Detroit Pistons NBA Draft and Free Agency Strategy | EP 120

Detroit Pistons NBA Draft and Free Agency Strategy | EP 120

hard times man what up do people welcome to wake up Woodward man where we try man it’s our it’s our goal to bring you the most and the best comprehensive Sports coverage especially focus on Detroit sports but we also try and give you our Sage wisdom like our guy the number one DFT kg just did tell them again man don’t let him get your cash don’t don’t don’t let her take half your [ __ ] man hey call them man they going to get you together man it’s hard times we know it don’t let her do that hey hey you know and wake the people up real quick wake up wake up out of your sleep let’s rock man it is our wward piston segment so that means we got the legend Rod beard for a couple segments this one and then around the city as well with the Detroit news we got to get this drum roll going a special NBAA Draft Day edition let’s roide hey yo shout out and welcome to the legend Detroit News Ro beard brother how are you doing Hey listen before we get into Ro thoughts this day used to be a h this listen for the last two or three years we’ve been doing this R we’ve been doing these shows you’re coming to this year and it’s just kind of like but take it away Rod I see you over there oh oh I don’t hear you no audio no audio Rod no we’ll see if we can get the audio going no because we got a lot to discuss today man listen while Rod gets head together I’ll tell you guys what’s on the docket today we’re going to get Rod thoughts we also have we got to talk about this uh news that we got up here on the board the NBA draft obviously we’re going to get and pick Raj BR about that we got the front office changes that we have to discuss including the latest Rod beard did write an article on the latest hire of Dennis Lindsay to the Detroit Pistons and then we got to talk about some of these free agency rumors and what the summer could actually look like for the Detroit Pistons which is going to be an interesting one because there’s already some kind of rumors that kind of shape what I believe this uh Pistons offseason could look like and I don’t know how fans are going to take that is it in alignment with what Tran Lon has been saying yes is is it in alignment with where Detroit Piston fans and their support that’s been hanging by a like a very very very worn thread are they cool with it I don’t know I don’t think so broer was not cool with kind of the pro ects of what things could be and when you look at the names that they’re connected to it’s like I think there’s one name there’s one name that has turned into uh the boogeyman or Lord Voldemort for Detroit Pistons fans I think you guys can figure out who it is and for the record this particular player Tobias Harris by the way yes he’s not he made 36 $36 Million last year I think that’s one thing that kind of gives Pistons fans cause for pause and you should by the way cuz Tobias Harris and no world is worth 36 million I just I don’t see him as this horrific player that if the Pistons got I would just lose my mind over I mean he’s a lifetime 17 point per game guy on 37% from three like I don’t see what the huge difference other than money would be between him and like kcp or somebody like that maybe I’m wrong maybe I’m crazy maybe I’m missing something on Tobias is but other than money I’d be okay with it if you can get him at an okay price but I’d be okay with a lot of people i’ be I’d rather have OG for example I’d probably rather have Gary Trent Jr but Tobias Harris isn’t a bad option na Marshall has also been another name of Interest as well we’re going to get to the free agency Outlook and rumors uh towards the end of this segment it sounds like we might have Rod back on the line try yeah cuz I heard something else too so let’s give it a shot Rod you there you there brother no M no uh no sound jet he saying give us one minute no you got it right let’s see what he uh what he works out here man Rod the goat the legend yeah but let’s start here because he can en join the conversation with the NBA draft because he actually posed a pretty interesting a pretty interesting uh tweet last night on uh on X obviously about the Detroit Pistons a couple of Pistons draft scenarios to consider this is via Detroit news R beard at D news R beard one draft clinging at five and hold for trade options at worst you have a capable NBA Center obviously that has implications with Jaylen durren is he going to be a aspect of a a four that you could trust next to a Clingan is he coming off the bench is clinging coming off the bench or you trading jayen Duran two uh trade down or out and prevent adding another young player to the roster or three package to pick and try to get a Savvy V veteran thoughts and I was going to try and get Rod’s thoughts on that as well but final I’ll start with you man I mean me heard me personally I don’t I don’t like the idea of drafting clinging at five it’s the same kind of thing it’s like I want a shooter and I’m very very bullish on that because and I gave the stat on Big D energy that the top 18 three-point shooting teams in the NBA the Boston Celtics were two by the way in the regular season they were all either playoff or playin teams and and and there’s questions about Jaylen Duren defensively and everything and Donovan kingan I think he projects to be better than jayen Duran defensively but it I’m all about option three and I feel like as the draft gets closer it’s less and less likely to happen but if you can package that pick with maybe one of the young players and get a veteran like even like a Zack LaVine for example or Brandon Ingram that still to me is the pipe tree yeah yeah I I’m still on board with what we’ve all been kind of saying for a while now you got to go out there you got to get get some highle scorers some high L NBA players to pair with the K Cunningham I think that’s the only way that you really take this thing serious I do understand the approach of a more patient kind of rebuild or build process but if it’s right there for you you got the c space you have the capital right now right now you have Kade entering this kind of contract extension talk I want to maximize that next four to five years I don’t know how much you can really afford to wait because what if things don’t or or to take things patient they’re not going to be waiting still going be working but instead of like like you said going after one of those ringers does that put Kate in a position in two or three years to say you know what maybe I’m out yeah but um do we have uh we’ll try Rob one more time I heard I heard it again so I don’t know hey you there brother I am here hey let’s go the legend is in the building what up though Rod beard what up though let’s go hey you know what we were talking about this kind of tweet that you put out this this next post that you put out there about your different hypotheticals I wanted to get your thoughts on that as well we brought it up for the fans as well for the for the chat family uh the draft plinging at five and hold for trade options and whatnot kind of wish I already know where your mind is at but what are you doing today if you’re treasure Ling well I I think it is you if you’re GNA draft somebody you want a a piece that’s going to be an NBA player the the two that I will focus on are uh clinging and connect those are the two guys that I would say hey if if if I’m keeping this pick those are two guys who who sort of not even kingan doesn’t feel a need but let me go a little a step further on this if you had to trade and to bring something in the number five pick may not be enough if you feel comfortable enough big if if you feel comfortable enough with kingan that you can now put Duran as a trade piece does Duran and number five get you something maybe if I’m another team I’m not hanging up the phone at Duran in five or or Duran and and um whoever else throw what other whatever other um Ivy now I’m listening now I’m listening but if you tell me five Ivy and and whoever else then yeah whatever go go kick Rock somewhere but I think Durant Duran might be able to bring you a little bit more back if you really like kingan’s game and you feel like he’s close closer to being a defensive presence maybe he’s got a better jump shot maybe there’s there’s a higher ceiling there than you see for Durant I don’t necessarily believe that but I think that is a viable option that you can look at and say if you’re putting this this pick again with a a a veteran you have on the roster and some other pieces and trying to to create something you’re GNA have a harder time doing that than than anything else and again I I just don’t see a lot of pieces that I would want on the r that are immediate um helps to me man you know what and that’s a very very very interesting strategy there if you do bring in a cling in obviously um trading or or being able to utilize jayen during the trade that helps to kind of free up this Log Jam and hopefully a part of a return for Jaylen Duran will be some shooting not that anybody is racing to trade Jaylen Duran but it’s just talking about the different strategies that that that the Detroit Pistons could employ because we don’t know how Tre and langon actually values or doesn’t value this roster it’s not his roster we talk often about different GMS we talk about the college game we talk about the fact that they need their players at their positions we talk about it with the Tigers and Scott Harris and everything he’s going through right now with the fact that a lot of these players on the roster in question aren’t his guys there some of these guys were Al ofil guys effectively so it’s like when I kind of look at this thing I don’t know how from the outside looking in other teams other front offices might have looked at our young talent and said you know what maybe we can really push this thing ahead and put ourselves on a better Financial standpoint because Jaylen Duran is going to need a new contract soon as well I like Jaylen Duran I do believe that he has some steps forward that he will and has to take um so I wouldn’t be on the side of trading him but I can understand that type of a strategy and and I’m with you as well when you’re talking about taking a player in this draft obviously there are some high potential guys but I am for a player that can step in kind of right away and help out uh do you have anything on that draft uh yes I do because it’s the draft because the Pistons are at five and because it’s not the strongest draft at least on paper is there anything that the Pistons could do at five or with any sort of trade or anything that would make you flip a table flip a table in Anger yes in Anger it’s a fln a move I don’t know if they can do anything that makes me angry um bronnie yeah oh my God yes yes that is exactly bronnie at five with I’m done I’m out I’m going I’m going to other people’s houses and flipping tables with all right closing time man I’m going to other people’s houses and flipping tables yo you know what be exactly like that dog those are exactly The Vibes man I was trying you know what I didn’t know what the feeling was that I was feeling if the Pistons really were to do this and it’s exactly that Rod like man my neighbor’s tables is getting flipped too goodness gracious that would be it oh my God that that would be oh I don’t even one think about it five it’s not gonna happen it wouldn’t happen but even even with the second round pick I would just sort of be like for real that’s what we’re doing for real so yeah okay I mean whatever yeah because I do man this this front office is being buildt as highly intelligent it’s being buil as basketball mines we we and this is probably the best segue for this to get into our front office which is next on our on our agenda you know they’ve made some additions I know you wrote an article as well about uh Dennis Lindsay uh being hired by the Detroit Pistons and they’ve made and when you look at the totality of this thing since the end of the season up until now there’s been a lot of change in this front off including um you know Monty and Troy out uh Blackstone Holden in as well as the latest Dennis Lindsay can you just uh speak to especially since we haven’t got the opportunity to have your thoughts on the treaser lon press conference just kind of the front office as a whole as well as what you liked about or didn’t like or felt about treas Lang’s press conference yeah let me start there with with Lang presser I liked it because he was honest and he said we’ve got a lot of work to do he didn’t try to tell to to sell you a used car about this team is good and we’re going to do anything else it was it was very authentic and honest and just I’ve got to assess I’ve got to look I didn’t pay very much attention to this team when I was in the Western Conference so I’ve got to do some assessment they’ve already been doing the work and I mean even the idea that um they were interviewing at 4 in the morning and he brought that up like bro this is what it’s gonna take for me to get this job yeah yeah okay well that’s that’s it’s he’s not going to give you a lot of smoke screens he’s going to tell you exactly what he thinks and exactly what he feels and even to the degree that he thought about the draft and said we’re going to pick somewhere I mean if it’s number five or whatever so he’s already giving you the idea that they’re thinking about trading out of it or trading down at least uh because the value may not be there at five that that’s a refreshing thing to see uh in your team president at the the intro pressor uh I think what they’ve assembled in the front office in getting Dennis Lindsay and and we said this before we thought that might be something that was the hold up in this whole thing that um and to be clear he’s not the general manager he’s an SVP of uh basketball operations which is sort of the same but it gives him a little bit more clout with that title that he can go out and do some stuff it’s not just I’m a general manager let me call Tron and see if we can do this he has the clout to pull the strings himself and to do a lot of that stuff so I think having him in in a basketball sense helps because it is um going through the winning with them this year going through the rebuild that he did with Utah and getting Donovan Mitchell getting Rudy gobear assembling what that roster was like and that should tell you something about what he thinks if if he’s into Rudy go he’s into hey defense big man give me a guard who’s versatile um that’s a glimpse into what he likes the the the Pelican side of it too they’re turning this around they’re not afraid to make a big CJ McCollum trade and to really develop some of their younger guys too that’s not all that revolutionary but you can get a sense of what this front office is going to be like hey Ryden um speaking of the front office I wanted to ask you about ownership uh do you think that there’s a legit uh maybe change in thinking in terms of uh ownership Tom gors at the press conference he he took a lot of accountability um admitted to some of the mistakes he’s made in the past he also admitted that this is the most Hands-On he’s ever been with the team so do you think that there’s a legitimate change of thinking in ownership and do you feel more confident that tran will be the one to make uh all of the basketball decisions going forward you can only hope I mean because the idea that that they say they want a CEO and a CEO means leave me alone yeah I only answer to I only answer to the board of directors that is all that matters and if that board of directors is is is gorus and and whoever else then leave me alone don’t call me unless it’s something important I’ll call you when I need something let me let me cook just let me cook and and and I’ll let you know when the meal is done and that’s exactly what it should be in the situation and people say they want a a a an owner Who’s involved in everything else I I keep saying you you say you want that but you get a Mark Cuban you get an owner who’s all in the videos you you don’t want that you you don’t want him to be and not specifically gor but you don’t want you want an owner who does what he does sign the the checks and do the things that you need to do and he admitted hey this is a lot of money that I got to eat but Tron is the guy that we need and the type of person who can connect all of these disperate pieces of the organization and I’m I’m glad you mentioned Tran in the front office because I was excited about Dennis Lindsay as well because you’re putting together two smart basketball Minds who were GMS of well-run organizations we all know what trein did in New Orleans we’ve been talking about it for weeks now but even Dennis Lindsay you mentioned getting a guy like Rudy goar trading for him late in in the first round of the draft and trading for Donovan Mitchell on draft night in the middle round after losing Gordon Hayward from a 50- win team and and Donovan Mitchell just allows you to pretty much keep it pushing to the point where they got to the one seed all that being said I am in belief that getting another smart basketball mind in the front office is a good thing and can only make it better but there’s been some Rumblings in the chat and I can see where there looking at of too many cooks in the kitchen Egos and all of that what side of this are you on no I think you you want to have as many smart Minds in the room as you can but you know that tran has the hammer at the end of the day that he’s going to be the one that makes the decision and it’s on him and and to a degree you can say maybe that was the issue before that they didn’t have enough um that that if it was Troy making a lot of the decisions and he didn’t have enough people around him to give him um the the opposing point of view um then that’s a consideration too but in Troy’s case it it you didn’t have a team president so it really was him and there was some some input from and our int tellement from um Tom goris at that point I think you just need to have a well-rounded and in a in a very concise agreement on what we’re trying to do if we we all agree on what the plan is and what we’re trying to to do we can have a hundred different ways to get there but we we figure out what’s going to work best in in this situation so I think all of this studo last minute says me that they’re not keeping this pick or they they may have something very specific that they’re looking for and if it’s not there it’s not there but just reading the T leaves I can’t see them picking at five and they they may surprise you they may do something else if clinging is there at five I to that that the tweet that I made yesterday if he’s there at five this is chess if you can do it if you can pick at five you can trade down to eight and get an asset five and an asset for eight and you get um connect at eight you’ve won this draft you you won you got you got an additional asset and you got a guy that that was on your board that you wanted from the very beginning that’s a little bit risky and that was the other part of that keep clinging and or take clinging at five keep clinging and you just kind of see what happens but at worst you have kingan but I think if you can get connect and you can get a 2028 first round pick whatever the case is then you you you’ve won this draft just by getting additional Assets in a bad draft or even next year you get a protected pick in the first round it it opens you up to have some other trade assets to do some other things you know what man they need to find a way to get Rod into the Detroit business front office as well abut because the strategies this morning have been on point and you know what just moving along now we’re going to get into these free agency rumors as well I’m going to start with the coaching uh the Detroit Pistons has been reported uh the Detroit Pistons top two candidates um James bgo as well as JB bicker staff and with the timing of Monty Williams firing like when it happened it happened right at the peak of kind of the news that James bgo was um really the lead candidate and expected to sign a contract with him uh with the Cleveland Cavaliers by the end of that week and then all of a sudden Cleveland Cavaliers pivot and now James brego is being strongly considered U by the Detroit Pistons for their vacant head coach um job and then beyond that when we really get down to the free agency of it claxon to the 313 he’s been rumored uh or expected the Pistons are going to make a big push for him 25 million annually is a rumored price tag for him Tobias Harris none of us are in the in the woods about that we’ve all heard about the rumored interest there and then you also have this little bit of news that was reported by the Stein line Mark Stein Quinton Grimes is a potential outgoing piece in a trade to Dall that would send Tim Hardway Jr to Detroit so you’re talking about potential of Tobias Harris Nick Claxton and Tim Hardway Jr I know initially they were also looking at Malik monk so now that he’s off the board I wonder if Tim hard Jr is uh kind of a pivot uh in in that same direction to kind of fill that same Lane but if that winds up being what this kind of offseason is how do you rank that or how do you kind of um uh you know break that down as it relates to what you think this team is trying to do moving forward cuz it doesn’t necessarily move the complete needle for me but when you’re talking about taking a complete step forward with getting some NBA rotation guys you’re going to see some improvement and I do believe that it would allow the Pistons to form some type of of a foundation but it’s not quite going out there and getting those highlevel Stars those high level scores those high level All-Star level players uh to fit with Kade Cunningham to really accelerate this uh Detroit Pistons build yeah I I think those are the types of players in terms of Veteran leadership a Tobias or a Tim Hardway but I I need scoring I need a a I need a killer I mean I need somebody who’s I need Zack LaVine let me just say it that way I need Z just go bring me Zack LaVine I will eat that contract I I don’t care but at least you took a risk on something that was either boom or bust and and I’ll take the boom I’ll take the opport if it gets hurt it gets hurt but you you scared money is not going to make money in this case and and to say Tobias Harris by himself I don’t know if that gets it done he needs other pieces around him as well I don’t see Tobias as an A1 peace with Cade and you are you you’re talking about a significant change he is a piece but not the piece now if you tell me Zack LaVine and Tobias and Tim Hardaway I can listen to that I can listen to it and obviously you know oh no no go on ahead Ro there brother no no no I I I I I think that starts to get you there where okay that that’s that if you give me Jeremy Grant and and Zack LaVine I feel really good really good at that point and I I whatever you have to clear off to make that work you give me both of those guys I feel very very good about where we’re going really good about where we’re going obviously we know the OJ anobi news uh kind of turned down the Nick’s offer he’s looking for a lot more money um it’s rumored that they want to be able to keep them but some of the moves looks like they’re making uh maybe the Pistons have an outside shot but uh KJ I know you had a question well that’s what I wanted to ask about uh what do you think no you all good but R yeah what do you think about the possibility of the Pistons Landing uh ogan noi and do you think he’s a good fit for this roster I think he’s a fit but he’s not the he’s not the killer that you want either it there aren’t a lot of them out on the market right now and again Zack you’re eating that contract of of 42 45 whatever the number is going to be I think there’s some safer options that Jeremy Grant we’ talked about him a lot is a safer option in that you’ve got to really just play the market and see what teams are in trouble and and what the the the the bargains look like that you there’s some risk in each one of these but if you can get some assets back with them that mitigates some of the risk and makes it a little bit more worth it that um these teams would draft picks and players that they’re trying to get get get rid of like where are the Knicks or where are the the Nets right now like is there other stuff that you can poach off of their roster that they seem to be sort of um pushing in and saying hey we’re going to rebuild this and on the fringes of things if they’re getting rid of bridges and that’s a good deal for them to get a ton of first round picks more power to them absolutely yeah definitely and you know what that right now kind of concludes the wward Pistons segment of this and we want to kind of get around Detroit sports with the Detroit News uh featuring Rod beard the Detroit news sports editor and Chief and we also have uh [Music]

Via Wake Up Woodward featuring Matt Broder (credentialed WSN Lions+Tigers Reporter), Brandon @DetroitKoolAid Dent (credentialed WSN Pistons reporter), KG on sounds, JB in the TD booth and Flannel Sam

Rod Beard (Detroit News) and Brandon @DetroitKoolAid Dent (Woodward Sports Network) join WAKE UP WOODWARD to discuss the Detroit Pistons at the NBA Trade Deadline. Like , Subscribe and leave your comment below!

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