Driving to the Basket: A Detroit Pistons Podcast - Episode 98: The Pistons Will Have Good Options at #5 (Plus the DeAndre Ayton Question)

Episode Date: May 18, 2022

This episode recaps the draft lottery, discusses the team's options at #5, talks how the results of the lottery might impact Jerami Grant's future in Detroit and goes in-depth on DeAndre Ayton and his potential value to the Pistons.   Draft prospect cards: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1h6ZaAu30Rb4ovrjY-8ifK6OXJGYvtZIEMad8DGWh9Zg/edit?usp=sharing

Welcome back, everybody, to drive into the basket, part of the basketball podcast network. We are your host, Mike and Tommy. And of course, we're here to talk about the biggest news of the day that is about the take foul. Now, the take foul is what teams do to prevent transition opportunities. Shams Charania reported today that the NBA is looking to do away with it, make it one shot and the ball sort of thing. And that's not actually what we're here to talk about. here to talk about the draft lottery. So, you know, if that weren't completely obvious that that was a joke already. However, they are getting rid of the take file. It seems very promising that

they will, which is a good dame because it's just a super cheap and annoying play that disrupts flow and kills transition opportunities in a way that shouldn't be possible. But anyway, draft lottery, far more important to the Pistons. So as we all know, the Pistons, we pick in the 22 MBA draft. They were jumped by the Kings. We'll pick fourth and the number one pick went to the magic. So Tommy, how we're feeling about this? Very happy that we're not picking seventh or sixth, but obviously, the higher you pick, the better. And the Pistons picking fifth, it leaves them with some interesting options. But it does most likely remove the Pistons from getting any one of those top three guys that are kind of in that consensus, the guys that we did the single prospect episodes on.

So not a great outcome, but not the worst case scenario by any stretch. I agree, definitely. There's not the excitement that we had after last season's lottery for obviously. reasons. And yes, number one is absolutely better than number five. However, there's not really that sort of elite top end talent in this draft that there was in the 2021 draft, which, as we've said before, was an absolutely spectacular draft in which to have the first overall pick. We all know what the pistons got out of it. But the guy who would go number one overall in this draft, who I think will probably be chet, would have gone like four tops last year, maybe five or even

six, depending on if Toronto really still liked Scotty Barnes, who. who's definitely got a bright future in the NBA. So I felt like going into this that if the Pistons could pick in the top five, they would have access to a pretty darn good prospect. You know, top five would mean you either get one of those top three, Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren, Powell Von Carroll, even though neither of us like him, or Shaden Sharp, Jaden Ivy. So I'm not excited that it went as it did,

but I am relieved and I was very relieved, certainly when that number six placard came up and it was the Pacers and not the Pistons. Yep, absolutely. Yeah. So I think the Pistons, it's not, I think the Pistons will get a good prospect in this draft. So I feel okay about it. I don't feel disappointed. It's reminding. How do you feel about the fact that Ivy could very well be a piston? Well, we'll talk about that. But I was just like, I was thinking earlier, this reminded me of an A-side from a very old family guy episode when the family goes to purgatory on vacation and they're just kind of floating there. And they're like, well, this isn't so bad. You know, it's not, it's not good, but it's not bad. We don't have anything to really anguish over, but it's not the super exciting moment from last year either. Oh, definitely not. I mean, that was just such a great moment in itself. It was euphoric.

Yeah, absolutely. We made that such a great moment was how strong that draft was, though. I mean, this draft, neither of us is nearly as excited about it. And I don't think the difference between number one and number five is huge. So there's your silver lining Pistons fans. Yeah, I don't, yeah, it's a silver lining. Yeah, I'm not sure if I would even call it a symbol. It's a silver lining to the fact that they're not picking one, two, or three or four.

But I think the silver lining is that they're. probably not going to end up with Paulo. Yeah, neither of us like Paulo. I don't think Weaver would have liked Paulo a great deal either, though. I think it's entirely possible. Assuming that Sharp is what he appears to be, I think it's not entirely out of the question that Weaver would have taken him over Paulo. If you want to hear why we really don't like Paulo for the Pistons, we did about three

weeks ago, the first of our prospect deep dives was about Paulo and there's not of us like them for the Pistons. I just don't think you'd get good value there. Of course, we got additional prospect deep dives. Coming up now, too, because the Pistons will not be picking in the top three. Shaden Sharp is going to be a tough one to do that on because we do one of those episodes about, because we just don't have a ton of information. But we'll definitely be doing Jaden Ivy at Keegan Murray.

That's not really excited either of us and Benedict Mathuron. And maybe some guys further down the line as well in case the grant trade actually goes up successfully. All right. So why don't we move straight on to mock draft where we think how we think things will fall and whom we think the pistons will pick? Yeah. Do you want to kick it off with the magic they got the number one overall pick? Where do you think they'll take it?

So for the number one pick for the Orlando Magic, I'm going with Chet Holmgren. I just think that Holmgren is the guy with the highest ceiling amongst the consensus top three. And again, it's possible that one of those guys would drop to number four. I mean, you never know. But assuming that those guys would be the top three, that's Boncaro, Holmgren, and Jabari Smith, Jr. I think Chet's just got the highest ceiling of the three. I think he could be an elite defender in the NBA. I think he could also be an impact score.

the magic have Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr. Bamba, there's no sugar coating. It's been a massive disappointment over there. And Wendell Carter Jr., again, decent starting, or not again, just decent starting center. But I don't think he's going to inform draft strategy either. So if they have Suggs and Cole Anthony as their handler, Suggs had a difficult first season that happened sometimes with rookie point guards heading into the NBA. He also just was dealing with a lot of injuries.

So clearly they think highly of him. And I think they'll stick with he and who knows, maybe Cole Anthony is a duo. So that's the reason why I don't think they'll go with Boncaro, whom I think is best suited to being a primary handler on whatever team he's on. So, yeah, definitely with the thunder, excuse me, with the magic, I feel pretty strongly. They'll go with Chet Holmgren. Yeah, I think you could make a case for all three of the guys, but I agree that Chet would be like the most likely outcome. When you're building around two guards like Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony, both of these guys are fairly athletic. their biggest strength is probably going to be their attacking downhill.

I would say with Orange transition. I would say with Cole, I mean, he's mostly a shooter. But Jalen sucks is definitely going to be a guy who's going to be looking to penetrate. Yeah, exactly. I think both of them should be looking to penetrate. Cole, he had a decent start shooting last season. At one point, he was even getting some talks about the All-Star nod. But regardless, I think that Chet fits them very nicely because he's going to be a good option as a role man.

this is long arms. He's got an enormous catch radius. I think that he could round that out for both of those guys, and that's an interesting fit there for sure. I definitely think that I would agree with you, certainly that he could anchor their defense, and he would address that need there as well. Yeah, and you've got the three-man defensive core there

of Wagner and Holmgren and Suggs, who's on the shorter side as far as length goes. It doesn't really have very long wingspan, but he's a smart and tenacious defender. So he'd be sitting pretty well there, defensively also. Yeah, absolutely. So he would shore that up.

Good to move on to number two? Yep. So that'll be the Thunder. The Thunder, yes. The Thunder already have enough ball handling in the way of Sheigil just Alexander and Josh Giddy. So when you look at the remaining options being Jabari Smith and Paula Bunkero, I think you go Jabari. Paulo's upside swings hinge on him becoming a passable three-point shooter and then a solid passer and playmaker for others.

And the Thunder don't really need his ball handling. So his shooting risks and his lack of elite athleticism, they should be enough to put Jabari ahead of him. Jabari's a simple pick. I think he's a guy that just plays great defense, switching defense, and he shoots jumpers at a high percentage. He's going to be a kickout option for those two young ball handlers without taking the ball out of their hands. He should be a fairly low usage guy. So I think that when you consider the fit, Jabari is a natural there. So I think that he would go number two.

I agree. And, you know, it could end up being a higher usage guy if he's just completing a lot of plays. But I agree, you got your ball handling down there. Josh Giddy is likely to be a guy who's on the ball a lot. By all accounts, the plan is for Che to be less on the ball. But, again, he's still a guy who is very good with it in his hands. So I think the value you're going to get for Manning Powell-Bankero there is not going to be particularly good. Jibari Smith, it's possible he'll just end up as an elite three-point shooter and a good defender.

But he's a guy who's going to be able to, even if he doesn't go any higher than that. and I think he stands a fair chance of becoming a good shot crater in the interior just because he's just really got it as a shooter. I mean, he's just a strong pure shooter. But no matter what, he's going to be able to come into any situation and provide good value, just with that elite perimeter shooting and that good defense. And that's regular season and postseason. And the postseason where you're just seeing increasingly that it's very important to be a strong switch defender. I think he'll be a strong switch defender and enable to space the floor at an elite level.

you hope that it'll be more than the 3-and-D guy, but he's going to provide good value on that Thunder team no matter what. So moving on to number three, that's the Houston Rockets, and this is where I see Boncaro falling, rather. Houston's a team that's going, I mean, it's not only that he'd be like the obvious pick at number three, I think, because they don't need Ivy. They don't need Sharp. I mean, those are guys who are going to play where Jalen Green plays right now. But Paulo could step into that team and be the primary handler. or ultimately, I think that's going to be his best role. Jalen Green is a guy who's very good at operating off the ball,

and that includes just catching off the move and doing what he does. So I just think that that would be the ideal situation for Paula. But, you know, I don't think it'll be a good defender. Jalen Green, I don't think it would be a good defender, so you better hope you're slapping some good defenders around them. But I just think, I think that's the best situation in the top three for him, and that's where I think he'll go. Right.

You supplement some of the ball handling that they lack. I have a question for you, though. Ivy, do you see a potential fit there? Do you think that the Rockets consider Kevin Porter Jr. Their lead guard of the future? Or do you think they could be looking to move on from him? So I think Kevin Porter Jr. is too much of a wild card. He looks really good at times.

He looks really bad at other times. Behaviorally speaking, he's very unreliably proved that again in multiple occasions in this last season. I don't think he'll be a factor. And he's also, I mean, conceivably, if you want to keep him, he's a guy who can play that doesn't need to be in a heavily on ball role. So I don't think that that would necessarily create overlap with Boncaro. The concern I would have about Boncaro is he makes Schengun's future quite a bit hazier

because Shangun is, it seems like his weak spot is going to be on defense because the guy is just not, he does not move his feet well. And so it could be a switchable ability in the playoffs. You ideally want to have strong defenders around him. But yeah, so that's something they would have to figure out. But if he's left to them at this point, no, I don't think you bring Jaden Ivy in there just because of the overlap with green. Also, you've got two bad defenders in the back court,

and I think that they're just going to play fairly similarly. So I think just at this point that Boncaro is going to be best player available, and I think that Houston is the top three team, and I'm repeating myself on which he's going to have the best opportunity to give maximum value. Yeah, what do you think about Ivy? Yeah, I definitely agree that the likeliest outcome in this scenario is that Boncaro goes to Houston,

but I think there's an outside chance that Ivy would actually be the pick there, and I think that in this scenario where somebody gets taken in the top three and one of those top three guys falls, I think Boncaro is the likeliest. And here's why. I think that Ivy actually fits what Houston is doing. They have Jalen Green, and he's not a phenomenal playmaker. And Ivy isn't really a great passer either, but I think he could conceivably be the fit there because Houston likes to run and gun. That's kind of their thing right now. They have Jalen Green, who's a phenomenal athlete.

They have Christian Wood, another guy who can run the floor really, well, I think if they want to build really fast and just attack and attack attack, Jaden Ivy could be the pick there. Yeah, I just don't see the compliment with Jalen Green. I just think that they'd be too much overlap. Yeah, I don't know. Again, you said that Jaylen Green's future, in terms of his ability to make the right reads and passes, you know, who knows?

It's definitely a major question mark for Ivy as well. I just think that they would see Bunkero is the best talent of that position. As for Christian would, he has not been. great in Houston. He's been a bit of malcontent, particularly on defense. Who knows if even has a future there, I wouldn't be surprised to see him traded this year. That's all fair. Yeah. All right. Moving on to number four, and this is the true wild card, the Sacramento Kings. Right. So this is where the picks most likely start to affect the pistons directly.

The top three is functionally not a factor, assuming that Bunkero, Chet, Jabari, they go in some order, top three. The Kings at this point are coming off a season where they just traded Tyrese Hallibert in the favorite of mine so that they could put the ball in Deeran Fox's hands more because they wanted to focus on that two-man game between him and De Manasabonis. So when you factor all that in, as well as the fact that they wanted to make some room for Davion Mitchell, I think it's unlikely that they take a guard here. And when you look at the guys who are projected to go in this range, it's Keegan Murray, Shaden Sharp, and Jaden Ivy. So in this case, I think it's really likely that the Kings would take Keegan Murray. And I think that it would be addressing some needs.

needs like Keegan Murray, good three-point shooter. He projects as being a reliable player there. And I think that that's exactly what you want around the two-man game of Deer and Fox, not a great shooter. And it's a bonus. Yeah, I think that Keegan Murray, I agree he checks really all the boxes in terms of Sacramento's priorities and positionally also. Sacramento's goal at this point really just seems to be get to get back to the playoffs. And part of that, actually probably I would guess a majority of that is the directive of Vivek Rana dive, who is an incompetent and persistent meddler. I mean, he is constantly involved in the team's operations,

and it never results in good things. Ironically, the one time in recent memory, the one major instance in which he chose not to meddle was in 2018, which he wanted Luca Donchich, but he decided to let Vladay DeVatch do the work. And so that landed Sacramento with Bagley instead of Donchich. Of course, that was a catastrophe. So you can be sure he's going to be, you know, he's been back meddling.

No doubt about it. they just want to make their best run back to the playoffs, then Keegan Murray makes the most sense as just a guy who's probably like we'd have a pretty high floor in terms of his scoring at least. Who knows about his defense? It'd be a good fit next to Sabonis. And I don't think you want to put Jaden Ivy or Shaden Sharp next to Deerron Fox, who just really does a ton of his attacking off the drive.

Shaden Sharp could conceivably fit. I don't think that Sacramento will take the risk. So I think that Murray is the likeliest pick there. Right. I agree with you. and it does boil down to the fact. Yeah. Right.

They just traded Tyrese Hallibert and a very good player so that they could give more usage to Deeran Fox. They chose him. I think it would be very strange for them to go back on that and put Ivy on this team because, again, he's going to be a guy that certainly takes usage away from Deer and Fox. Awful fit. And then when you consider the other two guys, Shaden Sharp and Kegan Murray, in one sense, they're complete opposites. Shaden Sharp is the absolute wildcard.

We don't know what he is. and then you look at Keegan Murray, I think that he projects as being a guy who has staying power in the league because the things he's good at are three-point shooting and, you know, versatile scoring in general. I think he fits anywhere. It's just a matter of ceiling. But if what you said is true, and I think it is,

the Kings are just trying to get back to the playoffs. I think they're trying to build the way the Pistons built a few years ago where it's just like, let's incrementally get better. And we know that doesn't work, but that's what they're going to go with. And I think that the likeliest outcome in this case is the Kings. taking Kegan Murray. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it comes back to Davian Mitchell as well, but I think primarily, I think what you said is even truer in terms of, as a factor, is that they traded an excellent guard in Tyrese Halliburton. They're to try to build a more

balanced team, but they effectively chose Fox over him. And then Damian Mitchell, whom they chose in the top ten of a very strong draft, is most likely a long-term piece over there. So I agree that Keegan Murray is by far the likeliest. And that brings us to number five. That's the pistons. I know that we're going to probably have quite a bit in the way of similarity in what we say here. So I'm going to make kind of an equivocal pick. Here's what I'll say. So we had this discussion last week. We were asked the question, would you take Shaden Sharp at two? And basically our consensus was that, well, we don't know a ton about Shaden Sharp. We're not going to know anywhere near as much as Weaver does about Shaden Sharp. And if he decides, if he goes in and he decides,

based on the information he has that Sharp is the pick, then okay, you say we're probably fine with it. So it's almost kind of like if Weaver takes Sharp at number five, then I feel fine about that. If he takes Ivy at number five, then I'll feel okay about that. I just, I mean, I know you feel like Sharp is going to conceivably be the better fit into the roster. Right. And again, this is all going back to, I don't even, like you can call it a hypothetical. Like, we don't know what Shaden is because all we have is like a five-minute compilation of EYBL tape and prep school tape. And when you watch it, if you try to discern what his play style is, it's fluid scoring guard, gifted perimeter shooter, really smooth looking stroke, and then...

Great athleticism. Exactly. You know, phenomenal athleticism. And that's what we need. That's a great compliment to this team. And Cade Cunningham specifically, if it all works out that way. But, you know, he could just be Derek Jones Jr. If the three-point shot doesn't come along, we don't know what he is.

And if that's all he ends up being, that's a horrible outcome. Yeah. But, you know, this is this is the early stages of a rebuild. I think we can afford to take that swing. And, you know, it could change over the next few weeks leading up to the draft. I'm a big fan of Ivy. But if I had to make the pick right now, I would be down to take the swing on Shaden Sharp. Yeah.

And again, there's a lot of information. We just don't know. Like we said earlier, we're planning on doing a few more. It should probably like a fair number of more of draft previews. And there's not a lot, we're unfortunate. It was just unfortunate. We're not really going to be able to say a ton about Sharp beyond just what's been reported on him and what little tape we have,

both from his high school days and thereabouts. And also what we've seen at the Combine so far. But, yeah, if we ever gets number five, he thinks Sharp is the pick. And I'm happy with that. Ivy, I think, like, Sharp just checks it a lot in the way of boxes. If he is, what we hope he is. And I'm just thinking back to the Dennis Green, in the tennis screen interview.

They are who we thought they were. But that's just complete A side. I just think that those football rants are hilarious. The best of which, of course, is Jim Moore and his playoffs rent. But Sharp, if he can be that guy who's, number one, I mean, the Pistons desperately need athleticism and the starting line up will lead athleticism there. Ivy provides that also. But if he's a guy who's going to be able to create, he's an elite athlete,

and he's going to be able to shoot to be a decent shot creator. But not a guy, a guy who is not going to drop off very much in terms of his effectiveness, if he hasn't playing heavily on the ball, fantastic. You know, that's what the Pistons, I think, should be looking for. Right. But I know that is your concern, and it's certainly a concern for me because Ivy is not a natural fit, but the reason he's up this high on most boards is because of his upside, and it comes from his athleticism.

Again, the Pistons desperately need athleticism, both in the back court, which is where Ivy would be and the front court. So next to Cade, he's another guy who could theoretically play off ball. I'm a big fan of his set shot when he has two feet planted catch and shoot. I think it's a decent looking shot. And that could project well. And then there's fantastic burst. He has a great first step.

And then when he parlays that with hopefully earning honest closeouts, he should be a guy who's able to cut and attack off ball or on ball with the ball in his hands, obviously. If all that comes together, he could be a good compliment to Cade. But it all has to come together. And it is certainly contingent on his three-point shot. viable in some form. Yeah, it's also contingent upon him buying into a secondary role, and that's no guarantee. I liken this, too, what the change we saw in Tyrese's play style when James Hardin joined the Sixers. I mean, Maxi was really like the primary

ball handler for the Sixers. I mean, a West O'Conne Embed, who was just carrying a Titanic offensive creation load. But when Hardin came in, he transitioned much more to, absolutely, to his secondary ball handling role in which he would catch the ball on the move and drive in and pass. I mean, he became like a 42% three-point shooter this season also on good volume. I mean, he really had it in him to do it. The question with Ivy, even if he does develop well as an off-ball shooter, and even if he does buy into that secondary role, I mean, are you really going to get back good value on that pick

if you do shunt him into that secondary role? Because I think there's a high probability he'd be best as a primary handler who's just attacking downhill constantly with a ball on his hands. So I worry about that overlap. And Sharp's archetype projects. to have considerably less overlap and less loss of utility when he's off the ball. But with Ivy, you'd be asking for shooting. You'd be asking for a ton of explosive off ball movements.

And basically, if he'd just catch the ball. And if he's not going to shoot, he'd go off the move and he'd go from there. But I agree that sharp. I think Sharp if he pans out is a better fit, significantly better fit. Exactly. And it's difficult to say, like, even though I just, I literally just did this, it's hard to put Sharp over Ivy because sharp is still, like you said, a hypothetical, a theoretical, whatever you want to call him.

And Ivy at least has a body of work. He has a proven track record of improving his three-point shot to some degree. Like we know that there's, you know, he shot the ball very well early on and that fell off a cliff. That's a concern. But Sharp, all we have is high school film. And you think about guys like Brandon Boston Jr., Jaden Hardy, who they come into the league, or not the league, but the college season, or in Jaden's case, the G.

League Ignite and their stock falls off. They play very poorly. Jaden is functionally protecting his stock because he's already going to go very high. Like we know that. He could have come in and played really poorly for whatever program, Kentucky or wherever, and he could have hurt himself. Instead, I think he did the smart thing and he stayed out. Right now we're kind of riding high and it's like he could be this, he could be that. And when optimism starts to take over, maybe it gets out of hand. So that's when it comes down to like, we don't know what he is and we're just going to have to trust the front office, the talent evaluators, if they do pick him, that he is worthy of a top level pick. Yeah, if you were to guess which one, Sharp or Ivy would jump ahead of number five,

who would it be? Oh, that is a good question. I think I'd have to say sharp because in individual workouts, if he shows off a lot, I could see the teams just mean like, look, we just, we suck. Let's take a swing for the fences. I think that Sharp, when you look at his balance and his athleticism, even though Jaden is also up there, and you combine that with Sharps projected three-point shooting because he shot a lot of threes in high school. Shot a lot of pull-up shots too and did well in them. Yeah, yeah, it's difficult. I think that he has a more, I think he has more three-point shooting upside. I'll put it that way. And that is certainly tantalizing in the NBA. Yeah, I mean, just to look at Ivy's numbers unguarded three-point shooters, 19 to 57, 33% unguarded.

He actually shot very well in the catch and shoot and pull-up shooting. He did all right. Again, 33.3% is as good as, you know, that's encouraging as a pull-up three-point shooter. But just the inconsistency was awful. I mean, he went like 11 out of 52, 11 out of 53 or something in his last 13 games before the tournament. Yeah, it's nothing in the way of an in-between game, whereas Sharp looks like he has some, you know, considerable upside in that respect. I agree. It would be sharp.

And then they would be swinging on the basis of upside. Ivy, it's interesting. They both have questions. I mean, Ivy has questions about can he be a lead guard. If he can't be a lead guard, can be still be, if he can't make the right reads and pass, it's not going to be a lead guard. You know, notwithstanding his excellent ability to attack the basket and his freakish athleticism. And sharp, the questions are, are we confident about him, period.

So, but I think one of those would be the pick for the pistons. I think we agree on that. Yeah, I'll ask you this. Out of Kagan Murray, Shaden Sharp, Jaden Ivy, who would you not want the pistons to pick? I suspect I know. King and Murray. Yeah. I just, I think it's not only a matter of me thinking that he has a low ceiling.

I even have questions about his ability to translate his game from the NCAA to the NBA. The NCAA is a very different beast for a whole variety of reasons. I mean, the increase in the quality of defenders in the NBA is drastic. Defenses overall defensive schemes get a great deal better. and Murray was a guy who really operated a lot on the basis of his strength. I mean, he's strong. He's about, well, out of shoes, probably about 6, 7, 225. And what he would do on the interior was primarily just catch the ball in a decent position

and, you know, on the low block and just go to work largely on the basis of his strength. He did so outside the flow of the offense. And he really wasn't asked at all to make the right reads, to make the right passes that he'll be asked to make in the NBA. Will strength-based offense really translate against much physically stronger defenders, longer, better defenders? Who knows? We haven't seen him operate within the flow of the offense at Iowa. He basically just shot threes and attempted that sort of offense. It was past the ball. And he was past the ball down low and he'd do that. He did not have success at penetrating, which is an extraordinary. It's just, I mean, that's a tremendously valuable skill to have in the NBA. and he definitely wasn't a good shooter off the dribble.

So, I mean, I've heard that Tobias Harris comp. I don't think it's accurate because Tobias, when he's doing well, is a fluid three-point shooter, a guy with a good mid-range game, and also he's got an explosive first step, which Keegan does not have. Keegan is not an explosive athlete, laterally, you know, straight ahead or up and down at the NBA level. So I would not be a fan. Also, defense. Who knows if he'll be able to guard, who will be able to.

able to guard quicker players. That's, it's not at all assured. There are questions about that. Certainly. Yeah, he definitely lacks that elite first step and that's going to put a hard cap. Well, I won't say a hard cap. I wouldn't say just a late cap on his. I'd say it's quite poor. Yeah. It's going to put a cap on his ceiling because he's not going to be able to create advantages with births, which is one of the best ways to do it. That's how Jaden Ivy does it. Cade Cunningham, he does it with body control, but he is unique in that sense. It's much smart. And it's just not the sort of thing that you can teach.

So I think when you talk about the way Kegan Murray translates to the league, I think his three-point shooting will translate. And I think if he is able to get driving lanes somehow, maybe off the basis of creation for others, I think he will be able to finish in some cases with a mix of that strength that you mentioned and footwork because he is a talented score around the rim. He has good touch. Yeah, absolutely does. Yeah. Yeah. If it all comes together, I can see him having a long career in the NBA. because, you know, three-point shooting, it's probably the most sought after individual trade on that end of the floor for non-centers.

And I just think that, but it just goes back to ceiling. I don't want him. I agree with you. So, yeah, Kegan Murray is the guy that I hope the Kings take. And because I think the pissings are high on him. We've seen the reports of that. They do like him. So he's just not an option.

I'm okay with that. Yeah, definitely. And again, I just, I mean, he wasn't asked to. operate within the flow of the offense at all in Purdue. Like what he did, like three-pointers only took up about 30% of his total shots, his bread and butter was receiving the ball in an advantageous position and attacking one-on-one. That is a very difficult thing to do in the NBA. I mean, you're basically to ask somebody to create offense one-on-one down low,

you know, out of the post or otherwise. And there were instances in the NCAA, particularly in that elimination game that Iowa lost against Richmond. I mean, they were just, he couldn't find a way into the paint, into the interior in the second half. The points he scored were largely just drop step wayups, hooks, and there's a very difficult to pull off one-on-one in the NBA. Like he's not going to be able to overpower people, and post-offense is not efficient for many players at all.

So, yeah, I'm just not a fan. Yeah, and I have, there's one other point that I like to bring up. I think that he has a lot of overlap with Sadiq Bay. And Sadiq Bay is another guy who doesn't possess elite athleticism, and this team definitely needs to start a, addressing that somewhere. I do not like the idea. Another poor athlete.

I do not like the idea of building your front court with Isaiah Stewart, Sadiq Bay, and Kegan Murray. There's no athleticism there in terms of burst or verticality. And Kate Cunningham, like we've said it a million times. He needs lob threats. Ideally, your power forward is a guy who's able to sky for those as well. So I'm not a huge fan of Kegan Murray taking up that spot. So yeah, I think that if, I'll say this,

If Jaden Ivy goes number three or number four, I think it is likely that the Pistons end up with Kegan Murray. So we're still going to talk about him, certainly. Yeah, I don't know. It's, I mean, if, like, let's say the Rockets decide, if Apollo isn't picked and they decide to go with, with Jaden Ivy or Shaden Sharp, I mean, I don't think the Kings will take Boncaro.

The overlap with Sabonis there is, and even with D.R. and Fox needs to have the ball a lot is tremendous. And you could see him fall to number five, and I don't think we'd be huge fans of that outcome either. But just to finish up with Murray, like, yeah, athleticism, it's not just about lob threats, of course. I mean, you want to be able to run faster than your opponent. I mean, it's just so helpful.

The ability to gain off-ball separation is a skill that struggles to do it. I mean, that is a weakness. And you just, you don't want to put out there a lineup that has weak athleticism on a lineup wide scale. That's an enormous disadvantage from the very start. But in terms of stylistic overlap with Bay, they also play very similarly. They shoot threes, and they use their strength largely in the interior to generate space for themselves.

they'll be occupying the same niche, not ideal. So, yeah, why don't we move on to another draft related topic that is the future of Jeremy Grant and what we might have learned about that from the lottery here. The, obviously, what we've heard the most of is from Portland. Also, I think that we heard strong reports that the hope is that they could trade away New Orleans' pick, which instead went to, what did I go to? Do they go to Oklahoma City? Charlotte, I think.

whatever the case. I am not sure. I can take a look at that. Yeah, but they, like, the Blazers don't have it. The Pelicans also didn't have it. It went to somebody else. It went to Charlotte. You're right.

Yeah. Would Portland's trade number seven for grants? I don't think so. Yeah, that seems like a pretty high pick to trade. The Blazers are trying to do this thing where they're like rebuilding on the fly. And it's been, it's gone off to a horrible start because they were anticipating having that New Orleans pick as a trade ship. and I think that they were going to use that to bring in talent like Jeremy Grant.

Now, if they want to trade a pick, it has to be their own. And they tanked pretty hard to get their pick where it was. So I don't think that they're going to look to do that. I think they would rather take the upside swing on another prospect. I think Jalen Duren is a guy that they could take there. And if you want to compare the upside of Jail and Duren, who I personally am a big fan of, and Jeremy Grant, I don't know who helps more in the immediate. it. But they definitely need a center and a good strong interior defensive presence.

Yeah, there are other guys there too. But the issue I see with Portland as a trade partner is that they're really stuck in no man's land right now. I mean, rebuild on a fly has become like a really not derogatory. Like bad, it has bad connotations for Pistons fans for obvious reasons. Yeah. What they're trying to do is say, okay, well, we want to try it out with Willard. But I think they also want to keep their options open. So, and it boils down to, So, like, is that team with Jeremy Grant, but like with two guys in the back court who are, who both are sort of pretty dependent upon having the ball, both are weak defenders, if you add just Jeremy Grant to that mix and you've got Josh Hart, whatever, is that really a contender?

I would say no. I would say that they have no reason to keep Willard if they're not going to be a contender. And they want to leave their options open for trading Willard. And in that case, it just makes more sense to go for an upside pick. I think this is a situation in which they'll run it with Willard for a year, and then they'll trade him. And in that case, having Grant makes no sense for them versus a guy. I don't know if it's going to be Duren. It could be somebody like Terry Eason and... AJ Griffin. I don't know if I don't know if I buy AJ Griffin, but the fact that he's named Griffin

and has knee problems already is definitely an issue for me. Yeah, there's another similarity there. This is not, yeah, the vibes are not good for Portland right now from a Pistons fan's perspective. Yeah. So I don't think that they're likely to be a trade partner. It brings up the question of who might have a lottery pick, they're willing to throw the pistons way for Grant. And the list at that point just gets a lot shorter, like a lot shorter. Like, New Orleans says no, really reasonable cause to be interested in grants and trade number eight pick for him. I mean, if they really feel like Zion's likely to be back, I mean, you've got Ingram

and Zion at that position, you know, at that point. And unless you want to, like, kick Ingram down to shooting guard and whatever, I don't think that's going to happen. So New Orleans isn't really there. San Antonio, I don't think they have any reason at all to trade for Grant. I mean, they're, they're a patient, competent organization. Washington, who knows what they'll do. But I would be surprised.

I don't think that's out of the question, actually, for Washington. I would just be surprised. So the path to getting another lottery pick for grants, I think, is hazier. Like if Portland had dropped to like number nine, like maybe you start thinking about it. But that didn't happen. So who knows, maybe something will come out of left field. Or maybe the pistons will keep him. Yeah, if the pistons do anything.

end up taking a guard like Shaden Sharp or Jaden Ivy, they don't necessarily need to move on from him. I don't think that Pistons fans, I think a lot of Pistons fans are really keen on the idea of going young, and especially if we take a project like Sharp, maybe they're okay with tanking another year. The 2023 draft is a draft that looks like it's going to have a lot of talent. And the top five, yeah. Not like this year. Yeah. And the top five. Even beyond that, there's big names, but again, that's a year out. Things can change. But definitely projects as a much stronger class than this one. And as long as we're building, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I don't want to think about having to endure another tanking season. So I'm not just,

I'm just not going to think about that right now. But yeah, it could be a factor. I mean, GMs, they're paid millions to make the best decisions long term. They theoretically or ideally are not going to be impatient. So that could be a factor. But yeah, I don't know. What do you think? I just want to circle back to Portland for a second because there's something I forgot to mention. Joe Cronin just got a four-year extension. It is a factor if your general manager is not in the hot seat. So, I mean, he's really just getting started with this career in Portland, has not started well because he effectively traded away Norman Powell, Robert Covington, whom they paid two second round,

two first round picks for. They had traded Gary Trent Jr., who's done well in Toronto for Norman Powell. They traded them away for, like, Keon Johnson, and basically what ended up being two second round picks. after they traded Nikola Alexander Walker onto the jazz. And they traded away CJ with that hope that they, I mean, it cleared space for Simons. And they cleared cap space, though I think the Lop rate isn't above the cap team anyway.

It's for really in the hope that they would get that pick and it didn't happen. So he's not off to a great start. Yeah. Him and Dame are good friends, though. They're like, they have a great relationship. So maybe that's a factor in Dame staying longer than the year. I hope not. I think that would be a very bad reason for him to keep game. So as far as Grant staying with the Pistons,

should they draft a guard? I agree it substantially increases the likelihood that he will stay with the pistons. Like if we go back a year and a half, I remember you and I both were very gung-ho on just feel nothing but young guys and be as bad as humanly possible. And you can feel what you, you know, I don't know how we feel about the latter right now. I mean, I think we, well, that's not the most ideal thing to be absolutely terrible. I think we now definitely agree on that. And also I think we agree on the importance of having some veterans on the lineup.

It's been a very good thing for these pistons. Grant is, by all accounts, a great gun. in the locker room. And he's a steadying presence. He also is a good player and a player who brings certain things to the lineup of the pistons need, such as athleticism, the ability to beat his opponent off the dribble. He's a solid three-point shooter. He's a good defender and a very athletic player also. So if they draft a guard, I would not be surprised if he stays. I think he'll get, unless they trade, if they don't train him this summer, he'll get the extension anyway that will be necessary in order to maintain a straight value. That extension, maximum extension for which

he's qualified is it's been set four years in 112 by my calculations which be four years and 108 but whatever the case like 25 million a year is not is a fair salary these days for a player of grants caliber right and i was going to ask you actually about that so you do think that he gets that extension and he maintains his value yeah i think that's any team if if he's under contract for four more seasons that's a good salary that i think that only enhances his value versus teams that'll trade for him and be unsure of what happens in free agency next year. I don't think he'd get anywhere near the max, which for him, because he's got seven years of experience, which started about 36 million.

And I think any team, once he made a tremendous leap, would be insane to give him that. But if they have him under team control at a reasonable salary for four more seasons, yeah, I think that increases his value as an asset. So I think he'll get that extension either way. Right. And that would probably carry him through the rest of his prime. So, yeah, I can definitely see it being a tradable asset. And if that is the case, yeah, the timer or the tick, whatever you want to call it,

it's not an urgent matter to trade Grant right now to preserve value and clear, you know, positional fit. Yeah, I can definitely see Jeremy Grant staying on the Pistons beyond this offseason. Would you still like to see him moved if there's a decent trade? I think there's some value of just having him in the starting lineup unless the Pistons are pointing on signing another veteran there. And we're not, I know we're not fans of Brunson. We can talk about him after the draft.

But, yeah, I unless, like, I really don't want to see Higgen Murray get drafted by the Pistons. If they draft him, I think that for obvious reasons would make him much more, Grant, much more likely to be on the move.

I don't know if their confidence that they can move Grant for a good package would increase or decrease their willingness to pick Keegan Murray if you were still in the, if you're still available. But assuming they pick a guard, I'd say very high chance he returns to the Pistons. They,

he's a player who provides valuable skills. and valuable physical assets and how you're going to replace that and find another solid veteran to play in the starting lineup who's going to offer the same things. Right. Yeah, I think Jeremy Grant,

yeah, if Jeremy Grant has factored into a package prior to the draft, like is something where the Pistons end up getting another pick somehow, I don't know what it would be. I think that would be the likeliest time for that to happen. If he's still here past the draft,

I think he's here on opening night. Oh, yeah, I fully agree there. And I think that, I don't think that a package would be made or would be concluded before the draft because unless you're trading him for that seventh pick I mean if you're trading him for a pick later in the lottery it makes much more sense to hold off until you actually know who's going to be available there right like draft night yeah yeah draft night well I mean even like you know once you get to that pick and see if there's still somebody

you want a lot of these deals are agreed to before the draft but sometimes you have them announced during the draft itself like and they're contingent on certain players being there yeah yeah like Sadiq Bay, that was came completely, I believe that, yeah, that was completely on draft night, and that was finalized right before Sadiq was picked. And I think it was R.J. Hampton who put on a Milwaukee hat, and then his dad whipped it off and put the Denver hat on there. Yeah, sometimes these things happen right at that moment. Yeah. So, yeah, I think that's where we are with Grant. And now a quick word from our sponsor. The NBA playoff action is nonstopic drafting sports book,

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The sun's flamed out of the second round in a horrifying fashion. Like, that was one of the most honest to goodness ass kicking as I've ever seen in the playoffs ever. Like even the Pistons, they took a severe ass kicking from the bucks. This was much worse. in any of the games, this was much worse. The Sun scored 27 points in the first half. I mean, that is unbelievable.

So did Luca, coincidentally. Yeah, he did. I mean, Luca, I think anybody needs to give it to the guy. I mean, the guy just has in it factor that very few players in the history this week have had. And also, I think that anybody who says that Dallas didn't outright win that trade is getting themselves. I mean, I think he's just so much better than Trey Young. But man, was that an ugly game? Like, oh, my goodness.

So Aiden only played 17 minutes. He got into a bit of an altercation with Monty Williams, who didn't play him very much. And Wojj, I believe, on his podcast today came out and said that Aiden just feels very unappreciated by the sons. So this, of course, is all brought up a lot of speculation. Will he leave Phoenix with a match an offer sheet? And should he be of interest to Detroit, or one of the few teams with Max, who can have Max cap space. Right. So you're more plugged into the rest of the NBA than I am. So I know that you have concerns about his or what he can provide in the playoffs because that's ultimately what matters. The

game changes there. What are your concerns? So one thing I want to preface this by saying that I think Aiden is significantly more valuable to the Sons than he would be to other teams simply because they want to compete now. And unless they were able to seal like a really unusually, unusually, lucrative sign and trade. I mean, it's very rare that teams get full value back on a high value free agent who leaves by a sign and trade. They usually just hope to get whatever they can. So I think that losing him would be just a far from preferable course of action. You do have to worry a little bit. You know, does he hate being here so much that he takes the qualifying offer and then you just lose him for nothing the next year? But that would be very unusual. I mean, that

hardly ever happens. The last guy to do was Greg Monroe with the Pistons. And I don't even know who was the last prominent free agent before that. So he'd really have to want out of Phoenix to do that. So, and at that point, yes, I'm quite confident they would just trade him. But I think for that reason, it's unlikely they don't move. So my concerns, you look at the postseason these days, and the game is, I mean, I think it's really something to see the evolution, the continuing evolution of the NBA because teams have always ruthlessly exploited whatever the, whatever weakness they can find in the NBA.

but a lot of basically in the postseason, you're just looking at teams running a switch-heavy system, forcing switches and getting advantageous matchups wherever they can. And the result of this is that defenders who are strong on switches are becoming more and more valuable. This season in the playoffs, you can basically, and like Denver did it, excuse me, Boston did it. They can basically switch one through five to a degree.

It's really impressive to see. They've also got a great defensive-minded coach. at Ima in Imo Udoca, who I know you and I were interested in having him coached the Pistons before Casey was hired. Yeah. And he's a great job there. Yeah, he's a great job there. So, and you've got the heat who don't have five switchable defenders, but certainly, I mean,

you've got Spalster who can compensate for that. And the Warriors, whatever, they make the scheme work. But, I mean, if you look at the four centers who are left in the playoffs, that's Maxie Cleaver, Draymond Green, Bam out of Bowers. bio and whoever Williams or Horford, whatever, the Celtics field at defense, these are all centers who are strong on the switch. And you can make the case that, okay, Janus would still be there if Middleton hadn't been injured. But you look at his centers who are Brooke Lopez and, you know, under normal circumstances, Brooke Lopez and Bobby Portis, those are guys who are there to space

the floor for Janus while he attacks the interior and played drop defense while aided by one of the greatest roving help defenders in NBA history in Janus. and they didn't do very well against the Celtics. So your centers in these playoffs are so far can be separated into three categories. Guys who are strong switch defenders, guys who are very strong scorers. We're talking creating offense. That is M. Beat, of course, Yolkich, even towns. And the third category is players who had trouble.

So, you know, I guess you have kind of like a fourth category sort of in the Nets who basically just had minimum salaried centers of whom they asked very little. but even Klax Stinkin defend on switches. So you look at Aiton, and he's not a strong switch defender. I mean, he's a pretty good defender overall, but he's not a strong defender. He's definitely not a strong scorer. He has very limited means to create for himself. He can't even shoot threes.

And so you don't have either of the things you want in the postseason. If you have a guy who's a very strong scorer, you care less about his switch defense being worse. But Aiton is not a strong score. In his own right, can't stretch the floor. even. And so I think you're not looking at a player at this point who's really able to provide high value in the postseason. So also I have questions about his motor. Don't have a good motor. And he does not have a takeover mentality in any capacity. So what do you think of his interior defense though? Because I, so one of the guys that I was thinking about was Rudy Gobert.

And he was definitely, he had issues. He had issues, but he shouldered some blame that I thought was maybe a little bit unfair because the jazz perimeter defense was awful. To say to least. Yeah, and Rudy, obviously, he's a fantastic interior defender, which is probably still underselling it. But if you match up with the jazz and you're just fielding capable shooters who are able to get their shots off on the perimeter, Gobert is not going to be much of a factor on defense, which is his bread and butter.

So the pistons are trying to build a team with strong perimeter defense. And that's, I think originally it was supposed to be switching. But if you get, like we talked about this with Chet. If you bring in a guy like Chet, who has a very strong interior defender, you maybe adjust your defense a little bit. And I think what would happen there is you prioritize the perimeter. You close out really hard and you try to take away the three-point line and force the opposition to drive inside towards your defensive-minded center,

your strong interior defense. At that point, you're maybe hopefully forcing a bit more mid-range. I think what we saw was horrible perimeter defense. defense both in the Buck series and the Jazz series, and that was where the issue kind of arose. So there was the issue there. Definitely, Gobert could not anchor that defense on his own, but there are a couple other factors at play. So number one is that rotation shrink in the playoffs, and you're always going to be against the best guys your opponent can possibly muster. So that's just a factor is the level of the opposition you're playing against.

It's going to be higher in the playoffs than it is in the regular season. But number two is the actual value you provide on defense. And the reason switch to defenders are becoming, I think one of the reasons they're becoming such a valuable asset is that they're less dependent on the opposition scheme. Now, if you draw a Gober, if you're playing a scheme that is constantly drawing Goberra out to the perimeter, you're really nerfing his defensive value for two reasons. Number one, he's just an able, like a respectable switch defender, whereas he is one of the best interior defenders in NBA history. So he loses a lot of value if he's having to defend on the perimeter a lot. Number two is

I mean, we're talking like just attacking him off the dribble. Number two is even if you run a five out of offense, you're really forcing him out of the paint too. And there he's losing a lot of his value also. This is why I said in our prospect episode about Chet that I thought he really had to be able to punish opponents for putting a smaller defender on him, because I think he would similarly lose quite a bit of value

if he were forced to come out and defend on the perimeter a lot. So if you have players who are both able to punish smaller opposing lineups and are just strong scores, then you're losing less proportional value. But Goberra has sharply limited utility on offense. I mean, considerably less than Aiden. On the other hand, Aiden is not as good of an interior defender as Gober is. But, yeah, I just don't see that Aiden checks into the boxes.

I also just think that Gober is long-term going to be weaker in the postseason than he is in the regular season in which teams play a much less predatory form of offense. Sure. I guess people are, this is even my experience, like we want the first. fit to work because there truthfully aren't a lot of options. I mean, it's great to say that you want this and you want that, but sometimes those options just aren't going to exist partially because of the market and partially because, you know, there are other needs that have to be addressed.

Maybe they take priority. I am a big fan of, you know, being able to feel the roster of five guys who can switch everything. That was one of the reasons I really like Jabari. It was kind of the one thing that I put, it's the reason that I put him above Chet. It's because I don't think he's going to be a liability on either end, including defensively. But Aiton is a talented player. I think you'd agree with that. And I guess my next question would be, what do you think of his interior defense as a whole? Like, if the option came where we get Aiton

somehow, some way, in an acceptable manner, do you think that if the Pistons ran a defensive scheme that tried to force guys into the interior and they had the personnel to do that, That's not that simple. Do you think Aiton could take advantage if you are forcing guys inside? Merely a good defender, not elite, and he was helped a lot by Phoenix the scheme. Monty Williams did a great job on both ends in the regular season. He had a defensive player of the year caliber wing next to him in Mikael Bridges. Chris Paul is still a fairly strong defender, in my opinion, Jay Crowder is a good defender.

He's good, but he's not elite. But in the playoffs, it's not just as simple as though we're going to funnel them into the interior. I mean, I think Boston proved that. I think the Mavericks prove that. I think, I mean, the Warriors are the Warriors. But they certainly, I mean, they're all about finding switches to get Amantages matchups. So for them, it's more, it's less penetrating in the interior than it is, just finding three-point shots for Thompson and for Curry. And the heat or the heat, it's kind of hard to go in there and say much on that topic because of just who spolster is and just how much of a genius he is.

But it's not that simple. It's just we're going to funnel them into the interior. I mean, sure. If you're playing straight up five out, yeah, no, there's really not much you can do. Yeah, exactly. And that's increasingly becoming the case. I mean, if you're playing against the center, who is all about drop coverage and is not nearly as strong in a perimeter, you're going to play five out as much as you possibly can. Max Cleeper is really not a good starting center on the regular season, but in the playoffs, he was very good for what they were trying to do against first the jazz. And then the sons. So the opponent can really set, tempo. I mean, Boston also just caused serious problems to the Bucks by running a five-out offense.

Like in game seven, like, well, just overall, I mean, it was an issue because Brooke Lopez is not a particularly good perimeter defender. Bobby Portis is not a particularly good perimeter defender. And they were just using both of them as dropped defenders, and that left somebody open. So the other team is going to try to make you dance to their tune. Now, if you can funnel everybody into the interior eight and still not an elite interior defender. I'd say by any means. And again, on the other end, he's not a guy who has much agency on offense. And you really saw him disappear when Booker and Paul were not getting him excellent opportunities.

So I just don't see that he has any particular postseason strength. I don't think it's a good idea to spend all the team's cap flexibility, which is a big opportunity cost. Just because, oh, well, this guy is pretty good, and we might be able to get him. Especially at center position at which you can just have a guy who's solid on defense and can run the pick and roll at a high level. and pay a lot less for him. I just, I want to close it out by saying about Isaiah Stewart, it's a real shame the guy is not a better jumper or better, you know, or like four inches taller.

Stewart's about six, seven and a half without shoes, of course, but everybody's measured without shoes in the NBA. So you're getting the right relative heights because, I mean, obviously, because then he could run the pick and roll effectively and wouldn't be at the mercy of tall athletic centers on the other end. But also, because he's truly excellent switch defender. I mean, he's one of the rare guys who was strong. at defending the interior, strong as defending the rim, and very strong on switches. It is very difficult

to get past him. So he's a guy who could see increased utility in the playoffs and situations in which the Pissons are just trying to run that ideal, that five-man switch offense and a five-out, a five-out offense, but I think you still need another guy who can run the pick and roll. But, Aiden, no, I think it's just largely, well, the guy seems talented. And we have the money to maybe make an offer, but I just don't think he's, unless he really develops, and I don't have a ton of confidence in his ability to improve that much, especially, you know, he hasn't improved a ton on offense. And he's not even a shooter after four years.

So I just, I don't think it's worth it. It doesn't sound like it's very likely that we're going to end up with him anyway, but if that is the case and we don't, if he goes somewhere else where he stays with Phoenix, hopefully, yeah, he's not this, this unicorn that we're missing out on it. And from what you're saying, it sounds like he's not. Yeah, I just don't think all that highly even, yeah. Okay, let's finish this off with the usual listener submitted questions. Number one, what is the absolute worst possible pick the Kings could make?

I mean, we're talking about the Kings here, so I could get real bad. But yeah, what do you think amongst the likely possibilities? Johnny Davis. You think that's likely? I don't think it's likely, but it's the Kings. It's the Kings. I don't know. Beyond that, Jaden Ivy, I would say, like the idea of those guys overlapping.

Yeah, I would say that also. I mean, you've got, I would say Jaden Avi amongst the likely picks. I don't think. Who knows? It's the king, so who knows about Johnny Davis. But I would say with, yeah, with Ivy, I mean, Fox is very much on the ball. Sabonis does a lot on the ball from the interior. Jaden Ivy is likely to, oh, who knows, maybe he can be off the ball.

But yeah, he's just, you'd hardly ever get the ball at all in that situation. Also, I don't think Fox is a very strong defender. Ivy does not project as a strong defender. Sabonis is not a very strong defender. So, yeah, I don't see it. And number two, we already covered this one a little bit. if the magic check check number one, does that mean they're giving up on Bamba and what do you think about Bamba? I don't think Bamba would direct draft strategy. He has been such a disappointment.

He is bad on defense and he was really drafted as a potentially. I mean, the hope is that it be a game-changing defender with his massive wingspan. But he's just been bad on offense. He's only really good at shooting threes and that's a recent development. Yeah, will they keep him? Who knows? Also, his motor sucks. I mean, the guy's motor sucks. So will they keep him? It's hard to say. It depends on if another team puts in an offer and how big that offer is. I think they'd like to keep him just against the possibility of his improvement as a backup or as a trade piece. I wouldn't be interested if I were the distance. Yeah.

I watched enough bad basketball this past year. I'm not going to throw enough magic games in there to have an opinion on Bamba. I trust what you're saying. If they move on from chat and you're saying that, or if they take chat and they move on from Bamba, that's what you think is going to happen. I believe you. Okay. Fair enough.

I'm glad for the vote of confidence. All right. That's social media. Yeah. Thank you guys so much for listening. We know that this wasn't the most exciting outcome, but could have been a lot worse. I think we both feel okay about it. Yeah.

Yeah. We're definitely going to do more deep dive prospect episodes on, I can think of at least four guys that we should do. And we'll do those leading up to the draft. And we'll definitely talk more stuff pertain to the Pistons and the strategy that they might have leading up to that. And then we love to hear your feedback. If you're on Twitter, follow us at To the BasketPod.

and we've seen that we're getting more ratings and reviews in. We appreciate those very much. If you're on Spotify or Apple, please consider leaving one. And yeah, thank you guys so much. Yep. All right, folks. So we will catch you in the next episode, which is, I would guess, would be Jaden Ivy or Keegan Murray. We haven't figured that one out yet.

But take care and we'll see you then.