Post Mortem #20 - Detroit Pistons

[In-N-Out 247]

Curious to see how expensive Malik Beasley will be for them to resign. He was second in the nba in total 3 pointers made at 319 (just 1 behind Antman) and he shot 41.6%. I'd think he's looking at MLE level money from another team. They're in a bit of a weird situation with him because he's only been there 1 year and was paid $6M, I think the most they can offer him, without using the MLE, is $7.2M.

Edit - looking at their cap situation, they have some wiggle room under the cap maybe about $25M give or take so in theory they could split that amount between some combination of Beasley, THJ & Schroder. Or they could renounce all 3 and throw that 25M at a free agent or maybe use the space in a trade.

[Frankie]

This is my favorite team, aside from my team. I don't think they need to make any huge changes. Their young bucks have grown a lot this year, but there's more growth to come from them. Sometimes the improvements comes from just letting guys develop. Cade might grow into a first team all nba next season, who knows.

Love what they're building.

[tsherkin]

Cade needs to clean up the turnovers and shoot better, but with his intelligence and the way he can control pace, he'll get there sooner or later.

I think of all things Cade, his creation-related turnover percentage isn't really going to be an issue. He's a pretty sound and effective playmaker. His scoring game has a very large distance to go, of course, but as the team spaces more effectively, some of that might improve as well. He only had two guys clicking from 3 around him against the Knicks, for example.

He's making good progress in a lot of areas, and if the Pistons can get some more scoring around him, a lot of that becomes at least slightly less problematic.

people need to chill with their cricism on cade and dont act like OG and Mikal are some scrubs. this was probably the best strecht of defense, that he had to overcome. like in his whole career. and he barely had help.

dude is 23 and legit

It wasn't an awesome defensive matchup for him, no doubt. It does line up with his RS issues, though. It is worth noting that one of his large problems in the series was his abysmal 3pt shooting. He shot 16.1% on 4.2 pull-up 3s per game in the series. He shot 20% on the 1.7 3s he took where a defender was 6+ feet away, and 14.3% on the 2.3 where the defender was 4-6 feet away.

In other words, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn when the defender wasn't really anywhere near him.

That means he hit a shooting slump, and was probably a bit of sorts from the effort involved elsewhere. AND it's worth mentioning that he logged 41.3 mpg, having never passed 35 mpg on a season to date (35 being his career-high, set this season). So he probably lost his legs a little bit. Maybe he can work on that with conditioning going forward.

[jasonxxx102]

Detroit got robbed of an opportunity to win this series by the officiating, but then again, if you live in Detroit, you are probably used to getting robbed by now.

This series was a tough watch some of the Brunson flops would make Embiid blush. To me it's more surprising NYK felt they needed to win this way because to me they along with the Celtics were 1 and 2 talent wise at the start of the year. To me this series is less about Detroit and more about the east it looks like the Cavs and Celtics are on another level than the Knicks right now

There’s always someone

[BAMAFREAK]

They need shooters. What would they give up for Desmond Bane? He’d fit nicely with Cade

[Capn'O]

We bring back Schroder and Beasley, but not Hardaway.

Man, I'd go the other way with Hardaway/Beasley. Beasley has more talent but you need good heads around Ivey and Cade and Hardaway is a consummate pro. Beasley... he was talking reckless and playing reckless this series and you don't need that when you're trying to build something real.

I like the idea of you going for Lauri and the calculus changes if that's in play. Beware of Ainge though.

Pretty sure you have no idea what Beasley meant to Detroit this year. Good vibes, relaxed approach, really fit in perfectly.

Anyone that wants to erase all that because of a mostly bad series (which Hardaway also had) is myopic.

Yea, you need stable vet leadership. Tobias and Hardaway were that. But you also need guys to cut off the pressure and make it enjoyable. And you don’t need “good heads around Cade”. Cade IS the good head.

I’m 95% sure Beasley will be back.

I don't want to belabor this too much. I'm sure he's a fun guy and helped with the vibe but you've got guys like Tobias and Ausar that do that without leaning unprofessional. You have a guy calling his playoff opposition mentally weak - effectively calling Jalen Brunson mentally weak - in the press among other dumb comments and then folding in key moments. I heard him say that and it's like "yup, that's the guy who's gonna mess it up." Now he's talking that he's the best shooter in the world. Unless that's a superstar with a track record, you don't need that guy around a team that's looking to do something. You can get another vet guy. Cade is solid, you're right. But for the other guys a more mature vet voice could help more.

Between these two guys, in one game you had Hardaway scrambling on a broken play and probably should have gotten the foul call and you have what Beasley did. Hardaway was ready and did everything right even if his execution left wanting. I want the guy who's going to have full focus in these tight moments helping to prepare my young guys. And it's not Beasley's first time coming up small in the playoffs. If you're getting vets it should be vets who have been a part of a winner and can lead by example.

[chilluminati]

But in the end, we are too young to win anything yet. We're too inexperienced, and it showed.

I'm part of the group that fell in love with this unit as a viewer glued to the notorious losing streak last year. I was very adamant as it was happening that if they could mentally push through that then there would be huge dividends going forward and we're seeing the very start of the payoff now.

Up and down the bench, the individual growth and experience of going to the depths of a historic losing streak to battling in the bright lights of MSG in a little over a year is an incredible growth journey for these players

The heart, buy-in and effort exists in orders of multitude for this group. Skills will develop naturally, but now they have a taste for blood and will be the hungriest team to return next year IMO. It's huge that they now have confirmation that they belong and Iook forward to seeing what they do with it.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[Billl]

What can you say about a team that tripled it's win total from the prior year? That's just a monumental turnaround and the FO, coach and key guys all deserve a ton of credit. It was also a fun group to root for all year. They played hard on both ends and put the D back in Detroit Basketball. Cade ascends to all-nba level and the other young guys all improved too.

Going forward, they still need a reliable #2 scorer. You can't just run Cade on pick and roll for 48 minutes a night. Maybe one of the young prospects steps up, but they will probably need a consolidation trade. They are pretty well stocked with young prospects and won't have any picks owed after 25, so they have the potential to keep building on this foundation.

[ConSarnit]

Curious to see how expensive Malik Beasley will be for them to resign. He was second in the nba in total 3 pointers made at 319 (just 1 behind Antman) and he shot 41.6%. I'd think he's looking at MLE level money from another team. They're in a bit of a weird situation with him because he's only been there 1 year and was paid $6M, I think the most they can offer him, without using the MLE, is $7.2M.

Edit - looking at their cap situation, they have some wiggle room under the cap maybe about $25M give or take so in theory they could split that amount between some combination of Beasley, THJ & Schroder. Or they could renounce all 3 and throw that 25M at a free agent or maybe use the space in a trade.

The Beasley situation is precarious and was one of the reasons I didn’t really trust DET in the playoffs. He was a big part of Detroit’s regular season success but you can’t count on him in the playoffs. So now a big part of your regular season system collapses in the playoffs because it revolves around Beasley. DET needs him (or a player like him) but you know there will be no payoff at the higher levels. Do they keep rolling with the him in the regular season knowing you can’t trust him in the playoffs? I guess he’s worth close to the MLE but I would always be looking for ways to make my team more playoff resilient if I had a team so reliant on a guy like Beasley.

[ConSarnit]

Man, I'd go the other way with Hardaway/Beasley. Beasley has more talent but you need good heads around Ivey and Cade and Hardaway is a consummate pro. Beasley... he was talking reckless and playing reckless this series and you don't need that when you're trying to build something real.

I like the idea of you going for Lauri and the calculus changes if that's in play. Beware of Ainge though.

Pretty sure you have no idea what Beasley meant to Detroit this year. Good vibes, relaxed approach, really fit in perfectly.

Anyone that wants to erase all that because of a mostly bad series (which Hardaway also had) is myopic.

Yea, you need stable vet leadership. Tobias and Hardaway were that. But you also need guys to cut off the pressure and make it enjoyable. And you don’t need “good heads around Cade”. Cade IS the good head.

I’m 95% sure Beasley will be back.

I don't want to belabor this too much. I'm sure he's a fun guy and helped with the vibe but you've got guys like Tobias and Ausar that do that without leaning unprofessional. You have a guy calling his playoff opposition mentally weak - effectively calling Jalen Brunson mentally weak - in the press among other dumb comments and then folding in key moments. I heard him say that and it's like "yup, that's the guy who's gonna mess it up." Now he's talking that he's the best shooter in the world. Unless that's a superstar with a track record, you don't need that guy around a team that's looking to do something. You can get another vet guy. Cade is solid, you're right. But for the other guys a more mature vet voice could help more.

Between these two guys, in one game you had Hardaway scrambling on a broken play and probably should have gotten the foul call and you have what Beasley did. Hardaway was ready and did everything right even if his execution left wanting. I want the guy who's going to have full focus in these tight moments helping to prepare my young guys. And it's not Beasley's first time coming up small in the playoffs. If you're getting vets it should be vets who have been a part of a winner and can lead by example.

Hardaway and Beasley are regular season players. Beasley sort of traps you when he has a year like this. Becomes super important to your system but then you can’t count on him in the playoffs. It’s like a good Buddy Hield season. You need their volume 3pt shooting but it usually falls apart come playoff time. It would be better if DET moved away from relying on a Beasley type player but I get that he helps you win regular season games so it becomes a catch-22.

If you have serious playoff aspirations you can’t be featuring guys like Beasley heavily so DET needs to pivot away from him. Not saying he shouldn’t come back but he can’t be as key to your offense as he was this year if you actually want to succeed in the playoffs. Any team who finds themselves saying “Beasley is really important to our system” needs to consider what that means for their ultimate upside.

[pwayknicks]

Great playoff series for them, and they are a resilient squad but hopefully for their fans sake they don’t just sign a bunch of these guys and run it back. They need to keep Thompson Cade and maybe Duran but the rest of squad needs to be up for sale. The coach also needs to go, before you go the way of thibs.


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[Beethoven]

Great season for them all things considered. Bright future. No one should be fired, they should keep building and work off of this experience, with gained wisdom and confidence. Hopefully they go to the NBA finals soon. Of any team, they are the most deserving of this.

[Capn'O]

Pretty sure you have no idea what Beasley meant to Detroit this year. Good vibes, relaxed approach, really fit in perfectly.

Anyone that wants to erase all that because of a mostly bad series (which Hardaway also had) is myopic.

Yea, you need stable vet leadership. Tobias and Hardaway were that. But you also need guys to cut off the pressure and make it enjoyable. And you don’t need “good heads around Cade”. Cade IS the good head.

I’m 95% sure Beasley will be back.

I don't want to belabor this too much. I'm sure he's a fun guy and helped with the vibe but you've got guys like Tobias and Ausar that do that without leaning unprofessional. You have a guy calling his playoff opposition mentally weak - effectively calling Jalen Brunson mentally weak - in the press among other dumb comments and then folding in key moments. I heard him say that and it's like "yup, that's the guy who's gonna mess it up." Now he's talking that he's the best shooter in the world. Unless that's a superstar with a track record, you don't need that guy around a team that's looking to do something. You can get another vet guy. Cade is solid, you're right. But for the other guys a more mature vet voice could help more.

Between these two guys, in one game you had Hardaway scrambling on a broken play and probably should have gotten the foul call and you have what Beasley did. Hardaway was ready and did everything right even if his execution left wanting. I want the guy who's going to have full focus in these tight moments helping to prepare my young guys. And it's not Beasley's first time coming up small in the playoffs. If you're getting vets it should be vets who have been a part of a winner and can lead by example.

Hardaway and Beasley are regular season players. Beasley sort of traps you when he has a year like this. Becomes super important to your system but then you can’t count on him in the playoffs. It’s like a good Buddy Hield season. You need their volume 3pt shooting but it usually falls apart come playoff time. It would be better if DET moved away from relying on a Beasley type player but I get that he helps you win regular season games so it becomes a catch-22.

If you have serious playoff aspirations you can’t be featuring guys like Beasley heavily so DET needs to pivot away from him. Not saying he shouldn’t come back but he can’t be as key to your offense as he was this year if you actually want to succeed in the playoffs. Any team who finds themselves saying “Beasley is really important to our system” needs to consider what that means for their ultimate upside.

There it is. Exactly.

ESPECIALLY, if that player becomes a distraction at playoff time.

[NYPiston]

This team is fool's gold IMO. I have some doubts as to whether this team will make it back to the playoffs next year if PHI is healthy. I even think ATL can also make a run.

IMO DET needs to pick up the phone and make a deal to get Cade some help otherwise they will end up like ORL very soon. Everyone except Cade and Ausar is up for sale

Orlando wasn't fools' gold, they were ravaged by injury and it took a while for Banchero and Wagner to get back to 100% after returning, Suggs was out as well. I expect them to bounce back next season.

Same with evaluating the Pistons. Ivey was out the last 4 months and Stewart in the playoffs as well so the group we saw in the playoffs will look different to start next season with those guys back,
With that said, they need an upgrade at the 4 and Cade needs to develop a take over mentality if they're to take the next step. Otherwise, this is a perennial treadmill lower end playoff/play-in team.

[cgf]

This team is fool's gold IMO. I have some doubts as to whether this team will make it back to the playoffs next year if PHI is healthy. I even think ATL can also make a run.

IMO DET needs to pick up the phone and make a deal to get Cade some help otherwise they will end up like ORL very soon. Everyone except Cade and Ausar is up for sale

Orlando wasn't fools' gold, they were ravaged by injury and it took a while for Banchero and Wagner to get back to 100% after returning, Suggs was out as well. I expect them to bounce back next season.

Same with evaluating the Pistons. Ivey was out the last 4 months and Stewart in the playoffs as well so the group we saw in the playoffs will look different to start next season with those guys back,
With that said, they need an upgrade at the 4 and Cade needs to develop a take over mentality if they're to take the next step. Otherwise, this is a perennial treadmill lower end playoff/play-in team.

Anyone hyping Philly and saying these Pistons or Magic are fools gold, are not to be taken seriously. Detroit may end up in the play in next year but they are building something real. Even if the 6ers beat up on bad teams in the regular season, they will just roll over in round one again.

[Jadoogar]

aside from the obious love for Cade and Ausar, i came away really impressed with Duren in this series. I didn't want a lot of pistons, but people always ranted about his defense. I thought he was solid this series and looks to be a good rim running center for Cade.

[Rafael122]

The worse thing Detroit can do is bring everybody back. I wouldn't bring back Beasley for example. This is how bad teams get stuck, they have one year of success and they run it back. Keep changing, keep evolving. It's clear they need to build around Cade, Thompson and Duren. They're getting Ivey back. I'd sign someone like NAW to shore up defense and outside shooting and they need like a swing 3/4 guy like a Jake LaRaivia or something.

[Chuck Everett]

The worse thing Detroit can do is bring everybody back. I wouldn't bring back Beasley for example. This is how bad teams get stuck, they have one year of success and they run it back. Keep changing, keep evolving. It's clear they need to build around Cade, Thompson and Duren. They're getting Ivey back. I'd sign someone like NAW to shore up defense and outside shooting and they need like a swing 3/4 guy like a Jake LaRaivia or something.

LaRavia would be a great pickup for them in FA. He's turning into a solid player. I might also be willing to kick the tires on bringing Jerian Grant back in trade (since Camara and Deni are taking those forward spots in Portland).

[cgf]

The worse thing Detroit can do is bring everybody back. I wouldn't bring back Beasley for example. This is how bad teams get stuck, they have one year of success and they run it back. Keep changing, keep evolving. It's clear they need to build around Cade, Thompson and Duren. They're getting Ivey back. I'd sign someone like NAW to shore up defense and outside shooting and they need like a swing 3/4 guy like a Jake LaRaivia or something.

LaRavia would be a great pickup for them in FA. He's turning into a solid player. I might also be willing to kick the tires on bringing Jerian Grant back in trade (since Camara and Deni are taking those forward spots in Portland).

F*** off, LaRavia needs to take the tax payer MLE to come to the Knicks and give us some real depth for next season

[Bornstellar]

Great season for the Pistons, I can only hope my Spurs have at least a similar outcome next year