Game 70: Pistons (30-39) @ Kings (23-48) - 10:00 PM EST

[bstein14]

Blake has been shooting over 40% from three the last few weeks after starting his Pistons career awful from beyond the arc. If he can keep shooting 40%+ from outside I have more faith in the Andre+Blake lineup working long term. Also, getting a backup center that can shoot from three, or letting Blake play some backup center when Dre is out is probably the two best options. I don't think Blake at center 36 minutes a game would be good because he often tries to bully his way through smaller PF defenders (lots of shooting PFs in the league today who aren't very good at defending a guy like Blake). You're seeing more guys like Tobias Harris play PF and less guys like Sheed or Corliss Williamson who have the strength to keep a guy like Blake from plowing through them in the post.

[Billl]

Not sure why some people forgot Blake is a star. 26/9/7 isn't an out of the ordinary game for him. He was averaging 22/8/5 prior to the trade. The guy is a beast.

As for PF's shooting from distance, there really aren't many high percentage shooting PF's that actually start in the NBA. There are a couple of guys over 40%, but only Horford is a starter. All of the other "shooters" are in the mid to upper 30's. This is Blake's first year taking any substantial number of 3's, but he's pretty clearly added that to his game. I'd be pretty surprised if his percentage doesn't continue to rise ala horford. He's never going to be Dirk from distance, but guys are going to have to play him honest out to the line.

[Global Game]

He's a good center, if you don't mind zero effort on defense. He's a pretty bad power forward by modern NBA demands, which is basically the ability to shoot consistently.

He is just a horrible fit next to Drummond, a complete non-shooter. I hope they trade out of Blake's deal this summer. I know they won't. Gores thinks he landed a superstar.

Ya his lateral quickness is pretty horrible now. And the vertical too. He needs to play with a stretch 4 and be our stretch 5 lol. Lordddddd
Maybe Leuer magically comes back next year and plats better than ever. He could help.

That would be his ideal position now. Where he can do 80% of his work around the rim, and still knock down an occasional 3 pointer, opposed to launching 5-7 a game. If you wanted any kind of success, you'd have to pair him in a shooting PF, that is also a rim protector. Not many of those unicorns out there, and even then, teams that have tried that still failed spectacularly because having a 5 that can't defend just spells failure. Orlando tried using Ibaka to cover up Vuc's defensive short comings. It didn't work. Milwaukee tried an aggressive defense to hide Greg Monroe. Both teams ended up benching their defensively useless 5's.

Drummond is the player we should keep, and do anything we can to off-load Griffin. This is what you'd do if Detroit employed any concept of team building, positional strength and fit. This is why I believe SVG wasn't behind the Blake trade. While he has lots of swings and misses, he always wanted guys who fit what he was trying to do- that's why he's never signed or traded for a big who can't shoot at the 4.

I've been looking for that rim protecting/floor spreading back up big to fit with Griffin and Drummond...that's also available/affordable.

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[ImHeisenberg]

I like that you're thinking outside the box. I saw Randolph has been playing overseas with Doncic. He may be worth tossing a cheap 1+1 deal at, if he is amenable to a return to the NBA. But, I wouldn't immediately slot him in as your starting PF. He hasn't proven anything in the NBA.

Regardless, I like the idea.