But whatever the case, we know that's the hottest reported commodity, rather. Yeah, whatever the case, we know that the Pistons are fielding a lot of calls about it. So I will say this, that I don't try. treasure the possibility. And Jeremy, this is not your fault. There's nothing to do with Jeremy Grant

himself. Hard worker. I have no doubt he's doing exactly what's being asked of him. I don't treasure the possibility of him coming back to the lineup just because Dwayne Casey seems completely unable to resist using him as this year's de Rose. And it makes the offense so unpleasant. Yeah, listen, it's it's Cade's time. It's Cade's time right now. And in Jeremy's absence, which I think we actually predicted, some people thought that it might make things tougher on Cade. and by all accounts it has, and yet he's risen to the occasion anyway. So I'm not really hurting to get Grant back in here. And I can't imagine, you know, I don't think Weaver is either.

And I think Weaver sort of sees, okay, let's go full-blown Cade Cunningham mode. And let's see what kind of haul we can get for Jeremy. So if I had to plant my flag right now, I would say trade deadline Eve, Blake Griffin coming back to the Pistons for Jeremy Graham. Oh, the salaries don't match. I'm sorry. Listen, no, we're turning on trade override. You know in 2K when you could do trade override? That's what this is going to make.

Yeah. We ignore the cap and we just bring Blake back. Yeah. Yeah, this is just a, you know, it's a joke, of course, but this is just the point of the CDA. I hope I didn't need to think about it. Yeah, of course. The Pistons would actually be unable to bring back Blake Griffin this season

because they're still paying him on a stretch. It's a buyout. So, yeah, I know. It's a real shame. Too bad. Yeah, absolutely. So, I, man, that was

a good one. I'm glad that's over. That is another thing you can credit Troy Weaver for. And this is also Tom Gores. I know that he was willing to do this. Though I think Gores, what you can say about Tom Gores,

he has been a good owner since about two years ago when he realized that what he was doing. I'm just saying, you know what, we need to, you know, we're not going to rebuild. We need to build a winning culture and then build on that.

And he realized that that just wasn't going to work because you have to have the talent. You can't just get to the playoffs and say we're just going to become a better team by force of will, assuming you even make the playoffs he's been a pretty good owner you know he bought a G league team for the Pistons he's willing to spend the money he's willing to spend a lot on dead salary and be a little hands off by all accounts just kind of let the guys that he hired do the job that they were

hired to do and I think that can't be you know understated we just watched just to go to another sport we just watched the Dallas Cowboys collapse in epic fashion in front of the whole country and Jerry Jones medals just about as much as any owner in any pro sport. So we've seen firsthand as Pistons fans what happens when your owner steps in where they probably should not be stepping in? And I think that that's to Tom Gors' credit that he was able to kind of accept, hey, look, this is probably going to be an unwatchable product for a little bit, but ideally we'll be better for it in the long run.

And I think for someone who, like, look, you're the owner. You can literally do whatever you want. and for him to take a step back and sort of recognize his place, I respect that. And I think the pistons are better for it. No, they're better for it. I think it's a little harder for me to credit him for it because it took him nine years to get there. Yeah, but better late than ever. Yeah, he didn't.

Absolutely, I agree. And he's always been willing to spend the money. But it did take him nine years to get there. I mean, I'm not sure how much it was meddling in actual personnel decisions. I guess not much. It's just that the directive he put in place. The general man, right? The general man was completely impractical.

Yeah, make the playoffs at all costs. Just do whatever you can. Yeah, for the most part, he just, he hired incompetence to execute that too. Like Joe Dumars by the time, you know, by the time Gores came in in 2011 was just a straight bad general manager. And he only got worse. The Tew shall not be named was even, was also very, very bad. And Ed Stefanski managed to come in as a consultant to help hire a general manager and get himself appointed as president of basketball operations above the general manager.

thing that anyone has ever done was. Yeah, I'll continue. Yeah, I'll say it. I'll continue saying it. I think Stefanski was the really the first and only, you know, after only two other general managers, but the first and only really kind of long term, you know, been in this business a long time, straight professional. I don't know, depending on how I feel about Jeff Bauer, who just had a history of failure

behind him, Stefanski wasn't great either in his MBA career. But I think he was the one, I'm saying this on the basis of no actual hard data. I think he was the one who got through to Gores finally. Whatever the case. I subscribe to that as well. And I think that that's, yeah, we could credit him for that too on a theoretical basis because who else is really going to jump in and tell Tom, you know, or tell Gors rather, yeah, I don't, I'm down to just blow it all up.

That's not what Gores wanted to hear. And yet Stifansky came in. And ever since that point, course has really shifted. And I think that we're looking at, you know, brighter prospects ahead, which is a far. cry from the darkness that we were in in years prior. So things are looking up, I think. It's not perfect, but definitely better than it was. Yeah, I would say, I mean, also, we're not excusing what this guy does in the business world. I mean, I would say, say what you will about his, some of his business practices, particularly with respect to private prisons. And, you know, I would

say, say what you will, but that would make it sound like, you know, who cares? I mean, it's a completely valid criticisms. I mean, Tom Gores has been a good owner these last couple of years. He continues to do some shady things in business and, you know, that's not, he deserves all of the criticism that has come his way because of it. Sure. Yeah. All right. So, all right. So we're going to end with our typical user submitted questions. So Dante, what do we have in the table? So a lot of draft stuff, quite a few draft things. What I would probably primarily focus on right now, got a pretty interesting question about what do you think the piston do if they drop to number six.

Yeah, for me personally, I don't make my big board at the stage of the season. I like to wait until I have as much data as possible. So at least after March Madness, I mean, I'd love to wait until the combine, but a lot of these guys who are going to go high in the draft don't even attend. But I don't, there's just, the field has really not set itself yet. We're still in January. We got two months more of college basketball. So, yeah, I don't really feel qualified to answer that question yet.

Yeah. But, I mean, obviously, the best answer is Jabari Smith, obviously, because, you know, if the Pistons are six, definitely no team is going to draft. Yeah. They're just, they are going to fall all over each other to let the Pistons become the better team that they think they should be. Well, because that's what it is. The Pistons and the draft, they have a long history of getting along. And I think that the draft has always been kind to the Pistons.

So we can certainly expect that. And then, yeah, most of these questions are about the draft. And I think I fall along the same lines as Mike. I don't want to, you know, get on the mic and start spouting out uneducated takes because it really does benefit you to have a full body of data before making those big boards, before getting on and, you know, telling a group of listeners, hey, here's what I think. When really you haven't done the requisite research to be an educated opinion giver on that topic. right so i think a little closer to the draft we're probably going to be able to bring you that type of

content uh but there is a question about this is kind of random but how would jalen brunson and a 2022 draft pick but i guess we'll just focus on jalen brunson for now how would he fit into the team next year yeah i know that this was brought up because james edwards is one of the beatwriters uh was i don't know if he was on his podcast or what else said he thinks it's likely that the pistons will really look at brunson this summer brunson will be an unrestrictor free agent. I think that was more just speculation. I think it was phrased as speculation rather than insider information of any kind. So Brunson has been, has done well this season. He has done well primarily. He's at his best when Luca Donchard has not been playing. Luca has missed

a significant number of games due to injury, including one protracted stretch of I think like eight to 10 games. So how do I feel about Brunson not good? He's asking for 80 million, you know, four years, 80 million, he'll probably get it. I would. say just because 80 million is not a ton these days. When it comes to a good starter, I mean, that's pretty much the going rate or even higher than that. You saw what Aaron Gordon, excuse me, got from the Nuggets by way of extension, which is about $25 million. And, you know, that's not, it's not terribly high for a start of these days. I mean, it's pricey, of course. You want to make sure you're spending your cap space, right? But so I think it's entirely

possible Brunton will get that from somebody. I don't want it to be the Pistons. for a couple of reasons. Number one, Brunson, I think, is a very poor fit with K. Brunson is a very on-ball player. He could shoot threes fairly well. I did it well last season, not quite so much this season. I'd have to have the stats. My guess is he's taking quite a few more in the way of pull-up threes

when he's not playing next to Luca, but very on-ball player at his best by far on the ball. He will get his stats with him without Luca. He has, you know, he's averaging more than twice as many assists for 100 possessions without Luca on the floor. He's just higher uses in general, just getting into the free-throw line more, taking more shots, efficiency isn't quite as good.

But he's got about like a 25% three-point attempt rate, I think, this season. He's just, he's a guy who plays pretty similarly to K. He likes to take the high pick and roll and go on in and do stuff. So definitely not a guy you want to play next decade in the starting lineup. Even off the bench, you're paying $20 million for a six-man. That's a little excessive and you're always going to have to play him some minutes next decade. So also defensively, I mean, you guys 6'1, but I think like the 6'1, but I think like a six-foot-three wingspan or something like that,

he's going to be a defensive liability on the switch, no matter what at that size, there's just hardly anything you can do. If you're Chris Paul, you can brains your way out of it, but hardly anybody is Chris Paul. So, yeah, I don't like it, and I don't think it'll happen. I think I'll say this, and maybe this is a good spot to close it off, but if we take a swing in free agency, I really hope it's for someone who's taller than Jalen Brunson.

That's all I have to say. That's pretty much. Yeah. That pretty much sums up for me. Yeah, I might have a minor meltdown if the Pistons go another offseason without having a guy, without adding a guy who is tall and can jump, and maybe he'll win it because a little bit of a complicating factor with that, you know, in that respect.

But you know, maybe you can trade him if he comes back and there's a strong second half the season. He's getting close to a return. And it's worth noting. And speaking of that, that we are past game 42 at this point. As we're recording this on Monday night, which is a little bit eerie, how much we look forward to this season.

A lot has happened, not all of it good. This season, it hasn't really been what we've expected necessarily, but it's gone quickly. Yeah, so in any case, that's going to be it for this episode, folks. As always, thank you for listening, and we will catch you next up.