The Pistons Pulse: Trade Deadline Preview

The Pistons Pulse: Trade Deadline Preview

[Applause] hello and welcome to your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast the Pistons pulse co-hosted by me Bryce Simon of Motor City hoop a former D1 Hooper and current teacher husband and father of three amazing kids nari Sano for the second Pistons beat writer for the Detroit Free Press and of course we’re always blessed

To be joined by our producer West Davenport taking care of everything behind the scenes making the Pistons pulse what it is and if you aren’t already make sure you check him out on the pin down over the dbb YouTube channel talking to trit Pistons as well that’s where you can hear his beautiful

Voice and yes I say beautiful voice because Amari we have one of the most unique reviews we have got and so of course if you’re watching live on YouTube or after the fact on YouTube give us a like subscribe all of those things Apple Spotify leave us a rating

Very proud I think we both are of our 4.9 rating on Apple and Spotify right now but we got a new one this is from medy from TC Omari and Bryce are my boys they say with three exclamation points I laugh because of how this one starts

Though when you get past omari’s Barry White voice and Bryce’s prepubescent tone you get to hear insightful commentary on our Pistons who are definitely underperforming but have tantalizing young Talent these guys go deep into the stats Trends slumps hot streak and injuries to keep the cast listenable and entertaining plus they

Speak with confidence of one who’s played the game keep it up fellas our Pistons will soon rise I was like I don’t know how to take this one one why is Barry White’s voice for Omari a negative thing and then why do they think that I sound like a little kid so

I I’m not really I’m not really sure maybe it’s the OV excitement that I have when I record the Pod I don’t know your like I would say your voice is like I would go chipper like I would go energetic I don’t know if I would

Compare it to a child’s voice uh you know maybe my very white tone it’s just the the contrast that makes it sound that way but like for me it felt like a compliment so I’ll take that um for you I just have to defend you because I

Would not that’s not how I would describe like Bryce is 66 like there’s nothing pre preed about him at all you know I’m not really sure what the over under was on us saying prepubescent ever ever on this podcast and we’ve now said it three or four times in the first

Three minutes of this episode so um shout out the the rating we appreciate it and the review uh again it was a five star so I’m not complaining like I appreciate the five star I just need a little bit of clarity on what exactly that’s coming from and again why omari’s

Barry White voice is an issue at all I I guess it is kind of fun like I there is a contrast between you and I right like you’re a little more lowkey you have this deep Berry White voice and Bryson’s voice does not doesn’t match his size

You know what’s funny too and my own kids say this but my students say this as well they’re like you’re so happy on the podcast you’re always smiling why aren’t you like that whenever you’re teaching us and stuff so maybe it’s just this like giddiness this excitement you

Whatever that I have but man I love talking Hoops I’m here with my guys Amari and West so um I I understand it I’m not going to change it and I don’t know that it was intended to change it but it it was interesting it did make me

Laugh and and make me think about it a little bit no doubt yeah but I saw that one I was like man if other words I would used to describe Bryce I don’t know about that one but also DeVos into our episodes after we yeah record

Because I like I know what we talked about so maybe I’ll spit it back specifically in the car cuz I have heard that uh depending on the speakers like my voice could be a a little harsh I guess so maybe there’s like a contrast there

I’m going to do some I’m going to do some testing and I’ll report back with a future episode yeah I I haven’t listened back for a while because I used to do all the edits which I didn’t even have to listen to full episodes Wes keeps all

The notes I don’t even do the edits anymore so I I don’t listen back to it either I did in the early days of Motor City Hoops to try to grow and improve and get rid of ums and likes and things like that but now Wes keeps those notes

So I don’t even have to do that and I don’t like hearing my own voice so I guess there we go like I don’t like hearing voice either so I guess I understand it but let’s let’s talk about what everybody’s here for again thank you for the rating the review everybody

Else like subscribe do all the same help us continue to grow to be the best pissing podcast out there the most recognizable and the pin down with West being number two Killian Hayes let’s start there we’re three days from the deadline at this point things are really

Going to be interesting here we’ve had some things change recently even in the NBA landscape Omari with this injury to Joel embiid and how does that change what the Sixers do the injury to Zack LaVine which some may say directly impacts what the Pistons are doing let’s start with Killian Hayes though because

I think that was something that we even talked about on Game Theory like that was Sam’s first one that he brought up when we talked about it so for those who don’t know maybe haven’t read your article or seen your tweets where are things at with the Detroit Pistons and

Killian Hayes and his representation yeah um Killian Hayes his representation um are at the point where they just see his future obviously probably not being in Detroit given how they’ve driven I mean I’m sorry how they’ve drafted in the past couple years trading for Sasser and then obviously just the

Way the rotation is trended this season he’s a restricted free agent uh this upcoming summer and I think the Pistons too I mean he’s been a healthy scratch the last three games and it just seems extremely unlikely that they will try to retain him this summer so it just makes

Sense for both sides I think there’s an understanding on both sides that it’s probably better to part ways whether that happens as a a trade or something else down the road I’m not sure at this point uh but I did have a story on Sunday just kind of diving into what to

Expect from the trade deadline now that they’re completely past Zack LaVine who of course is going to miss the rest of the season with that foot injury even before that I think the OD of that deal happening were kind of low just because the Pistons were not going to give up

Any assets at all in that deal and it would have had to have been a pure salary dump which I don’t think Chicago is at that point yet so it just didn’t seem likely regardless but um yeah in addition to Killian uh still have to

Wait to see if they do anything with the veterans who are on expiring deals you have Joe Harris you have Monte Morris uh Boron who’s only guaranteed for two million and then Alec Burks and the sense really overall is that they’re going to wait till the off season to

Make a bigger type swing I know we talked about on the Pod uh last month and I reported that they wanted to Cle enough clear enough cap space to have enough room to sign two significant talents or trade for two significant talents I think that’s still the plan

But they probably will wait till the off season when uh the market improves from where it is now as far as teams looking to get off of some of these contracts so we’ll see uh we can start off killing situation a little bit here but um

Probably not going to be a lot of fireworks the straight de line so Cheryl Brown appreciate you don’t change Bryce you’re great the way you are and then Anthony Bolino what’s up Anthony he says hi guys Anthony’s the best I know omari’s been there I join his radio show

Every once in a while X’s o Bros in the morning so check that out appreciate you Anthony joining in also guys like we are more than willing to take questions about the trade deadline specifically if you have a mock trade whatever we’re going to talk trade deadline as long

Long as this thing can goes and as long as you guys want and then we will have other things on the outline we’ll get to if necessary so get your comments or questions all of that stuff in as we’re recording let’s go ahead and start with Killian though Omari when do you think

This came to a head it seemed like Monty was truly interested in killing the player when he came to Detroit we saw them give him a chance this year and then like you said over the last few weeks especially kind of as Marcus Sasser has really shown his ability to

Contribute and play he just completely fell out of the rotation so do you think the Pistons came into like this is just completely your thoughts do you think they came into this year with wanting to give him a chance and really see what they had and maybe they thought he was

Part of the future and then it just didn’t really work out that way the sense I got last summer was that they were preparing to move on from him uh obviously you trade to draft marus Sasser who is um they they’re playing him off Ball but still um you know he’s

A guy that competes directly with Killian for playing time and then on top of that you traded for uh Monte Boris who got hurt uh so you know I think the interesting side timeline is if monate didn’t get hurt uh what would that have meant for Killian going into the season

Uh but obviously he got hurt the Pistons battled some injuries and then uh early on it just seemed like Monte uh Williams was really cool on Zaden Ivy and uh talked about kilan being a big point guard about him kind of him from afar and wanting to work with him see what he

Could get and that’s where things started off this season obviously for those who have been following along and you know I think since then uh mon talked about the meeting with uh the rest of the team ownership in the front office where they asked him why they

Hadn’t played Jaden Ivy uh that the want to let him initiate more picking role and he just said he hadn’t thought of it and Ivy you look at his stats over the last month since he’s been a four-time starter and I at it last night I think I

Put it in my story but he’s averaging about 18 a game he’s shooting like 37% from three like 46% overall uh since the turnover ratio still isn’t great but he’s been an effective scorer and on top of that uh I think a reason why Monty was cooling him early on was just

Because of the defense and his defense has improved like it well certainly has improved and I think that defensive Improvement has correlated with him uh hanging on to that starting spot and you know getting to playing time a lot of people felt he should have gotten

Earlier on so just say all that to say uh you know Killian started off in favor as the year goes on I think the back court just kind of naturally took shape with Ivy playing a lot better Kate being K obviously uh Marcus Sasser shooting like 42% from three as a rookie 48%

Overall which you can’t plan for and then mon Morris coming back and uh the game Monte came back I think Killian only played nine minutes because Monte was on a minute restriction and he hasn’t played the last three games so it’s just the backcourt situation evolving over the course of the season

And now you’re at the point where you’re probably not going to commit to Killian long term and I think Killian also understands that so where do you go from here because it probably doesn’t make sense to carry him Beyond this point if he know it’s probably not going to

Continue beyond the offseason let’s settle on Ivy for just a second here because YouTube user says I loved Ivy’s effort in every phase this season we’ve talked about Omari the offensive rebounding um some of the block shots there was a play in the game on Sunday

Against the magic where he you know gets hung up on a ball screen which he still tends to do but gives a second effort gets back in front forces a pass out and then continues to play as Paulo B Caro gets close to the rim and blocks the

Shot from behind I just thought that was the epitome of what Jay naivy has done defensively this year it’s not fundamentally perfect it’s not incredible in regards to that but he’s found ways to use his athleticism his explosion second efforts those type of things to make an impact defensively I’m

Really close to feeling like Jaden Ivy is almost an average Defender I don’t think he’s there yet but it’s getting really close and we were talking last year about him being really bad like yeah yes he was all rookies are bad it was kind of even Beyond just being bad

For a rookie the growth he has made defensively is extremely impressive so I mean shout out that and then Mike asked here so shout out Mike um would clearing the way for Sasser may be a factor and moving him um that being Killian Hayes and so I do think we’ve talked about

This a little bit the idea of all these young guys is really cool and exciting but eventually you have to be able to prioritize which ones you play and which ones you don’t and now in that back court you have Kaden Ivy playing the minutes and the

Rotations we’ve all wanted and it looks like I don’t know for me I feel like Marcus Sasser should at least be the third or fourth guard in that rotation there just really aren’t minutes there for Killian Hayes he’s still young I actually I don’t blame his representation for wanting him to go

Somewhere else and maybe he figures it out somewhere else else which I do want to ask you about in just a second but it seems like sasser’s play and Ivy also have really contributed to this yeah no doubt they didn’t come into the season with the expectation that they would

Have to utilize Sasser and I think trading for Monte gave them more insurance as far as that right like we have two point guards we don’t know if we’ll be able to rely on so we’re going to bring in this experienced vet to help keep the ship AF flat but with Ivy I

Mean absolutely I think the defensive Improvement is a huge factor in why he’s been on the Court Dow I would agree he’s probably closer to average now and I think what he lacks maybe in just the awareness or the screen navigation you want to see uh he does want have one of

The better block rates for any guard like we’ve seen him really race to get guys in transition you mentioned the Ben Carol play he could do that he’s been better about I think using his length in general and he’s also been knocking down threes over the last month that makes

Him really a pretty solid fit next to a guy in Kade who probably needs that spacing and that defense next to him so with Killian right I mean it’s just at this point what is the best option uh for both of those sides like I don’t

Know if you necessarily wave a guy like that right like you know I don’t know if there’s maybe a protected second uh you a team would give up or actually they wanted to float this by too uh bike Scotto from uh Hoops hype today reported that the Grizzlies are interested and

Then my friend Chris Harrington uh who is a long time Grizzlies writer now for the Daily memphian um he had a tweet earlier uh basically saying uh if the Pistons wanted to pursue a second draft route with one of two or zier Williams Jake laravia or David Rody or off

Interest in John Kar uh it could make sense since Killian Hayes is essentially an expiring contract and the Grizzlies have a lot of young guys that they’re not going to commit to long term Z Williams being a six foot n Wing SL forward David Rody’s a bit more of an

Undersized forward uh Jake laravia I know was just sort of a all around to Z guy coming out of college who can shoot the ball none of those guys are really shot well in the NBA uh all those guys I would say are projects but if that’s a

Straight swap uh where essentially Biff gets a look at kill thean and if they don’t want to commit then they just don’t commit and the Pistons get a young Wing that they can get a look at that probably makes sense for both sides so just looking at likely or best case

Scenarios for Detroit I think that’s probably pretty high up there uh Doug real quick Bryce are you saying that Mon’s tough love with Ivy was justified it drove me crazy like I don’t know I don’t think we have the answer to that Caleb you know has an interesting it can

Be both Justified and heavy-handed we don’t know like maybe like if if that was a direct correlation I think you could draw that I think we’re too much on the outside to know for sure listen if they trade Killian Hayes for any one of the three you just said I think

Pistons fan should be you know that’s a win I guess in my book because if Killian returns any like even if he returned a legit second round pick I think that that would be a win you know not some crazy protected one just because you have to add something in or

You know like if they would have to buy him out just to make him happy and his agent happy or whatever those three guys Williams laravia R are all interesting in their own right I’m not saying it’s gonna pan out here’s the other thing they’re you know we just talked about

The Log Jam at the guard position ofari and why even if Killian was kind of still interesting for the organization he may not be able to find minutes even if those guys haven’t been great there are minutes to be had for them in the rotation and I think that’s why it’s

Interesting to me you could bring in David Rody and let him play a bunch of minutes for 2025 games and see you could bring in Jake laravia who has struggled in and out of the lineup with some injuries and things like that hasn’t always shot the ball well but is a

Really good shooter in his history and you can come in and give him legit minutes consistent minutes and maybe he finds that shooting touch and now all of a sudden you have a former first round pick playing a position that you really need and value if they are able to swing

That if Troy Weaver can swing Killian Hayes for anybody in regards to a wing forward who makes a little bit of sense I would that would be a really really nice move in my opinion don’t doubt I mean that’s a pure win uh for the Pistons I’m not going to sit here and

Act like I’ve watched a lot of those guys since um they were drafted but I still followed you know I’m still like I covered Grizzlies for almost two years so that was the team covered before the uh Pistons they have that organization has had a pretty good track record for

Kind of finding those Diamonds in the Rough and all three of those guys are former first round picks I believe Ry might have been an early second rounder but I know laravia and Zer Williams were both first round picks so yeah if you get a recent first round guy that A

Team’s wouldn’t depart ways with just because they have too many young guys essentially and another team I was curious as far as that is uh OKC just because have way more picks they could use but probably not in the context of Killian Hayes but absolutely I mean z

Williams 69 athletic he had a weird College season and uh like I know he had flashers in Memphis you look at his numbers now and he’s just not scoring the ball efficiently at all but also still a younger guy uh if you get if he could even just become a solid Wing who

Can play solid defense and knock down open threes I mean I think that’s a huge win for Detroit just have a piece like that going forward all right last thing on Killian Hayes and then we’ll probably need to take a quick break again we I I listen guys we star all of your

Questions we will get to that whenever kind of the the conversation here gets to to that point what what do you think the future holds for Killian like what would be the best scenario for him I’ve seen people again like recording on other podcast say oh he needs to go to

Another bad team like the Spurs right who have some minutes at the point guard position or maybe the Wizards who if they trade tus Jones there’s minutes available there I’ve also seen other people say send them to a good team where they have good floor spacing and

Then now they can make up for his lack of floor spacing what do you is there like a situation you don’t have to say specifically Omari but you think there’s a specific situation that maybe would seem better to you to maybe where kilan Hayes can find a footing and find some

Success so that’s what’s interesting because a team that is uh contending or a team with at least a 500 record that could use a point guard um because they’re competing down the stretch you know I’m not sure if they trade for Killian with the expectation that

They’re going to have to play him right you know just because if he already wasn’t playing for the Pistons to have six wins then you’re probably not targeting him with the expectation that he’s going to feel an immediate ho for you so I would look at it as Memphis

Probably making more sense just because like they have 13 guys injured like I know last night I think they had three guys on like uh disability contracts just because they had so many guys out and then you had three two-way guys also playing and then it was like Luke kard

And one other guy like they’re just completely decimated by inj injy so you trade for Killian at worst is a financial move that that saves you money over the offseason and uh at best you know maybe kilan shows you something he’s a guy that you know you can kind of

Keep with the system if you do believe that he could be a pretty good third point guard uh you know J’s not the best shooter so don’t if you play kill and J together next season but kill’s 65 he’s a lot bigger than Jah like maybe there’s something there and maybe that

Three-point shot you know I don’t know you know I think for Killian it just has to be more than the passing right you have to really really be above average offensively or you got to hit threes or free throws he’s stumped at the line as

Well too so you just can’t be a negative offensively and all you bring is just passing I think wherever you end up it just comes down to him they able to add a little bit more value because at 65 I do think that gives some more lead

Weight and maybe a 6’2 guard who’s had those struggles yeah and I think a lot with Killian you know we’ve seen the talent flash at times like it’s it’s a lot about confidence and so if you know him and his represent representation can find a spot that is going to give him

Consistent minutes you know I i’ I’ve threw out the stats before for his career where he’s way better coming in the starting lineup then off the bench and I think that has a lot to do with confidence and maybe his feeling of the organization or the coaching staff and

Their confidence in him so it will be interesting it sounds like his time in Detroit is over you know it’s interesting now four years we look back on that draft number seven overall pick Weaver’s first selection Killian Hayes doesn’t look like it’s going to pan out he ended up trading sadique Bay for

James wisman who like an underlying storyline is ever since mcalla and Gallow came to town wisan hasn’t really been getting consistent minutes either so you wonder where that’s going to go even at this deadline and then obviously Isaiah Stewart was the third one in that draft as well so just interesting that

You know we get this far out when you cover a team and podcast about a team for long enough you really can start to evaluate some of those draft picks we’re gonna go to a short break Amari when we come back before we get to questions

Let’s talk about the other guys on the roster I want to ask you and get your perspective on the expiring deals Omari is Gallow staying around is mcalla is Burks Buon those type of things let’s dive into that after this short break all right we’re back with segment

Two and now that we’ve talked Killian we are going to dive into the veterans when expiring deals of which there are many they just acquired Mike bucala and Dilo galari who have probably already surpassed most expectations as far as what they would be able to bring on the

Floor you have Joe Harris and mon Morris the two guys that Tred for last off season and then you still have Buon bakd donovic and Alec Burks and you could even throw Kevin KNC to that category too if he wants since he’s uh just on a

One-year deal but they have a number of guys who have gotten various levels of attention from other teams I know there’s a report today that the Lakers looked into gandari who obviously would be 36th later on this year and this front office has been unique in the

Sense that they have been a rebuilding team that has not really prioritized trading guys for assets they’ve kind of preferred to just keep guys together and kind of continue what they have which um you know I think if they were to do it this year with like six wins on the board

That would be curious to just compar to whatever offers R there right but we don’t I like I can say for a fact like bogey Burks those guys have been uh popular targets pretty much since they arrived in Detroit just because of how well they shoot the ball and there’s

Been some interest for Monte Morris too and I guess that’s the question long term right I don’t get the sense that gallo and bucalo are going anywhere but at what point does this front office just say uh you know The Season’s not going anywhere whatever plan we had to

Take a leap for it the season hasn’t happened so let’s just get all the assets we can and then re reassess over the offseason right I think on some level that that’s already the plan is to test the market again and make those swings over the offseason but at what

Point do you prioritize the asset side of that too you still have a first- round pick deficit like at what point does that think that thinking change right yeah so Matthew Harrison says reportedly the front office is f not moving their vets is this posturing to

Drive up the price PR Management in case they don’t make a move don’t have a plan I mean I think you know as you alluded to a little bit that the plan is always changing right you know injuries happen and things around the league change a trade happens which completely changes

Up another trade I’m just really interested to see because I’ve been trying to balance this as well Amari you know what we’ve seen what Mike muscala on the floor kind of does for this team you know Sharon Dalton says I’m intrigued by Mcall defense is not as bad

As I thought foot speed is a little slow but overall I’m Noto disappointed defensively and it’s like you see him playing in the lineup and how it provides floor spacing and how you can use assar a little bit differently which is really intriguing and so if he’s not

Really worth that much value if he doesn’t bring back a real asset a young player or a draft pick are you better off just playing him on the team the rest of the year and then deciding okay in the offseason letting him walk I mean I think Mcall Gallow like those guys not

As much Joe Harris it really comes down to like Buon Burks Monte Morris because those are guys that are really contributing right you know playing big minutes taking shots those type of things and I think could probably get legitimate value on the market and so

Kind of where are you at Amari in terms of like what would it take to move Buon or is Buon a longer term part you know part of this plan than think you know we always say he’s essentially two million guaranteed and that’s it but also at 19

Million 20 million you just bring him back and he’s on the team again next year Alec Burks do you try to resign him Monte Morris do you try to resign him because you need a vet point guard so that’s where I’m at is do you move them

For the assets you can get or is there a longer term plan for some of these guys and that’s I think been the key question since a lot of these guys arrived um when they extended bu on banovic like two weeks into that 2022 23 season um it

Was with the expectation that he would be there was a good chance he would be on this team when they start to win more games and the belief was that it would be this season and that of course has not happened um you know so last year I

Think to an extent like you’re probably aware you’re playing with fire bringing a guy who’s 34 going to 35 back now you have a guy who’s going on 35 and he’s only partially guaranteed for two million next season uh one thing I will say is that like cap space is an asset

Uh you know sometimes people look at it as we don’t trade this guy we get him for nothing but if you can’t do that without taking on more salary right does it make more sense to take on maybe a deal that I don’t want to say poisons the well but just doesn’t necessarily

Fit with your long-term flexibility for a first or do you just say hey we could just go into the offseason and if it’s not there we have an extra 18 million to do whatever we want with right you know I think that’s an option that’s on the

Table Alec Burks uh you know like Monty Williams loves Alec Burks like he’s been a favorite in the locker room pretty much since he showed up and of course it’s also a guy that has swung some games for the Pistons just by being redot from three um you know I think

This front office has really been focused on keeping the locker room together you know because they know how bad uh losing can affect teams uh you know like you look at a few years ago like Philly like I think they had guys even get in trouble when they

Were kind of going through the extent of their losing but this is like an unprecedent amount of losing for this franchise as well uh so I think we’ll learn a lot in the next two days as far as maybe where that desperation level is and how much they want to Pivot because

They can slow play this you have till 3 pm Thursday to listen to whatever offers you want um that’s where you’re at now because so far it seems as though they’re going to continue to operate the way that they have which is we’re going to keep our vets in the system unless we

Get offer the first that we can’t refuse or player we can’t refuse and then we just figure it out from there uh you know which also means that the season kind of just is what it is right I don’t think they’ll do anything specifically so that they could just say we won 12

Games instead of 10 or 15 games instead of 12 or whatever you end up with yeah and I don’t think my thought process with potentially moving Buon or Morris or Burks has anything to do with winning more games this year it’s just like can you do some of quote unquote pre- agency

Or start building for the 2425 season at this deadline and I guess if none of those moves are available if there’s truly nothing there I I guess I understand them setting it out and if we end up with no moves and they just play

It out and it is what it is I’ve gone through this I think we had a question or it got brought up a little bit earlier to me there’s like six guys who kind of fill out a 10-man rotation Kaden ivy in the back court Duren in the front

Court Off the Bench quote unquote Sasser assar and Stu like those are the six guys I feel like kind of have for 24 25 I would assume they’re on the roster so you need to fill out four rotation spots like Omari how do you feel or like what

Do what would you put the odds of maybe those spots get filled up by okay a top five pick is Gonna Fill up one of those spots maybe it is Buy on back on $20 million maybe it is Burks is one of those spots or Monte Morris and you

Bring these guys back maybe you keep Mike muscala to be the fifth big Behind these guys I mean it makes a little more sense if there’s nothing you can truly get you know if if the two first round picks either was never truly there which is sometimes reported that it was for bu

At last deadline and it’s not there this year there’s no great assets maybe you’re better off just keeping these guys on your team depending of course some of these guys you would have to resign right you have to give Burks a new contract Morris a new contract but I

Just I’m interested I’m I’m fascinated to see where they go now yeah I’m fascinated to see as well and I think this off season and you know I’m going to say this and people would say well that’s been the topic every single offseason which is true you know we have

Talked about changes every offseason and when you look back the changes probably aren’t as substantive as you would think for a team that’s trying to get better but now they’re in a situation where you have no choice right like how do you justify bringing all these guys back

When they underachieved so much the previous season like that’s not a recipe for success and even if you bring everybody back and then you add two more guys using that 60 million that you cleared up you are those two guys wouldn’t be enough to turn a you know

12- win team into a team that could actually compete for the play in or deeper right like I think that’s been what maybe has been somewhat confusing about the whole process is that now you’re in this weird Purgatory of well this season is a waste because clearly

We’re not going to do anything playoff wise but at the same time you still don’t want to fall into that trap of making a panic move that that ties you up uh they’re very very aware of what that Blake Griffin trait did and how difficult it was to kind of move past

That and I think more than anything that’s what they’re really really trying not to do is just make a deal just to say hey we’re a better team now and if this season is what it is then you can go into the offseason and at that point

Teams likely are more willing to shake up their rosters rather than do it mid-season and maybe the price on some of these players comes down uh since now I mean the Pistons can’t give up a first- round pick right so it doesn’t matter um where talks are if you’re not

Going to give up a young player to replace those first round picks they’re not going to give up any of those six guys that you mentioned so yeah they’re in a weird in between spot right uh there’s clearly a need to you know make big changes but you’re not going to make

Those big changes now so at what point do you say okay these veterans are not part of our future and we’re just going to take what we can get and then reassess this off season and that’s what it’s hinging on because if you’re playing to bring a lot of these same

Guys back then those two play those two players you signed with the cap space they’ve got to be start level players they can’t just be guys who are solid starters they’ve got to be guys who can really take it all the way up here yeah so Doug McMan brings up an internal

Development and getting a forward who can protect the rim is what every move should enhance I think that’s kind of where I’m at because again like we all want this team to be better right Omari but I feel like we all sit here and go man we really like Kade Cunningham and

Jaden Ivy and assar Thompson and Jaylen Duran and Marcus Sasser and you know we’re all gonna talk ourselves into Zachary Reese or Cody Williams or whoever it is well how many vets especially high price High usage vets can you bring in and still feel like you’re developing those guys

So I think that’s where this team is like you say like in purgatory or the middle ground is I I think it’s one real good swing and I think it is a forward I think that’s where they really really need to make a huge jump is like that

Three four position I would say a true fourman that can come in and be really good on both ends of the floor because you don’t want to take away too much from Cade and Jaden and Jaylen and Sasser Off the Bench and you know hopefully assar continues to approve

Where he can take a little bit of usage and a top five pick so you can’t go crazy you know who I thought again will give him some love here I will I feel like the Houston Rockets towed this line pretty well this off season and and

Listen I didn’t see it when it happened but they brought in Fred Van vet High money guy but not a high usage guy and that allows all their other guys to continue to do their things and then Dylan Brooks hasn’t been what a lot of us thought which was come in and Jack

Shots on a team like Houston I think that’s where Detroit needs to do I’m not saying they got to give you know $40 million commitment but I think that’s what they need find these guys that are really good players but are still going to allow the young guys to grow and

Develop like the Rockets have with shenon and now cam Whitmore and some of those guys and that’s the thing because you look at the rockets and shenon has been playing like a star and that’s been a huge Catalyst and their Improvement I mean I I just think having uh senator

Who could playmake like that as a cheat go code in today’s NBA but along with that you have Dylan Brooks right and he’s was really the the three and D Wing that they needed and he really improved uh just the floor for this team from a competitiveness standpoint and some of

The other guys added like Jeff Green you know just a guy who comes in brings professionalism could still play at a pretty high level he had a dunk against the Pistons that I was like that was Jeff he turns back the clock about every game I watch it’s pretty impressive to

Be honest that’s insane uh but that strategy worked for them but I think the key part of that is still the Player Development right they have guys who are stepping into larger rows and they’ve been so successful on that front that um I mean jab Smith Jr he’s been uh hugely

Improved this season yes uh like even though Jaylen green has essentially stagnated that has not set back their rebuild at all and the Pistons are not at that point yet if Kate Cunningham has the season that Jaylen green is currently having and he’s not like he’s having a better season than Jaylen green

But you need Kate to to essentially been be that shenon type guy along with all the rest of the players stepping up uh you know I think that’s still the key ingredient for Houston that hasn’t quite clicked for the Pistons where you have guys like amen Thompson who’s you know

Spent time with their g-league team just because you have van Fleet and L guys in your system who are already taking up all those bidits so uh that’s just de really I think to kind of just cut that entire spill short like you have def at

These position and it makes you not to rely on guys who are not ready yet and the Pistons are not there yet they’re still relying on rookies and players who have not proven that they can win games yet yeah I mean I think at the end of

The day you just have to make sure that when you make these moves and we all agree there has to be Improvement right you can’t run it back with even with as as much as we’ve seen Monte Morris helped this team at times even though he struggled some and Buon helped this team

And those like obviously these aren’t the right pieces so you have to go find upgrades whether it’s with them taking roles that are further back or guys that just are better than them straight up but you have to be able to do it without really suffocating anything for Cade and

Jaden and those guys as well at least in my opinion because end of the day this thing really hinges I think specifically on those two more than anything and so you got to give them freedom and room to do their thing and grow and find out how

Good they can or cannot be um let’s go to some questions here so Doug miniman says afternoon fellas this may not be a popular sentiment but it’s okay if the Pistons don’t do a lot and ke con essentially says the same thing not making a move won’t be popular but could

Become reality in a few days Omari right now you know Monday afternoon where do you stand on that in terms of are we looking at maybe one trade that’s Killian Hayes maybe a James wisman maybe Joe Harris you think a couple two or three or do you think Pistons fans may

Be a little bit underwhelmed if they’re looking for some fireworks at the deadline for Detroit I think they would be underwhelmed if we looking for fireworks I just don’t think there is a deal on the table now that they feel uh you know a deal that would change the

Franchise fortunes that’s like realistic or wouldn’t require them given up on one of the young guys that they’re not willing to part ways with yet yeah I could see a deal for one of the younger guys who probably aren’t in a long-term plans like a Killian I I see in a

Parting ways with maybe one of the Vets um you know whether it’s bogy or Monte or Burks or Joe Harris if there’s like a straight salary dump that makes sense long term uh there’s still stuff there but I would expect uh a couple more deals from like the small to moderate

Range but not like a Zack LaVine level swing I think worse so than not they’re just going to wait till the offseason because there’s nothing you can do to win the court a public opinion at this point right like it just kind of is what

What it is you’re not going to make a deal just to say we did something because last time you did that it backfired uh pretty heav so you kind of just have to eat that this season uh you know we put all of our eggs into this

Core taking a leap forward and they did not do that so you know you just kind of figure things out uh when you have more of a broad off season to make those types of moves and that’s how they’ve operated pretty much up until this point you look at the midseason trades they’ve

Done they traded for Marvin Bagley James wisman uh didis Smith Jr you know guys they they just take good looks at and see if they fit the system they haven’t really made those franchise changing trades in the middle of the season so even though probably the urgency level

Needs to be higher than it’s ever been more than likely that will not manifest until we get to the offseason yeah I mean I could see like I think at one point I had this Vision in my head ofari that they’re going to trade off all of these expiring contracts and they’re

Going to bring somebody in and all of these other assets and it’s like that’s not really realistic like that doesn’t make sense to be honest the fact they have so many makes it way more likely that they strategically and hopefully pick the right ones to keep right like

Do you need Monte Morris and Alec Burks I realized they’re not the same player but if you already have Sasser and Kade and Ivy so maybe now that you have both you are able to get rid of one and you have Joe Harris’s $20 million so you

Don’t need Bon’s $20 million in some move if you need $20 million of matching salary you have muscala and Gallow so maybe you don’t keep both of those guys so I think some moves are going to happen but I think it’s probably just a couple of them because you got you still

Have to keep some of these guys on the roster because the thing is like I don’t know I don’t know what you’re you weren’t trading those guys for improvements necessarily not immediate improvements anyway it’s probably some sort of draft capital or some player who’s unproven or maybe they’re young

And unproven like you said Marvin Bagley James wisman those type of guys and I think quite honestly like everybody’s kind of tired of taking those type of chances anyway so I don’t know that anybody would get excited you know even if people didn’t love wisan or baggley I

Think there was a certain level of excitement whenever they traded for bull bow you know in the move that didn’t happen I think everybody’s appetite for that is kind of over and I don’t know what the how much better it gets if you trade those guys off another oh go ahead

No I was just gonna say and I think a key distinction with those past midseason trades too is that in every example I think the Pistons gave up like proven rotation guys for players who were not proven rotation players he traded Trey L for Marvin Bagley and Trey

L is probably a better fit for this team you trade sadik for James wisman and sadik’s actually on really cold after a hot start I haven’t checked his numbers in the last week I’m actually going to check Dow but probably not at the point

Where you kind of see that deal as a you know like a failure whatever it may be if sadik wasn’t the guy you’re going to commit to long term but once again I think that they’re P that right if they do take a flyer on a young guy it’ll be

More so training a guy like Killian rather than trying to turn an established player into a player who’s not all right let’s go to a short break and we’re just going to go we’ll just answer your questions here at the end of the episode episode guys so we’ll get to

As many as we can get them in while you’re here whether you’re on YouTube Twitter whatever we appreciate you guys tuning in live here and just a quick note for everybody we plan on going live as soon as we get a chance if there is a

Move that is made throughout the week so we’ve already talked about this may not be an hour it may be something shorter but if the Pistons make a trade make sure you have subscribed and you’re tuning in to the YouTube channel or Twitter or whatever because we plan on

Going live ASAP when a move if a move is made but Amari we’ll start with this question here from sports fan after this short break all right we are on segment three and we will answer your questions whether it’s trade deadline related or anything else uh so first we have a

Question from sports fan hey guys two we have two questions for sports fan yeah one are you guys confident that Detroit will make a splash of the offseason and then two over under two trades made before Thursday evening thanks uh Bryce I’ll let you lead off

With this one all right so I do think that they have to do something in the off season I feel like they’re going to make a splash um I guess that could change depending on who you are what a real Splash means but I I think they’re

Gonna go make a move like they have to significantly upgrade the talent on the roster I know I just went through a whole Spiel like you can’t smother Kade nvy but you can go get like those guys have to be able to play with other good

Players you’re not going to win you know deep into the playoffs with just those two guys even playing at their best so I think they at least one really good Wing forward in free agency trade however you make it happen and then I think they draft one as well and really kind of

Reform that room and and I would like that I’m going to change the second one Omari to one and a half that way we can go over under on that so what are you what is your answer to the second question and you can answer the first

Obviously if you want also but over under one and a half trades I’m going to say over even though I think they’re smaller deals I still think it would be over one and a half and for the record I would go under two and a half if

Somebody move made it that the line yeah no I think that’s my exact answer as well uh I think they will make up to two deals you know maybe there’s room for a third deal if you get a really nice offer for um one of the guys who value

Pretty highly but I see them making round too so I’m going to take the over on that and just so take the over on that um as for the first question I am pretty confident that they may make a splash over the offseason or will make

A splash over the offseason I think that you know just from talking to people in the front office this season they’ve you know pretty clearly defined that uh they have to switch things up pretty dramatically uh I know that Troy Weaver is operating from the standpoint of we

Have to turn this thing around like ASAP right like you can’t be the GM of a rebuild you know in year four of a team with this record so you know I believe there’s certainly a lot lot of urgency on his part to uh get this thing going

And improving it they have 60 million in in cap space uh like ver verbatim uh they’re looking to get impact players which is probably not a Joe Harris Monte Morris type situation again it’s guys who are going to come in and start for you like I think their backs are against

The wall and I think you have to make a splash this offseason because otherwise you’re just going to be at the bottom of of the East again next season so out of necessity I’m going to say yes they do make a splash so Brandon s says gaining

Control of our first in New York is the biggest move we could make to help going forward Bogey and taking forier money might get it done your thoughts my thoughts are I do think that would open up a lot of possibilities I think the idea of cap space this off season is a

Lot more enticing if Detroit did have control over all of their future first because then you can package those without the protections and all of that does bogey get it done I don’t know like the more I think about New York and Tom Tibido I feel like Tom Tibido has his

Specific type of players and is buan banovich his specific type of player I will say this even though I really like what New York has done and they’ve been playing well they are missing some second unit scoring with Emanuel quickley now in Toronto and while obviously they’re not even close to the

Same type of players I could see them valuing someone like Buon to come in and get buckets with the second unit there is that worth that they have a bunch of first round picks a lot of them kind of weird protections on them maybe it’s

Worth it if if they really want to go for it maybe this Joel embiid injury makes him feel like an even bigger opportunity to really win in the playoffs this year I do like your thought process though here Brandon in terms of getting back the protections or getting those protections off that pick

Does open up some flexibility for Detroit it does I think from Detroit’s standpoint that makes a lot of sense to get that first back because now you’re you’re made ho and that really really UPS your draft flexibility going forward um you know because of course they’ve been kind of handcuffed on that front

Since giving up a first for Isaiah Stewart four years ago uh so it does make sense like I don’t know if New York says yes to that just because bogy’s 34 and you can bring him back next season he’s still playing at a high level uh I

Don’t know if just looking at the long-term value there if that’s like the best use of that asset for New York but then again they’ve been on fire like Jaylen brunson’s having the MVP caliber season and you never know maybe they decide to go all in and go for it this

Year uh this has been the best Nick season since who know knows when uh you know my gut says that’s probably not the best move for New York but for Detroit that makes a lot of sense so Doug McMan says the Pistons won’t turn the corner

Till they get a rim protector like Chuck points out I think Chuck was in the chat with this first and I’m going to build off of this even with our guy Kyle Mets he says do you think durren has the defensive instincts to be a defensive

Anchor if not would you try to move him the summer in a package swing for a game-changing forward so I think really what this comes down to is do you feel like they have the fiveman on the roster to really hold the fort down what where

Are we at with Jaylen Duren in terms of being able to do that and grow and be that rim protector and then my other thing Omari is okay I like the idea of bringing in another rim protector well then what where does Isaiah Stewart play

And like I’m fine if you say well then you ship off Isaiah Stewart but like we’ve talked about this at length everybody’s tired of Isaiah Stewart at the four so if you feel like they need better Rim protection then it’s either Jaylen Duren or Isaiah Stewart that you

Have to get rid of and so I think that’s where like some tough decisions may eventually come do you event do you do you keep Duren and Stewart on this roster long term I do think and I’ve kind of held this one I think Duran has

A long way to go with his defense like there every game my notes are doesn’t recover in the ball screens doesn’t protect you know like some of those things doesn’t value positioning enough he’s young second year does a lot of things really well like he’s still

Flirting with that 12 and 12 Omari um to to make you look like a genius but I mean I understand people wanting to see something better defensively from him especially now that we’ve seen it from Jay Ivy the next like Kate Cunningham’s defense need to improve as well but you

Know they ask about Jaylen durren and rim protection yeah uh it has to be Jaylen durren I think he’s the only guy on this team that even has the capability to be that Elite rim protector you know I think Isaiah Stewart could really really really Drive in certain matchups as far as Isaiah

Playing the four uh defensively there are nights where that makes the most sense like he’s he actually does a pretty decent job defending Giannis he does a great job against CZ but there are matchups that he is just really really strong defensively in and I think you could keep Isaiah Stewart as a

Hybrid four5 depending on the matchup uh you could play at Isaiah Stewart Jaylen Duran front court against the Milwaukee Bucks like you could there’s certain teams who can do it against just because of how the teams match up uh with that being said durren is the only guy on

This roster who really has that capability to be a at least an average rim protector he’s very very far off from that right now uh which is not uncommon for young bigs but it’s just that the the Pistons are in a position where they need Duren to do it now and

You need them to do it next season if you’re going to make a leap next season I think that’s probably the biggest factor in their long-term success is if durren can figure that out on defense or at least be average right uh because if you’re not that then that’s just a

Significant hole you have to feel I think you can commit to both of those guys I think air Stewart’s deal in the gr scheme is not really that high like for a road player that can handle some of those offensive match ups in knock down threes I think that’s fine I think

It’s within the rim a possibility that he does increase his three-point volume as he gets more comfortable and some of those issues sort themselves out with time but you don’t have another rim protector Beyond Doran and that’s why I look at this offseason and some of the

Guys at uh top are probably like big fours or fives in the NBA but like with that if you could get a guy young or you know an older vet who can protect the rim you have to do it if you want to be serious team next season you can’t just

Rely on Jaylen durren making this massive leap from the second to third season you need to bring in some guys who can already do it uh that’s kind of what Houston did with their back court bringing in Van Fleet uh you know the Pistons going forward you got to have

That uh to make any sort of improvement and you probably don’t want to have to rely on the 20 21 year old guy uh just to be your lone person who can do that so Chuck Brewer says St of the bench long term yeah like I I agree we’ve

Talked about this and we’ve said for a while now like a third big is a really nice role for him again my thing is and you can talk me into this if a true rim protector is better for this team long term you can talk me into that but then

I don’t think you have a great role for Isaiah seart in that situation if Jaylen Duran’s you’re starting five and then you feel like you need a real rim protector coming off the bench at the five then like then you’re almost exclusively playing Stu at the four Off

The Bench like that’s a little bit better than starting him at the four obviously but I still think I like the idea of a third big who’s playing more minutes at the five than at the four so um matthus I’m sorry if I mispronounce your name here um why not trade for Obi

Toppen it would be cheaper than Tobias and toppen is shooting 40% from three and is athletic like hey I I don’t know what it take to get Obi toppen I kind of wonder if he could be on the market and a guy they’re not getting talked about a

Lot because Pascal obviously is there they just drafted jerus Walker in the top 10 OB would be interesting to me when I watch Pacers games I think he does a lot of really good things if he can space the floor knock down Corner threes that that is a really nice fit

And as you said you know cheaper than Tobias Harris I’ll pull up his contract and maybe those Corner catch and shoot numbers as you give your thoughts on this Omari yeah I mean I think fitwise Obi is a great fit for this te he’s a for that can handle the ball a little

Bit he shot the ball really well he can put it on the floor a little bit I think all those things are um things the Pistons need in their front Court I think just from a trade standpoint I’m curious what would entice Indiana to part ways with him uh they obviously

Have invested in that four position a bit but Obie’s still a good rotation guy like he’s still playing between 10 to 20 minutes a night for them so he hasn’t fallen entirely out of the rotation and you know could you get them for second round picks because you do a salary dump

Like I’m not quite sure but if you can get them and the price is is pretty good I say go for it I just I’m curious from Indiana standpoint what on Detroit’s roster would interest be that’s also something that the pisss are willing to part ways with and that’s where I think

It becomes tougher to come up with a trade that makes sense um so he says is Matthews and Portuguese I’m Brazilian so my bad I I tried to overthink that one so Matthew um from uh Brazil so we appreciate you very much and yeah o Obie’s on his rookie deal still so my

Mistake there the corner catch and shoot threes not quite as good as I’d want but still kind of understand the thought process process there with that this next one is a name that very intriguing to me this is from three Championship Drive how do you guys feel about the

Pistons going after Simone fonio this offseason this dude can really shoot it I think this would be a really interesting signing for the Detroit Pistons bringing him in I think this is the type of move that would make a ton of sense he can space the floor fits

Right in there I I really like this idea to be honest with you no I like that idea too I mean he’s shooting 39% from three this season uh seems like every time he’s played the Pistons this year he’s hit like at least three threes like

I just remember hearing his name a lot every time he faces the Pistons I mean a success story uh for Utah obviously who brought him in last season uh just looking at at his numbers he’s improved some much this year he shot 37% last year overall now he’s at 45 33% from

Three last season now he’s at 39% uh he’s like one of those guys who’s like sort of like a veteran who’s also not because his first year in the NBA was last year but he’s 28 years old so you know you kind of look at him and

Think he’s like 2122 but no he’s like he’ll be one of the older players on the Pistons but 100% I mean any who just come in and just really truly knock down threes I think you have to look at a player like that because that’s the biggest thing to te Lees obviously and

Uh just for reference here according to spot Trak he would be a restricted free agent which of course we know like that complicates things and and all of that so just wanted to you know clarify that Caleb says any chance they can use their cop space to open up space for teams

That need it I’m curious how big and lucrative that market will be yeah I mean that’s always a thing but you know as we saw this last offseason that’s kind of what they did for like the Nets right you take the S contract and that hasn’t worked out at all maybe at the

Deadline they could be the third team in some of these deals we’ve talked about this you know if the Lakers go in on dejonte Murray and the Hawks have no interest in D’Angelo Russell would you bring in D’Angelo Russell just to kind of get some buckets for whatever reason

On this team he has a player option for a little less than 20 million next year so I I Wonder If eventually they can be a third team in some of these deals can they you know take a bad contract but get some assets or you know whatever it

May be I think that would be interesting you know the most famous one right is Jared Allen to the Cavs he he seemed like everybody’s like how are the Cavs getting Jared Allen in this deal and he ends up there so maybe Detroit finds their way into one of those and you know

And then in the offseason the same thing you don’t have to use all of that maybe they take the the swing on one big-time contract one really good player and then they use that other space to facilitate what you’re talking about here but yeah there’s always you know Keith Smith

Always comes on and talks about that Amari there’s all sorts of ways to use cap space outside of just signing free agents no doubt uh they’re definitely looking at the trade market this offseason because you’re not going to go out and sign probably a guy who’s really going to change his franchisees fortune

So any situation like that more than likely it’s going to be um some type of trade so i’ agree with that uh I’m sorry what was the initial question I like I lost my train my trainer thought as I was addressing that just using the cap

Space to help out teams that are you know I think he was probably talking about like approaching the second apron and first apron and all of those type of things yeah no doubt no I think the Pistons are perfectly positioned for that like just to be other the ending

Spot for a salary of team’s trying to get off of like if you remember two weeks uh two years ago uh when New York was clearing the cap space to sign Brunson to that huge deal uh they offloaded uh you know some assets to Detroit to make that happen and again I

Think those types of deals tend to be done over the offseason more so than than in season but absolutely with all the cap space you have with the expiring you have up to this trade deadline if you do do it in the next couple days uh you’re in perfect position for that uh

You know I think when you acquire expiring contracts typically for most front offices that’s what uh sort of the endgame is is that you know if you’re not at a point where you can resign them or keep them with the team long term you just figure out what assets you can get

And a lot of times that is a third deal where there’s some sort of salary dump where you’re just taking on assets to do that so that’s always a possibility outside of that Alec burk’s deal they haven’t done that a whole lot in this offseason just to get better I’m curious

If they will go that route versus try to pack something together and really uh getting a better player right so they have a few routes that can go as far as that but absolutely like I could see whether it’s a dowlo or somebody else I could see them being involved in those

Talks and uh helping the team out by taking on those assets all right we’re obviously getting to the end here guys so if you have any last minute questions this will be the last time we’re live before the deadline for sure unless an actual move is made which then obviously

We’re diving right into that get them in and then we’re going to shut it down Ben cholik says you know who would be a good fit on this roster Trey ly um I just find that funny I I do not like to take Victory laps but I will say I kind of

Tred defied that Trey ly wasn’t as bad as what everybody thought um and you know he he’s found a nice home in Sacramento and and does a good job for them and played out of position a lot in Detroit because of injuries he played so

Much five here and uh he’s more of a four uh you know so they couldn’t even really utilize him the way he’s supposed to be so people got B hit his rebounding and stuff it’s like yeah but you know ideally he’s playing next to a GU like

Durren and he’s not being asked to do that yeah I I he he’s he’s turned himself into a quality rotation player on a good team that’s you know going to make the playoffs Doug McMan do you guys still believe in Troy’s ability to take

The next step like at the end of day I don’t think it matters like I think the fact he is the GM of the team right now probably means he’s going to be the GM of the team this offseason that’s what I think anyway and Maybe not maybe they’re

Going to let him go through the deadline and then they make the move in the offseason I think we just I’ve said this multiple times now I think you have to hope if he is the GM of the team that he’s learned from past mistakes right we

We all can agree that mistakes were made the roster wasn’t constructed right they miscalculated things and hopefully he is learning from those things and it’ll be interesting you know we’ve seen this team move on from Marvin baggley and James wisman to non-shooting bigs and not saying mcalla and Gallow are the

Answer but there seems to be a little bit of a shift I guess they didn’t move on from wisman but now they’re not playing him is is he’s starting to take a different direction maybe he’s putting together the team Monty Williams want since Monty is now the coach I don’t

Know all of these things but at the end of the day I think we have to hope that he’s learned from his mistakes they’re on the same page and they can start to build this thing out and I just wonder if some of these trades at the deadline

Might give us a little bit of an Insight if they do end up making any moves no doubt at the end of the day he has to prove that he can take this theme to The Next Step you know I don’t think you could necessarily predict someone would

Do it until they do it so I agree with Bryce I think at the end of the day he has to show that he can you know to really earn that benefit of the doubt and so far uh you know it appears to have a chance to turn this thing around

So we just have to wait and see three Championship Drive says Jaylen Smith from Indiana like yeah that would be a really nice name I wonder about their appetite to actually move him um but that that would be interesting this one I want to get to this this is from

Maris Jones He says most people which is interesting starting to agree that Kade and Ivy don’t mesh well together neither are true point guards I think we’d get the most for Cade than any player I’d trade him for a Pew point guard vet plus three first listen I I am I am nowhere

Near I don’t know where you are atamari I am nowhere near moving either one of those guys I still stand by that those two can work in the back court together you can stagger them in the minutes you know obviously they have to play together some start games into games you

Can stagger them throughout the middle of the game I have no interest at all my stance right now no interest at all in trading either one of those guys and I’m still PR feeling fairly decent about those two working in the back court together yeah I think the thing with

Kate is that he turned over to ball prolifically first month of the season but you check since then he’s cut those turnovers down substantially uh like in that stretch before he hurt his knee like his assistant turnover ratio was like three to one like he had really

Improved on that front and if K is not turning the ball over obviously he’s most capable playmaker on this roster then you could play him at point guard you know I think you know uh going for a pure PG at this point like I guess who

Like who would that guy be because a lot of times we say well I would trade this player for this guy and then you actually look at that options out there and you realize this guy is either not attainable or or doesn’t exist to begin

With know you have Kade he’s 66 he could score you can playmake uh do everything you pretty much want oras the tools to do everything you want you know from a player at his position Ivy more probably more of an offguard than an on ball guy

Like he can create a lot out of the pick and roll he put the ball in his hands uh but I saw in Bryce’s not earlier but just wild passes like you can’t be a point guard and just throw some of the passes he throws and it’s a taret like

Just off Target yeah like just too high too low uh stuff like that and you probably want to pair him with a guy um who takes better care of the ball I think they can work I think there’s upside to building around two guards for

A six six and 6’4 uh cage shot the ball a lot better after a rough start I shot the ball out better after a rough start they’ve both showed in Spurs like they could be really really good Defenders uh so I’m not at that point yet you know I

Think you probably don’t get to that point until it’s time to extend Ivy because K is eligible this off season so another year to figure out that fit and if you’re not sold on it by then then maybe at that point you canit to one or

The other kind of like how OKC did with Westbrook and Harden uh years ago at this point like 2011 or whatever that was but the Pistons are at that point yet I think they have another year uh to decide if those two guys could fit next to each other yeah I mean it’s

Interesting to me how much not Kate hate but kind of some of the the the thoughts and the takes on Kate Cunningham and and the disbelief in him as you know what he can be listen I get it I’m not going to discredit anybody’s opinions or thoughts

You guys absolutely are entitled to all of those so I understand it I just personally am not there with either of those guys uh Harry ask is Dean Wade getable I think that’s another interesting name obviously not gonna like change the trajectory but he’s another one of those guys that fits into

Like this forward position he can definitely guard ideally he spaces the floor so you know are they able to make a move on you know either one of the or somebody like that you know ad Dean Wade is that what they end up getting doesn’t really move the needle or excite people

A ton but at least we see them shift into valuing this Wing forward position and trying to start chip away at improving that spot no doubt yeah if I’m Cleveland I mean they were playing like the best team in the NBA before Garland came back you know and now I think their

Decision now is we probably don’t need Garland and Donovan Mitchell because we were so good with Donovan Mitchell at the one so what do we do with Garland you know so that’s the guy like I’m curious about you know if Garland is the one that they trade because otherwise

They play so well that probably just makes more sense for them to hold the group together like it doesn’t make sense to flip Dean way to somebody else for bogey maybe but you’re giving up size probably some defense and rebounding um if he’s getable then by

All means go for it but it’s another situation where I look at it from the other team’s perspective and say uh if we do make a a trade then Detroit is probably not the team we’re going to deal with because do you include Dean way along side Darius Garland like the P

Aren’t going to trade for is Garland so I think that still kind of puts you in a position where you’re looking elsewhere to feel that Wing position if you’re Detroit okay last one how long before this team even approaches respectability do you see any potential draft pick

Whether we get the pick or not who can help listen there’s some guys in the draft that are intriguing it’s not Victor it’s not scoop it’s not Brandon Miller at least not right now we still have a lot of time until the draft and we will start to dive into that probably

In the next month or so Amari I know you know you and I talked about this a little bit and I think you you may be eventually ready to get into it also I’ve been doing this a ton I have my whole 100 player big board and Scouts

And and all of that stuff so we’re going to bring you great draft content when the time comes I don’t think we’re there yet but there are some guys that I think fit what this team needs are they the super high ceiling guys that are game changers probably not or at least not

What we’re seeing right now but there are some guys in there that you could say hey like I’ll find my way to be excited about this guy with the Pistons in terms of respectability I don’t know like if they you know make some moves around the the edges here they go into

The offseason and they actually make that move this off season for a substantial player we see some of that internal growth that you know we talked about earlier maybe this is a team that’s what we a lot of us were hoping for this season but none of that’s

Guaranteed and we have to see it executed by the front office the players and the coaching staff no doubt I mean they’re on Pace for 10 wins I don’t think he go from 10 wins to respectability in less than two years you know so realistically that this

Pushes whatever time frame they had back at least two years you have to first just get the team up to water this offseason and then you still have to figure out how to get them to respectability after that which to me you know means that you’re at least 500

So there’s probably still an uphill Hill Climb from here uh they have the tools to change things pretty rapidly but again they’re on Pace for 10 wins this year so uh there’s something after to see before I can buy into them changing this thing around within a year so Logan

D says hey guys I’m late but I made it thank you we appreciate again we’re over 100 almost this entire time from YouTube and Twitter so thank you everybody for tuning in live if you’re listening after the fact obviously we appreciate you just as much come join us live sometimes

Where you can ask questions and interact and again guys look out for any episode coming if a trade deadline move is made by the Pistons and then one last one here be a little selfish Doug says Bryce please tell your wife thanks for being

There for us you are a star yes she is a star um I told her Amari I said I went to her yesterday I said rany it’s trade deadline week and she’s like okay well what what does that mean I said just just be ready okay just be ready for it

To be very crazy and a lot of podcasts and me being super busy I love you we watched a bunch of Ted lasso last night which I have questions about one of the episodes in season two that was like what what are we doing here so any Ted

Lasso fans DM me I want to talk about that episode I was like but um I said it’s gonna be crazy so I just wanted to prepare her so I appreciate her very much and my family for always sacrificing my time so I can do this

With you guys which I absolutely love no doubt no doubt and this is one of the most fun weeks of the year uh we’re going to try to you know do a shorter pod react to any trades they make this week and then of course we’ll obviously

Be back with you all next week as well so big thanks to everybody who uh tuned in this is probably our longest episode in a while and it’s only fitting that we did it you know ahead of the busiest week of the year so far so big thanks to

Everybody who came in and asked a question yeah absolutely thank you so much uh again join us be on the lookout we’ll obviously be back next week kind of normal time normal thing as well Amari take it away absolutely a big thanks to our editor Robin Chan our

Editor-in chief the co Avery Nichols our executive producer Anette dogado and our sports editor Kirky Crawford and then as always big thanks to Wes and we will talk to you all soon who’s the Pistons for what does that mean

The Pistons Pulse is your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast for all the best news, analysis, insights and opinions on the team.

Hosted by Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press and Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops. Omari brings insider insights and analysis as a Pistons beat writer and Detroit native combined with Bryce’s in-depth on-court analysis as a former D1 player and current high school coach of 12 years.

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