Official Detroit Pistons thread

[ghandi]

Meanwhile, Avila's picks and trades have been hot garbage for the Tigers, but at least I know that Steve Y knows what the heck he's doing, since he helped put together the Tampa Bay Lightning team.

and two of his draft picks just finished 1st and 4th in Calder Trophy for top rookie.

[Cody_Russell]

Pick #36.

I forget which podcast episode it came from, but I remember hearing positive things about Procida as a sleeper. 6-8 Italian prospect with athleticism.

Jaden Hardy fell all the way to #37. Wow.

[ghandi]

Brad Holmes: I landed two of the best prospects in the first 12 picks in our draft
Troy Weaver: "Hold my beer"

[The King]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/purdue/2022/02/20/purdue-basketball-jaden-ivey-dunks-two-rutgers-defenders/6875059001/

This one Rutgers Ivey play says it all.

[Cody_Russell]

One last comment about Gabriele Procida.
It was The Ryen Russillo Podcast episode on June 16th. Guest Sam Vecenie. They talked about Procida from ~54:00 to 57:30.
”Fun, athletic, 6-8 wing with an attitude.”

Eh whatever. Procida is only a stashed project.
Ivey! Duren!

Brad Holmes: I landed two of the best prospects in the first 12 picks in our draft
Troy Weaver: "Hold my beer"

Lol.

[Futureshock]

It actually does feel similar to the Hutchinson and JaMo picks haha.

I have no idea what Bridges is worth and really haven’t thought about it until today. Pistons have the guards (Cade, Ivey) and bigs (Stu, Duren) right. Just need to surround them with talented wings.

Saw this about the Hornets being iffy about keeping Bridges at that cost:

Lil Miles. He went to school with my daughter. I remember one day my daughter got mouthy with a teacher and ended up at the principle office. When I picked her up there was this little guy with tears in his eyes and a basketball in his arms sitting outside the office too. So I ask her what did he do? She said, "Lil Miles? Oh he let his ball hit the ground and they wanted him to put his ball in his locker and he refused"

Then evetime I saw him (for a few years), he had a basketball in his hands.

Saber Lee and Diallo I don’t include as AA guys. They are fringe dudes.

I really like Diallo. Lee is too short for his game.

[Futureshock]

I'm gonna watch some Memphis and Purdue games over the weekend

But for now, let us bask in the highlights of the newest Stones...

Consensus All-American Jaden Ivey 2021-22 Season Highlights | 17.3 PPG 4.9 RPG 3.1 APG

American Conference Freshman Of The Year Jalen Duren Is A BEAST | 2021-22 Season Highlights

[gibby]

I got a couple of notifications about the pistons draft.

Who knew they were still around? Do they still do that basketball thing?

[Da Geezer]

Weaver effectively traded Grant and the 46th pick for Duren, the 36th pick, and two future second rounders.

And I'd be down with backing up the Brinks truck for Bridges. Let's do it, Troy!

So true. Just a couple of days ago we felt we received Milwaukee's 1-4 protected 2025 first-rounder for Grant. Now Weaver gets a haul. It does show the advantage of having cap space to "take" a bad contract (Walker) may be more valuable than a talented wing with one year left on his contract.

It also seems good to have a pick like Ivey who wants badly to be in Detroit. Ivey was legitimately happy and crying. Good for him and good for Detroit.

[Cody_Russell]

Just don’t watch the Saint Peters vs Purdue game …
Ugh .:. That was heartbreaking as a Purdue fan.

Not to only pick on Ivey with that game. Matt Painter Purdue teams have a tendency to come out flat in big games. That’s why Purdue has disappointed in the NCAA tourney over the last 15 years. Oh, and bad injury luck with Purdue sports. Saint Peters found lightning in a bottle with their defense and gave everyone trouble. Ivey tried to put Purdue on his back and couldn’t.

Strengths: Elite burst and athleticism. Incredible speed in the open court. Can score from anywhere. Very good kid. Will be a hard worker and continue to improve. Let John Beilein work his magic with the fundamentals. I’m interested to see Ivey play in the NBA because there’s going to be more space. Purdue always has a giant clogging the paint area. Ivey wants to be in Detroit with all of the family ties to the area. His mom is HC for Notre Dame women’s basketball. Ivey is going to be a blast barring bad luck with injuries in the NBA. So excited.

Weaknesses: As Froot has said… yes, Ivey needs to improve his handles. Can be reckless with turnovers at times. I’m also worried about Ivey’s long term health because he falls to the ground so often. Ivey is a willing defender, but definitely can make some improvements with his on-the-ball defense. Continue to improve as a shooter.

…

Oh, the Pistons signed Buddy Boeheim. That’s fun. Boeheim was electric in the 2021 NCAA tourney.

[Futureshock]

Some thoughts from last night

• Holy crap, it actually happened
• The people on the broadcast said Duren plays like Bam. Uh yes
• I wonder what this means for Bagley
• How does this affect I Stewart. He seems like the least talented guy in the front court now with Bagley, Duren and possibly adding Ayton. Lipstick (Luka Graza) will also be affected.
• Are they still hot for Ayton or Miles - My hope of both is no more. At least for right now. Who knows what Weaver can pull off.
• Speaking of, we thought that we would have to take on Gordon Haywood's huge $30 mil/yr (for 2 yrs) to get #13. Having to only take on the $9 mil for 1 year is a coop

[Futureshock]

https://www.nba.com/pistons/news/one_two_punch

1-2 punch: Pistons add tantalizing big man Jalen Duren to Jaden Ivey


Keith Langlois●@keith_langlois
Web Editor
June 24, 202212:12 AM EDT

Minutes after Troy Weaver cemented the Pistons backcourt for the next generation by drafting Jaden Ivey to pair with Cade Cunningham, he fortified the frontcourt. Just as he did in his first draft in 2020, when Weaver found a way to pick up two extra first-round picks he turned into Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey, Weaver maneuvered to land the 13^thpick to spend on Jalen Duren, considered the top center in the draft.

It was a dizzying coup for Weaver and came at minimal cost to the Pistons – a reported 2025 No. 1 pick obtained from Milwaukee and accommodating the Knicks by absorbing about $9 million in salary – considering the enormous upside of Duren.

“Elite physical gifts,” Weaver said. “He’s the youngest player in the draft. Tremendous upside, tremendous young man. Elite physical gifts and elite hands. Big-time rebounder, rim protector, puts pressure on the basket. He just brings a physicality and a presence and the size that we were looking for.”

Duren joins a Pistons frontcourt that includes Stewart, 21 and a two-year veteran who showed marked improvement over the second half of the 2021-22 season, plus veteran Kelly Olynyk. The Pistons are also considered likely to retain Marvin Bagley III, 23, obtained in February at the trade deadline from Sacramento.

Weaver said Duren will fit well with Stewart and can play alongside of him, as well.

“They’re different. He’s bigger,” Weaver said. “His presence is more pronounced. Isaiah has shown to be able to play out on the floor a little more, shooting the three, but they’re different. They can play together easily. (Al) Horford and (Robert) Williams played together (in Boston). You got the two big kids in Cleveland (Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen) playing together. Two different players but they both bring hard hats.”

Duren was ranked the No. 1 recruit in the high school class of 2022 before reclassifying and spending his freshman season at Memphis, where he averaged 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots a game. Standing 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, Duren has been compared to DeAndre Jordan or Robert Williams for his explosiveness and potential as a shot-blocker and lob threat.

“I thought the young man showed tremendous growth,” Weaver said. “He skipped his senior year of high school. We all know that’s a year you really get to stick your chest out and he wasn’t allowed to do that. He jumped into college at 17 years old and early on was trying to figure it out. But by the second half of the season, he had started to really figure it out and realized he had to work. He had never really been challenged prior to going to college. He was dominant. He came on in a big way. That was a testament to him and his character and his perseverance.”

The Pistons will have an incredibly diverse and deep roster of young talent headed into the 2022-23 season – all acquired by Weaver since taking over as general manager in June 2020. Ivey and Duren join Stewart, Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Saben Lee and Isaiah Livers, all 23 or younger and four of them 21 or younger. Adding Ivey and Duren makes the Pistons considerably more athletic.

The Pistons will go into free agency with more cap space than any other franchise with the opportunity to augment the young core with a key veteran or two.

“We’ll look for young veterans to continue to help build this out, but there’s nobody in free agency we can find that would be younger than our guys. A 23-year-old is going to be a veteran on this team. But definitely looking for some guys that can continue to move you forward.”

Weaver said after the Pistons picked Ivey at No. 5 – and were bombarded by calls from rival teams looking to trade for him – the Duren deal came together in harried minutes.

“It pretty much came together after the Ivey pick,” he said. “Canvassing a few players and he was one of them. It presented itself and we were aggressive to make it happen.”

[Futureshock]

It was also reported (I don't know if it is true) that Weaver thought about drafting Duren @ #5 if Ivey was gone.

[froot loops]

The Pistons signed Buddy Boeheim to a two way contract

Golden State was trying to sell it's pick lbut ended up with Patrick Baldwin. That might be a good long term pick.

[Futureshock]

https://www.nba.com/pistons/news/history-repeats-pistons-get-ivey-who-took-isiah-thomas-path-to-nba

History repeats: Pistons get Ivey, who took Isiah Thomas’ path to NBA

Ivey, 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, avoided working out for Sacramento – he worked out in Detroit and texted Pistons general manager Troy Weaver of his desire to play here – and his public comments leading into Thursday’s draft didn’t do much to conceal his desire to avoid landing with the Kings, whose 16-year playoff drought is the NBA’s longest.

“It’s a dream come true, for sure,” Ivey said about landing with the Pistons. “My grandpa played with the Detroit Lions. It was just an honor. I’m just blessed to have a great family here with me and I’m trying to enjoy this moment.”