Will The Detroit Pistons Be An ELITE Team? The Athletic Ranks Detroit The 10th BEST Team Next Season

Will The Detroit Pistons Be An ELITE Team? The Athletic Ranks Detroit The 10th BEST Team Next Season

The Detroit Pistons will be a top 10 team in the NBA next season. At least that’s what the athletic thinks according to their rankings. We’ll break it down in today’s episode, Locked on Pistons podcast. Let’s go. You are Locked On Pistons, your daily Detroit Pistons podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. What’s the deal? Welcome back to another episode of the Locked on Pistons podcast. Per usual. I am your host Cuckah Hill. You can find me over on Twitter, Cuckoo Hill. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons over the last four years for the Locked On Network. Been a credential media member over the last three years. I appreciate all of your guys support, all the everydayers, everyone who makes Lock on Pistons your first listen every single day. I appreciate all of you guys. We’re on our way to 12,000 subscribers. If you haven’t already, please hit that subscribe button down below or you can leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. In today’s episode, we’ll be discussing is an Assar Thompson leap incoming? We’ve heard from multiple national media members, Zack Low, we’ve seen Vincent Goodwill’s podcast. We’ve seen multiple people, ESPN, we’ve seen multiple multiple people talk about Assar Thompson being the X-ack for the Pistons, that there’s going to be a big leap coming for him this year. We’ll talk about what that means and what a leap looks like from Assar next year. And then also I want to break down just how big of an impact I think Duncan Robinson will have on this team next year and why the Pistons need him to be really really good for them in order for them to even reach this top 10 ranking that the Athletic has laid out for them. So that’s where we’re going to start. Actually the Athletic put out their top 30 obviously their NBA rankings going into next season. And I’m not going to lie, kind of shocking to me, they had the Pistons 10th in this ranking. Now, I’m going to go through and let you guys know all the teams that were ranked ahead of them. And then obviously, we’ll talk about the teams that I was shocked to see the Pistons ahead of, but the teams that were ahead of the Detroit Pistons, again, according to the athletics power rankings, they had the OKC Thunder at one, the New York Knicks at two, which I think is pretty lofty for the Knicks, but okay. Number three, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Number four, the Minnesota Timberwolves. Number five, the Denver Nuggets. Number six, the Houston Rockets. Number seven, the LA Clippers. Number eight, the Orlando Magic. Number nine, the Golden State Warriors. And number 10, the Detroit Pistons. Those are the teams that were ahead. Now, here are some teams that were right behind the Pistons. The Los Angeles Lakers at number 11, the Milwaukee Bucks at 12, the Atlanta Hawks at 13. Do I believe the Pistons can be a top 10 team next year? I do think they can. Even though again when you first see these rankings, the first thing I I thought to myself like that’s that’s a pretty high ranking. That’s pretty lofty praise. And then you have to think about it. Indiana was in the top 10. They fell 13 spots in their power ranking because obviously Halleurn is out for all of next year and Miles Turner’s gone. So then you’re like, okay, that that’s one spot the Pistons move above the Boston Celtics. Right now I saw a death chart for the Boston Celtics a few days ago. They have former Piston Luca Garza projected to be their starting center now. Whether that actually happens or not, we’ll see. But like, you’re starting Luca Garza. All respect, I hope Luca Garza gets the chance. I hope he balls out. We all know that Luca Garza was a fan favorite and his dad Frank was came on the podcast. Great family, great people. So, I hope he gets a chance. I hope he balls out. But you’re starting Luca Garza at your center position. you’re probably not projected to be too high in some power rankings along with the Boston Celtics moving on from obviously Drew Holiday moving on from Christophorzingis along with Jason Tatum out being out for next year. Okay, so there’s another there’s another team that gets knocked down below to the Detroit Pistons. The Philadelphia 76ers, they have them at 17. Obviously, if they were all fully healthy, I think most people probably have them either right around the Pistons or ahead of the Pistons because of Joel Embiid and Paul George and Tyrese Maxi and Quinn Grimes and Jerry McCain. Like, that’s a good team, but will they stay healthy? Probably not. You like, it’s such a big if with injuries for the Philadelphia 76ers where you can’t even say if. You basically just got to say, well, they’re not going to be healthy and then if they are, like it’s it’s hard to even have an if with them. So, that’s another team that falls down below them. With that said, I was still pretty shocked to see them number 10, but the numbers from last year seem to suggest, and we’ve talked about these numbers uh plenty of times before, that the Pistons were not just a top 10 team in the NBA last year, they were around a top eight team in the NBA this past year. After January, or at least after January 1st, after the change of the new year, uh after January 1st, the Pistons had the fifth best defense in the entire NBA. Had a defensive rating of 111.2. This is better than the Portland Trailblazers, who I think people are sleeping on. They had a great defense the end of the year. But also ahead of the Golden State Warriors, the Indiana Pacers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, uh Cleveland Cavaliers had a better defense than them. Had a better defense than the Houston Rockets. Everyone just believes that they were that defensive juggernaut. Well, after January 1st, the Pistons had a much better defense than them. They were the fifth best defense in the league. January f after January 1st. Net rating. The Pistons had the seventh best net rating in the NBA after January 1st. This is right behind the Indiana Pacers who were in the NBA finals. They were 0.1 net 0.1 points behind the Indiana Pacers in net rating at plus 5.3. The Pistons had a plus 5.2 net rating. They were ahead of the Golden State Warriors. They were ahead of the Denver Nuggets. They were ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers. They were ahead of the Houston Rockets. And then also, if you just want to go through wins since January 1st, the Pistons had more wins after January 1st. Then the Memphis Grizzlies, uh, the New York Knicks, they had one less win than the Houston Rockets, the Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, the LA Clippers. The Pistons after January 1st put on a strong argument that they can be or should be considered a top 10 team in the NBA next year. And this is including potential improvements from K Cunningham, which I want to play this clip real quickly because I think we’re going to talk about how the Pistons could be a top 10 team next year. I think obviously point number one is Kade Cunningham. So I want to play this clip recently from the young man in the three. It’s no longer the old man of the three. It’s the young man in the three where they had former they have current NBA players along with Tommy talking about K Cunningham and what makes him special. I want to play that and then we’ll come back. What do you guys think make Kade so good? I think it’s his ability to get to his spots and then you never realize how like tall or you know the size of someone um paws. Yeah, that I’m going to just I’m going to save you for myself. He’s like he’s 6 He’s 6’9 and playing a point guard squad. He’s 6 67 68. He’s he’s he’s got great pace. He’s got great feet. He’s got a great midi. And I think the the poise that he has in pick and rolls, ability to back down, smaller guys in transition like that semi-transition. I think those things um have gotten better. Jumper’s gotten better. I think he’s he’s a menace in pick and rolls. He’s a menace in isolation. He’s got a mid post game and he’s 6667 point guard. Yeah, I mean feeling control is what it is like he you know his game is scalable when he came into the league. Um he had a skill set that you know you could see where the progression would lead to and and and this is that that’s what made him number one pick. That’s what made him pretty much kind of the consensus number one pick all throughout. So that was from Jordan Yang who obviously had to include that pause in there. Cameron Johnson and CJ McCullum. So obviously if the Pistons are going to be a top 10 team next year, then Kade has to continue along this this trajectory that he showed this past year. He was fantastic this past year, all NBA player. And I really liked how CJ McCullum included how he’s been a menace in as mismatches because of a bigger guard in semi-transition getting these smaller guards on him and really dominating from that mid-ost air. We’ve talked about that a lot recently, how he likes to get to that short 14 foot area, get to his floater or get to a short mid-range pullup. Kade obviously has to be the main reason why the Pistons become this top 10 team. Not just for like half the year, but for the entire year. The other part that has to happen obviously is improvements from the rest of the young guys. You need to see Assar Thompson get better. You need to see Jane Ivy come back be fully healthy for a full season and get better. You need to see J see Jaylen Duran get much better the next season because there are a few teams behind the Pistons I think will have an argument. Some teams I think will be trying to push to be above the Pistons next year. I think the Atlanta Hawks, I really like their offseason. I think they’ll be pushing to be trying to get ahead in the Detroit Pistons. The Los Angeles Lakers, I’m kind of shocked they had Lakers behind the Pistons with Luca and LeBron. I understand the roster isn’t great. I’m not a believer in their defense, but Luca and LeBron, if Luca’s fully healthy and back to his old self with those two guys again, will be a big push to knocking the Pistons out of the top 10. Those are the two main teams. I have one sneak sneaky team that I think could really be good next year. They’re in the Western Conference. I’m not going to say who it is. I’m going to sh save that for like our hot take episode when the season’s right around the corner. But there is one team in the West I think could really make a jump this year. Either way, if Cade takes another step and continues along this trajectory of being really good, the Pistons keep their defense, which I think will be I I think their defense should be around that margin around a fifth best defense in the NBA. As long as Assar Thompson’s healthy, I think they should be there along with, you know, having Assar and Kade and that size and in your starting lineup, I think that, you know, they should still be good defensively. I think they have to get better within their half court offense, which will be something we bring up. I have a bunch of stats diving into that that we’re going to bring up in the third segment here when talking about Duncan Robinson. But basically, the Pistons are at a position now where they are getting a lot of respect. They are getting a lot of attention. People are respecting them and putting them in this tier of teams that it it’s honestly shocking. If you would have told me a year ago the Pistons were in these kind of talks, I I I’d be flabbergasted. And this is where they’re at now. That’s a sign of respect. But that comes with expectations and people and these young players needing to get better. So, is it possible? For sure. Um, but again, it’s going to need a lot of improvement from the young guys and Cage going to continue to have to make that leap into maybe a top 15ish player to being a certified top 10 player, an allNBA second, all NBA first kind of talent and be one of the best players and push for like maybe it’s going to be hard for him to ever become the best in the East as long as Giannis is here, but be become like the second best player in the East. make it a a legit argument to where he can win that title. Um, and I think the Pistons could definitely be one of those teams next year. Let me know in the comments section down below or over on Twitter, Cook Hill. Do you see the Detroit Pistons becoming a top 10 team this year for the entire season? Do you guys think the defense from after January 1st was legit? Do you think the net rating that had them at the seventh best team in the NBA this past or after the January 1st, do you guys think that’s legit? Do you think that how can the Pistons build on that? What needs to happen? Let me know all that comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cuckah Hill. Coming up, Assaar Thompson has been the main topic of discourse among national media members that seems like everyone thinks there’s a leap coming from Assar Thompson this upcoming year. We’ll break down what an Assar Thompson leap would look like. We’ll talk about that coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by FiveHour Energy. Time to fuel up and turn it up with Five Hour Energy Transfusion. It brings the bold grape, ginger, and lime flavor of your favorite golf drink. Minus the alcohol into a quick energizing shot. 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Order transfusion flavored 5hour energy shots today again at 5our energy.com and use our code locked on golf to receive 20% off your order with 5hour energy. So I want to thank you guys again for make locked on Pistons your first list of every single day. We are free available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Lockdown Pistons, hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. Stay tuned later. We’re going to be talking about Duncan Robinson’s impact on this team and how important he is. I have a bunch of stats I want to get into here to really showcase how important I think Duncan Robinson is for the Detroit Pistons this year. And I’ll go ahead and spoil it. He’s very important. I I I think. Um, but let’s go ahead and get into Assar Thompson who has been like the main talking point of the Pistons community over the last week and a half. And why is that? All Zack Low on his show on his podcast discussed Assar Thompson. We talked about this last week and he said he believes there is a big leap coming for Assar Thompson this coming season. Now he said that he doesn’t know if it’ be an amen type leap but he thinks Assar is going to be the X factor, the biggest reason why the Pistons can make this leap and he thinks a big leap is coming for him. I saw in Vitz and Goodwill’s uh podcast, he had a guest on and they said top three players to really take this leap and break out next season. Number one was Assar Thompson. Thought Assar Thompson could have a big impact on the Pistons really taking this this next leap. Combined with that, first of all, let’s give it up to Assar and his brother. They were on the cover of a slam magazine. That is absolutely dope. I don’t know if you guys have seen if you guys haven’t seen that, definitely go check it out. Uh Assar and Amen also did like this interview. on um like four slam obviously and I I didn’t I didn’t think that Assar was the was the like talkative one because everything we’ve seen from Assar since he got to the league with like the Pistons media and the times I’ve gotten to you know interview him he’s always been like kind of reserved and we there’s always been like these Pistons fans have made these jokes about us are when it’s like he feels like he just doesn’t want to be on the camera like he just you know he gets uncomfortable when he’s put on the camera. So, I didn’t expect him to like dominate this interview and be the main one talking with Assar and Amen. But, he was he was just he talked the most out out of him and Amen on that interview. And he just dominated the conversation. He was very funny, too. It was a cool interview. But that all of that is contributing to Assar just being the talk of the town over the last week. He got cover on the Slam Magazine. There’s been a bunch of posts from even NBA’s Twitter account of him working out with Amen. I forget where they’re at, but um they’ve been tweeting out their workouts together. The the Thompson twins have been the talk of the town. Um combined with like we mentioned earlier with so many people suggesting that he’s going to have a big leap this this season. So I want to talk about what I believe a leap for Assar would look like. So the main thing that will contribute to a leap for Assar Thompson is simply just staying healthy. I mean we’ve talked about this a ton. those numbers that I brought up earlier since January 1st or the Detroit Pistons during the regular season. That is basically another way to put it is stats with Assar Thompson in the starting lineup. That that that is another way to look at those numbers. Assar played 59 games this year. He played 63 the games before. Now, both seasons, the reason why he didn’t play, you know, 70 plus games, whatever you want to call it, was due to this blood clot issue he had at the end of his rookie season that lingered all the way into the uh into December of his second season. Assar stays healthy and play 70 plus games. That will result in the Pistons, you know, should be in a Pistons improvement and it should result in a better season from Assar Thompson. He’ll play more than just the 22 minutes a game he played this year. He was still on a minutes restriction deep deep into the season. I still think he was in a minutes restriction. Even at the end of the year, somewhat in the playoffs as well. I I it rarely rarely did he ever cross 30 minutes a game. In the playoffs, he still played 22 minutes game. Now, part of that had to do with some of the foul trouble that he had went through earlier in the series, but even still, I I he didn’t look obvious in for obvious reasons. He didn’t look at the tiptop shape stamina wise, again, for obvious reasons. So, his his minutes per game were cut. Next year, I think he’ll be playing close to 30 minutes a game, if not more, and he should be healthy for the majority of the season. That, you know, Assar has not dealt with these crazy injuries. He’s been a healthy guy for the most of his career. Like, I that’s never been durability has not been a concern with Assar. Um, and one of the main things with Assar that I loved about him coming out of the draft was that it felt like his stamina was always 99 overall. He was never tired. And we saw that during his rookie year and then obviously all everything that went down. He didn’t get a training camp in offseason, whatever. So a full season playing full minutes I think will lead to a huge jump for him just from being available. I think that would be huge for him. The other area that I really think would launch Assar into this you know I don’t know um let me say what top 75 player in the NBA. I think he’s already a top 100 player in the league. And when you’re like as good of a defender he is um and great of an athlete he is I I in the impact you have on the game I think you’re just top 100 player like I think that’s he’s not going to be ranked a top 100 player because he didn’t play enough he doesn’t play enough minutes um and the Pistons are still somewhat of a surprising team and team not many people paid attention. I think he already is a top 100 player in the league, but for him to jump into like a top 70 player in the league, consensus, maybe even higher. He has to find a way obviously to become some kind of impact within the half court offense that isn’t just a dunker spot, you know, uh, feasting off of K getting twoon ball and then him cutting down the lane again that lob from Duran or whatever. That can’t be the only way he contributes offensively. I think the next the the next, you know, most possible way or the next biggest development for him that’s most realistic, I should say, is the improvement in his ball handling. If Assar can simply become a better ball handler, when he can run some ball screens, he can run some pick and roll. If you I went through his his game against the Philadelphia 76ers on the Substack last week and not just that game, if you go and look towards the end of the playoffs where Assar Thompson was averaging um six free throws a game, a lot of that was obviously the ball uh him operating with the ball in his hands, but a lot of that also was him just being hyperaggressive. And that’s the next thing for us. He has to become a much more aggressive and confident offensive player. Even if he isn’t the greatest shooter, that’s doing kindly. He’s not a very good shooter. And even if he doesn’t have the greatest ball handle in those last two games of the playoffs, he had 12 free throw attempts in one game and 10 free throw attempts in another game. in this game that I broke down and we’re gonna break down a few more games on the substack from him over the next few weeks. But this game I broke down against the Philadelphia 76ers. He starts off the game with backto back free uh drawing free throws from just being strong and driving to the basket going through a defender and forcing him to foul. He’s too good of an athlete. Great size, great wingspan. One of the best athletes we’ve ever seen. Like him and his brother are some of the best athletes we’ve ever seen. you should not be able to stop him going to the basket without following him. Especially if it’s a smaller guy on on him. But it all comes down to and this is the big difference. You people want to talk about the difference between him and Amen. There’s a few differences but the main difference Amen is a much more aggressive and confident slasher. He drives to the rim with reckless just just physicality and he draws fouls. He finishes at the rim. He dunked on everybody like he Amen is just the is just right now the much better slasher and confident slasher. Assara at times doesn’t want to get all the way to the he doesn’t drive all the way to the basket. Doesn’t seem like he’s as confident as a slasher or as confident in his ball handler. Sometimes he does it and it pops and we’re like, “Oh my god, that looked absolutely amazing.” And then there’s other times where we’re like, “Asar, just drive to the basket. Just like trust yourself. Go.” And if he can do that, he’ll draw more free throws. He’ll get he’ll score obviously score more a game. And this will unlock his passing ability. This will unlock his processing. And for him to get a paint touch and kick out to, you know, an open player, that’s what the Pistons need out of him. And in order for him to do it, he has to improve his ball handling. So the coaching staff trusts him to run some pick and rolls and then drive to the basket. That’s something he did a lot of in that Philadelphia 76ers game. I uh covered it over on the substack last week. Run some more ball hand or run some more pick and roll sets, maybe some DHOs, and then just become more confident of a slasher, more confident of a driver. You will draw more free throws. And that’s something he shot he shot a lot better from the free throw line towards the end of the season. Continue to improve as a as a free throw shooter. That will be big for him. Obviously, like the last what is this? the last 21 games of the year. He shot around 73% from the free throw line. That would be really good. That would be really good for him, especially if he ups his free throw attempt volume. That’s where I think Assar takes the next step just as a more aggressive driver. I don’t think he’s going to become a good shooter this year. If he were to do that, that’d be obviously fantastic, but I just don’t know if that’s realistic to expect. I I am not expecting that. I think he’s a a bit away from becoming a good three-point shooter. A bit away. why I do think he can become better at right now instantly and have a large impact, become a better ball handler so you can unlock your playmaking and and secondary uh ball handling reps and then also just become a much more aggressive driver. You’ll get more looks at the rim. He’ll score more at the rim. He’ll draw more free throws. He’ll get guys in foul trouble. And for a guy that gets if defenders are going to sag off of you as a guy who has to go against that aggressive drivers, especially hyper athletic ones, that’s not always the best solution to do it. Like look at how the teams guard a man. Look at how teams, let’s just say Giannis. Like these big drivers that maybe aren’t the greatest shooters. There’s a reason why teams have come out and said, “Well, people think you can just sag off with It’s not always the best thing because you give him a highway to the rim and if you give a great athlete just a highway to the rim, it’s going to be hard to stop him without following. So, if he just becomes more aggressive and more confident, he’ll draw more free throws. I think that will really lead to a big season for Msar. So, that’s what I want to see from him. Let me know in the comment section down below what it is you guys are wanting to see from him and what you guys think is the key to him having a breakout season, a leap season next year for the Detroit Pistons. Again, let me know comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cuckoo. Yo, coming up, I want to discuss why I think Duncan Robinson has some of the the the biggest swing on the Pistons season this upcoming year and why I think he’s so important and people need to realize this. I’ll break it down coming up. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on Pistons your first list of every single day. We are free to on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel, locked on ppistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. Duncan Robinson, I think, is going to be so important for the Detroit Pistons this year. Before we get into the numbers, Duncan Robinson was also on this young man of the three podcast and he had some words about joining the Detroit Pistons and why he’s so excited for it. We’re going to play that clip and then I’m going to come back and tell you guys why not only should he be excited for the Pistons, the Pistons fans should be excited for him and they should be hoping for a lot out of him. We’ll break it down, but first let’s listen to this clip. Duncan, sort of start with you. What are you most excited about Detroit? There’s a lot to be excited about. Um, it’s such a young group. You know, there’s, you know, 22, 23, 24 guys that are all really at the core of it. Um, obviously Tobias is a big piece as well and he’s he’s over 30 like myself, but uh majority of those guys are are in their their low mid20s. Um, I think just right from the jump just the energy and the youthful exuberance that they have. Uh, seeing the way that, you know, they they interact, they treat each other. Um, it reminds me a lot of of a college group in a way. Um, which I think is hard to find in an NBA setting. we’ve been out here just for a couple days doing like a little mini camp and uh it’s just been fun competing and uh being with these guys, you know, in the gym and um just excited and obviously, you know, Kade and and his ability, you know, he took such a big step last year. Um so I’m excited to to just be a part of that and and watch him continue to to grow and improve. So Duncan is I think obviously you can hear from there first of all that he’s pretty excited to be a part of the Detroit Pistons. Obviously he went to Michigan. And I’m sure he’s really excited to play with Cade, a true point guard who would definitely look for him and give him open looks. And the Pistons are going to need him to really get some open looks going here. Because the reason why I believe he’s going to be so important is I don’t think people are truly understanding the impact that Malik Beasley had on the Detroit Pistons this past year. Now listen, this would have been the same argument for Malik Beasley because I don’t know if Malik Beasley’s season this past year was going to be replicable or replicable by Malik Beasley. I like I don’t think Malik Beasley could replicate that. Like it was a truly a historic shooting season that we witnessed from Malik Beasley this past year. I want to break down just how important Malik was this past year. And now that Duncan is here, he has to again it’s he’s not going to be able to do what Malik Beasley did last year. That’s just again historic. But he has to do some of it. He has to do as much of it as possible because Malik at times really really carried the Pistons half court offense. I want to list these numbers real quick. Only five players this past year, only five. Took 400 catch and shoot threes this past year. Malik Beasley was one of those five. Keegan Murray had four 40 46 three-point attempts on catch and shoots. Klay Thompson had 410. Julian Champeni had 420. Derek White had 457. You guys hear all these numbers? 457, 420, 410, 406, all in the 400s. Malik Beasley had 568. He had more than 100 more attempts than the next person on catch and shoot threes and he shot 43.1% on he shot a better percentage than all of these guys on more than 100 attempts than them. It truly was just a historic volume and historic percentage from a shooter we have ever seen in the NBA. That’s something that’s going to need to be replicated. Not the exact number, but that type of impact. He has to Duncan Robinson has to try to fill in as much of that as possible. The reason why I think it’s so important, the Pistons half court offense was not very good this past year. We’ve talked about that a lot. It was not very good at times. Not not even really at times. For the majority of the season, it felt like they were surviving in their half court offense from Malik Beasley heaters. With Malik Beasley on the floor, the Pistons had a 98.3 offensive rating just within the half court. That’s eliminating putbacks, second chance points. That’s just in the half court shot uh per possession. They had offensive rating of n 98.3. That was in the top half of the NBA. So, that wasn’t even great. That wasn’t even great, but it elevated them to being a top half of the league half court offense. Their best half court lineup was Cade, Malik, Tim Hardway Jr., Tobias, and Duran. That had a 109.5 offensive rating within the half court. That would be in the 78th percentile. Malik Beasley again, Cade was great. He’s, you know, you can’t have, you wouldn’t have a half court offense without Kate. Like if you took Kade, obviously he’s the most important. But next to Kade, Malik’s shotmaking was vastly needed. The offense was 2.3 points better. Half court offense 2.3 points better with Malik Beasley on the floor. Without Malik Beasley on the floor, they had a bottom 13 half court offense. The half court offense was not good at all. In a lot of lineups that they played a lot of without Malik Beasley, they were a bottom 10 10 half court offense, which again was not very which is not very good. Now, I want to go look at Malik Beasley’s I’m looking at NBA RAPM for this data. I don’t even want to just look at what he, you know, his points per possession. I want to look at his possessions where he ranked in the NBA as possessions in these kind of shots because again, so much of the Pistons offense was Malik Beasley hoisting up these crazy shots, at least in the half court. Now, we know how great they are in transition. We know how great they are in fast break off of their defense. But just look at this unspot up possessions. He had 3.9 possessions per game on just spot up looks. That’s 86 percentile off screens which is like DHO’s here or like pin downs whatever. 98th percentile in possessions per game 2.5 handoffs 1.8 8 92nd percentile transition attempts which a lot of these are transition threes obviously for Milik Beasley 83rd percentile and this is even including how elite he was in all these as a spot shooter 95th percentile handoff shooter 84th percentile coming off screen 75th percentile transition 91st percentile Malik Beasley I don’t feel like people understand just how big of an impact he had on the Pistons being the team they were last year and I think that is part of my if there are and I have some concerns for the team. I’m sure everyone has their own concerns, but one of my concerns with the team is that how much of last year was because of again Cade was the biggest reason. I’m not taking any credit from the young guys, but when you have this historic of a shooting season, just how much of an impact did that have on the team being as good as they are? And if you take that away like they have with Malik, how good are they actually? I’m sure they’re going to be good. I’m not saying they’re going to be bad, but I don’t feel like people are putting the right amount of of thought and impact that Malik Beasley actually did have. He carried their half court offense. This this shooting season had such an impact on the Pistons being able to win 42 plus games this past year. So, without him, they need Duncan Robinson, who is the only other movement shooter on the team now because they’ve lost THA, too. and THA did some of that movement shooting. They lost him. Duncan Robinson is the only other player on the team that has that type of movement shooting. Compare his numbers to Malik Beasley. Only 1.2 attempts in transition for Duncan Robinson. Obviously, he didn’t play as much. Only 2.7 possessions in spot-up situations. Only 1.3 in offscreens. You’re going to see those numbers rise with Duncan Robinson. They’re going to need him to maintain a certain level efficiency to again not be exactly what Beasley was last year, but fill it in quite a bit. And Duncan Robinson is a level of shooter that I believe he could. He is a really, really good shooter. This is a guy we have seen on 8.5 attempts in a game per game in a season shoot 40%. A guy we’ve seen on 8.3 attempts shoot 45% from deep. A guy we’ve seen on 7.9 attempts shoot 37% from deep. A guy on seven attempts shoot 39% from deep. On six and a half attempts this past year for Miami, he shot 39% from deep. If if Duncan Robinson can be as good of a shooter as I think he can be, that he’s shown he can be. And again, this stat that I pulled up from this past year, the 400 catch and shoot attempts for Malik Beasley, there have been seasons where Duncan Robinson has rivaled that type of uh volume. From 2020 until 2022, Duncan Robinson got up 66, 613, and 624 three-point attempts. Now, I’m interested to see how much Duncan actually ends up playing for the Detroit Pistons. I think he’s going to play quite a bit. Like quite a bit. What did Malik Beasley play? I Let me Let me look up. Duncan played only 24 minutes this past season. A game for the Miami. I believe Malik played close to 30. Yeah, Malik played 28 minutes a game. Do I think Duncan will play a lot of that? I think Duncan will play 25 plus minutes a game for the Pistons. We’re going to need to see him get maybe not 9.3 attempts like Malik Beasy. Maybe not 400 plus catch and shoot attempts. Maybe not 43% on those catch and shoot attempts. But I’m gonna need to see seven and a half attempts. Can we get 38, 39, close to 40% on these attempts? They’re going to need that because a lot of the Pistons half court offensive actions were using, you know, movement shooters, using guard and guard screens, using these flare actions, using these down screens, these DHO actions, getting these shooters moving and using the threat of that to open up other areas of their game. Duncan Robinson, I think, is one of the only players. Maybe Ivy can do some of it. I think that’s a little bit wishful thinking. I think Duncan’s the only one really on the team that can do it and they’re going to need that desperately because this past year it carried them a lot due to Malik Beasley. You can’t just wipe it completely out and think the offense can remain the same. They need that movement shooting. Kade thrived off of it. They need that level of shooting and I think Duncan Robbins is the one on the team that can do it. They’re going to need him to step up. I think he’s incredibly important on the Pistons success this year. And for what it’s worth, again, I think he’s a good enough shooter to where he could do it. So, let me know comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cookah Hill. Do you guys think Duckan Robinson can step in and supply some at least some of what Malik Beasley did? Do you guys think it will be enough to make up for the loss of Malik Beasley? Not just him, but even THA as movement shooters. Let me know comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cuckill. That’s all I’ve got for you guys today. Thank you guys for making Lockdown Pistons your first listen every single day. We’re free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Lockdown Pistons. Hit that subscribe button. Until next time, I’ll see you guys later. Stay safe out there. Until next time, peace out, everybody.

Detroit Pistons poised for top 10 NBA ranking? The Athletic’s surprising prediction sparks debate.

Host Ku Khahil breaks down the Pistons’ potential leap, analyzing key players Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, and Duncan Robinson. Discover how Cunningham’s elite pick-and-roll skills could elevate Detroit’s offense, while Thompson’s health and aggression might unlock his star potential. Robinson’s sharpshooting becomes crucial as the Pistons aim to replicate Malik Beasley’s production. NBA players weigh in on Cunningham’s impact, praising his poise and versatility. Examine the statistical evidence behind Detroit’s defensive improvements and overall net rating, which supports their dark horse status.

Tune in to uncover the path for the Detroit Pistons to shock the NBA and secure a coveted top 10 spot this season.

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