Cade Cunningham SILENCED Doubters as Detroit Pistons Eye Playoff Glory | Is He the NEXT Superstar?

Cade Cunningham SILENCED Doubters as Detroit Pistons Eye Playoff Glory | Is He the NEXT Superstar?

In today’s episode of Locked on Pistons podcast, we are joined by friend of the show, River from the Pick aside Podcast to discuss K Cunningham season, whether he feels like he was proven right about K Cunningham. We’ll break it down in today’s episode of Locked on Pistons Podcast. Let’s go. You are Locked on Pistons, your daily Detroit Pistons podcast, part of the Locked On. 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. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons for the last four years with the Lockdown Network, brand credential media member over the last three years. I appreciate all of you guys for making Locked On Pistons your first listen every single day. We’re freely available on all your podcast platforms. So, if you haven’t already, hit that subscribe button to YouTube channel, leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. And today we are joined by friend of the podcast, River. You can find him over on Twitter at Durag Riv. And you also can find obviously him over at the Pick aside Podcast. River, you were on the podcast last summer and you had some takes about K Cunningham, so I had to get you back on this summer before this season started. Get how you feel now. So, how you doing, man? I’m doing good. still will never get over how cool your intro is with the whole little music and stuff like that. Appreciate it. Um Cade, man, Cade, what what can I say? I mean, like, he just he makes me smile. He makes me happy. He um you know, he’s been my favorite one of my favorite players since he was at Mount Verde. Watched every game Oklahoma State. Um I still feel like I’m not proven right. I still feel like it. And the reason why I say that is because I feel like there’s more. I feel like there’s just so much more that he can do. So much more that I believe he can do. But um yeah, last summer had some takes. You know, this this year he pretty much accomplished everything. AllNBA team, allstar game, made the playoffs for the first time. And this is after the first two years of just abysmal hoops from the Detroit Pistons. You know, a lot of stuff going on in terms of just injuries to himself. You know, missing most of the year, the year before that playing with a bad foot. um just to kind of run it all down to go into your year three, year four season with these guys and to just perform at an elite level. I’m talking about have the usage rate of Luca being able to put up the insane numbers, have big-time performances, you know, offensively be the the entire Detroit Pistons and of course with a little bit of help from JB Bicker staff and them bringing in shooters and stuff like that and of course from the young cord that we’ll talk about. But just talking about Cade, he was in some nasty conversations last summer. He was in some real disgusting conversations with Scotty Barnes and stuff like that. And I don’t mean to throw names and throw shade, but nah that he was he for me, he was never in those conversations. I feel like he was in those conversations with Jaylen Brunson and the Halleberttons of the world. And I feel like he’s shown that this year. And now it’s only progression from here. And I think they’ve built a quality foundation, quality stability over there in Detroit. And it starts and it ends with Kate Cunningham. So like like you mentioned, you were really high on Kade this past summer. Season plays out. AllNBA team, all-star team breaks the playoff win drought for the Pistons for the last 15 years. First playoff win since 2008. Actually 16 years to be honest. It’s crazy. Um did all of that and you said you feel like that there’s still more there. So before we get to what you believe he can even improve upon now, was there anything this past year despite how high you were on Cade that you were shocked to see from him? or was everything last year you were just like, “Oh yeah, I expected that.” I didn’t think the three ball would be that consistent, especially with the usage that he had. You know, with somebody with that high of a usage, you expect the three ball to like fluctuate. Um, but and just honestly in terms of his scoring, like for the most part, Kade never really had too many bad bad stretches in terms of just scoring the ball. like he had some efficient nights, he had some effic inefficient stretches, but there was never a moment I feel like throughout the season where it was like he was rubbing off like 15 20 games or like under 20 points a game and stuff like that. Like for the most part, he was pretty consistent in putting up those numbers and then the three-point shot was there, the mid-range shot was there. Um I would love if they can just make it a little bit more easier for him. I think that would come with like, you know, a Ivy being a little bit more healthy, you know, them being a little bit more creative on offense. But for the most part, the three ball of course and then just him being consistent as a scorer. I mean, throughout the year, he was there for us when we needed him to be, whether it was a score or a playmaker. Even on defense, he made some timely defensive plays. And for a guy with that the type of usage, for a guy that young, I felt like he kind of, you know, rose to the occasion and you didn’t really see too many bad bad stretches from him. All right, so let’s get into this upcoming year. It’s going to be a big year for the Pistons. Their first year, I think, coming off of like a real successful year where there’s going to be expectations. So now after the season K just had, what are you expecting to see from him this year? And what do you think he has to improve on to take this next step into maybe like firmly top 10 status? I think the the ball handling and the turnovers are, you know, one and one. I do think the ball handling still needs to improve. Uh I I don’t think you ever it’s it’s tough for a 6667 guy to improve on just speed I feel like and that that’s not really a part of his game. He’s more crafty craftiness you know footwork but I feel like the handle needs to improve you know the left hand right hand finishes at the rim. Um he did he did he he it was weird because on BBO index he’s like really good in terms of finishing talent which means he takes he makes tough layups but doesn’t have the highest percentage at the rim. Um, and then of course just you know the turnovers, the lack of dasical ones because I feel like I don’t mind the turnovers where you’re trying to make a tough pass. Okay. But I the lack of dasical ones is the ones that really bother me. And with a guy that controls the game so much, I understand why he has those lack of dasical ones. Probably because he’s too tired or just, you know, running out of gas. But I do need those. I do need those to cut down if he wants to get into that upper echelon. And I’m I’m looking at as, you know, you’re trying to get into that SGA, Luca, Steph Curry, Brunson tier. I feel like right now, if he’s not at the floor of that tier, he’s probably at the top of the next tier with Hi, with uh Trey Young and John Ray and all them other guards. He can get to that next level. He definitely can get to that next level because I feel like on the defensive end, he shows effort and offensively he can do a little bit of everything. But I would say the ball handling for sure and then just cutting the turnovers down. Yeah, I the turnovers definitely were a bit much at times this past year. You mentioned like high usage players, they’re going to turn the ball over a lot. It’s kind of the thing you have to live with, but there’s definitely a line that you can’t cross and Kade definitely was getting too far over that line at times with the turnovers, especially like you mentioned the careless ones. He had a lot of ones where it was just like what? Why? It doesn’t even seem like he really cared about throwing the pass. Like what was going on? Um along with that, the finishing I think 100% has to improve. You mentioned it. the Bball index grade a few years ago I saw I was like that’s really like weird because it feels like he’s not that great of a finisher right now but the Graham is like a a A+ finisher or whatever. Uh but yeah, like you mentioned it’s just about the fact he makes such tough almost all of his finishes at the rim are just such tough finishes. Um if he can just improve around the rim I think he shot 50 around 57% 50 to 51% on layups within the half court which is not very good. So, if he can shoot, if he can finish a lot better at the rim, maybe turn some of those looks into free throws, I think that will really help him take this next step in efficiency, which I think is just really where he has to improve upon. Just efficiency round out, you know, the edges of his game. I think he’ll do pretty damn well this upcoming year. Let me ask you this. Add a post game. Like, if he can add a little post game in it, that’d be cool. You know, I would love that. He started to add he started to add that a little bit this past year, too. He went to the short mid-range a ton. He started going to that little hook shot every now and then, the floater range. He started to go into that a little bit more. So, I I think if they did incorporate that even more into the offense, he probably would be a little bit more efficient as well. He dominated the like four to 14 uh foot range. I think he was in like the 86 percentile shot, like 50 50% in that range. He was crazy good. Um the question I want to ask you is, do you see a world where he could be a R&B first team guy next year? Yes. I thought he should have made it this year. Um, of course that’s a little biased. So I I’ll give it a little It is It is a little biased, but I’ll also say he had a legitimate case if you factor in load, if you factor in uh overachievement and stuff like that on the first team. I mean, of course, if WBY was healthy, he probably was going to be that fifth spot, but I feel like the first four guys they had, if I’m not mistaken, was Giannis, uh, it was SGA, and I believe Luca, but it was like four guys who were like locked firstteamers. And that fifth spot was hanging around Donovan Mitchell, Ant-Man, Steph was getting tossed around there, and then Cade. I feel like those four guys had a chance. I feel like Kade had a better chance than Donovan Mitchell. The only n dub Donovan Mitchell got was they were the number one seed in the league. So that’s fine. Cool. But I feel like Kade had a strong chance to make a first team uh p this past season. This year, the wins go up, the turnovers drop, the efficiency at the rim gets better, he can have another case again making the first team. Yeah, I if he makes the first team this this after this next year, that would be absolutely crazy. Especially with the conversations like you mentioned like last year that he was a part of like it was it was some nasty stuff being said this past year, man. I bookmarked so many tweets, dude. It was it was it was it was a lot of nasty stuff being said about him so bad, man. Oh my god, it was so bad. It was so bad. But he he proved them wrong. And hey, for those of us who stayed on the K Cunningham Island, we were proven right. So feels good. We’ll see how K plays this upcoming year. I think he’s going to continue to get better. He’s still very young. He’s not even close to his peak yet. We’ll see how where he can get to next year and the years to come. But coming up, I want to talk with River about where the Pistons young core is as of right now. Two years ago, after that hellish season, people weren’t feeling as high on the Pistons young core anymore. It was at one point they were high. Then after that year, it was like, “Oh, I don’t know if this is really it.” Then this past year, they make the playoffs, they turn around a little bit. I want to find out where River is at with these guys coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by Open Phone. If you’re running a business, you know that every mis calls money left on the table. Think about the last time you had an urgent need, maybe for a plumber or a service provider. If the first person didn’t answer, did you wait? Probably not. And that’s why you need Open Phone. Open Phone’s the number one business phone system built to streamline and scale your customer communications all from an app on your phone or computer. Open Phone lets me manage business calls and tests from a single app. And their AI agent handles afterhour calls, answers common questions, and captures leads so you never miss a customer. Open Phones offering my listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.com/lockdonba. That’s op ho ne.commbba. And if you have existing numbers with another service, open phone will port them over at no extra charge. Again, that’s with open phone. No missed calls, no missed customers with open phone. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on pistons your first listen every single day. We’re free to develop on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Locked OnPistons. 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. Substack playback link down in the description below. just wrote about Marcus Sasser, how he could be a hidden gem on the Pistons roster if another team wants to come trade for him. Go check it out if you haven’t already. I think you guys will really enjoy it. But let’s go ahead and river and get into the Pistons young core. We talked about Cade, but it wasn’t just Cade this past year that helped them take this next step and make the playoffs and get their first playoff win in 15 16 years. The improvement of Jaylen Duran, the improvement of Assar Thompson. Ivy started to play a little better as he, you know, right before he went down with injury, which was unfortunate. Heading into 2025, 2026 season, the Pistons have a young core of Cade, Ivy, Assar, Ron Holland, uh, Jaylen Duran, Isaiah Stewart. Where are you at with this young core when you look at them compared to the rest of the league? Um, it’s a tricky question because I feel like before like it’s this young core has had like the the the narrative on them switched maybe like two or three times in like the last two seasons. Um, Jaden Ivy, Isaiah Stewart, they they from from my understanding they’re the oldest of the core or they’ve been here the longest I’d say. Um, but just going down the road obviously Cade is the leader. He’s the head of the ship. Um, like you mentioned Jaden Ivy was playing really well. I like he was playing well before he went down. You know, he started to find something a little bit in the jumper and I thought that was important for him. But obviously, we kind of saw this team take an extreme jump when he kind of went out with an injury and you’ve seen it. You know, we’ve kind of talked about it on Twitter. The the Pistons fandom is not really too fond of Jayen. I don’t know what’s going on with that. I don’t know. I’ve been seeing him a lot getting like they want him to get traded. He’s come off the bench. I don’t know what’s up with that. I feel like Monty Williams stunted his growth. I feel like that was important to, you know, put that into perspective this year. You saw a little bit of progression. Let him try it again. I feel like this year he deserves D right. He deserves an opportunity to start next to Cade, this new Cade that we have, and see if that can work. But if if that doesn’t work, you have Ron Holland who I think Ron Holland is really great in transition. Little bit of a hotad, but shows the effort on the defensive end. Long athletic win, athletic wing, I want to say, a guy that likes to get to the rim. looked his jumper looked promising in summer league, but he only played like one or two games, but he seemed like he was clearly too good for summer league. So, that’s definitely something you want to see in your year two player. Um, excited to see how he looks. Isaiah Stewart, I feel like Detroit would have won that series if they had Isaiah Stewart against the Knicks. I feel like those minutes where you saw Jaylen Duran, Paul Reed and stuff, and Jaylen Duran could not stick with Cat. I feel like Stu is a much better defender, especially out there in the perimeter. Jaylen Duran, he’s a better rim protector. I feel like Duran’s obviously the better rebounder, but Stu brings a different mentality. He brings a different toughness that I feel like you needed in that Detroit Piston series. And I feel like he would have been huge. Maybe they don’t win it, but they definitely go seven. Um, he’s he for me has carved out his role. He’s going to be that backup. He’s a strong defensive player that you can have late in the games because the jumper continues to improve. Um, and then for a guy like Assar Thompson, man, he he he’s he’s the other gem because I feel like him, he like his brother gets all the love. And his brother has played two seasons, you know, they were the number two seed in the West. Amen is incredible, amazing. But Assar doesn’t get talked about enough for him being, I would probably say, a better defender than his brother at this point. Probably not the same offensive player, but Assar is just a freak athlete. if he can get, you know, much better in the ball handing department, the decision-m, maybe get a little bit of a mid-range jumper, um, just be more aggressive on that offensive end, Kaden Assar could be the one-two punch. I I I love that Detroit didn’t jump the gun. I love that they’re letting their young core, you know, kind of build themselves out before they know what they have. I think that’s important. You don’t want to make these vast, drastic, you know, gamechanging moves and then they flop in the end, like go trade for a Zack Lavine who’s getting $45 million or something like that. know trusting your young core and I think this young core is really good has potential. Assar is an insane worker. I think Jayen Ivy is going to be a good player. That’s kind of the big three that you’re you’re you’re leading to. And then Jaylen Duran kind of had a tale of two halves where first half inconsistencies in the e in the work ethic department on both ends of the floor didn’t have the same motor. And then 2025 he turned a completely different notch. You saw more more effort the motor in Jaylen Durton, the double double machine, the monster, the beast, they called him baby Dwight coming out of college for a reason. He has that type of physicality. So, I’m excited. I still believe in this young core. Does it stack up with a young core like OKC? Maybe not, you know, but I think teams like Houston, teams like Orlando, teams like Charlotte, I feel like I’d probably take Detroit over those teams just because you have the Finnish product and Cade, you have Assar, you have Jaden. Like there’s depth here along with good players. So you mentioned that you mentioned you think Assar and Cade could be that one-two punch. Is Assar the player your next highest on within this young? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He’s he’s phw cuz like I I I made a com you you I think you tweeted under it. It was like yo would we be upset if he’s like a jer Shawn Marian type comp and then people were mad and I’m like why are you upset? Like this is just this is him now like if he’s Shawn Marian right now you kind of love that. Like maybe Shawn Mary went like a 37% three-point shooter, but Shawn Marion was a 20 and 10 guy, an all-star, a key important piece to a Nashled offense that were making WCFs and stuff like that. So if Assar is that, that’s elite for and mind you, he’s the 10 times the athlete Shawn Marion is. So I was just lowballing it. So we if we’re getting a super athletic Shawn Marian, I mean, I’m excited. I think Assar’s work ethic keeps him in the loop. Obviously, he’s among those guys of if they get a jumper, it’s going to be scary for the league, like the Ben Simmons, the Zions of the world. But I really believe in Assar because people get confused with, oh, because you’re like to be a spacer, you need to be a three-point shooter. That’s not always the case. Assar does so many other things in terms just back door cuts, being able to screen and roll, you know, being athletic on the glass. Like, he does so many other things. He doesn’t need a jump shot, but I think that’s important to get. But I’m extremely high on Sar just from him having bloods missing most of the year coming back and you just seen how elite he was defensively his motor just non-stop. People love to bring up that play where Brunson ended I think it was game four or game it was one of those games where the final game. Yeah. Had the big crossover. It was a good move. It was a great move. I’m not gonna No, he got him. Yeah, he got him. But Assar that series was giving Brunson some some fits. Strong fits. So, I’m excited about Assar’s just ceiling because I love his motor, his work ethic, and he’s already one of the best defensive players in the world in year two. Yeah, I I completely agree with that. I I absolutely love Assar. I think he can be just an absolute freak. I think he already is a freakish athlete, obviously. I think what for people who aren’t as high on Assar, um, and I absolutely love a men as well. The Thompson twins are my favorite prospects to look at. I had so much fun watching them. Um, but Assar, what people don’t I feel like don’t understand about Assar is that he’s not just like a great athlete. Like Amen and Assar like are arguably the one the best athletes we’ve ever seen play in the NBA. Like they are like up there. So the margins are not as like they can get a there’s things that they can get away with not having to be as skilled in particular skill sets because the athleticism will make it easier to do so. So like Assar is able to like something I’ll bring up like Assar may get beat on a drive at times but then he’s such a so athletic that you he isn’t really beat. He’ll just block you from behind. He’ll catch up and give you a good contest. He doesn’t have to be like you mentioned a great three-point shooter because I feel like he does space the floor to the baseline. Teams have to cover him to the baseline. You saw in the New York Knicks series multiple times in game six and game five that the Knicks were like, “We can’t keep giving up this dump off this alleyoop to Assar. We had to take that away and then the weak side three-point shooter is open.” So, there’s other ways to space the floor. Assar does that. I completely agree with you that he has to improve the ball handling. I’m not looking at the three-point shot, but I don’t think it’s really realistic for him to become like a I mean, I was talking with a friend the other day. I was like, how good of a three-point shooter will the SAR have to get? Will you want him spacing in the corner instead of doing anything else? Like, what how good like is 34% enough for you to be like, “Oh, we’d rather have him space in the corner than do anything else he can do?” It’s like, yeah, it’s like and it’s like that’s the corner. So, if you’re a 34% corner three-point shooter, the shortest spot, probably the easy spot to shoot from, it’s like now, do we really want you even in the game, you know, like that’s that’s the trickiest part. And you mentioned it like both of them, Thompson Brothers, one of one athletes like up there with MJ, Zack Lavine, Vince Cart, like that good already. Plus, they’re 67, you know. And I think Assar, you mentioned it, like he can get he the margin is so small. He’s not even at like he’s not even at his his like his like what’s the word I want to use like maturity IQ-wise. He’s not even there yet. Like he’s still extremely young and he’s like right now he’s moving off straight instincts and his instincts are so good that if he can get the mental aspect of it because like you mentioned he does get beat on a couple drives where he’s he’s biting too hard or he’s a little bit too aggressive. when he gets the mental aspect of it, he’s the perfect defender. And that’s going to be scary. And and if he can just be a lot more better in the ball handling department, man, listen. No, I think he could be this year. I think he could be a top I I just did the top 100 for the lockdown network uh a few days ago. I think he’s going to be a top 60 player at least this year for the Pistons. I think he’s had him ranked. Where did you have him rank? Like 88 or something like I think I I I had him I think I had him 63rd. Okay. Okay. I think that’s where I had him somewhere around there. But I had a lot of defensive players higher. Oh, okay. Like Kamar, Denny, and stuff. I meant I had him top 35. I’m with you. I’m with you. I put him top 30. I think I had I think I had him 31. Okay. That’s That’s not terrible. That’s not terrible at all. I like that list. Amen. I mean, Amen. Amen is definitely further along than Assar offensively. Much further along. He’s a much more physical driver, a better handle, better finisher at the rim right now. But I do agree with you. I think Assar is like unfortunately Weby’s in the league. So WB is probably going to win the defensive player of the year the next like 15 years. So it’s like unfortunate. Um but but like if it wasn’t for WY, I think Assar like would be in consideration for defensive player of the year for like 10 years from now. Like he’s that he’s he’s that great defensively and how versatile he is defensively. It’s just rare with that. you get a that versatile defender with this type of athleticism with the kind of IQ you’re talking about with the ability to playm make and make reads and anticipate. It’s just you don’t get those kind of combinations in a player and it’s why I agree with you. I think he is the second best player on the team. I can’t I can’t wait for his season this year. Um if I’m not mistaken, he only missed the defensive team because games played or was it minutes? It was both. It definitely was games played, but it might have been minutes too cuz he would have made it this year unquestionable. Like easily he would have made it this year and that’s that would have been crazy cuz year two deep like making it on the all defensive team. And that’s with, again, like you mentioned, that’s with getting dropped mid-season with no training camp, no preeason, uh, no offseason at all, and just being dropped mid-season to a team and completely turning their defense around just in January with no like and having no stamina basically. Like it’s just after the year Monty Williams was on terrorism acts and putting him in a corner knowing he shouldn’t be in a corner. Like this is what people don’t understand. Like Monty Williams did everything he could to stunt this young core. Give them a chance. Like he did like and it’s not even Monty’s fault. They had to pay him a ton of money to get out because he retired at first and I you know Monty if I’m Monty I’m I’m taking that money too. So it was just it was it was a bad signing for both parties. Both parties. Monty should have never went there. Troy should have never signed in there. Monty did such a bad job that last year. And it’s not, he’s a good coach, but that was just an abysmal job that he did there that it made people really believe Cade was not good. Assar is not going to be good. Jaden Ivy’s terrible. Like that’s how bad of a job he did. And it’s like now we’re sitting here a year later and God, what good coaching can do for you. Yeah, JB made an absolute huge difference. So I I can’t wait to see what they with the offseason of development with the this coaching staff already in place. I’m interested to see where all these guys end up. But coming up, I want to talk to River about where is the ceiling for this team next year. They didn’t make any crazy moves this offseason. They’re relying on the young core. So with that, where can they get to next year? We’ll talk about that coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time or not game time, excuse me. That is another day we’re going to talk about game time. Uh but today we’ll talk about FanDuel. Summer sports are in full swing and when you’re all about baseball or under the lights golf on the green or high stakes soccer action, FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action while not why not make it a little bit more thrilling. With FanDuel, you can get in on the game with your friends while or even while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach while they’re out there outside. 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Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review. Whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on, that’s another great way to support the podcast. But River, the Pistons finished as the six seed this past year. They lost in the first round in six games to the New York Knicks. Coming out of that series, they ended up losing Malik Beasley due to some unfortunate circumstances. They let Dennis Shruder walk. They let Tim Hardway Jr. walk and they replaced them with Duncan Robinson, Caris Levert, and they drafted Chazer, even I don’t think he’s going to play any kind of real part of this team next year. Um, that was those were the two big additions, Caris Levert, Duncan Robinson, and they’re bringing all the young core back. They’re bringing everyone back. Where do you believe this team can get to next year? What do you think is the ceiling for a team that just had the six seed in the Eastern Conference that is getting pretty weak because of injuries, teams stripping down their salary cap? Where do you think they can get to? Yeah. Uh, it really is unfortunate the Malik Beasley stuff because I felt like they probably could have still brought him back and it would have been Beasley Levert Duncan. That’s dope. That’s a dope off seasonason. Um, but unfortunate with certain situations, but Carris Levert really good get. I think he provides you exactly what you can get from Beasley and Tomato Jr. A guy that can put the ball in the floor, you know, can has some playmaking chops, can get to the rim, can shoot the three ball, shot it really efficient uh last year. And then Duncan Robinson, you know, you can get him off actions, you can get him off cuts. Um he can shoot the three ball. Defense is it is what it is, but he’s 68. Um and then you br you you bring back the young core. think with Boston out the picture, Indiana, I don’t want to say they’re out the picture because I still think they’re a tough team that’s going to make the playin play off. You know, you still have a really good roster outside of Halle Burton. And although Halle Burton brings you a different floor offensively, Nemhar brings you a different floor defensively. I think they’re going to be a really good defense this year. I think that’s going to be the flip of them. Um, outside of that, New York, they got really better in the off seasonason terms of just bringing guys that can play off the bench. They upped their coaching. Mike Brown is a better offensive coach than Tom Timido, so he’s going to offense was top five last year, but I think he’s going to create bring more creativity to the offense. Um, then you got Orlando, they shook some things up, brought in Desmond Bane, who I think is going to help their offense. You got Atlanta bringing in Chris Porzingis. If he’s healthy, that’s a good get. Jaylen Johnson’s gonna be coming back. So for Detroit, it’s really relying heavily on the young court improving because they didn’t bring in no star like a Porzingis or Desmond Bane. They just brought in two quality guys that can fit around their core players. They’re going to, you know, go into this internal development thing. I think the ceiling for them is make the second round. I think it has to be. I think especially with Boston out, which Boston felt like last year they were unbeatable. You know, everybody felt like Boston and Cleveland was the teams that were going to go to the ECF, play in the ECF, and then whichever one of those teams going to be in the finals. Now Boston is out the picture. Cleveland, you can’t really trust them healthwise in the playoffs. I still think they’re a really talented team, but healthy Cleveland. Is that ever going to be a thing in the playoffs? So, you got Cleveland, you got New York, you got Detroit, Orlando, Atlanta. I think those are the five teams right there that are going to be gunning for finals in the East. I think you have obviously have other teams that’ll make the playoffs. You still got the Bucks hanging around, Toronto hanging around. But if I’m looking at that outside of New York and Cleveland, which you gave Cleveland a run for their money, I don’t see a world why Detroit can’t push for an ECF or make it really difficult to get there. I like I can see a world where they losing six in the second round in a tough second round series and they’re like, damn. All right, that’s a success. I can see a world where they take a team to seven in the first round and if they play Cleveland, they go to seven games. I don’t look at that as a failure either. I think it’s all about, like you mentioned it before, 16 years, no playoffs. Consistency is key. Consistency is the first thing. Consistently make the playoffs, then be extremely competitive team. I think the ceiling this year is second round. I wouldn’t hate a first round exit if it’s down to the wire. But I think this team has to make the playoffs. I think they’re pushing for a second round. And I think that’s their ceiling. Yeah. I I think you got Cleveland, like you mentioned, New York. I think those two teams are in a class of their own in the Eastern Conference right now. I have Orlando ahead of the Pistons right now just because I really like Desmond Bane’s I really like the acquisition of Desmond Bane and the Magic were hurt like insanely hurt this past year and they finished what how many games behind the Pistons like within five games of the Pistons whatever. So it’s like Yeah. So despite that how bad the injuries were, they still were like within, you know, it wasn’t super close, I guess, but like it still was within, you know, whatever. Um, so I think if they’re healthy this year with Desmond Bane with the improvements to their young core, which I do think their young core will get better. I think the the Magic probably just have a better roster right now. So I’d give the Magic I think they’re going to be the third best team. I think Atlanta and Detroit are fighting for that for I really like what Atlanta did. I love the pieces they brought in. Nil Alexander Walker, Luke Canard, they brought in Christos Forzing. I really like everything Atlanta did. I like Zachary Ricochet. I like Jaylen Johnson getting back healthy. So if those guys, and that’s another team that just has to stay healthy. We don’t know if that’s going to happen. Luke Canard deals with injuries. Jaylen Johnson deals with injuries. We know Chris Stops, he almost died apparently this past year. Who knows what’s going on with him. Like that was crazy. That was it was crazy. No one know what happened with Christophs. Yeah, I still don’t know. I still don’t know what happened to him, but like uh they just kept saying he was sick and they didn’t say anything like they was just like he’s sick and he was telling me I can’t breathe. It was like nobody’s giving us no information. He’s just sick. We don’t know what type of sickness. No, it was it was really weird. Like really really weird. So I guess that’s probably why he went for nothing essentially in that trade because you don’t know like they don’t know. Right. Exactly. And if he can stay healthy, I really like what Atlanta did. I think Detroit, Atlanta will be fine for that fourth seed. But I do believe it’s that those five teams that you mentioned. It’s New York, Cleveland, uh Orlando, Pistons, and Atlanta. I think those five teams are diff are in a different tier than the rest of the teams. I think um I think Philly maybe could challenge if they somehow drill and beat somehow pulls his knee together and but it doesn’t sound good at all right now that this is, you know, that’s going to be something that happens. Um so I do think the Pistons should be pushing for a top four seed and I do agree with you. I don’t think they have to win a first round series. I think a lot of fans are going to want them to win a first round series and have that expectation, but I don’t think they have to. As long as you’re competitive, you take it down to the wire. This is still a very young team in the very early stages of their of their team building. Making it into the first round, losing seven games, whatever, is not crazy. Now, if they can make it to the second round, that would be a fantastic next step. I think you need to get homec court advantage if you want to try to do that. I don’t know if they should just be continually, you know, five, six and try to win on the road, even though they did win two games at Madison Square Garden this last playoff. So, who knows? Um, but yeah, I do think they should be pushing for a second round. I do think that should probably be the expectation for this team. Before we wrap up, River, I want to ask you this. What do the Pistons need? What What is What are they missing that you think they have to acquire eventually? Maybe not this year. They have to trade for it. But what do you think is the you look at this team, you look at this young core, what is it that you think they’re missing to really take that step into contention? That’s a good question. I would say offensive philosophy. Um, a lot of it was, uh, a lot of it last year was Kade save us. Uh, Kade dribble penetration, Cade pick and roll. Um, I would love if we can see Kaden some pindowns, you know, him bringing up the ball, giving it to another guard, they getting a mismatch, him on the block, or him coming off a, you know, Rip Hamilton pin down for a mid-range jumper, you know, he’s good for those, you know, or him doing a snake, him getting it and then now he’s in the snake pick and roll able to do something like that. I would love that some off ball work. Um, would love to see a little bit more Ivy on ball, but I I guess it’s offensive philosophy and then I guess an offensive star that can play defense. So, like genuinely like a Jaylen Brown would be dope. That like that’s the guy I’m thinking of like that type of uh skill set maybe with a little bit more. Um a Devin Booker cuz I know that was getting dangled around this off seasonason. That would have been elite, but I understand why they didn’t pull the trigger so fast. You want to wait and see. That’s fine, you know. Um but Devin Booker next to Cade would be a movie. I think that type of player would be dope. Um but yeah, just offensive philosophy and maybe a little bit more creativity on offense. um another offensive star because it that’s that’s really something that we’re missing right now. We don’t have an offensive star like outside of Kade like Ivy we’re still waiting to see. Assar is not there yet. Darren’s not there yet. Ron Harland year two. Steu’s never going to be that. So we’re still waiting to see where that offensive star a lot of it was, you know, who can step up for me tonight. You know, we had Malik Beasy who was great last year. Tim Hardaway had his moment, but it was really about who can give us what that night and then we, you know, relied on Kate at the end and that defense to hold it down. So, definitely just a lot of offense. Yeah, I I that’s what I think. I think they need an offensive heavy four. I think that’s what they in order to take this next step. They need a guy at the four position that can be an offensive star next to Kade. I Their offense was not great in the half court this past year. It really was carried by their defense, their transition offense, their early transition fast breaks, that kind of thing. Their half court offense was what you mentioned. It was just Cade Savas and Malik Beasley hit crazy shots that only we’ve seen Clay and Steph do. Like that that’s what their half court offense really came up to. And it was it was it was some tough stuff. So if they could get a four, I I I had a dream of a certain four in the league, but I’m not going to say his name anymore because there’s all kinds of stuff that go who there there’s there’s a bunch of stuff that happened off the court. I don’t know what’s going on with him now. Also, oh, are you talking about I don’t even know who you’re You could be talking about so many people. See, that’s the tough thing about it, too. That’s the Does he play in uh New Orleans? Yep. Oh, that guy. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I was thinking him, too. That would be dope. That would actually be dope. I didn’t You know what? I didn’t think of him. I’m thinking about it now. That would be cool. Him and Yes. I’m not going to say his name, but Yeah. I like that. Oh, but that, you know, we had a bunch of, you know, apparently some serious stuff happen off the court. We haven’t heard anything about it, so I I’ve said it to everyone. I just won’t mention him no more. Um, but that kind of player is what they I think they need. They need a four that can take over from Tobias and just be that offensive guy that can just create his own shot within the half court, get penetration to the rim, and be someone else that creates advantages within your half court offense besides Kade. So, I do think that’s what they need. I think their defense is going to be set for the next, you know, however long, as long as they got Steu and NSR and Cade. when your franchise player is able to be a two-way player like that, I think that really sets your floor on defense high. And when you have a SAR and Stew, I think your defense will be fine. So, I do believe they have to just improve their halfcourt offense to get somebody. But that’s all we’ve got for you today, River. Let everyone know where they can find you and the podcast. Uh, pick a side everywhere, man. Pick aside Podcast on Twitter. Pick a Side Podcast on Instagram. Rivio with five O’s on Instagram. Do-agg on Twitter. Um, all our stuff is on Pick aside, man. That’s where I’m at. That’s where the home is at. I I appreciate you coming on, man. Making time out of your day. Come on. Was always a lot of fun. Hopefully Kade makes you look even more right this season. Maybe we can start seeing MVP conversations at some point. I would We pass We’ve passed LaMelo conversations. I’ll say that cuz that’s where we were at. The Scotty Barnes conversations were were nasty, dude. Like, it was those were nasty. Oh my god. Yo, bro. I was Yo, bro. It was insane, bro. We were in Scotty Barnes Jaylen Green conversations and it was just like dude the Jaylen Green was disgusted too. With all due respect to Darius Garland love him to death. We were in those conversations. I was like come on like K come on like I forget which one. One of the pick aside guys are really high on Scotty, aren’t they? Isn’t there someone that likes It’s Drew. Drew Yeah, Drew loves Scotty. And I just be looking at him. I’m like he’s not better than Kate. I know you want to try to keep like pushing it. So Drew is the Scotty guy. Fron is Joelle. Joel’s the Fron guy. And I’m respect and Dell’s is more he if I had to pick a guy from he’s probably a Mobly guy. So we all have Joel used to be a Jaylen Green guy, funny enough. So 0 for two. Um yeah, 0 for two for that one. But yeah, that’s we kind of love that draft class because it has some good players. It does have some good players. It does. That draft class is really deep. I like Fran a lot. So I I can respect the Fran Mobley is very good too. It has a lot of good players in that draft class. Just Jaylen Green and Scotty is just like that’s not that’s not uh I can’t I can’t vibe with that one. But yeah, we’ll leave it there. Appreciate you again, River, coming on. Have a lot of fun with you. Uh hit that subscribe button down below. Leave us a fivestar review, whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. I appreciate all of you guys making Locked on Pistons your first listen of every single day. And until next time, I’ll see you guys later. Peace out, everybody.

Cade Cunningham’s All-NBA season has DETROIT PISTONS fans buzzing. Is this young core ready to shock the Eastern Conference?

Host Ku Khahil and guest River from the PickASide podcast break down Cunningham’s stellar performance, dissecting his improved three-point shooting and discussing areas for growth. The conversation shifts to the Pistons’ promising roster, which includes Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, and Jaden Ivey. They analyze the team’s ceiling for next season, debating whether a playoff push is realistic. River and Ku also explore necessary offensive improvements and how Detroit compares to Eastern Conference rivals, such as the Cavaliers, Knicks, and Magic.

Please tune in for expert insights on the Pistons’ path to contention and how their young stars could reshape the NBA landscape.

SUBSTACK: kukhahil.substack.com

PLAYBACK: playback.tv/watchpistons

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