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No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 12:31 am
by bstein14
Luka Garza.... unsigned
Josh Jackson.... unsigned
Frank Jackson---- unsigned
Rodney McGruder.... unsigned
Three of those guys played regular rotation minutes for us and seemingly can't get a 1 year vet min deal in the league. Anyone else surprised by this? Or have we just been playing non league worthy guys in our rotation the last two seasons?
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:15 am
by chrbal
No. Are you surprised by that? McGruder is basically just a locker room guy at this point. Wouldn’t be the dumbest thing for him to go Europe basketball or something like that.
The Jackson’s were cheap projects for us. Frank could probably get a depth role, but he might even qualify for a two way contract. Josh is absolutely better off playing overseas at this point. Doesn’t seem like he’ll ever be an effective player in the NBA. Garza started off as a two way contract last season, his best hope is to do that again.
McGruder is honestly The only guy we’ve had that I thought wasn’t roster worthy to begin with. But he played well when he randomly got playing time. And he was probably just there for leadership. Sorry also Devidas wasn’t roster worthy.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:19 am
by GreekAlex
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:48 am
by Invictus88
bstein14 wrote:Or have we just been playing non league worthy guys in our rotation the last two seasons?
This is the definition of having no talent on your roster; which is exactly what we were left with after 15 years of bad contracts, poor development and shipping away picks.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:49 am
by vege
bstein14 wrote:have we just been playing non league worthy guys in our rotation the last two seasons?
Yes, and they're not the only ones. Add Saben Lee and Killian Hayes to that list. 33% of our last season's roster shouldn't be in the league. Livers was a pleasant surprise tho, he should be on the list as well (as a mid 2nd rounder) and he was good.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:00 am
by mattao313
I thought mcguder was decent kinda surprised he didn't get a contract
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Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:13 am
by whitehops
add blake griffin, dennis smith jr., tyler cook, sirvydis, jahlil okafor, wayne ellington, sekou.
delon wright was signed by WAS for 2 years, $16M though. svi picked up his $1.9M player option with toronto and the kings picked up trey lyles' $2.6M team option.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:43 am
by breezypeezy
bstein14 wrote:Luka Garza.... unsigned
Josh Jackson.... unsigned
Frank Jackson---- unsigned
Rodney McGruder.... unsigned
Three of those guys played regular rotation minutes for us and seemingly can't get a 1 year vet min deal in the league. Anyone else surprised by this? Or have we just been playing non league worthy guys in our rotation the last two seasons?
Not only have we been playing non league worthy players in the rotation, we've been using bench players and calling them starters and using large guard/small forwards and trying to pass them off as a starting front court.
If Casey is going continue with the 5 in, 5 out, mindless rotations, we should expect more of the underachieving where we manage to somehow under perform what talent we do have.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:20 am
by chrbal
whitehops wrote:add blake griffin, dennis smith jr., tyler cook, sirvydis, jahlil okafor, wayne ellington, sekou.
delon wright was signed by WAS for 2 years, $16M though. svi picked up his $1.9M player option with toronto and the kings picked up trey lyles' $2.6M team option.
If you were Ellington or Griffin knowing you’re probably going to get the minimum, would you be in a rush to sign?
And Tyler cook and Dennis Smith we’re Pistons for about 4 months. Why not just make a big deal about how nobody wants Cassius Winston?
Not to mention, of your list; Ellington went to the Lakers, Griffin went to Brooklyn, Sekou joined the Lakers (which is still crazy), and Smith went to Portland. So technically they don’t qualify for this. Because those other teams wanted them.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:35 am
by whitehops
chrbal wrote:If you were Ellington or Griffin knowing you’re probably going to get the minimum, would you be in a rush to sign?
And Tyler cook and Dennis Smith we’re Pistons for about 4 months. Why not just make a big deal about how nobody wants Cassius Winston?
Not to mention, of your list; Ellington went to the Lakers, Griffin went to Brooklyn, Sekou joined the Lakers (which is still crazy), and Smith went to Portland. So technically they don’t qualify for this. Because those other teams wanted them.
ellington and griffin signed vet min deals and were on the fringe of the rotation. sekou had a two way deal and played a whopping 16 minutes for the lakers before getting cut before the end of the season. DSJ signed a vet min deal and got cut halfway through the season.
i think it would be hard to argue that those teams wanted them. definitely don't think you could argue that they valued them.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:53 am
by Manocad
Puhleeze. All I ever said was that his greatest skills weren’t utilized. He’s a good back to the basket scorer and was in a role where he was clearly instructed to set picks and roll to the 3 point line. So of course he looked pretty worthless when he wasn’t playing to his strengths.
Like if you were expected to lead a debate team. You’d be worthless at it.

Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 5:11 am
by Cowology
mattao313 wrote:I thought mcguder was decent kinda surprised he didn't get a contract
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He's easily the most rotation-ready but he's also 31. This was sort of an awkward spot for him with us committed to the youth movement. He played the fewest minutes of that bunch despite being the most efficient.
He could add shooting depth to a playoff team, but he's not getting any better. If anything he might start slowing down.
Non of those other guys can shoot, and if you can't shoot then you better have some other elite skill. They are 10- day contract guys right now and nobody is in a rush to sign those. Somebody of equal insignificance will likely be available in 2 months.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 5:24 am
by Pharaoh
Denver quietly picked up KCP & Bruce Brown which should really help their perimeter D.
Brown especially seems like a really good fit given he's a smart cutter and Jokic will find him for bunnies.
Is it really surprising that after 2 seasons of bottom 5 finishes a certain number of our guys aren't yet signed?
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Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:50 am
by tmorgan
Tell me you aren’t really surprised that a blatantly tanking team for most of the last two years actually signed and played some bums?
I mean, c’mon. We took some shots on former high picks, found out they did indeed suck, and moved on. It’s a shame Saben still has a roster spot, and Killian definitely needs to take a big step forward, but after those two, our next worst player is probably Noel or CoJo (not counting current inexperienced Duren). We’re getting there.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:02 am
by bstein14
tmorgan wrote:Tell me you aren’t really surprised that a blatantly tanking team for most of the last two years actually signed and played some bums?
I mean, c’mon. We took some shots on former high picks, found out they did indeed suck, and moved on. It’s a shame Saben still has a roster spot, and Killian definitely needs to take a big step forward, but after those two, our next worst player is probably Noel or CoJo (not counting current inexperienced Duren). We’re getting there.
Kevin Knox might have been out of the league, or likely on a two way or at best a non guaranteed camp deal with another team... but we signed him for two years above league minimum for some reason as our next reclamation project.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:24 am
by mattao313
Cowology wrote:mattao313 wrote:I thought mcguder was decent kinda surprised he didn't get a contract
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He's easily the most rotation-ready but he's also 31. This was sort of an awkward spot for him with us committed to the youth movement. He played the fewest minutes of that bunch despite being the most efficient.
He could add shooting depth to a playoff team, but he's not getting any better. If anything he might start slowing down.
Non of those other guys can shoot, and if you can't shoot then you better have some other elite skill. They are 10- day contract guys right now and nobody is in a rush to sign those. Somebody of equal insignificance will likely be available in 2 months.
Yeah I agree for us but to a playoff team he seems like the perfect 11th/12th man who can fill in for injuries.
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Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:40 am
by tmorgan
bstein14 wrote:tmorgan wrote:Tell me you aren’t really surprised that a blatantly tanking team for most of the last two years actually signed and played some bums?
I mean, c’mon. We took some shots on former high picks, found out they did indeed suck, and moved on. It’s a shame Saben still has a roster spot, and Killian definitely needs to take a big step forward, but after those two, our next worst player is probably Noel or CoJo (not counting current inexperienced Duren). We’re getting there.
Kevin Knox might have been out of the league, or likely on a two way or at best a non guaranteed camp deal with another team... but we signed him for two years above league minimum for some reason as our next reclamation project.
Oops. Forgot about Knox, he’s the second worst player on the team. Lee #1, Knox #2, Hayes #3. Still hoping on Killian, tho.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:28 pm
by GreekAlex
Manocad wrote:Puhleeze. All I ever said was that his greatest skills weren’t utilized. He’s a good back to the basket scorer and was in a role where he was clearly instructed to set picks and roll to the 3 point line. So of course he looked pretty worthless when he wasn’t playing to his strengths.
Like if you were expected to lead a debate team. You’d be worthless at it.

I was using hyperbole rather than debate skills because it’s challenging to debate someone that speaks about Garza like they sleep with his autographed jock strap.
But have no fear, when I need to have a good debate with someone rooted in reality, I’ll be ready.

Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:13 pm
by Uncle Mxy
I'd take Garza over Noel.
Re: No one wants former Pistons....
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:29 pm
by zeebneeb
bstein14 wrote:tmorgan wrote:Tell me you aren’t really surprised that a blatantly tanking team for most of the last two years actually signed and played some bums?
I mean, c’mon. We took some shots on former high picks, found out they did indeed suck, and moved on. It’s a shame Saben still has a roster spot, and Killian definitely needs to take a big step forward, but after those two, our next worst player is probably Noel or CoJo (not counting current inexperienced Duren). We’re getting there.
Kevin Knox might have been out of the league, or likely on a two way or at best a non guaranteed camp deal with another team... but we signed him for two years above league minimum for some reason as our next reclamation project.
Well that reason would be that Weaver, or Casey(or even someone else on the staff) saw something in the kid.
Also, that he comes from another horrifically run franchise in the Knicks, so there may actually be something there.