How would you feel if we were the Pistons right now?

[djsunyc]

21-19

young team but also playing vets

in another alternate universe, if we were healthy from day 1, we could've been somewhere around .500, especially considering all the close games the first 2 months playing rookies and undrafted players.

many folks want to tank for a draft pick.

some folks want to win.

right now pistons project to be around 41-43 wins - would you be happy with that?

[Gavin_TDThree]

I think you'd have to feel pretty good.

Cade is looking like a true number 1 option and potential superstar.

Ivey was showing a lot of promise before getting hurt, Duren looks solid overall.

Holland and Thompson have upside although haven't blown you away yet.

The hardest thing to do when rebuilding is finding that number 1 guy that you can build around. Having Cade instantly makes the rebuild that much easier. Now you can go out and find guys that fit with Cade and build organically.

They're still looking for that 2nd guy to play along Cade which maybe is Ivey potentially. I'd like to see the Pistons go out and get a Kuminga (or equivalent). Someone who is young with high upside that can play alongside Cade

[douggood]

ZERO playoff wins since 2008
made playoffs 3 times since 2008
swept all 3 times
anything would be a breath of fresh air

[Mr. Perfect]

21-19

young team but also playing vets

in another alternate universe, if we were healthy from day 1, we could've been somewhere around .500, especially considering all the close games the first 2 months playing rookies and undrafted players.

many folks want to tank for a draft pick.

some folks want to win.

right now pistons project to be around 41-43 wins - would you be happy with that?

41-43 wins isn't an enviable position no, but I wouldn't necessarily cap them there, they're playing hot right now and poised to add some talent at the deadline. Don't be shocked if they hit close to 50.

We've been going back and forth the last several years over whether Scottie would go over Cade in a re-draft. Cade looks better this year than any version we got of Scottie. I think we may have to close the book on that one now.

The more years that pass by, it's looking more like we got the Tyreke Evans of that draft. Scottie is just such a disappointing player.

[Lord_Zedd]

I mean, given Detroit's situation over the decade. 16 years without a playoff win, and being the worst team in the league only to score a 5th overall pick in some draft years - I'd be thrilled if I was a pistons fan.

[Thaddy]

Probably the worst run team in the NBA. I wouldn't mind the young talent though. I would prefer us in 3 years time.

Barnes
2025 Top 7 pick
2026 Top 10 + Top 15-20
Quickely
Barrett
Dick
Walter
Mogbo
Battle
Shead
Agbaji?

Vs.

Cade
Ivey
Duren
Thompson
Holland
Stewart
Sasser
Klintman

If it wasn't for injuries and better chemistry and coaching we could be where they are now. I would take our roster especially with us being better drafters and having 3 good picks coming in over next year. I also think Battle, Mogbo, Walter, Shead, and Chomche should yield a couple solid rotation players. As of now everyone of those guys looks good in their own way.

Barnes vs Cade:

Barnes is better on defense and there's a clear path to him getting better on offense. I can't say the same about Cade. He isn't very big or athletic and has defensive concerns that could make him a target. He's better now but that gap gets smaller year over year.

Supporting Cast

Ivey is better than any prospect we have other than Barnes. I think we get a great 2nd guy to Barnes in this draft. Whether it's Harper or a lower pick like Maluach there's good pieces here who could be better than Ivey.

[HumbleRen]

Might not be great long term wise but if you have to feel good about your franchise player putting up all nba numbers and is the main catalyst of why they’re a .500 team.

[Thaddy]

Might not be great long term wise but if you have to feel good about your franchise player putting up all nba numbers and is the main catalyst of why they’re a .500 team.

He's pretty much at his ceiling.

[Tofubeque]

All I know is this board would be furious that we spent on vets instead of gunning for Flagg/Harper to pair with Cade

[HumbleRen]

Might not be great long term wise but if you have to feel good about your franchise player putting up all nba numbers and is the main catalyst of why they’re a .500 team.

He's pretty much at his ceiling.

Disagree to an extent. He can become a much better shooter, he’s already made a huge leap in his pull up ability this year.

But yeah, he’s not making a huge leap on offence anymore, neither will Scottie or any other guys in the draft class from 2021. You’re kinda are who you are by year 4 unless you just haven’t had the usage to showcase your potential like players drafted in the teens or 20’s such as Sengun, Trey Murphy, Jalen Johnson, etc.

[LoveMyRaps]

Might not be great long term wise but if you have to feel good about your franchise player putting up all nba numbers and is the main catalyst of why they’re a .500 team.

He's pretty much at his ceiling.

lol

[HumbleRen]

All I know is this board would be furious that we spent on vets instead of gunning for Flagg/Harper to pair with Cade

Kelly, Bruce Brown and Boucher combined make more than Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr combined. Everyone else on the roster that plays real minutes are basically in their early 20’s.

[tecumseh18]

The more years that pass by, it's looking more like we got the Tyreke Evans of that draft. Scottie is just such a disappointing player.

Because Scottie may not be as good as (but is a much better defender than) the consensus #1 in that draft?

[Shakril]

Happy, cause it is the best season since 8 years - which is still just ok in a bad eastern conference
But it doesnt change the fact, that tanking failed and essentially it is just a case of it could only go up.

[Zeno]

All I know is this board would be furious that we spent on vets instead of gunning for Flagg/Harper to pair with Cade

Kelly, Bruce Brown and Boucher combined make more than Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr combined. Everyone else on the roster that plays real minutes are basically in their early 20’s.

Yeah but they haven’t played as much and have contributed near zero to winning. Closest we got is last game with Boucher. If you took Hardaway, Beasley and Tobias and switched them for Bruce, Kelly and Chris, they’d have 10 or fewer wins and Cade would look worse. Of course perhaps our plan was to play those guys and have them be good and helpful so it is a lucky accident I suppose.

How many wins would we have if Tobias, Hardaway and Beasley played in our regular rotation and the rookies were strictly 905 bound. I think we’d be in the 15 win range and the worse for it.

[YogurtProducer]

All I know is this board would be furious that we spent on vets instead of gunning for Flagg/Harper to pair with Cade

Kelly, Bruce Brown and Boucher combined make more than Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr combined. Everyone else on the roster that plays real minutes are basically in their early 20’s.

Raptors vets = 46.6M (you missed Poeltl, which puts us closer to $65M tho to be fair).
Pistons vets = 47.4M (but missing Simone)

Pistons have 4 "vets" in their top 10 in minutes (Harris 2nd, Hardaway 3rd, Beasley 4th, Simone 8th)
Raptors have 2 "vets" in their top 10 (Poeltl 1st, Boucher 7th), Davion is 6th but weird to call a guy on his rookie deal a vet in the same way)

In fact, I think the average age of our rotation is younger than Detroits.

Looking at salaries is just a busted way of looking at this.

[deck]

I would feel good to be the Pistons this year. Cade is improving year over year. They've stabilized the franchise and can now focusing on maximizing the players they have on the roster.

I don't think Cade is in the superstar tier, but he is close. Eventually you gotta 'love the one your with'. Short of drafting a Wemby or a Lebron, there is very little certainty in drafting young players. At some point, you have to put chips on the table, and make a move. Feels like the Pistons are in that zone now.

[Zeno]

I think people are missing the point of the question. It is not how you’d feel as a piston fan starved for a decade for anything resembling success, it is how would you feel if the Raptors were achieving success in the manner the Pistons are.

My answer is pretty bad outside of if Scottie was looking all-nba but even then he’d be getting a supermax next year too.

[HumbleRen]

All I know is this board would be furious that we spent on vets instead of gunning for Flagg/Harper to pair with Cade

Kelly, Bruce Brown and Boucher combined make more than Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr combined. Everyone else on the roster that plays real minutes are basically in their early 20’s.

Raptors vets = 46.6M (you missed Poeltl, which puts us closer to $65M tho to be fair).
Pistons vets = 47.4M (but missing Simone)

Pistons have 4 "vets" in their top 10 in minutes (Harris 2nd, Hardaway 3rd, Beasley 4th, Simone 8th)
Raptors have 2 "vets" in their top 10 (Poeltl 1st, Boucher 7th), Davion is 6th but weird to call a guy on his rookie deal a vet in the same way)

In fact, I think the average age of our rotation is younger than Detroits.

Looking at salaries is just a busted way of looking at this.

Sure but framing it like they sold out their future or something by acquiring players that other teams didn’t want is downplaying their success.

Nobody expected them to be. .500 team before the season started. Ivey was playing really well before he got hurt, Ausar is just coming back from bloodclots and Duren is still their starting center.

The return of Kelly and BB have already pushed Mogbo and Jakobe out of the rotation, it’s not like we wouldn’t be playing them if they weren’t hurt for 70% of the season.

[HumbleRen]

All I know is this board would be furious that we spent on vets instead of gunning for Flagg/Harper to pair with Cade

Kelly, Bruce Brown and Boucher combined make more than Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr combined. Everyone else on the roster that plays real minutes are basically in their early 20’s.

Yeah but they haven’t played as much and have contributed near zero to winning. Closest we got is last game with Boucher. If you took Hardaway, Beasley and Tobias and switched them for Bruce, Kelly and Chris, they’d have 10 or fewer wins and Cade would look worse. Of course perhaps our plan was to play those guys and have them be good and helpful so it is a lucky accident I suppose.

How many wins would we have if Tobias, Hardaway and Beasley played in our regular rotation and the rookies were strictly 905 bound. I think we’d be in the 15 win range and the worse for it.

They haven’t played much because they were hurt, it’s not by design.

Jakobe and Mogbo went from rotation players to being demoted to the 905 with BB and Kelly’s return.