Detroit Pistons | Game Theory Offseason Preview

Detroit Pistons | Game Theory Offseason Preview

Hello and welcome to the Game Theory podcast offseason preview series where Bryce Simon and I dive in and talk about all 30 NBA teams and the offseason that they have ahead and the decisions they have to make. Before we get into it, we’re going to talk about the Detroit Pistons today. We just got to tell you, go subscribe to the YouTube channel. Over 35,000 of you have done that already. We are immensely appreciative of everything that you guys do in order to support the show. Leave a like. Go hit the subscribe on the Spotify feed, on the Apple podcast feed, wherever you get your podcast, please. It helps the show grow so so much. Today though, we are focusing on Bryce Simons, Detroit Pistons. And Bryce, I feel like I’m just going to kind of let you lead the show today because you have your own cap sheet for the Pistons. You you know what’s going on with this situation you so much better than I do in all honesty. No. So, honestly, I’m excited to talk to you about this because it’s always fun to get outsiders perspective, especially on topic number one, which I think is the most important topic for the Pistons this off season, which for the non YouTube listeners is the extensions for Jay Navy and Jaylen Duran. It’s crazy that we’re already there for those guys, but their rookie extensions are available this off season. And I think both of them are very interesting conversations around those. So, it’s that it’s do you run it back or do you try to make a little bit more of a move? I think those are the the two real big things here and it’s all right there on the outline in terms of the questions you have for the Pistons this offseason. So before we get into the exact fit of like question number one here, which is the extension decisions for Jaden Ivy and Jaylen Duran, I almost want to go to question three to start. Okay? And this is something you and I have talked about for two years now, and we have more information now. We know what this team looks like now after a playoff run. They gave the Knicks an absolute hell of a playoff series in the first round. Does this young core for you with Kade Cunningham, Jaden Ivy, Assar Thompson, Jaylen Duran? I would throw Isaiah Stewart into that mix. I would certainly throw Ron Holland into that mix. Do all of these players and pieces fit together for you in a way that you are willing now because ultimately this is the summer where it comes to a head where you have to make your decisions financially. Do you think that this group of players fits well enough together to where you are willing to actually commit real dollars to them financially? Um, at this point I cannot say that I feel confident in in that they all do. There’s too much non Listen, how many players you just named six players, correct? Four of those are nonshooters. Like are are bad shooters. non shoot like Isaiah Stewart probably no not probably Isaiah Stewart has the best career three-point percentage of the four players I’m talking about and he regressed in terms of volume of three-point attempts the Assar Thompson shooting situation has been highlighted going back to pre-draft Ron Holland didn’t shoot it a whole lot better even though I do think Ron Holland has the best chance of shooting from the three-point line and Jaylen Dur like it’s just not really in his projection as at all and never has been. Yeah, Kade struggled from three in the playoffs. It was better in the regular season. Ji is actually the one, again, I I think people would be shocked if they went and looked at his three-point percentage this year. Ji finished at 40%. Now, 30 games before the broken leg, but we talked all the time as well, Jaylen Dur, Assar Thompson, what do they do offensively? A lot occupy the same space. And right now, Ron Holland is a slasher and a cutter more than anything. And so I I just right now the answer is no because there’s too many nonf flooror spacers. And this is why it plays into this question especially with Jaylen Duran in my opinion in terms of what are you willing to give that guy if you don’t think he can play with Assar Thompson because I don’t think you’re moving off Assar Thompson. And I mean everybody’s tradable. I’m not saying he’s untouchable but in general Assar Thompson should be very strongly in your future plans. And if he doesn’t fit with Jaylen Duran, then what what do you feel comfortable giving Jaylen Duran in terms of a contractwise? So, it’s funny you bring up the Jaden Ivy thing and you brought up Isaiah Stewart as a shooter. Between Isaiah Stewart and Jaylen uh Jaden Ivy, who do you think has the best career three-point percentage? [Music] Uh, probably it. Is it Stew? Surely it’s not. Okay. It’s It’s within 1% though. I was going to say, yeah, 34.5 for Isaiah Stewart versus 35.2 for Ivy. The thing for Ivy though is I do think Ivy took a big leap as a shooter this year. 45.2% off the catch from three this year. actually was at 35.9% off the dribble as well from three. Uh even last year like I thought that like there were strides as a shooter even he hit 35% of his catch and shoot opportunities last season as well. I feel really good about Jaden Ivy playing off of Cade. I still do. I feel that way. The key is going to be defensively. Can you get enough bodies on the court that like really are capable of making up for some of their limitations? Although I thought Kade did a pretty good job defensively in the playoffs to be honest with you. So I think that there are moments where you look at the three core players that we have at the top of our roster under contract sheet. Kade Cunningham, Jaden Ivy, Assar Thompson. I think that you can make that core trio work. If you’re going to have Assar on the court though in a playoff game, it has to be with a spacing big, I think, is where I’m at. It just has to be. And at that point now, you’re picking between Assar and Jaylen Duran because both of those guys are going to make significant dollars and you have to make a decision on Jaylen Duran making significant dollars now. I think if you are committed to Assar, and you should be committed to Assar, I would not pay Jaylen Duran is where I’m at. That that’s where I’ve landed as well. It’s it’s not as much of an indictment of who Jaylen Duran is or how much he has grown and and improved in his young career because I do think he made strides this year. I reference this all the time over on the Pistons Pulse and other podcasts. I say, you know, Sam hasn’t always been the biggest Jaylen Duran supporter or, you know, like a big the biggest fan defensively. And I said, “Yeah, but the biggest compliment Sam Bassini can give Jaylen Duran is that his two most impressive games were in game five and game six of the New York playoff series.” And that’s a huge compliment and rightfully so, much earned and deserved from Jaylen Duran, which is why I hate that we’re getting to this. 12 months ago, I was like, I I don’t even know, Sam. 25 games into this season, I was saying Jaylen Duran should get put on the bench and told to watch how hard Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed play and learn from it. Trejan Langden said in his exit interviews that he specifically said Jaylen really improved after the first 25 games of the season. Like, so everybody knows that it wasn’t good to start the year and then it grew throughout the season. So that’s why I hate this because I do think he showed maturity and growth and improvement, but I it’s just it’s a roster construction thing at a certain point and now it’s starting to affect what are our cap decisions and it’s happening now. Okay. So So here’s the other side of that, right? Sure. You’ve kind of brought up the idea of is there a big move out there? Like is there something that they could do to like really jumpst start this thing? Sure. Do you maybe keep Jaylen Duran and look to move Assar if that’s the case thinking that you could move Assar for something even greater than what you could move Jaylen Duran for like if Assar Thompson is like a centerpiece of a deal is there like a real dude out there that you could go get that that’s interesting because in that scenario in a world where Assar isn’t on the roster Jaylen Duran you know it doesn’t seem like his bad a fit right like depending on who this star would be assuming if He’s a star. He probably can shoot it. So if if it’s Kade Cunningham, Jaden Ivy, star that doesn’t have floor spacing issues, Tobias Harris, Jaylen Duran, like you’re you’re not worried about the overlap in terms of how those tend those two tend to gravitate to the same areas of the floor. My push back is I have said multiple times now, I would not make that move this off season. I am not in I am not necessarily interested in doing that right now because I I want to see what this team looks like next year. I know what Kade is. What if you don’t have to make a move for a start? What if Jay Nivy What if Jay Nivey takes another jump, right? I think he was like at 17 points per game on 40% from three. What if he can get to 22 points per game, Sam? What What if that is a real backcourt there? Assar takes a little bit of a jump with his ball handling and his finishing. Ron Holland becomes a two-way rotation wing. You know, like I’m not even saying like the ceiling of Ron Holland. It’s just what what there are guys on this roster that you can still get data on and figure out and have room for growth. And I’m not willing to undercut that just because quite honestly they just I don’t overachieve what like whatever they did this year was impressive but I’m not ready to jump start it in that way yet. I don’t think there’s actually a player out there that like really tracks for this to be honest with you. Like I I don’t think that there’s a dude out there where I’m like I have to do I have to go get this guy right? Like may if the if the Pelicans were willing to move Zion, that is where like it gets interesting to me. But even then, Zion and Jaylen Duran don’t work together. So I think that there is just not a player out there probably that I would move Assar for. Which means at the end of the day, my decision on Jaylen Duran is I’m probably just playing out this string for another year and seeing if the defense is consistent for a full season as opposed to what I would argue was like the 25 games at the end of the year going into the six games that they played in the playoffs. Yeah. Uh if he’s that guy, I’m for it. Like this sounds great. Like I I really liked what I saw from Jaylen Duran uh at the end of that Knicks series after he kind of figured some things out in terms of what the Knicks were doing. I thought he struggled early on, but then he like actually I like it was there was problem solving there in a real way. The Ivy one is like almost more difficult to me. The Jaylen Duran one is just like look if Duran’s willing to agree to a contract that’s like 20 million or less where it’s like a huge, you know, a huge bargain. I’m for it. Like I would just do that immediately. Is there a number where you’re like I would just do Jaylen Duran as an extension like right now? Yeah. Like that’s the number I’ I’ve said my thing with 223. Yeah. Yes. My my thing with Jaylen Duran’s extension offer is I think what I’m willing to offer him, he’s probably not willing to take in terms of his representation. And it’s because the center market is a disaster. Because if I’m Jaylen Duran, I’m saying give me Nick Claxton money. And if if I’m the Pistons, I’m saying, well, Nick Claxton money is 5 million more per year than Avita Zubox money, and you’re not better than Avita. And so it just the market is all over the place for it. I I think Ford where I would I wouldn’t want to give him the Claxton deal because the Claxton deal hasn’t aged great, but I I understand salary cap is going up. Anything above that, I’m starting to get really nervous. I would I would definitely sign up for 4 for 20, 4 for 22. Maybe you could talk me into the four for 25 and just, you know, four, you know, per year average annual value here. So, four for 100. That that’s my max right now, I think, for Jaylen Dur. I I I don’t think I would go over the Claxton deal, Sam. And if I’m him, honestly, I’m probably taking that into next summer at that point is the reality. Yeah. Like I I would like to see if I can get a bigger deal next summer than that. So, or may maybe look restricted free agency is hard. We talked about that in a couple of these other videos previously, like people don’t love going to restricted free agency, but also like Josh Giddy is probably going to get paid this summer in restricted free agency by the Bulls. So there there are real avenues to where guys sometimes just take deals because they want to lock in. It’s hard to turn down $90 million, guys. Like if I told you you are guaranteed to make $90 million over the next four years because that is the like deal that is being offered and that is what’s on the table. That [ __ ] is hard to turn down. Yes. Like that that is you’re just like looking at this and just being like man I’ve already made 20. I can lock in $100 million over the first eight years of my career. Are you kidding me? And Jaylen Duran, by the way, will be what? By the end of that second deal, he’ll still only be like 26, 27. Big contract. He’s younger than Assar. That’s it. So, like I don’t know if I’m the Pistons, that’s what I’m offering. I’m offering like in the low 20s and seeing if he takes it. If he doesn’t, I completely understand it and I’m totally fine with it. But there there is a number that I would agree to. I think it’s lower than what Jaylen Duran probably wants is the fairest way to put this. Right. I I that is that is exactly what I’ve been saying for a few months now with Jaylen Duran is I just I don’t think that the number I’m comfortable with is the number that he would take. So, and Jaden Ivy is almost more complicated because like you said, I think he was on the cusp of like something really, really special. Also though, and look, like here’s the thing about the Ivy. I think sometimes you will hear people say they got so much better once I left the lineup, right? Yeah. their four games right before Ivy left the lineup. They had beaten the Suns. They had beaten the Lakers. They had beaten the Kings all on the road and that was a Kings team that I believe had both De’ar and Sabonis. I I feel like I watched that game if I remember correctly. Sabonis did not play in that game. I say Fox played Fox had the foul, right? I think for the four-point play. Yes. Uh, and then they played in Denver and lost by like, you know, 10 to 12. And then, by the way, they beat Orlando the next night as well. So, they had won five or four out of five in those previous games, beating a really good, you know, a solid Orlando team, let’s say, was an injured Orlando team still, but like a decent team. They had beaten Phoenix on the road. They had beaten the Lakers on the road, and they had beaten Sacramento on the road. I think that the run was starting with Ivy before he got hurt. Assar also wasn’t in the rotation to start the season and this was still a team that was coming off 14 wins, new GM, new coach, new veterans, a rookie that played every single game except for one and was playing like it. This team was always going to take time to gel. So, I I I I will comfortably not agree with that narrative that this team was just better with Jaden Ivy or excuse me, without Jaden Ivy. I I don’t believe that to be true. Again, I always respect people’s opinions, but I I don’t I think that’s an easy narrative to push because they went on something. It it was going to take time to gel anyway. And again, we can’t talk about Assar Thompson in a certain light and then dismiss the fact that he wasn’t a part of most of those games that Jay Nivy did play in. And that’s another thing is I talk about being a little bit nervous about this team running it back with all the same players and just the it makes me a little bit nervous, but people bring up this that starting lineup right there, Sam, that squad barely played together. that that five of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Navia, Sar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jaylen Duran barely played together last season. Yeah. And looked like that might not even be the starting five at the end of the day. It may not, you know. Yeah. It might it might be because it, you know, could be, but you know, in those five games, by the way, that I referenced, Jaden Ivy had 19 points, four rebounds, three assists, uh, shooting 60175. small examples obviously, but like Ivy was on a heater before he got hurt is the thing too. Yeah. Yeah. He was on a heater uh on that stretch for sure. So, if I’m him, I look at what Jaylen again like the Suggs deal is the one we referenced with the Christian Brown deal. That’s probably the one I’m referencing here with Jaden Ivy. Like I think that I was really good last year. I know I only played 30 games. That’s probably the number I want. It’s probably right around 30. Maybe he would take less coming off the injury just to like lock in the money, right? Like you if someone offers you $100 million for four years coming off of an injury, m maybe he would do that. But I don’t know, man. Like that could look I don’t I don’t know if you care how it looks though if you’re getting the money. So, it’s it’s a he’s a hard one to me to try and come up with a number for. Yeah. Real quick, uh that fiveman lineup, whether we call it the starting lineup, whatever, of K, Ji, Assar, Harris, JD, two minutes. They played two. I honestly would have guessed that they hadn’t played together last year. So, yeah. Um, so my thing with Ji, so with JD, the conversation for me is, do you think him and Assar can play together? If you don’t, you prioritize a SAR or like you said, or do you consider trading a SAR? Like, do you hold JD in high enough regard and move ASAR for a bigger move? My thing with JI is here’s my here’s where I have a little bit of nerves with his contract. I think the outcomes of where Ji ends up in this rotation and in the pecking order has more variance. Like I know what I think Jay Jaylen Durren is for Ji. If you told me he ends up being the number two, like he is truly the Robin Decades Batman, I would believe you. I think that is an outcome. If you told me Ji ends up being a really, really good six-man, I would believe you. So, the thing is, what is the range of the contracts you actually want to pay your Robin compared to your sixth man? And that’s where like how do you thread that needle, Sam? because I’ve thrown out the idea of a descending contract, but then people push back. If you give him a descending contract and he’s Robin, how do you extend off that contract? And I actually don’t like that for him. So, I liked it initially. Somebody, one of our listeners over on the Pistons Folks brought up a great great point. I like that for Duran. I don’t love that for him. So, there you go. Like that’s what to your point that’s why Ji’s so much more complicated because I think the variance of what his role on this team could be is much greater than what Jaylen Durens is. And you know like if if you sign him up for 30 a year, how does that look? If it’s like man you’re actually our sixth man. May maybe it’s not maybe it’s not crazy detrimental. I don’t know. But that’s why I struggle at times with his number. So Trey Murphy signed a deal that was like 2728 a year, right? And he c he was coming off of 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, shooting 44381, right? You know, but his only played 57 games that year, right? Maybe maybe that’s the ballpark to me because I would say Trey was like slightly more accomplished at that point than what Jaden Ivy is. I would say Jaylen Suggs certainly was more accomplished because he’d made an alldefense team, was a huge part of that team taking a big leap the previous year. I’m like trying to find the number that I would be comfortable with and it is hard. Like Jaylen Johnson was just way more productive on some level, right? And he signed his, you know, I think his is 5150 as well. I mean, we’re assuming Giddy’s probably going to get somewhere between like 25 to 30 and he’s just like way more productive at the end of the day, like across the box score. I wouldn’t I’d rather pay Ivy than Giddy, but like, you know, that that’s just me personally. Moses Moody got like 15 a year. I would say Ivy is more accomplished than him. I would say he’s more accomplished than Corey Kiss. It’s a It’s a hard number. Like it’s a weird it’s a weird middle ground kind of to try and figure out is it more like 20 or is it more like 2728. I don’t see a world where Ivy takes 20. I think that the number probably settles in somewhere around 2728 if there’s a deal to be agreed to. So, I was I I typed in 30 million and 2627 for Ivy and 25 and 2627 for Duran into my cap sheet and that still has him 21 million under the cap, 66 under the first apron, but Tobias Harris is an unrestricted free agent and that’s no other free agents from like this season on what kind of deals they may hand out. So it I don’t know how that sounds to you, but to me that makes me feel a little bit better about maybe giving them those numbers because how what I’m seeing there is like the flexibility is not as like it’s still going to be there for them. They’re not like all of a sudden pushing themselves into, oh my gosh, we got to start worrying about the first apron if we give them those type of deals. I think and I think that’s on the high end. 30 million is probably around the the high end of what I’d want to give Ji Aav and I think 25 is the number for JD. If I can get them in below that, I’m signing them up. If they want more and especially significantly more, then I probably do let this thing play out to restricted free agency. I think I agree with you. I will also just say I would not blame the Pistons if they just played this entire process out. Sure. because they just want more answers on these guys because look, Jaylen Durren were working off of, you know, basically a 30game like positive defensive sample and Jaden Ivy just didn’t play during their best run. And while I agree with the fact that I think that he was on a heater and it looked like they were going to turn it regardless, I might just want more information on how it looks at the end of the day. Sam, they’ve had one I talked about data collection all year, right? It was one year of competent basketball. It was one like a we’ve seen Assar Thompson for half a little more than half a season with no offseason because of his blood clots. That’s all we’ve got because the his rookie year was an effing disaster. I I give I say this about Jaylen Duran all the time. If I’m Jaylen Dur and I watch Jaden Ivy get benched for Killian Hayes because he’s not doing what he’s supposed to and I still get to start every game, I assume I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing because the head coach continued to start me. So why would I change anything? Ji got benched. He was the one not doing anything. The coach would bench me if I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to. I must be doing it right. So we got one year of data. That’s not enough data collection. I shouldn’t say it’s not. That’s why there could still be reason for wanting more data collection. And Ji only got 30 games of that. These guys have played for three different coaches, Sam. Ji and JD. They played for Casey, then they played for Monty, then they got JB this year. Three coaches in three years for those two guys. So, I wouldn’t blame Trajan for wanting to know more. The other big benefit here though, if they do agree to a deal, is that the cap continues to rise and it’s just going to be really hard to sign bad extensions. I think unless guys like just can’t play and they aren’t rotation players, like it’s hard to sign bad extensions below $30 million right now if you think a player is going to turn into like a good solid rotation player uh or like a starting caliber. as long as they’re a starting caliber player maybe is the way to put it at 25 million and less 30 million and less as long as they’re starters like it it’s a good number with the way that salary cap is going to rise over the course of the next few years like you look at you know where that number is going to be in terms of like the multi-year tracker I mean that number is going to be up at like what is it it’s going to be 205 in 2028 29 it’s going to be 226 the salary cap like 226 and 202930. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. And you know 202930 would be if I remember correctly the last year of those extensions if they’re four-year extensions. So correct. Yep. You know the way that the cap is rising. It’s going to be hard to sign these guys to bad extensions. The key is though that making sure that you’re still make like solid on these guys fitting all together in my opinion. And I I think what makes me a little nervous. It’s not nervous, it’s just like cognizant is Kade’s numbers are big and especially at time of recording, we haven’t seen AllNBA, but we saw the MVP voting. Kade’s going to make AllNBA. Like, he’s not going to end up seventh or whatever. He ended up in MVP voting or eighth or whatever and not at least be on third team AllNBA. Looks like he’s tracking to be second team AllNBA, which means his number is going to kick in. And you know, so like his number that year you’re talking about is $68 million. And so those numbers like make me nervous initially like, okay, they can’t put themselves in cap hell by making bad decisions. But to your point, stuff under 30 with where the salary cap is going is probably going to be fine. And so I I should probably be a little more okay with a 4-year $100 million Duran deal, even if I would rather it be 4 for 88 or something, you know, and a 4 for1 120 Ji deal, even if I would rather it be 4 for 110 or something like that. By the way, we haven’t even gotten to the meat of like the craziness that can be their off season, right? So they have the ability to either be an overthe cap team or an under the cap team depending on the way that they decide to do. So frustrating. I I don’t like covering a team that’s in this situation. So the the way that this works is I can kind of go into detail. Yep. If they get rid of all of their cat holds and decide that they want to remove like Malik Beasley, Dennis Shruder, Tim Hardaway Jr., move on from all of these guys. They could have right around $25 million in cap space if they want to just move forward with that. If they do that, they would also have the room exception, which would give them $8.8 million, and they would have potentially the bianual exception to play with if they want to as well. So, like you can sign a player for $25 million, you can sign a player for $8.8 million, and then you can sign a player for $5 million is kind of the idea there. Or they can continue to operate over the cap utilizing the cap holds of Malik Beasley, Dennis Shruder, and particularly Tim Hardaway. They can use the full midlevel at 14.1 and the bianual if they want at 5.1. And they can retain Shruder. Probably not Hardway Jr. Maybe they do retain Tim is like a lower number, but you’d use his capold to stay over the cap. uh throughout the offseason if you wanted to go this way. And then Beasley is really the key one. Yep. Because my guess is that to retain Beasley, I don’t think it’ll be a full midlevel, but I think it’ll probably be part of a full midlevel if you wanted to do that. So, like if you didn’t want to retain Shruder and you didn’t want to retain Hardway, you could have the 25 million and you would need to hope that Beasley accepts a number at 8.8 or less. Yeah. Um, but if you want to retain Beasley, which I think that they do, like I that that’s my read is that like Beasley’s probably the one of these guys they want to retain. Would you agree with that? And they should. Correct. Yes. Yeah. It almost works better for them to operate, I would say, over the cap. Yeah. Utilize part of their midlevel for Beasley, who has non-bird rights because he signed a one-year deal last summer, which means they can’t give him more than do you have the max number on his non bird rights. It’s it’s less than what he’ll take, basically. I think they’re better off probably operating over the cap. Yeah. And I will say that that number, we ran into this with Mobly and the Cavs number as well. I I think the number ends up closer to 20 million because of the Cade AllNBA stuff. Um if in terms of the cap space, I think it’s closer to 20 million in cap space if they decided to operate under the cap. I I just I assume they’re going to operate over. And you know the interesting one is like you know when you saw this rotation last year that again like we highlighted that was without Jaden Ivy. So where do his 30 minutes a game come in in terms of Tim Hardaway Jr. Beasley they traded for shooter like all of those were good moves. They paid off like all of that but there’s not enough rotational minutes for all of those guys in the back court. So I think one guy is going to be odd man out and probably isn’t on this team next year. But as you said, you kind of want to use the Tim Hardway Junior cap hold to operate over because that’s probably your best way of keeping the guys you want. Unless you’re like, you know what, we don’t need we’re not going to keep Shruder either. We can go cap space and we can sign Beasley for 10, 11, 12, whatever, have another 8 to 10 available, have the room at $8 million and play the free agency market that way. I mean, I I think there are some avenues here. And it’s not just like a big $20 million free agent signing either. It I just don’t know what they’re going to value in terms of Shruder, Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and like I would love to get into Kill Alexander Walker. Like that’s the name I love for this team, but with that said, it’s like, okay, you got to find the minutes for him. And then where does that money come from in terms of like can you go to Capace and get Beasley and NAW? I I I think you’re really like I think you’re really really close. Unless the other option here, Sam, is if they dumped Fonteio. Fonteio gets you up closer to like 27 to 30 million. He didn’t have a great season shooting the ball. that could be a path as well if they did want to go the under the cap route and and really kind of be real players and get over 25. So the the thing here is trying to figure out names that work for them, right? And to be honest with you, this offseason, like I don’t know that there are a ton of names that are better than them just playing over the cap and retaining Beasley and Shruder, right? That that’s kind of my main issue here. So, you and I have talked a bit about Brook Lopez. Like, I think Brook Lopez makes sense for this team. I would love to see, you know, a spacer with Cade. Like, I I think that would be really interesting. Just get a test run of it. But if I’m Brook Lopez, like you’re muted. I I don’t know if I would like proof of concept. Yes. Yeah. I would want the proof of concept, but if I’m Brook Lopez, like I probably need real money to go to Detroit. Yeah. Instead of like, you know, he’s from LA. Like I think that both the Lakers and Clippers could realistically use him, right? Um you kind of look through I mean it it’s hard to find the guy that like truly works here in my opinion. Like the the position that I would love I would love them to get like one more bigger you know forward type body, right? Yep. Uh I I don’t know how to find that is my issue though. Okay. Is there is there a world again like we keep talking about PJ Washington right with all these teams because PJ it seems like is Oddman Audi in Dallas uh with them likely selecting Cooper Flag in the draft like is there a Fonteo plus stuff for PJ Washington deal? Sure I think that would be interesting. Um I do think yeah that is interesting. Maybe he’s the fourman of the future after Tobias starts to phase out um at his age. I’m not giving up a first round pick and I don’t know if Fonteio plus seconds and you know here’s the thing. Would Dallas be interested in Fonteo and Sasser? Like Fonteio Sasser and you throw in some seconds. Um I don’t know if that’s great. I mean here here’s here’s an interesting one. Are they interested in a sign and trade for Dennis Shruder? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But does that make sense for them with the way that, you know, Kyrie’s likely out for a substantial portion of next season? That’s a guard that could really work for them. Yep. Shooter would I can’t remember how close they are to the tax off the top of my head to be able to like figure out can they just sign him to their non-t taxpayer mid level. Um they do have some second apron space, but they are four over the tax already it looks like for next season. And that’s without the Kyrie deal that is forthcoming or no that’s including his 43. So I think they probably would need to sign and trade and I don’t think they’re going to be a second apron team. So I think that they probably can actually do something like this. Yeah. Yeah. They they could probably pull off a signing trade. I think Dallas No, that that one’s really interesting. I will tell you the big that I’ve kind of warmed up to since the thing in Boston happened is out Horford. I think out Horford would be awesome for this team for the proof of concept that we were talking about earlier. And I think you could even do like because Horford you like could probably do some like him and Isaiah Stewart together in the second unit even because Horford can space the floor and and some different rotations like that. So he’s the one I again I just don’t know what those guys are kind of signing up for. looking to the other the wing that I love is Sam Merrill like depend like I just want that be amazing you continue to get floor spacing and shooting and that’s what I brought up the other day on the Pistons pulse was everybody wants to just kick Tim Hardaway Jr out of the lineup fine but I think he made the second most threes on the team you know he’s a volume like you have to replace you can’t just like you have to have floor spacing this was a team that it finally got a little bit and they flourished overall. Um, but they were still 17th in three-point percentage this last season. And their defense is really actually what kind of catapulted this whole thing. You can’t regress in terms of floor spacing and shooting, especially if you want to continue to figure out what is JI, what is assar, what is Ron Holland. Yeah. No, I I agree with that. I was kind of playing with the potential signing trade, you know, PJ Washington, Dennis Shruder. I think they’d probably have to give up a little bit more than Shruder, but not much more, honestly. So, that’s that’s an interesting one to me. That works. Um, okay. I I agree with you on Merryill. I think that’s a really good idea. I think that’d be a perfect replacement for Tim Hardaway Jr. They have the number 37 overall pick to be able to like kind of even out some potential moves here and there. Yep. I think that this team like should essentially be looking to run it back with some like minor tweaks is where I’m at. That that’s where I’ve landed as well in terms of I I don’t mind like depending on what they feel like the market is and you know like the Shruder for PJ type of idea realm whatever stuff like that is all I’m expecting. I I am not looking for them to be big. They just got back. Well, they don’t even yet. They’re just about to get back full control of their draft capital after this draft that finally conveys. I I don’t anticipate Traan just going to move it all right away again in a big move. Um figure out what you have. Let that stuff settle a little bit. If Kate is like all NBA again and you know, you really get a couple data points on a couple of these other guys and you feel like you’re ready to make a mo move and the East is wide open, do it at the deadline. Make your move at the deadline. But for me, that’s the earliest I would want to make that type of move. But again though, if you do it at the deadline, you have less flexibility if you extend Ivy and Duran. It’s the fun thing. That’s what makes this off season so complicated. I feel like they have so many different options on the table and they really have to make difficult decisions now financially on young guys that they maybe don’t have enough data points on to be able to make those choices. Way better than making decisions after a 14- win season though. Sam, that is true. Uh, I think if I was recommending I would probably try to look at like moving Shruder for PJ, operating over the cap because that like allows you to stay over the cap as you continue to do that. Uh, try to retain Beasley using their mid level and then, you know, probably looking at Hardaway and maybe retaining Tim Hardaway that way, like a cheaper dollar figure. Yep. I feel like that’s an interesting summer for them and then they figure out the extension stuff. Bryce, tell the people where they can find your work. Tell the people what’s going on. Yeah. Motor City Hoops on Twitter on Blue Sky. I got the Substack, which if you’re watching this particular offseason breakdown, the one of the 30 that this really makes sense. Motor City Hoop Substack, all Pistons content over there. The Pistons Pulse. Again, the one time it really hits home. If you’re watching this, me and Omari Skele for the second otherwise right here, Game Theory podcast with the Sam Bassini. I think nobody will be surprised to know that uh the Pistons offseason preview is the longest one that we have recorded to this point. Y look, they were I told you this was going to be a complicated one. They have so many different options. You were like, “No, this is easy. This is where we’re at. Uh the Pistons, you know, this is fine.” Okay, go to the Athletic. Keep me employed over there. Go hit the subscribe button over on YouTube. It really helps support the show. Go hit the subscribe button on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your listening platforms. Hit the like button, hit the five stars, the thumbs up, whatever you can. We’ll be back tomorrow probably with more offseason preview content. Until next time, we’ll talk soon. Bye. [Music]

In this Game Theory offseason preview, Sam Vecenie is joined by Bryce Simon discuss the future of the Detroit Pistons

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Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.