Official Detroit Pistons thread

[froot loops]

I think you are worrying at least one year too early for that. The key is developing these guys to the point where they are thought of as potentially big time money players. Cunningham isn't close to free agency and he looks like a lock to get the baby max anyway. Bey is the closest and he is still two years away.

On top of all of that, the cap might double in the next TV contract discussions a few years from now.

The East is deep, I'm not sure there are any great teams besides the Bucks but it goes 10 deep. Short of getting KD, there is only so much improvement you can expect. They are going to have a lot of cap space next season and they will have a lot of tradeable assets at the deadline.

[chemiclord]

Durant has apparently officially requested a trade, and the Nets will accommodate him.

[ghandi]

Marvin Bagley returning to Pistons 3 year deal

[chemiclord]

Marvin Bagley returning to Pistons 3 year deal

Good deal. Dude really looked like a different person in a Piston's uni. He could wind up being a steal.

[Cody_Russell]

15 player depth chart is something like:

PG - Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Cory Joseph, Saben Lee
SG - Jaden Ivey, Alec Burks, Hamidou Diallo
SF - Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Livers, Kevin Knox
PF - Marvin Bagley, Kelly Olynyk
C - Isaiah Stewart, Nerlens Noel, Jalen Duren

Two-Way - Buddy Boeheim, Braxton Key

[BJK]

15 player depth chart is something like:

PG - Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Cory Joseph, Saben Lee
SG - Jaden Ivey, Alec Burks, Hamidou Diallo
SF - Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Livers, Kevin Knox
PF - Marvin Bagley, Kelly Olynyk
C - Isaiah Stewart, Nerlens Noel, Jalen Duren

Two-Way - Buddy Boeheim, Braxton Key

Weaver loves himself a reclamation project.

[froot loops]

Post draft has been thoroughly underwhelming, but probably necessary. The team is deeper with legitimate NBA rotational players, as opposed to the last few years.

The guy at Detroitbadboys couldn't believe the terms of the Bagley deal. To me that was about what you were going to have to pay to sign him beyong the qualifying offer.

[Cody_Russell]

The Bagley deal is a few million more than I was expecting. 3 years, $33M expectation vs 3 years, $37M actual. It’s perfectly fine though. Complaining about it would only be nitpicking. Let’s see Bagley continue to improve and this contract could look like a steal down the road!

Weaver loves himself a reclamation project.

Indeed.

Jahlil Okafor (#3 overall pick)
Josh Jackson (#4 overall pick)
Marvin Bagley (#2 overall pick)
Kevin Knox (#9 overall pick)

[Futureshock]

Good deal. Dude really looked like a different person in a Piston's uni. He could wind up being a steal.

It was as if he and the team needed each other. He opened up a lot for Cade, Hayes and about any other player driving to the basket. Teams eventually had to open up in the paint for fear we'd just lob-dunk it on them. Adding Duren and even Ivey (High-riser) will further help.

I am pleased and this off season for the Pistons has weirdly mirrored the Lions' offseason a lot. Both had 2 great building blocks from the draft and stayed put on FA for the most part.

[Futureshock]

15 player depth chart is something like:

PG - Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Cory Joseph, Saben Lee
SG - Jaden Ivey, Alec Burks, Hamidou Diallo
SF - Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Livers, Kevin Knox
PF - Marvin Bagley, Kelly Olynyk
C - Isaiah Stewart, Nerlens Noel, Jalen Duren

Two-Way - Buddy Boeheim, Braxton Key

The first retweet (out of 800 replies) was my reaction, "Who?"

[Futureshock]

Bags has been a steal from the moment he stepped on the court for Detroit. One of Weaver's best moves.

[Cody_Russell]

Part of it is the Pistons investing is Bagley the person. The hope that he will continue to get better in a positive culture. Unlike the mess that Sacramento has always been. Best case scenario for Bagley is what happened to Andrew Wiggins in Golden State. Wiggins being a disappointment in Minnesota. The Golden State culture helped showcase Wiggins’ true potential.
Not saying Bagley will make that jump and it’s unlikely. Pistons obviously don’t have an elite culture like Golden State… at least at this time.
That’s the idea with Bagley. He might have the talent and perhaps just needs to be in the right situation.

…

Kevin Knox had hype coming out of Kentucky.

[jaadam4]

Bagley is a fantastic player but is he playing the 4 or 5?

[Futureshock]

https://www.nba.com/pistons/news/pistons-mailbag-wednesday-june-29

Pistons Mailbag - WEDNESDAY, June 29


Keith Langlois●@keith_langlois

Langlois: The Cavs went from 22 to 44 wins, though the 22 came in a 72-game season. Nobody saw that coming. The jump also came despite losing Collin Sexton, who led the Cavs in scoring at 24.3 points a game in 2020-21, after 11 games last season. Cleveland was in its fourth season since losing LeBron James and launching another rebuilding. The Pistons will be in their third rebuilding season. It’s really hard to go from 23 wins to 43, which in 2021-22 would have tied the Pistons with Charlotte for 10^th and the final play-in berth. Adding two more lottery picks, two more exceptional talents but exceptionally young players, is going to make the Pistons younger at the core than the Cavs were. When you’re that young, winning is elusive.

@Agridome: The draft was good. However, the next two weeks might be more telling with our cap space. Improvements are needed. What does Troy Weaver do next? Is he gunning for the playoffs next year? I hope so.

Langlois: If the Pistons went into draft night with a grand wish to come out of it with both Jaden Ivey ad Jalen Duren, winding up with that result – for as much as it could mean for the future of the franchise – might require some recalibration of immediate expectations from fans. Troy Weaver and Dwane Casey aren’t going to hold this young core back, of course, but a commitment to developing that many young players at one time is going to come with more growing pains. When next season ends, Jalen Duren will be 19 and Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes and Isaiah Stewart will all be 21. The Kansas Jayhawks, who won the 2022 NCAA title, had an older starting lineup. Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Livers are 23. If Marvin Bagley III returns, he’s 23 until next March. In the grand scheme of things, the Pistons are two years into a rebuilding. Weaver has moved a ton of pieces around the board and you never get them all right, but look at the roster now and count up the assets vs. where they were in June 2020 when he arrived. It’s astounding to acquire as many players with value around the league in that period of time without doing anything to limit future possibilities. And the Pistons have arguably the most advantageous future cap sheet in the league. Making the playoffs next season would be nice, but Weaver and Dwane Casey have made clear the goal is sustained success. When they make the playoffs, they want to be on an undeniable upward trajectory.

@therealandymcd: Talk about our “stashed” guys overseas. Who do we currently have rights to? How are they doing? Are we likely to see any coming over to play soon? Have no idea if we’ve got rights to two or 12 guys overseas, so an update on this would be interesting.

Langlois: They’ll have two for 2022-23, last year’s 57^th overall pick, Balsa Koprivica, and this year’s 36^th pick, Gabriele Procida. I talked to Pistons European scout Nik Koprivica – no relation – last week and he said Balsa Koprivica had a good season with Partizan in the Adriatic League. He played in 12 games and averaged 3.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 13 minutes a game, shooting 55 percent without any 3-point attempts. Procida is expected to remain in Italy for next season and then they’ll sort it out. He’s 20, a good shooter and a very good athlete at 6-foot-8.

[Cody_Russell]

Wow, this Rudy Gobert trade. If Gobert goes for this, how much is KD going to go for? Certainly drives up the price.

Reminds me of when the Jaguars overpaid for Christian Kirk and that f***ed up the WR market.