2023-2024 Regular Season Game 22: Detroit Pistons (2-19) at Orlando Magic (14-7) - 7pm

[RookieStar]

Black outplayed Ausar.

I really like Ausar, but the shooting piece is even worse than I expected and hoped for him.

And it sucks because he does a lot of things really well and he's clearly an A+ athlete, but he is just such a poor shooter.

I was very anti-twins due to the shooting mechanics. Then throw in the fact that they’re rookies with little high-pressure experience and nearly 21… I just couldn’t buy stock into them. That said, the defense and athleticism are legit.

Defense and athleticism? Develop them like Suggs. Thats a path to success right there.

[richi_v25]

But man this Det team is shockingly bad. They have a utter lack of basketball IQ and skill. They have athletes but minimal skill and absolutely no know how. No chemistry whatsoever. Det fans deserve better. Their young guys don’t pass the eye test.

thanks for recognizing this, i've been trying to say this on the pistons' forum but everyone is hellbent on blaming monty, as if any coach in the league could make this roster respectable.

it's not monty's fault that half the players can't catch a pass, play with no physicality, have low bball IQ and/or generally so lacking in skill. they'll hopefully make major changes but in the meantime i'm probably just going to watch magic and pacers games. i consider myself a pretty die-hard pistons fan i'm not going to torture myself.

I'm getting so old bc I feel like you guys just won a championship and when I Googled it was almost 20 years ago! Man time flies fast but if anyone feels your pain its definitely us the real Magic fans.

[SOUL]

Ausar will be fine imo, I'm actually interested to see the ball in his hands more. When he was in the starting lineup he was a real heady player. Still think he reminds me of Iggy. Will need a three pointer to keep teams honest.

[whitehops]

I feel ya. Magic were in a similar position with our first rebuild. Sometimes it just doesn't work out for whatever reason. I honestly think your best bet would be to package this next draft's high pick for an established star or blossoming player who wants out + 1 or 2 young guys who don't have a future and pair them with Cade + bring in some FAs.

It's either that or fully commit to the young guys... but I don't know if your fanbase could stomach a few more years of younger players learning the game and piling up losses.

Bojan and Burks scared me coming into this though, always kill the Magic.

thanks, and yeah they're definitely in a tough spot because they can't trade future picks and their players have very little trade value right now.

but i'm glad your rebuild has gone well, it's funny i've loved a lot of the guys you picked recently during my pre-draft scouting. absolutely though banchero should've gone first despite chet's defense and jabari smith being rumoured to go 1st (never understood that). loved suggs pre-draft, didn't profile as a lead guard but definitely someone you want on your team (marcus smart-ish?). i didn't really scout wagner pre-draft but loved what i saw afterwards and knew he was gonna be awesome after his rookie year. loved anthony black too. kind of like suggs where the skills weren't quite up to par but has all the intangibles of a winning player.

do you want to trade paolo, franz, black and suggs for cade, ivey, duren and ausar!?

[RookieStar]

I feel ya. Magic were in a similar position with our first rebuild. Sometimes it just doesn't work out for whatever reason. I honestly think your best bet would be to package this next draft's high pick for an established star or blossoming player who wants out + 1 or 2 young guys who don't have a future and pair them with Cade + bring in some FAs.

It's either that or fully commit to the young guys... but I don't know if your fanbase could stomach a few more years of younger players learning the game and piling up losses.

Bojan and Burks scared me coming into this though, always kill the Magic.

thanks, and yeah they're definitely in a tough spot because they can't trade future picks and their players have very little trade value right now.

but i'm glad your rebuild has gone well, it's funny i've loved a lot of the guys you picked recently during my pre-draft scouting. absolutely though banchero should've gone first despite chet's defense and jabari smith being rumoured to go 1st (never understood that). loved suggs pre-draft, didn't profile as a lead guard but definitely someone you want on your team (marcus smart-ish?). i didn't really scout wagner pre-draft but loved what i saw afterwards and knew he was gonna be awesome after his rookie year. loved anthony black too. kind of like suggs where the skills weren't quite up to par but has all the intangibles of a winning player.

do you want to trade paolo, franz, black and suggs for cade, ivey, duren and ausar!?

Dude run and hide. Ill distract them.

[whitehops]

Ausar will be fine imo, I'm actually interested to see the ball in his hands more. When he was in the starting lineup he was a real heady player. Still think he reminds me of Iggy. Will need a three pointer to keep teams honest.

he is a heady player, that's no doubt. the problem is his skills are really lacking, which showed up pre-draft. his handle is weak, he doesn't handle contact in any capacity well and even if he does get a driving lane he isn't a good finisher. that's all on top of his shooting, which teams don't even defend anymore. it's just hard to put him in any situation to succeed with the roster around him (no lanes for cutting, no cutters to pass to, etc.).

could definitely thrive iggy-style in the right environment.

[thelead]

I really like Ausar, but the shooting piece is even worse than I expected and hoped for him.

And it sucks because he does a lot of things really well and he's clearly an A+ athlete, but he is just such a poor shooter.

I was very anti-twins due to the shooting mechanics. Then throw in the fact that they’re rookies with little high-pressure experience and nearly 21… I just couldn’t buy stock into them. That said, the defense and athleticism are legit.

Defense and athleticism? Develop them like Suggs. Thats a path to success right there.

I dunno. Suggs has always had the mechanics down. And it’s not like they haven’t had years of professional trainers at their disposal to correct that shot. I hope they both figure it out though. They have nearly everything else. It’s just that putting the ball through the hoop is kinda important.

[KillMonger]

detroit situation is kinda puzzling to me....they got pieces there and cade is worthy of being 1st overall....so is it the coaching? they can't be this bad? is it the right mix of players?

[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

[eyriq]

Black outplayed Ausar.

LOVE TO SEE IT

[basketballRob]

detroit situation is kinda puzzling to me....they got pieces there and cade is worthy of being 1st overall....so is it the coaching? they can't be this bad? is it the right mix of players?

It's a poor roster construction, and they don't have enough high IQ bigs. The Locked-On Pistons guy blasted Weaver for an entire 30-minute podcast for the roster construction.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

[RookieStar]

Black outplayed Ausar.

LOVE TO SEE IT

Probably because im biased towards college ball I kinda thought Black had nore potential than the twins.

[basketballRob]

Black outplayed Ausar.

LOVE TO SEE IT

Probably because im biased towards college ball I kinda thought Black had nore potential than the twins.

He's 1 year younger.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

[thelead]

detroit situation is kinda puzzling to me....they got pieces there and cade is worthy of being 1st overall....so is it the coaching? they can't be this bad? is it the right mix of players?

Beef Stew is a bench big. Bagley is barely an NBA player. Wiseman is not an NBA caliber player. And they can’t shoot. I don’t find it too puzzling. Also, missing Duren is a KILLER for them with that front court.

[basketballRob]

Detroit has a really hard schedule for the next 15 games.

I wonder if they try to hire Hammond? He has a history with Detroit.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

[ogmagicfan]

Stewart shouldnt start, Bojan & Joe Harris coming back should help with their shooting even though it didnt help tonight

The big question is Cade & Ivey, and if they cant coexist, then they should move Ivey while he has trade value

[BlueBalls]

I love Cade and Ivey. But I wouldn’t trade anyone in our rotation for Ausar. He’s going to be a role player at best.

Livers, Bagley, Bodan, Wiseman - chaff.

[AaronB]

Didn't the Magic board have a Piston fan who was also a Magic fan and he used to post here quite a bit?

Wonder what happened to him?

[RookieStar]

Didn't the Magic board have a Piston fan who was also a Magic fan and he used to post here quite a bit?

Wonder what happened to him?

We had a lot of Pistons fans that posts here esp after that Darko trade...

[Knightro]

detroit situation is kinda puzzling to me....they got pieces there and cade is worthy of being 1st overall....so is it the coaching? they can't be this bad? is it the right mix of players?

I think it's pretty simple...

The Pistons have made four high lotto picks during this current rebuild and have ultimately come away with Killian Hayes, Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson.

Not a single all-star in that mix and perhaps not even a potential all-star.

I get that people are still high on Cade, but at some point it has to be acknowledged that he's in year 3 and only has a .515 TS% and is leading the league in turnovers while being a net negative defensively.

I'm not saying he can't still develop, but the deeper we get into his career, the more likely outcome is that he's just ends up being a pretty good player and not a franchise altering talent like Banchero (and perhaps also Franz).

That's really the only difference. The Magic have made four top 8 picks just like the Pistons have, but the Magic appear to have come away with two centerpiece-level players.