Is this a play in team?

[aad]

Based on the new coach and off-season moves do y'all believe this is a play in team

Me personally with a healthy Cade and a new coach and the added veterans I think we got a shot we just need better health this is probably the deepest team we had in the weaver era

I think we will make one more trade maybe to balance the roster

[Pharaoh]

As currently constructed no I don't think we're a play in team.

If memory serves 10th was around 40 wins last season.

Can we improve by 23 wins?

That's a huge ask for a very young team.



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[tmorgan]

No, but dreams are fine

[Mr Peanut]

No. 12-13th seed at best. But the season after? Maybe.

[The Moose]

no, I would be very surprised

[MortSahlfan]

If a team starts out real well, who knows? They said Utah would be going for Wemby, OKC, too, and they almost make the playoffs.

[DBC10]

It'd be a complete shocker compared to where we were in the last 2 years to have that massive of a jump. The East basically stayed the same and barring injuries, I think the standings will be light musical chairs at best at the upper echelon of teams

[bstein14]

We are most likely better than just Washington IMO, but could also be ahead of Charlotte depending on how things go with Miller and Bridges. Beyond that we might need the help of injuries to move higher. If you look at sports betting websites, most have the Pistons only ahead of Washington in the entire league. It'll be interesting to see where our win total over/under is put at this season. I'm guessing we'll project at about 26 or 27 wins and I would be ok betting the over on that but I don't think we're winning more than 35.

Tier 1(Playoff locks) Bucks, Celtics, Heat, Sixers, Cavs, Knicks
Tier 2 (Play-in teams) Nets, Hawks, Raptors, Bulls
Tier 3 (Outside Looking in) Pacers, Magic, Hornets, Pistons, Wizards

I think the Pacers adding Bruce Brown could move up to the play-in area.

[Piston Pete]

I think this team, as constructed today, wins 30 games max.

[DetroitDon15]

At best, this team wins 25 games. I think this team will struggle to win 20 games. A lot of teams in the Pistons range got better. I just find wins harder to come by this year. Pistons didn’t get significantly better via the draft (Ansur/Sasser will not start). It’s gonna be another long/tough season. My guess is we finish with a bottom three record and probably miss out on a top three pick again. I don’t think the NBA big wigs will allow us to win the lotto again.

[DetroitDon15]

I think this team, as constructed today, wins 30 games max.

I don’t see how 30 games is real. The Pistons didn’t mKe any significant up grades while other teams in their range got better. 25 would be my ceiling if we were viewed as a free square for the top tier teams to give superstars rest.

[Cowology]

This team needs to consolidate some talent. Probably better to wait until closer to the deadline, but we should at least start looking at the Aytons & Anunobys of the league. Part of this probably comes down to how much value guys like Duren & Ivey actually have, but I do think there are moves out there that can help expedite our path. I wouldn't go chasing the Paul Georges' of the world, but I'm not sure we really want to wait another 2-3 years for some of these guys to start contributing either. We gotta start putting this thing together prior to Cade's extension.

The East is brutal. Lots of good teams and lots of parity, so even an improved roster is going to struggle. We'll have a better picture in a couple of months, but I'd definitely keep my options open as far as the trade market goes. Nobody should really be untouchable right now.

[Cowology]

I think this team, as constructed today, wins 30 games max.

I don’t see how 30 games is real. The Pistons didn’t mKe any significant up grades while other teams in their range got better. 25 would be my ceiling if we were viewed as a free square for the top tier teams to give superstars rest.

You don't consider a healthy Cade to a be a significant upgrade? Interesting...

[MotownMadness]

Anything is possible but no

[Lyonfan1]

I could see it…

Cade, Stewart, and BB were easily our best all around players in 22-23’- Cade missed 70 games, Stew played out of position a lot, and even then missed 30 plus games. BB with two raw rookies and and some misfits, and that required a lot of energy creating his own shots, and likely made him an even greater defensive liability. He was playing 2 more minutes, taking 1-2 more shots and less 3’s than in previous years…

Fast forward-

1. If Cade plays 70 plus games, we just added the best player on our team for a whole season?

2. If Duren who is still just 19 years old- gets stronger, better cardio, and develops any type of offense (see pull ups in summer league game) then he likely gets 4-5 more minutes and he’s a 20 year old averaging 13 and 11 by year end…

3. The potential combo of Morris, Harris/Burks, Ausar, Livers, Wiseman gives us a decent defensive unit with 3 very solid to great 3 point shooters…. Ausar can be a point forward and push the pace- and having the option to knife and finish, or throw lobs to Wiseman or Bagley, or kick out the the shooters, I like this units potential.

4. I think a healthy Stew that is playing the 4 is a path for his improvement. Many pretend to care about being a .327 shooter from 3- guys like Draymond, Mobley, Randle, W Carter, A Gordon, J Smith, Zion, Scottie Barnes etc are all sub .339% guys (some much lower) even guys like Grant and Kuzma are a hair over .34-.35 with Stew sitting around .327% at age 22!!!! He will have an easier time boarding and posting up 4’s than he did 5’s that had 4-5” on him. With options like Bagley and Livers both coming off the bench, we can keep Stews minutes below 27 and his energy and passion up!

5. Depending on how things start, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Ivey get some run with the second unit and Morris or Harris elevated to elevate to first unit. Ivey needs the ball and his explosion against inferior 2nd unit players would only enhance his scoring efficiency. Cade could cook with the first team and choose between 2 lob threats and 2 sharp shooters from 3….


We

[Lyonfan1]

We have to remember there was a “Tank for Wemby” feel in many games. I was at Spurs and Pistons triple OT game where both teams were clearly trying not to win, but Pistons ranked worse…

I think a full 48 minute effort with better coaching, and this team was easily 4/5 wins better with the injuries and same roster.

Add Cade, a full season of Stew, a year of experience for Duren and Ivey, and instead of watching Diallo and Killian shoot 27% from 3, and Cojo slog up and down the court- you now have J Harris, M Morris, and Sasser

I think many are underestimating what wiseman could be with spacing and a real PG out there too

[Invictus88]

This team needs to consolidate some talent. Probably better to wait until closer to the deadline, but we should at least start looking at the Aytons & Anunobys of the league. Part of this probably comes down to how much value guys like Duren & Ivey actually have, but I do think there are moves out there that can help expedite our path. I wouldn't go chasing the Paul Georges' of the world, but I'm not sure we really want to wait another 2-3 years for some of these guys to start contributing either. We gotta start putting this thing together prior to Cade's extension.

The East is brutal. Lots of good teams and lots of parity, so even an improved roster is going to struggle. We'll have a better picture in a couple of months, but I'd definitely keep my options open as far as the trade market goes. Nobody should really be untouchable right now.

Agree that as it stands now that the talent we have is mixed with major flaws. However getting Ayton is not a step forward here. His skillset is already redundant with Duren's, so acquiring him even for our broken pieces (which isn't very realistic without giving up more assets) just nets us a harder piece to unload later.

Our biggest need in my opinion is the 4 spot where we have nobody. Bojan and Stewart are both hugely flawed in various aspects and are just bad fits there.

I want to see what Monte does with our team's defensive approach before considering a move that would bring in another big.

[Rip32]

Currently constructed, hell no

[Cowology]

This team needs to consolidate some talent. Probably better to wait until closer to the deadline, but we should at least start looking at the Aytons & Anunobys of the league. Part of this probably comes down to how much value guys like Duren & Ivey actually have, but I do think there are moves out there that can help expedite our path. I wouldn't go chasing the Paul Georges' of the world, but I'm not sure we really want to wait another 2-3 years for some of these guys to start contributing either. We gotta start putting this thing together prior to Cade's extension.

The East is brutal. Lots of good teams and lots of parity, so even an improved roster is going to struggle. We'll have a better picture in a couple of months, but I'd definitely keep my options open as far as the trade market goes. Nobody should really be untouchable right now.

Agree that as it stands now that the talent we have is mixed with major flaws. However getting Ayton is not a step forward here. His skillset is already redundant with Duren's, so acquiring him even for our broken pieces (which isn't very realistic without giving up more assets) just nets us a harder piece to unload later.

Our biggest need in my opinion is the 4 spot where we have nobody. Bojan and Stewart are both hugely flawed in various aspects and are just bad fits there.

I want to see what Monte does with our team's defensive approach before considering a move that would bring in another big.

I was really just mentioning Ayton as an example of a "win now" piece that can still grow with a young core. But I don't think the fact we have Duren/Wiseman/Bagley/Stewart should be enough to preclude any conversation from taking place.

And to be clear - I was against offering Ayton the max and have generally been opposed to his acquisition. But let's go down the rabbit hole; a package of something like Hayes/Stewart/Bogey brings much needed depth to a Suns roster burdened with multiple max contracts. And we have handfulls of role-players who would greatly benefit from being allowed to just play their role. Who's going to say No? Duren could be used to land the young SF/PF we're looking for.

It's all moving pieces. If you could put Cade/Anonuby/Ayton together with a few 3&D players would that be a good enough core?

And again, just using these players as examples; I have no clue who will be available in 6 months and everybody has their own dream roster. My point is we don't want to get too bogged down by positional relevance. Re-balancing can take place after consolidation or as part of the same process. Either way I think we may need to start looking for an impact player or two.

Agreed it's best to wait for now and see what we have though. Especially with a new coach and so many different pieces this season.

[bstein14]

For this team to make the play-in, we'd need 4 or 5 of our young guys to take significant steps forward. We didn't see that last year at all.

If Stew, Cade, Ivey, Wiseman, Duren.... or at least four of those guys... all take a big jump forward... Then it pushes forward the restore and you have a chance to play close to .500 ball this year. You kind of know what to expect from guys like Bojan, Burks, Morris, etc.... but it really hinges on the young guys where we can jump to this season. Eventually we'll take a big step forward but not sure its this year.