How much better are the Detroit Pistons? | EP 121
Ro hey Raj you on wake up wward what up D brother welcome to the show hopefully we got this thing figured out now third times a charm we got it this time Ro let’s rock there we go let’s rock hey man look the crew World ecstatic man every time you drop knowledge and so uh let’s jump right into it man we were talking about the Detroit Pistons so let’s kick things off with Rod starts free agency is just something I mean the NFL can say that they have the best free agency the NBA Absolut even in a a year where it’s not a great storyline for everything but the NBA free agency is absolutely the best you are sitting here wondering where PG is going you want your team to go and make moves and uh you feel like you have a chance to make a splash in free agency and during this High time of High Media for the NBA and the Pistons even did that too getting their coach getting um Dennis Lindsay making a couple of little smaller moves but they got their their time in the Sun during the NBA’s High season Y yeah this NBA free agency is crazy it’s it’s amazing to see the you know approaching billions of dollars worth of money spent uh by some teams Celtics you know I mean but this is it’s insane it’s absolutely insane to see I’m just like wait I thought the CBA was supposed to be putting a cap on some of this stuff but it seems like it’s helped some of these top teams stay at the top top you know be able to give them the longevity maybe I don’t know we’ll see if that’s a good thing or bad thing for the NBA I think uh if the Pistons with Tre and Lon um at the head of this P you know basketball operations for the Pistons now I’m hoping that he better positions the Pistons to be able to you know get some draft Capital this has been a recurring theme not just here on our show but I’m sure across Pistons Nation if TR Lan said he’s out there to you know take on bad contracts to be able to take on future draft Capital I’m hoping he’s one of those guys that’s adapt at being able to do that we saw a little bit of that with the Tim Hardway junr trade three second round picks uh coming to the Pistons but um what do you think so far what’s your assessment of tras Lon and the moves that the Detroit Pistons have made to this point well starting with langon I think he is just honest and maybe a little bit too honest and straightforward with uh the way that he presents himself and and what his plans are and it’s refreshing to see that a front office guy is going to tell you hey we’re going this is going to take time this isn’t going to be a throw it in the microwave or throw it in the air fryer and this thing is done in a couple of years it’s going to take time we got to get some Talent on this roster and we’ve got to all be aligned in the organization to be able to do that and then go get Dennis Lindsay says they’re serious about this this isn’t a uh we’re just going to figure it out as we go no they had a plan of what they want to do um and and then just on the um path forward I think it’s it’s going to be some roster turnover and it may be some of the young guys that um we thought were Untouchables before and I think we’ve said Kate is the only real Untouchable but assar people didn’t think that he might be a piece to move or Jadon Ivy or maybe even Jaylen Duran all of those guys might be people that you say in order to move forward you might have to to change and and get rid of a piece that you thought you were going to keep and I think that’s all on the table for him because he understands the situation that this team is in yes I’m I’m glad that you mentioned that cuz I was just about to ask you if this team if this organization seems to have more of a direction than they did in those years with a Troy Weaver and you kind of said as much that that you do see a direction and kind of to piggyback off of that point with some of the players that they’ve acquired Tim Hardaway Jr and Tobias Harris how much do you think those players will help aade Cunningham next year if at all I think they can and I think the commitment to Tobias Harris says how how valuable that is to them that 26 mil is no just drop in the bucket um and Tobias Harris is not a an Allstar type that we were talking about they need to go out and get but they think that experience is that critical and to go and get Tim Hardway who is just a a professional scorer um and not a top tier professional scorer but he can go get you 15 if you need it per night and to bring on that contract that’s a $16 million uh contract that’s expiring um next year that’s a strategic move so I think they they saw the value in the vets and bringing those in um and and the price tag is a little bit higher than you might have wanted and they didn’t go get the elite level guy but they see this is going to be incremental and again this is not a a one or twoyear turnaround and you saw that in both of those deals too Tobias only two years Tim Hardway uh only for next year uh guaranteed so you’re you’re saying these are bridge Guys these are going to start us on the path that we need to get and and both of those are good locker room guys Tobias is one of the most professional guys that I’ve dealt with in a Pistons locker room um in terms of just kind of settling you see the type of person and player that they want in that locker room too uh and on the court just kind of a go after a guy I think both of those fit the mold and show you the direction that they want to go so so R is it kind of fair to say Tobias Harris Tim Hardway Jr they’re like the mark canana the go orella Acquisitions for the Tigers like the Pistons really starting to contend is g to be two years maybe three down the line so these are the type of Pros that you want to come in to help teach them how to win help help help teach them how to become professionals they’re they’re such a young team um what you’re saying is getting me more excited about regardless of the fit those types of veterans why they were brought in to this Pistons team right I I think it’s exactly that and it’s not a a fiveyear deal where you say this is going to be a centerpiece this is a Pudge Rodriguez when we just didn’t have anybody else this is more these are stabilizing pieces these are teaching Cade how to be a profession and and not that he needs to learn how to be but this is helping some of those younger guys and taking some of that pressure off Kade to be the one who stands up in the locker room and says something these are vets who can come in and say hey I’ve been in the league 10 years this is what I’ve seen in the times that I’ve been around uh Tim Hardway Jr went to the NBA finals this year you can’t take that away from him that that experience is going to be so valuable in being around other guys he’s been a starting level guy on on on the Knicks he’s been on uh Atlanta he’s been on really good teams um so I think that’s going to help even having that experience and having that on the court in small little spurts is going to help them hey Rod and uh one thing that we know Tran wants to do he said he wants to take on bad contracts maybe through the trade market and when you look around there’s not many of those type of players left um of course the big one Zack LaVine still out there still available do you think the Pistons are in play for Zack LaVine or maybe even Lonzo ball or somebody of that caliber so maybe they can trade and get draft Capital back please not I wouldn’t say Zack LaVine where they’re bringing in Zack LaVine maybe they absorb some of that money but they used the big piece of that on Tobias here if they they were in the $40 million range I can say yeah maybe they they could pull some strings and make that happen I think they’re just going to nip and Tuck a little bit at the roster with the remaining space that they have but uh Zack LaVine at first I thought might have been an option but the the indications that I’m getting the things that I’m hearing are just saying that’s just the value isn’t there for them and and the risk in terms of his injury history and everything else for that price tag you’re talking 40 plus Mill and you got a couple years left on that deal uh they’re just not going to be that aggressive and that reckless in trying to go after something and again I think that says something about this um the way that they’re approaching this is this is not a quick fix deal this is going to be something that they’ll be patient with yeah it’s what TR L spoke to it whether we agree with it or not being able to report on what the organization is saying uh especially now from the mouth of the president of basketball operations which will be the CEO or the singular kind of voice of everything this team is going to do they are like you stated in your in your thoughts you know these guys are being true and honest and open and transparent and they’re doing exactly what they stated uh and and that’s one of the things that we pondered at the start of this thing was this going to be something where we see kind of quick change and they’re they’re worried more about kind of where the fans and the supporters are or is this tras and Landon and his front office coming into this situation not having skipping any steps and saying we rather do this thing the right way for the health of the organization for the long-term success of this team and honestly to put these young players in their best possible position to succeed and I think that’s what we’re seeing so whether we like it or not it’s something we have to talk about because it’s what they’re doing and I’m I’m you know what whether I think think they should go out there and take a swing on one of these kind of you know highrisk High reward type players like a Zack LaVine or even a Demar D rozan it’s nice to know that this organization you know is able to kind of make those assessments you know some of the things that you spoke to as it related to why they’re probably out on Zack LaVine but they do have $24 million in cap space left over they do have a couple of their exceptions as well uh what do you think this team has left to them I was hoping they would go and uh kind of attack that backup center position with someone who could Rim protect a little bit but I just don’t know what’s out there we discussed a little bit of jel McGee uh but you know is there anything on your radar as it relates to the 24 million plus exceptions that the Pistons have I know Gary Trent Jr was another popular name that they stated could be had for one of the exceptions that the Pistons uh currently hold yeah I think you can look at the exception uh and say maybe there’s something there with eight you’re going to do F teo’s deal uh when you’re done with everything else uh I think you can look at backup point guard as another one of those areas that they would address backup point guard backup center and and see what’s left after that I know there’s some people out there who who would say Luke Canard bring a good shooter back um or sadik Bay it’s it’s just a Pistons reunion and pistons reunion of of what people want to see um but I think those are those are the right I wouldn’t hate and and this is impossible but Reggie Jackson he just got traded to if they went back after Reggie Jackson because I think he’s at a place in his career where he could help them that’s the type and not specifically Reggie but that’s the type of player that they would need yeah no I wouldn’t hate it I wouldn’t hate it but uh man I’m good all RR yeah this retray thing is is getting a little out of hand man but uh R I wanted to ask you about new head coach JB bicker staff so you know just like the free agent Market the coaching candidates were kind of drying up as well but they land on JB bicker staff who is accustomed to coming in in bad situations he came in behind the Kevin mcel firing the David uh fizdale firing and then he had three years in Cleveland where he proved that he can develop young talent and you know uh achieve a level of success uh with young players now he hasn’t got to the Greater Heights but do you look at JB bicker staff as maybe just like a short-term solution to get the Pistons to where they need to be or can he be a coach that’s here for the long term and you know that can take over the job going forward I think it aligns with everything else that we said is that if you’ve got players for the next couple of years JB at worst can get you through the next couple of years he may turn into the guy who who becomes that transitional guy and gets you to the playoffs um and and you see where you go after that but with the roster that he had in Cleveland with the injuries that they had in the playoffs I don’t know why expectations were so high for them this year and getting to the second round was such a bad thing maybe Cleveland thinks they’re a little bit better than they are and that could be to the Pistons benefit that they they they missed out on a guy that that could have done them a little bit more good yeah and I want to piggy bag off of the JB Biggers bicker staff uh conversation so based off of what we know about him and I’m going to exclude Kate Cunningham from this discussion because he’s uh he’s our guy he’s he’s he’s the known which other core drafted member of the Detroit Pistons do you think will benefit the most from having JB bicker staff as their head coach I think all of them I think every single one of them I think you’ll see assar you’ll see Ron Holland you’ll see Jade NY kind of benefit from uh a guy and he’s had the same sort of resume in terms of Player Development and and instilling confidence in young guys the issue I thought with this roster and and you talked about it earlier when you were saying Casey came in and uh Monty came in is these are guys who are sort of ready to go and might be that that third step guy instead of the first step guy and that’s sort of what Troy Weaver wanted last year before Monty was bring just give me a young assistant that we can grow this roster together and when they brought in Monte the clock started ticking like no we we want you to be a playoff team or a playin team this year and that’s just Fool’s Gold you can’t do that with this roster that they had and we saw that throughout the season and I think we said it at the beginning of the year is that the the ceiling for this team is maybe playing but you can’t have ceiling immediately uh the way that they were looking for that um so I think with with JB it’s just going to be get to a certain level and everybody wants to put a win total on this for me you get to 28 wins this year and you’ve done something you’ve changed the culture that we’re not a team that that wins in the teenss 17 14 we’re into the 20s and you if you get to 30 this year you you’ve you finished the assignment you did exactly what you were supposed to do and again in year two after that then you can start looking hey maybe we can get to 36 and try to threaten for a play in something like that I think is the the trajectory that this roster is on right now yeah yeah and I’m glad you actually uh kind of went there this kind of last comment or statement because I know you got to go soon is just surrounding the fact that this team in totality no matter if they’ve done what we wanted them to do or not it is a better team right now Ron Holland uh and just kind of looking at his footage the only thing that a lot of us kind of were like you know man this improve is his shooting and he’s saying the same thing as well in the Pistons they believe that they are set up to help him when you when you you kind of look at the other additions with uh Tobias Harris Tim Hardy Jr JB bicker staff uh the thing that I like about those three as well as what Ron Holland is already showing is that those guys all want to be here and in the past maybe we would have misunderstood or miss you know to find it the wrong way but after going through what we kind of went through with mty Williams who I think he’s a good guy but his heart and his mind probably was not all the way into this job we saw that effect to have guys like that and free agents that want to actually be heing a coach I think speaks volumes and I don’t know I I I’m waiting to see what type of effect that actually has when your coach is walking into that gym you know that guys like J and IV are going to be put in their best possible position to succeed I I I I see why they say you know what maybe let’s take a second to just assess things uh with this young roster let’s make sure we get them the right types of vets who will be available but overall I agree with your overall assessment Rod this is going to be a better team next year I believe a team that we look at them and we say you know what it’s night and day even if the winds aren’t necessarily there right and one more piece about Ron Holland and and getting these new free agents in it suggests that you don’t have to have Ron Holland come in and start immediately or even play significant minutes immediately because you have depth at those positions now you brought in vet who can chew up some of those minutes and you mentioned the availability of Tobias Harris and Tim Hardway Jr they’re not going to be hurting on the bench and soing and in street clothes these are guys who are going to play and they’re at positions where you have young guys who need to learn let them learn with a smaller number of minutes instead of having to come in and play big chunks immediately yeah yeah I think that’s the word that’s the word man so Rod as always brother thank you for your time going to let you go appr appreciate you man for uh for still s up man we jump on with the wer Rec crew as always you drop in the heat thank you brother thank you for answering all the questions I know the fellas they definitely appreciate it yeah thank you all right guys we’ll see you yes sir yes sir all right and uh I know we got to get into this next segment because I am really really really eager you’ve been teasing this thing on show so I’m amped to be able to see what flannel Sam has up his flannel sleeve for the Detroit Tigers it’s maybe not what you want to hear but it’s what you need to hear kick the dog pet the dog right that’s you know what man I’m just going to throw the phone number out there something tells me some people may want to say something with their test after hearing this 313 552 6322 once again that phone number 313 552 6322 once again shout out to the legend Detroit News beard for the W piston segment hey brings the heat all the time but thank you guys for always choosing to stay tapped in with the wake up Woodward show and Woodward Sports Monday [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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