Pistons-Spurs (7pm)

[Cowology]

[buzzkilloton]

Whoever we draft next has to be a knock down 3pt shooter.

Hopefully this trade doesnt go through. It really makes no sense to add another young project big. We already have a young big who is a stud to develop. Next season we can add vet 5 who can shoot the 3pter or just a defensive anchor type.

[bstein14]

Great game for Duren. I think he's too good to simply split minutes with anyone anymore. If he isn't in foul trouble, he should be playing 30 minutes a night and Bagley or whoever his backup is should be getting about 18.

If we do get lucky and land #1 VW at PF next to Duren has insane potential for sure.

Also Livers getting 40 minutes off the bench tonight and being +16 in those minutes with a double double and Casey praising his play "on both sides of the ball" is likely the real reason we moved Bey. Casey/Weaver simply preferred what we were getting from Livers in the backup wing spot.... also perhaps the fact that they might feel we can resign Diallo cheap, who also has been better than Bey much of the season as far as being able to efficiently score the basketball.... and also being able to defend.... not to mention being an elite athlete. With Cade, Bojan, Ivey, and Bagley we really need everyone else to be good two way players. You can't have like 7 or 8 guys in a 10 man rotation be negative on the defensive side of the ball.

[Piston Pete]

If this Wiseman deal falls thru, we should revisit a deal in the offseason where we take on some of their excess salary to save them some money.

Something like Bagley for Wiseman/Baldwin

[Snakebites]

Man I hate having to look at this through a tanking lens.

We win, Hornets, Spurs, Rockets all lose. We are currently out of the bottom 3. And I hate seeing it that way.

[ComboGuardCity]

Man I hate having to look at this through a tanking lens.

We win, Hornets, Spurs, Rockets all lose. We are currently out of the bottom 3. And I hate seeing it that way.

Meh I’m not worried about it. Our “floor” is fourth worst and that’s only a 4% difference in chance in picking top 4 vs the bottom 3.

[Mr Peanut]

Man I hate having to look at this through a tanking lens.

We win, Hornets, Spurs, Rockets all lose. We are currently out of the bottom 3. And I hate seeing it that way.

The way I look at it, we played a severely gutted Spurs team at home and still almost lost. Even if we got the win today it's clear this roster is going to lose a lot over the back end of the season and we just have to hope the others lose a little less.

[Uncle Mxy]

Pops looks 100 years old.

Pops isn't 100 years old?

[Cowology]

There is enough separation that your bottom 4 teams are essentially locked in. At this point it's more about luck of the balls than anything.

[Laimbeer]

There is enough separation that your bottom 4 teams are essentially locked in. At this point it's more about luck of the balls than anything.

For Victor, yeah, it's about the same. But it has a bearing on where you pick if you don't get a top four pick.

[Laimbeer]

I hope he doesn't add too much weight, but Duren is going to get stronger. Physically his frame looks like it could fill out similar to Giannis circa 2013-2014.

durens body looks more built than rookie giannis.

But then there's that skill stuff.

[Cowology]

I hope he doesn't add too much weight, but Duren is going to get stronger. Physically his frame looks like it could fill out similar to Giannis circa 2013-2014.

durens body looks more built than rookie giannis.

But then there's that skill stuff.

Yeah, was NOT comparing their games. Simply theorizing on what Duren *might* look like as he develops physically.

Really just saying that despite looking like a man-child, he's actually still got a lot of maturing to do physically. That can kinda get lost because he is already a big kid. I just want to see more Giannis than Dwight. Lean vs. Bulk.

[Kalamazoo317]

While it'd be nice to get a locked in top 4 pick, it's not like players are reliably picked in order of talent. You could make a very solid case that in retrospect Mobley or Franz was the best player to come out of Cade's draft and that Giddey was at least top 4. (These perceptions will change, of course, when Cade makes an all-star comeback next season. ). Haliburton obviously went way lower in his draft despite being one of the best players to come out of that draft. You could easily argue that Mathurin was the second best player in this past draft and he went 6th. Etc., etc.

[Snakebites]

While it'd be nice to get a locked in top 4 pick, it's not like players are reliably picked in order of talent. You could make a very solid case that in retrospect Mobley or Franz was the best player to come out of Cade's draft and that Giddey was at least top 4. (These perceptions will change, of course, when Cade makes an all-star comeback next season. ). Haliburton obviously went way lower in his draft despite being one of the best players to come out of that draft. You could easily argue that Mathurin was the second best player in this past draft and he went 6th. Etc., etc.

We can’t lock down a top 4.

Even as the worst team there’s a nearly 50 percent chance of falling to 5. It's 4 picks that are determined by lottery- not 3 as with the old system.

[edmunder_prc]

While it'd be nice to get a locked in top 4 pick, it's not like players are reliably picked in order of talent. You could make a very solid case that in retrospect Mobley or Franz was the best player to come out of Cade's draft and that Giddey was at least top 4. (These perceptions will change, of course, when Cade makes an all-star comeback next season. ). Haliburton obviously went way lower in his draft despite being one of the best players to come out of that draft. You could easily argue that Mathurin was the second best player in this past draft and he went 6th. Etc., etc.

We can’t lock down a top 4.

Even as the worst team there’s a nearly 50 percent chance of falling to 5. It's 4 picks that are determined by lottery- not 3 as with the old system.

Yes - its much more likely (percentages) that we get 3-5 than 1-2.

So the real question is which guy at 4 is going to a be star and does Weaver have the ability to predict it?

[edmunder_prc]

Also Hayes going 1-11 in 39 minutes.

For a while I thought something was wrong with the Pistons - the arena was cursed. But Bojan can shoot.

[Kalamazoo317]

It'd be nice to lock in a top 5 pick then.

Terrible shooting night for us for sure. I think that game showed something about this league:

1. Size, toughness, athleticism, defensive effort are floor raisers
2. Shooting, playmaking, and offensive skill are ceiling raisers

We seem to at least be making moves to work on #1. Without Duren our lack of shooting and offensive touch in that game would've gotten us run out. With Duren's size and toughness, we were able to get the job done.

Raising the floor like that isn't enough to compete with real contenders, but it's often good enough to outlast bottom feeders.

[Piston Pete]

It'd be nice to lock in a top 5 pick then.

Terrible shooting night for us for sure. I think that game showed something about this league:

1. Size, toughness, athleticism, defensive effort are floor raisers
2. Shooting, playmaking, and offensive skill are ceiling raisers

We seem to at least be making moves to work on #1. Without Duren our lack of shooting and offensive touch in that game would've gotten us run out. With Duren's size and toughness, we were able to get the job done.

Raising the floor like that isn't enough to compete with real contenders, but it's often good enough to outlast bottom feeders.

Only way to lock in top-5 is to be the #1 worst team, if I remember correctly

[Kalamazoo317]

For sure. My earlier point, though, was that an earlier pick is no guarantee you get it right and often players who drop end up being the better prospects. Whole thing is a crapshoot to an extent.

[Cowology]

https://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds

Nice visual breakdown of the odds. Updated daily and even explains tie-breakers etc. Makes it simple.