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Stefanski said he wanted to build around Blake, Dre, and Reggie. However, outside of the addition of Snell, it doesn’t appear that’s really what’s happening since it seems like the draft was not used as a “build around the Big 3” tool in any way. To me it appears like management tried to make sure the team didn’t get any worse by adding Snell (slight improvement), but the draft outcome looks like building for results 2-4 years from now.

The Red Wings showed that with good management it IS possible to consistently rebuild on the fly while being a true championship contender year after year. Is it possible to do both in Detroit in today’s NBA?

I don't think so.

Ed said himself he didn't expect Sekou to be there at 15, so I think that was a simple matter of him being the highest left on their draft board.

Getting Snell represented sacrificing future assets (2020 cap space), for a current acquisition.

They traded #30 and #45 for essentially scraps with miniscule future value. It could be argued that the Sirvydis pick was made with an eye for the future, but you could make that same argument about anybody they could have taken at #30, namely Porter.

He was BPA in my opinion with the highest ceiling. I’m just glad they didn’t try to use the draft spot to win now on a lesser talent who’s more NBA ready.

I doubt it.

It looks to me like a case of value trumping specific need. They had their plans in place to draft someone who fit their needs around those 3. They felt Sekou was too good a talent to pass on at 15.

Great start of a thread. I have the same assessment of the draft. It will be interesting how we “develop” our youth. We have a good amount of it on our team w khyri, brown, svi, Luke, SD, one rookie twoway and a stash overseas.

Not using #30 and then drafting a draft and stash was to have that 1M to be able to use on a veteran in FA. I also expect Svi won't make the team either - opening up another $1.4M to spend on veteran FA. If we could have drafted a Clarke at #15 he could get rotation minutes right away, which would have allowed us to take a flyer at #30. Since Doumbouya is not going to help us at all this season, we needed cap space more than another rookie with that #30/SRP salary.

kpt wrote:Great start of a thread. I have the same assessment of the draft. It will be interesting how we “develop” our youth. We have a good amount of it on our team w khyri, brown, svi, Luke, SD, one rookie twoway and a stash overseas.

Quantity not quality unfortunately.

Always possible he’s more ready then everyone’s thinking too. I remember Drummond was in the same boat where people were saying he wouldn’t be ready for like 4 years and he was also the youngest player in the draft but then he came out the gate highly impactful and started being looked at as a franchise guy.

I don’t expect that cause Dre was more less so impactful being a freak that athletic at that type of size but you never know.

Seems like every draft is about rebuilding for the future to some degree. Sekou needs to play unless he's horrific, and if he is I'm swearing off this board for the next year or so.

This was a hot topic on Valenti's show yesterday. He thinks they're rebuilding without telling us. I think they're trying to do both. I guess we'll see what happens after the free agency dust settles. Hopefully a good Blake offer comes although I'd rather trade Drummond first but Blake would help a rebuild much more.

Keep us competitive while waiting for the big contracts to drop off is my take. Without cap room and much to offer in trades, that's about all Stefanski can do unless Gores is willing to tank. Whether we can leverage the expiring contracts to get more competitive before the 2021 season is the question. Maybe we get lucky. We'll see.

I cannot be happier for passing on all the SFraudulent players this draft had.

I liked the Snell movement a lot.

People thinking of cap space for 2020 do not realoze that Detroit is a small marker and draft and trades are our best option.

DCintheD wrote:This was a hot topic on Valenti's show yesterday. He thinks they're rebuilding without telling us. I think they're trying to do both. I guess we'll see what happens after the free agency dust settles. Hopefully a good Blake offer comes although I'd rather trade Drummond first but Blake would help a rebuild much more.

Well, you have to go one or the other, I could make an argument the reason why we're stuck in 8th seed hell is because we tried to do both a rebuild and retool at the same time during the last decade. Wishy-washy FOs without a clear direction end up being stuck in no man's land.

But if we're stealth rebuilding, then so be it, I'll gladly eat crow and give Ed praise for at least trying if we do end up moving Blake/Dre/RJ or whoever.

DBC10 wrote:

DCintheD wrote:This was a hot topic on Valenti's show yesterday. He thinks they're rebuilding without telling us. I think they're trying to do both. I guess we'll see what happens after the free agency dust settles. Hopefully a good Blake offer comes although I'd rather trade Drummond first but Blake would help a rebuild much more.

Well, you have to go one or the other, I could make an argument the reason why we're stuck in 8th seed hell is because we tried to do both a rebuild and retool at the same time during the last decade. Wishy-washy FOs without a clear direction end up being stuck in no man's land.

But if we're stealth rebuilding, then so be it, I'll gladly eat crow and give Ed praise for at least trying if we do end up moving Blake/Dre/RJ or whoever.

Exactly. You gotta chose one and make moves that builds on the other. The upside to going the rebuild route is much higher than going the win-now route. I think Stefanski knows this but Gores doesn’t.

in a previous post it was mentioned that Svi might not make the team in my opinion he might be the best shooter and 2 guard on the team it'll be interesting to watch this front office and coaching staff develop all the young guys on the team

Be it luck, wisdom, or both - they can improve now and develop the high potential of their draft picks.

The expiring contracts provide the option of improving now.

Having all stars, there is no need to use the rookies to sell tickets.

They can use the g league as the MLB does.

JohnReese wrote:I cannot be happier for passing on all the SFraudulent players this draft had.

I liked the Snell movement a lot.

People thinking of cap space for 2020 do not realoze that Detroit is a small marker and draft and trades are our best option.

You don't seem to realize that signing free agents isn't the only option for utilizing cap space.

davidvolumes wrote:in a previous post it was mentioned that Svi might not make the team in my opinion he might be the best shooter and 2 guard on the team it'll be interesting to watch this front office and coaching staff develop all the young guys on the team

I was shocked when I read that folks thought Svi would not make the roster. I would develop Svi at all costs. He has done much more than Khyri in the minutes I have seen him.

The 3 guys with the most important positions in this franchise all are desperate to some degree.

Dwane Casey is 62 years old. Detroit is most likely his last rodeo, at least being the HC anyways. It also doesn't help his pride or his leaguewide reputation that Toronto achieved the ultimate goal immediately after firing him.

Ed Stefanski is 65 years old. He's never had any notable team success as an executive. The last 2 jobs he held were demotions from his previous position. If you would give him a shot of truth serum, he would probably say he was surprised that he got another chance himself. The guy hired himself. This is definitely his last shot of beinf the head of a front office.

Tom Gores has already proven he's always desperate to make playoffs. He's happy just to say Detroit Pistons were a playoff team amd get those 2 extra box office gate revenues. Detroit hasn't won a single playoff game while on his watch. Tom is desperate to change that.

I'd be more than happy to be wrong about this statement, but I honestly believe orchestrating a true rebuild is about the last thing this current regime is interested in.

thesack12 wrote:The 3 guys with the most important positions in this franchise all are desperate to some degree.

Dwane Casey is 62 years old. Detroit is most likely his last rodeo, at least being the HC anyways. It also doesn't help his pride or his leaguewide reputation that Toronto achieved the ultimate goal immediately after firing him.

Ed Stefanski is 65 years old. He's never had any notable team success as an executive. The last 2 jobs he held were demotions from his previous position. If you would give him a shot of truth serum, he would probably say he was surprised that he got another chance himself. The guy hired himself. This is definitely his last shot of beinf the head of a front office.

Tom Gores has already proven he's always desperate to make playoffs. He's happy just to say Detroit Pistons were a playoff team amd get those 2 extra box office gate revenues. Detroit hasn't won a single playoff game while on his watch. Tom is desperate to change that.

I'd be more than happy to be wrong about this statement, but I honestly believe orchestrating a true rebuild is about the last thing this current regime is interested in.

Sekou is an anomaly to that trend though. He’s unlikely to be a big contributor/starter while the current core is intact.

Snell allowed us to add a rotation player to replace the role Ellington/Bullock had last year at the cost of only 2 million in terms of this years LT flexibility, allowing us to resign or replace Ish with MLE money while remaining under the LT. Whether you agree with that philosophy of resource management or not, it appears to be the choice that was made and gave them the best shot at keeping the rotation competitive with the restraints we have.

We’re still striving to put the best group around that core. We will continue to do so as long as they are under contract.

It’s clear they see Sekou as a top 6 talent and felt the value was too good to pass, so they deviated a bit. I’m glad they did, but I wouldn’t read too much into it. We’ll likely continue the same next year, just (hopefully!) without Reggie.

2 years from now when Dre’s deal is up is when it gets particularly interesting.