Around the League

[keepitrealhomes]

Just now reading all of this. Plenty of good years debating and arguing pistons with him, and he’s definitely a one of a kind personality on these boards. Keeping him and his family in my thoughts

[tmorgan]

Looks like Mano is gone. I know some of you got to hang out with him IRL, but I never did. Seems he was a great guy.

Just remember, everyone, life is short and can be sudden. Appreciate what you’ve got.

[mattao313]

Looks like Mano is gone. I know some you got to hang out with him IRL, but I never did. Seems he was a great guy.

Just remember, everyone, life is short and can be sudden. Appreciate what you’ve got.

Man wtf I just seen this me and him used to go at it all the time sad to hear. I hope his family well.

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[Invictus88]

This is just awful. My deepest prayers for him and his family.

[MotownMadness]

RIP Mano

[joedumars1]

That’s terrible news, one of my favorite posters, every now again would think I bet it would be awesome to hang out with this dude and drink some beers. Just ****, thoughts and prayers to his family

[dVs33]

What horrible news.
He was a good poster, even when he was a pain in the a** haha he definitely seemed to have lived a full and fun life.
All the best to his family.

[Sort]

I wasn't terribly annoyed or delighted with Bruce Brown's exit from Detroit, but watching him last night - that's not the same player he was in Detroit. What a credit to him that he developed his offensive game that he could have a fourth quarter offensive explosion to win an NBA Finals game. I always enjoyed cheering for him when he was in Detroit, since he left, and last night for sure. Never did I expect that kind of progress.

It gives hope for Killian Hayes. Slim perhaps, but still...

[vege]

I wasn't terribly annoyed or delighted with Bruce Brown's exit from Detroit, but watching him last night - that's not the same player he was in Detroit. What a credit to him that he developed his offensive game that he could have a fourth quarter offensive explosion to win an NBA Finals game. I always enjoyed cheering for him when he was in Detroit, since he left, and last night for sure. Never did I expect that kind of progress.

It gives hope for Killian Hayes. Slim perhaps, but still...

Not really. You could see Bruce Brown developing in his early years, he developed his corner 3's, he could cut but wasn't great finishing around the rim, even when he was found unguarded, then he could handle the ball and play some PG, and then we donated him to Brooklyn for no reason.

Killian never improved anything, he had small stretches where he was an ok player, but that's about it.

I was the only one who got mad when we traded Bruce Brown for nothing. I could see him improving, he always did everything the coach asked from him, he played any position needed to help the team, he always worked his ass off on defense.

But everybody in this boards said he was an umimportant 2nd rounder, and those are not the kind of players that are missed.

[bstein14]

Bruce Brown was clearly a solid rotation player when we traded him away. That said, we could have easily signed him back again if we wanted him. I didn't like the trade at the time but I could understand we were tanking it away in 2020-21 season and Brown didn't fit that. His career development probably has been helped playing with guys like KD and Jokic versus always tanking here so in reality good for him for getting to go out and win more games this year than we have the past 4 years.

Young Bruce Brown reminded me of young Aaron Afflalo, who also played winning basketball (moreso than Stuckey IMO) and who also was traded away too soon and for not enough.

[chrbal]

I wasn't terribly annoyed or delighted with Bruce Brown's exit from Detroit, but watching him last night - that's not the same player he was in Detroit. What a credit to him that he developed his offensive game that he could have a fourth quarter offensive explosion to win an NBA Finals game. I always enjoyed cheering for him when he was in Detroit, since he left, and last night for sure. Never did I expect that kind of progress.

It gives hope for Killian Hayes. Slim perhaps, but still...

I guess. Brown was (obviously currently is) a more effective player than Hayes. He’s benefited immensely from playing with Denver and Brooklyn, but most of his improvement is a result of his desire to improve.

I honestly think Hayes is going to have to rock bottom to really improve. Think Caleb Martin getting cut by Charlotte.

I’m one of the people preaching patience with Hayes and I legitimately would be surprised if he’s Alana kind of truly effective top 8 ( on a teams rotation) player

[thesack12]

I wasn't terribly annoyed or delighted with Bruce Brown's exit from Detroit, but watching him last night - that's not the same player he was in Detroit. What a credit to him that he developed his offensive game that he could have a fourth quarter offensive explosion to win an NBA Finals game. I always enjoyed cheering for him when he was in Detroit, since he left, and last night for sure. Never did I expect that kind of progress.

It gives hope for Killian Hayes. Slim perhaps, but still...

Not really. You could see Bruce Brown developing in his early years, he developed his corner 3's, he could cut but wasn't great finishing around the rim, even when he was found unguarded, then he could handle the ball and play some PG, and then we donated him to Brooklyn for no reason.

Killian never improved anything, he had small stretches where he was an ok player, but that's about it.

I was the only one who got mad when we traded Bruce Brown for nothing. I could see him improving, he always did everything the coach asked from him, he played any position needed to help the team, he always worked his ass off on defense.

But everybody in this boards said he was an umimportant 2nd rounder, and those are not the kind of players that are missed.

I agree with your overall sentiment here, but the underlined statements are embellishments. You weren't alone on an island with those thoughts.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2016834&hilit=bruce+brown+traded

[MortSahlfan]

A big part of the reason I want Denver to win is because of Bruce, KCP, even Ish who guys say is very important to the team even if he doesn't play. Brendan Malone's son, and I like Jokic/Murray/AG, and they've stuck with it.. Miami, Boston, Milwaukee are other examples.

[Pharaoh]

A big part of the reason I want Denver to win is because of Bruce, KCP, even Ish who guys say is very important to the team even if he doesn't play. Brendan Malone's son, and I like Jokic/Murray/AG, and they've stuck with it.. Miami, Boston, Milwaukee are other examples.

Continuity matters.

They've kept a core group for a while now and added the right role players that really fixed their weaknesses.

Prior to KCP & Brown their perimeter D was pretty poor.

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[bstein14]

Denver plays the right way... is unselfish.... and you can't help but root for someone like Jokic he's essentially the new Duncan IMO. For years the Spurs were my team I'd root for out West but now its certainly Denver.

[DBC10]

A big part of the reason I want Denver to win is because of Bruce, KCP, even Ish who guys say is very important to the team even if he doesn't play. Brendan Malone's son, and I like Jokic/Murray/AG, and they've stuck with it.. Miami, Boston, Milwaukee are other examples.

Continuity matters.

They've kept a core group for a while now and added the right role players that really fixed their weaknesses.

Prior to KCP & Brown their perimeter D was pretty poor.

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Continuity with an actual superstar matters*

You need a superstar that can get you over the hump and to bail you out when the game's on the line regardless of a core. We unfortunately never had anyone close like that in a decade plus

One underrated portion of Denver's success is the Aaron Gordon's peak/rise ever since he got traded there. Even their GM is quoted as saying that they'd never thought he'd be this good after the trade went down. Last year AG looked fairly pedestrian in the playoffs so he's definitely improved at the right time

[Pharaoh]

Their guys - including Gordon - are just now hitting their peak.

Joker is 28, AG is 27, Murray is 26, Brown is 26.

MPJ is only 24, Braun only 22

KCP is their old head and he's only 30! IF they keep all their guys they could be looking at a lot of successful seasons.

For comparison:

Cade, Ivey, Hayes = 21
Stewart, Wiseman = 22
Livers, Bagley = 24
Duren = 19

Bojan (34) & Burks (31) are babysitters for us!

The next 2 years will be huge for us cause after that Cade will likely get a max deal and the salary structure will be a issue

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[Snakebites]

Their guys - including Gordon - are just now hitting their peak.

Joker is 28, AG is 27, Murray is 26, Brown is 26.

MPJ is only 24, Braun only 22

KCP is their old head and he's only 30! IF they keep all their guys they could be looking at a lot of successful seasons.

For comparison:

Cade, Ivey, Hayes = 21
Stewart, Wiseman = 22
Livers, Bagley = 24
Duren = 19

Bojan (34) & Burks (31) are babysitters for us!

The next 2 years will be huge for us cause after that Cade will likely get a max deal and the salary structure will be a issue

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Yeah- they’ll remain contenders.

They are all but certain to lose Brown this offseason, will be interesting to see how the rest of the core holds together. They’re in an enviable spot though.

[bstein14]

Their guys - including Gordon - are just now hitting their peak.

Joker is 28, AG is 27, Murray is 26, Brown is 26.

MPJ is only 24, Braun only 22

KCP is their old head and he's only 30! IF they keep all their guys they could be looking at a lot of successful seasons.

For comparison:

Cade, Ivey, Hayes = 21
Stewart, Wiseman = 22
Livers, Bagley = 24
Duren = 19

Bojan (34) & Burks (31) are babysitters for us!

The next 2 years will be huge for us cause after that Cade will likely get a max deal and the salary structure will be a issue

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Yeah- they’ll remain contenders.

They are all but certain to lose Brown this offseason, will be interesting to see how the rest of the core holds together. They’re in an enviable spot though.

For me, the most interesting thing is the MPJ contract. Will they try to move it? To a certain degree its going to handicap them moving forward. As a Pistons fan would you trade Bagley + Burks for MPJ? He's a talented player but he's had some serious injury issues and he isn't someone who really can carry a team which is normally what you want out of a max contract player. He put up a very efficient 17.4 PPG this season but you know he won't be getting as good of looks if he went to another team.

Four more years of max money for him. Only $12 million of his final year $41 million is guaranteed unless he becomes an all-star.

[Pharaoh]

Their guys - including Gordon - are just now hitting their peak.

Joker is 28, AG is 27, Murray is 26, Brown is 26.

MPJ is only 24, Braun only 22

KCP is their old head and he's only 30! IF they keep all their guys they could be looking at a lot of successful seasons.

For comparison:

Cade, Ivey, Hayes = 21
Stewart, Wiseman = 22
Livers, Bagley = 24
Duren = 19

Bojan (34) & Burks (31) are babysitters for us!

The next 2 years will be huge for us cause after that Cade will likely get a max deal and the salary structure will be a issue

Sent from my SM-G781B using RealGM Forums mobile app

Yeah- they’ll remain contenders.

They are all but certain to lose Brown this offseason, will be interesting to see how the rest of the core holds together. They’re in an enviable spot though.

For me, the most interesting thing is the MPJ contract. Will they try to move it? To a certain degree its going to handicap them moving forward. As a Pistons fan would you trade Bagley + Burks for MPJ? He's a talented player but he's had some serious injury issues and he isn't someone who really can carry a team which is normally what you want out of a max contract player. He put up a very efficient 17.4 PPG this season but you know he won't be getting as good of looks if he went to another team.

Four more years of max money for him. Only $12 million of his final year $41 million is guaranteed unless he becomes an all-star.

He's a no from me.

A max contract with injury history? Who is going to want that?

I can't imagine a GM looks at MJP and sees him as a asset.



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