Should The Detroit Pistons Have Gotten A Starting Four? Will Detroit Be Better Than The Hawks?

Should The Detroit Pistons Have Gotten A Starting Four? Will Detroit Be Better Than The Hawks?

In today’s episode of Locked on Pistons podcast, we are joined by friend of the podcast, Lass Jackson, to talk about the Detroit Pistons offseason and the expectations going to next season. We’ll talk about that 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 Kar. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons over the last four years for the lockdown network credential media member over the last three years. I appreciate all of you guys who make locked on pistons your first listen every single day. Free available on your podcast platforms, the everydayers, the first listeners. I appreciate all the support. And today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code lockmbna at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Uh before we get into today’s episode, last episode we had a crossover with Woodward Sports. We had our guys Spencer and Easy on. Go check that out. And then hopefully by tomorrow I should have a long article out for you guys breaking down Marcus Sasser’s season last year and why I think he could be a hidden gem for another team in the NBA and sadly I don’t know if it’s going to be for the Pistons. So stay tuned for that. Um but we as I said earlier we are joined by friend of the podcast Lazarus Jackson. Laz, how you doing man? Appreciate you coming on. Thanks. Thanks for having me Coup. Super happy to be here. excited to read that piece about Sasser, a dude who I’ve also had some similar thoughts about probably uh going into this offseason. But yeah, thanks for having me. Looking I’m going to get into it more on the podcast later on the week after the article drops, but like I feel like once people see like the number like I was not a huge Sasser guy, but looking at some of the numbers, you’re like, man, he I mean his agent has a real good case, right? Yes. I was going to say like they have a good case for saying hey like what’s going on here like what’s what’s going on. Um but stay tuned for that everybody. Um we’re at the point in the offseason where we are going to have a ton of guests on and we’re just going to get everyone’s differing opinions of what’s happened in the offseason. That’s where we’re going to start here. Laz, we’ve I’ve asked multiple people their thoughts in the offseason. Not much differing opinion from what I’ve gathered from the Pistons community. So I’m interested to hear how you feel. Do you think this offseason was, you know, the Pistons went about the offseason the right way with it felt like a little bit of a quiet offseason? Do you feel like they went about it the right way? Did I think they went about it the like the quote unquote right way? Like yes. Was it still kind of disappointing? Like also yes. Right. Um you you know we talked the last time we spoke was before the finals. So it was before Indiana had their run, but it was also like before really I think the the playoffs had like really gotten started. And so like we didn’t know what this deal was going to be with Boston and Indiana in particular. And so that that opens up a a lane for the Pistons to be really aggressive um for for a season or two in a way that I think they didn’t take full advantage of. Like do but do I like the moves that they made in a vacuum? Like sure. Yeah. Like the the Malik Beasley like thing didn’t help at the at the like last minute. Um, but at the same time like they upgraded in terms of like backhand or uh bench ball handling. Um, Duncan Robinson is a perfectly like able Malik Beasley like replacement shooter type. And the thing that I was really on them about though is like a long-term plan at the four position. And I still don’t know if they’ve done that, right? Um, a guy who like I was thinking about like maybe I I went to Las Vegas. So, I went to summer league. So, I saw the games and I was like looking at Bobie Clinton. I was like, “Oh, like like this guy’s like he’s a lot bigger than I expected. Like his body looks good. Like maybe this is something that like they they could turn into something.” But he didn’t have the greatest uh Las Vegas experience. And so I was like, “Okay, you know, another league, another year in the G-League, like it’s still a developmental piece.” And like Ron Holland is a name that a lot of people have like brought to me is like, “Hey, like is Ron like the the future at four?” And I was so impressed with what he was able to do in Las Vegas from a shooting perspective, from an aggressiveness perspective, um, from a finishing perspective. Like he just he balled out and I saw it with my own two eyes and it was great. I don’t know if he’s a four long term. Same as Assar, right? Like both of those guys are just like a little too skinny right now for me to be in a position where I’m like, this is the guy I want banging bodies for a hundred games a season, right? And so I’m thinking of Assar and Ron both as like two threes right now uh in like a long-term roster construction, which is a whole thing because like you know if those guys are playing two three like what happens to the current two guard on the roster like we’ll see. But uh so LeBron is like played really well but that still leaves a gap open for what do they do at the fourman after this uh year with Tobias’s contract running out, right? like do they they you could bring Tobias back for like two more years, but in two more years it’ be like 35 and like not a long-term solution. And so it’s like they still got to they still got to figure that out. They have all their picks, their books are clean. Like I feel good in that they’ll be able to do a solution, but um they they didn’t do it yet. So I I can’t grade them on something they haven’t done. Yeah. I I’ve I feel like the way I graded the offseason, I basically said there was like a C C plus like it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t like it wasn’t like it didn’t actively hurt the team, I don’t think. But I don’t know if it like actively made it much better. Like most of it’s going to have to come from the young guys. So, I wasn’t I wasn’t thrilled, but I wasn’t also I wasn’t also pissed about it either. Like it is what it is. I agree. And you see that when you hear other people talking about the team, right? like they’re the Pistons were the six seed last year and they’re still kind of putting the Pistons in that 56 range again like with two teams who were just like completely out of uh sync in in Indiana and Boston who were above them like now presumably like below them but the Pistons are just kind of in the same place. It’s like that’s not I don’t I don’t love that. Right. I don’t love that. Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of it’s going to come from the young guys. Obviously, if they take a jump, multiple of them, then maybe they make a bigger jump and they loop leap into that top four or whatever. But, um, I know a lot of people were expecting some kind of bigger move that happens this off seasonason didn’t end up happening. Um, you brought up that the the backup four situation or not even just the backup four, like the long-term force situation. That was something I thought I agree with you. I I thought that was the main thing that they needed to address. Even just the backup four situation. I love Santi Alama as a potential pickup. They weren’t able to get him. Um, but it didn’t seem like it doesn’t seem like at least from their moves that they made that they seem to think it’s that pressing of a need as maybe me and you think. Do you think that could end up being a mistake for them or do you think they can slide by with it? Because I do think they’re probably going to try to I think they’re probably going to try to slide Asar and Ron into some of those minutes at the four. Yeah, I I I definitely think that’s the like the plan going into this season. Um, like in in my mind, like Ron’s not going to be be a bench player forever. Like if if things are going the way we want them to go, like Ron’s not going to be a bench player forever. And so in that case, like you you you got to start planning around those that eventuality. But for next season, it is probably fine. Um, and I guess it is like the negative the negative case is like I don’t know. I think Sali Alama was slightly overpaid by the Grizzlies, but like they needed to because like otherwise like that team is like that team is already struggling against the tide in the Western Conference. Like losing a guy like that was not going to be good for them. Uh a guy I think I talked about with like Omari and Bryce was like Nas Reed, right? When it looked like Nazi was like a little bit more obtainable. Um he’s like the right age in like in the right age range. Um, and he went for like 25 mil, which is like a a good enough price. But I understand from the Wolves perspective that like, hey, like we’ve been to the conference finals two years in a row. This guy doesn’t start but won six man and like plays a really big role for us and we’re paying him. So it’s like you you can’t get in on that. It’s like, okay. And then it’s like, all right, so do you want like I wanted like I we talked about Jiren Jackson Jr. last time I was here. It’s like, well, he’s making like I liked him a lot more when he was making 30 mil versus 50 mil, right? And now if he makes 50 mil like the roster construction of the team looks a little weird. He’s already hurt again. It’s like okay like maybe it’s fine they didn’t do that. Lori Markin like Lori Markin is like a good trade target but then it’s like what are you giving up and Utah is doing a really odd like roster construction thing and it’s like they’re going to make you pay through the nose. I you don’t want to deal with that like fine I get it. And so it started the names like start to like trickle in where it’s like all right like you want to gamble on Julius Randall like uh not really. is like, “Okay, do you wanna is like maybe Jabari Smith Jr. like shakes loose in a KD trade that didn’t happen. Okay, like never mind. Like we we won’t go in that direction, right?” So, it’s just like it’s uh I can see how like even if it’s something that we think that they should have addressed, the opportunities to do so like weren’t profitable and so they didn’t. And but I do think it is like something that they have to be aware of, right? like the nothing the front office has done over Tjan Lion Langden’s first like year and change has made me think like oh these guys like don’t know what they’re doing right and so I’m I’m pretty sure they have a plan in place is just remains remains to be seen what what they actually do in terms of execution yeah I was going to actually ask you the question and you basically answered it all right there I was going to be like is there a move out there that you thought that they should have been trying to make that they just didn’t make and you kind of answered it there uh the last thing before we move on I do want to ask you would you have been because this has been I I I obviously I’m very active in the Piston community. My comments are always fly, you know, whatever. Um the the main thing I’ve seen from the comments and the community is that the main argument both versus each other is that you should have been willing to give up some picks to go get somebody. Would you this off do you think this offseason was the one they should have been willing to part with some picks and and try to go after somebody? Do you think they were right to kind of wait? I think if you weren’t going to get like a Jiren Jackson Jr. then yeah, saving the picks is the right call. Um, and if you were, then uh, like that’s a different story. But it it really it’s less about like the picks as a concept and more about like what you get for them, right? Like do I want to trade two first round picks for Santi Alama? Like no. No, I don’t. Just to just to have a name, right? But um, there are guys who Oh, no. Okay. Sorry. there there are guys who are out there who uh who like can impact the team well in terms of playing the four position and those guys uh would be available for picks and like if if you could get them like sure but like don’t overpay just for the sake of overpaying. Yeah. And just to real quickly go back to the whole back of four situation I try to paint out paint out is the wrong word. Uh sketch out plan out. Yeah, there you go. That’s a better word for it. The rotation for this coming year. And like you said, I don’t think Ryan’s going to just be playing what, like 18, 19 minutes. Like the plan is probably for him to eventually hit like 25 plus minutes. And then also, Assar was on a minutes restriction this past year. You probably want Assar to play 30 plus minutes. So I based on how I looked at the rotation, it seems like that in order for them to get the minutes that you theoretically think that they probably want them to get, they have to steal some at the back of four position and then, you know, for them to to for both of them to get to the mints that it seems like they want to get to. So, I think that’s probably what we’re going to see this year. Maybe why they didn’t have such a pressing need to go out there back four maybe this year. Um, but I do think eventually whether it’s the trade deadline or when it like the Ford position needs to be addressed because like you said, Tobias is only getting older and they don’t really have a Bobby Clintman. I’m sorry guys, it’s just not the he’s he’s I like he’s not the move. He’s not He’s not the move. I’m sorry. Yeah. Um, coming up, I want to get Laz’s thoughts on the expectations for next season, what he’s looking forward to seeing from Detroit moving to next year after such a successful season this past year. We’ll talk about that coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by 5Hour Energy. Time to fuel up and turn it up with 5hour energy transfusion. It brings the bold grape, ginger, and lime flavor of your favorite golf drink minus the alcohol into a quick energizing shot. Whether you’re sinking birdies or just making memories or friends, this one’s a hole in one for your energy game. Let’s be honest, some days on the course or even off of it, obviously, you just need that extra boost to stay sharp and energized. There’s plenty of times when I wake up, I’m tired. I don’t know if I have it for the day. Just pop a five hour energy, all of a sudden you got instant energy to get through the day. Golf is all about good times with good people and good flavors. 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Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. This another great way to support the podcast. The Substack link, playback link is all in the description down below. Check out those links and then also again like I said, be ready for the Marcus Sasser article I have on my Substack coming out hopefully within the next 24 hours as long as I get all the editing and stuff done. Um, but let’s go ahead and get into the expectations for next season. Laz, this Pistons team last year broke the playoff winning streak or winning streak, drought, playoff drought without a win. Um, got two playoff wins against the New York Knicks. seemed like that maybe they had a chance to try to pull it off, pull off the upset, but nonetheless a great successful season going into next year with Kate Cunningham on his extension with who we’ll talk about a little later with the extensions of Ivy and Duran up in the air and with the moves that we saw this off season with Caris Lebert and Duncan Robinson. What do you think should be the expectations for this team next year? So my expectations uh before the off seasonason were uh put yourself the way I categorize it is like regular season is whatever it’s put yourself in a position to win a first round series right with the ideal goal of like you know you lost in the first round last year like this year you win in the first round and then you see what happens from there. Um after this offseason I still think that’s a perfectly good goal for the team to have. I think that they should look to win whatever first round series they find themselves in. And you know what makes winning a series easier? Having home court. And so I think that the Pistons should be looking to be like the third or fourth seed in the East. That should be the goal for them. Whether that’s reasonable to expect like I think the reasonable expectation is like stay out of the playin, right? Like like the like they did this past season. clearly delineate yourself as like better than the playin and I think they still have the roster to be able to do that. Um but that makes a playoff but you don’t know who you’re gonna be playing in the playoffs. It makes a playoff matchup tricky. So if you just get that top four seed, you get home court like you feel better about things. So that that’s what I think the expectation should be for them going in next season. So based off how the East looks right now, you mentioned this earlier, Tyrese is down and they lost Miles, so it looks like they’re kind of out of it. Um, I think they still probably will make the plane at at least. Um, but I don’t think they’re in competition to be higher than the Pistons. If they are, something must have went wrong. Um, Boston, they’re without Tatum and they’ve kind of just broken down their roster and they might continue to do so. I know they’re trying to move Simon still. Who knows what else ends up happening in Boston. So, it seems like they’re falling down. Yeah. Uh, I saw a ranking earlier today of, you know, what they project the Eastern Conference to look like. I forget what side it was, but they had the Atlanta Hawks above the Pistons. And I feel like the Atlanta Hawks are the one team that I’ve seen Pistons fans look at and be like, “Okay, they and I think Orlando obviously has done this as well, but Atlanta’s kind of like the one that was around.” I don’t know. I feel like Atlanta was kind of the one Pistons fans were comparing themselves to. But either way, Atlanta went out and did the offseason. I felt like the people on the side of the let’s be aggressive offseason in the fan base, Atlanta did that. They went out and got Nikil Alexander Walker. They went out and got Luke Canard. They got a bunch of players added to this team. try to build even better team around Trey Young and and and Dyson Daniels and Zachary Ricochet and Jaylen Johnson like seems like they had a real and Christophing obviously I didn’t mention him but they added a lot of pieces to their team and I’m starting to see not everywhere but I’ve seen some places have the Hawks above the Pistons in their rankings coming out of this off seasonason. Do you think that after this offseason do you think the Pistons are above the Hawks or would you say the Hawks have the edge right now? So, I think the Pistons are in the same like tier as like the Hawks and Magic, right? I think of those as the 3, four, five teams in the Eastern Conference right now. Um, I think the Pistons probably match up a little bit better with the Hawks than they do the Magic. The Magic are just a really scary matchup for me because they have just the size that the Pistons don’t have just across the board. Um, and with the addition of Bane, like it makes them really effective offensively. But the Magic are the Magic are in a or sorry the Hawks are in a really interesting position because I like what they’re doing a lot. But it just like Boston was a couple years ago. It’s really reliant on Porzingis like being an impact player for them. And with his health situation, you never know a for how long or like b for like how much that’s going to be effective. And and if they don’t have pooring like all of a sudden they’re starting a yaka a Kongu and like I don’t even know who their backup is after that. I think it’s uh I think it’s like one of I think it’s like one of their like secondyear players. And so I think that there’s definitely uh there’s definitely angles the Pistons can take to attack the Hawks interior that will like that can give you the advantage. So I think like I think of it like Orlando and then the Pistons and then the Hawks. But I definitely like the Hawks did do a lot of offseason stuff. They are kind of everybody’s like n new shiny toy and so I definitely understand the the concern from a lot of Pistons fans. Yeah, I I really like what the Hawks did, but I think like you mentioned, I think a lot of it’s going to come down to health. Not just with Chris Stops, but with Jaylen Johnson. Is he going to finally be healthy? Like is Lu Canard going to be healthy for them? Like if they if their team’s healthy, I very much like what they did. But a lot of it is just riding on guys just being healthy. Um and Chris Stops his whole health situation. I don’t even know. Like we don’t know if like Yeah, you never know. We don’t even know like what it was this past year in the playoffs. Like we still like what was it like what what was going on there. So I guess we have to wait and see. But I really like what Atlanta did as this offseason for the roster. Um and obviously like you mentioned Orlando. I think with Desmond Van I think that was a great get. I thought exactly what they need. I I think most people including myself I’ve basically have penciled in Orlando to be three. I think they’re going to be I think they’re going to be trying to make the NBA finals. um maybe East and at least I think the East and Convers I think they’re going to be really good this year. Um so like you say it kind of pencils the Pistons in around like four or five. Um with that said, Kade had a fantastic season this past year. Made all NBA team, made all-star team or the All-Star game. What What are the expectations you have for him this year? Is it just is it kind of relative to last year or do you are you expecting yet another jump from Kade this year? Uh, I think this year is about maintenance, right? The the things I want to see from Kate this year have less to do with like accolades because now he’s proven that he can be like that type of guy. Um, and for things like Allstar and all for things like All-Star in particular, it is kind of a popularity contest, but to see his the way that he plays the game kind of acknowledged by his peers and by coaches and by media, like that’s like that’s really encouraging. Like that people see what we see, right? But like do like I think it’s the expectation for him should be like make the all-star team again and then depending on like uh where everybody else is like injury-wise like again like compete for an allNBA spot. I think he should have made second second team allNBA last season. Um if he plays that way again like I think he there’s a good chance he could make second team allNBA again and then like go from there. But, um, I think the things that I want to see from him next season are kind of what we saw in the playoffs, right? Uh, the downfall that they had was that he shot like 17% from three. So, more consistency from three, more variety in the ways in which he gets to his threes. Um, some of that is offensive, especially after Jaden Ivy got down. It felt like he was like never shooting any more catch and shoot threes. Yeah. And so you you’d like to see like you’d hope the addition of LeVert and like the return of Jaden Ivy would bring back uh some ball handling, make his life a little bit easier. He’s a better catch and shoot uh shooter than he is a pull-up shooter just like everybody else. And so like yeah, get him some get him some easier looks, get him some easier buckets. And then uh turnovers turnovers are still just like a smidge too high. Um but I really thought like but with that said like what was he third in the NBA in assists per game last season and um like a much improved as a rim finisher and after I think we we we talked about this a little bit like after he made the all-star game his free throw rate like jumped accordingly. It was like okay like that I I hate that it has to be that way but I’m glad like at least he’s finally getting the calls. And so it really is just like, hey, like I need K to be able to be more consistent from three and get more threes in his shot diet, get more variety of threes in his shot diet and turn the ball over less. But these are like small tweaks, right? Like he again, he was in my mind, he was one of the like 11 or 12 best players in the NBA last season. And so to be like, hey, like go to seven is like a a tall ask and and not like a burden I want to place upon him, but something I’d be like if he does do it like I won’t be shocked, but I know I’ll be excited, but it’s also like, you know, I don’t know if I expect it to happen, right? Yeah. Yeah. Going from, and people say this all the time, going from bad or Kade was never bad, but like going from where he was to good and being respected like that, that’s the easier jump to make. making that jump from like the 12 spot to like a legit top seven, top eight guy. That’s the hardest jump you’re going to make. Um, so I it’s going to be tough for him to do. Where I want to see him improve a ton is he his finishing at the rim has to get much better. His I think he was great in the paint away from the rim. Fantastic. One of the best in the league. But once he got at the rim, he just was not good enough as a finisher this year. I think if he improves that, that will go a long way with his efficiency. Obviously, I just did a breakdown of his game two in the playoffs a few days ago. And he in that game two, he had a lot of euro step and a same hand, same foot finishes that he was trying to do in that series. He didn’t do that a lot throughout the season. I feel like that’s something he could work into his like creativity around the rim. I feel like that would help with his finishing. I do think he lacks creativity on raw finishes around the rim at times. I think that could help. Um, and then the next thing if teams are going to trap him or show like they were against uh in that New York Knicks series, I I broke down each three. I think it was like 11 threes he had um in like the hedge gap area where you know Brunson shows and before OG can get back there’s a space there to get the three off. That last game of the series I believe he took like eight threes like six of them were in that was a hedge gap pull up three. Yeah. If he’s able to hit that that really it just makes the defense, okay, do we really want to play this way? he’s making us pay out of it. You know, do we want to get out of this? Do we want to just straight up trap him? Do we just want to straight up switch? But as long as he’s not able to make them pay on some pull-up threes, like you mentioned, I think it’s going to be harder for him to take advantage of teams playing that kind of defensive coverage. But like you mentioned, this is all stuff like you’re just improving the margins now. Like you got the base now. Now you’re just sharpening up your tools and trying to get them as as great as possible. So, I think Kad’s in a really good spot and I think if he can just improve in those other areas, even if it doesn’t result in, let’s say he averages 26 again next year, like I don’t need him to go to like 30 points, I just need him to become more efficient. I think that will be a bigger deal than anything. Yeah. You saying like, oh, I I expect Kade to average like if he if he had like a bump on last year’s numbers, it’d be what, like 38 and 11. It’s like that those are those are ridiculous numbers, right? Like it’s crazy to expect anybody to average that. Um, so like it it it is again like just making sure that you’re doing it more efficiently, that you’re doing so like in a in a way in a pace that matters for this team. And like I again I don’t want to rule it out completely, but I don’t want to place it on him as expectations, right? Yeah. Yeah. We’ll see what happens. I know they put a lot of him in and his camp, they put a lot of expectations on themselves. They’re ready for all of it. So we’ll see. And Ashton starting his uh his tweet process. He’s been tweeting. God, I saw that. I saw that you know when they gym all of a sudden the clock turned to August. I’m I’m I’m refreshing the Rico Hind YouTube page like daily like Yeah. No, I I I see it. I see it. So, we’ll see what what kind of footage we get over the next month or so. But coming up, I want to talk with Laz about the only thing left really in the offseason. Is is Jay Ivy or Jaylen Dur going to get extended? I want to talk with Lazab and get his thoughts on that coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever wish managing your money felt easier? With Monarch Money, it can. Whether you’re growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch puts you in the driver’s seat. 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Again, that’s monarchmoney.com code lockedmbba for half off your first year with monarch money. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on Pistons your first listen 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. whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on make and I want to thank all of you guys again for making it your first listen to the everydayers the first listeners I appreciate all of you guys check out the substack the playback links down below let’s go ahead and get into this laz extensions for Ivy or Durham the only really things left this offseason now they do have two roster spots open they just gave one of their two ways to Jenkins so that’s so taken up um they do have two roster spots open we’ll see what they do they do still have a TPE available as Well, so maybe they use the TPA to try to create, you know, another player for their rotation, but we’ll see what happens with that. I don’t think it’s going to be anything major. I think it’s probably just going to be a minimum guy, but we’ll we’ll see. Um, the only thing that really matters at this point is an extension coming for Ivy or Durn. So, where do you stand? We’re on to to give Laz a little bit of a bailout. It’s August 4th. We don’t have to hold what we say right now to Things can change over the next month and a half. So, this is just our thoughts as of August 4th. Uh, L, where are you at with extensions for these guys? Uh, where where I’m at like hasn’t really changed that much. Uh, I hope they sign both of them to numbers that make sense. Um, I’m interested in having both of them on the team long term. Uh, I would prioritize Duran over Ivy again because we saw how I I saw Jaylen Duran’s improvements over the last 50 games of the season and in the playoffs. It was so I went to all the home playoff games. Coup it was so striking how much more comfortable he looked like when he didn’t have to defend Carl Anthony Towns. And so to me, uh, you know, we’re talking about Atlanta, but we’re like we’re talking about Orlando and New York and Cleveland. Like, do I feel comfortable with like Jeremy Linduran on a Jared Allen in a playoff match up? Like, yeah, absolutely. Do I feel comfortable with him defending whoever Orlando decides to start at center while they like play 1994 offense? Like, yeah, I think I think that’ll go fine. Um, and we talked about Porzingis a little bit, like Porzingis would be would be a stretch. uh no pun intended, but uh not knowing what kind of like health he’s going to be in is like could he could he play against the Congu like yeah absolutely and so I feel really comfortable about Jaylen Dur like being a part of this team for the future. So I do hope they get ext that extension done. Jaden Ivy same deal. Um I think it’s it’s really unfortunate that Jaden Ivy and Assar Thompson like never really got to play together. To me, Assar is like the secret sauce that like holds the entire like roster together. And it would have been really clarifying to see how Jaden reacted to the pressure of a playoff setting playing with the Sar Thompson, right? Um, and like for the record, I think he probably would have done perfectly fine. The thing I will say about Jaden Ivy’s extension is that as we are seeing with the Cam Thomas extension discussions have as we’ve seen with the I don’t know if you’re aware like the I’ve seen some like Tyler Herro contract extension talks like kind of burbling as we’ve seen with the Kings like apparently wanting to throw Malik Monk like into the dust bin of history for like reasons that I’m not fully aware of these uh sex trade. Yeah, the Col round pick. So that that is like that’s a that’s a different thing in my mind, but like K it’s a good thing. Um these score first score mostly not amazing defensive not can’t run a team guards are not very highly valued in today’s NBA. And so that presents a problem when he’s like, “Hey, I was the number five overall pick. Like I’ve been really good for you guys. Um like we we’re having success. We’re having success when I’m on the floor. Like I I partner really well with our franchise player. Like why won’t you pay me?” Like yeah, he’s not cussing dudes out on Twitter like Cam Thomas, but him and Cam probably have are they they’re probably having like similar discussions with with their teams right now. And so it like I want Jaden Ivy on the team. I wonder if I don’t think it’ll get like as acrimonious as like the Jonathan Kaminga situation. I wonder if both of I wonder if both Ivy and Duran just end up playing on the qualifying offers just because like uh it’s easier for the team to be like, “Hey, like if you think you can find $30 million for yourself, like we want to give you the freedom to go out and find it and if you can, we’ll match it because we love you. But um if you can’t find it then like we need to have an honest discussion about what we actually like need to pay you as we you know set up extensions for Assar and Ron and try to figure out this long-term force situation right and so I I think the teams are well within their the team is well within their right to do everything they can to build the roster uh as efficiently as possible and that looks a little bit that looks like they’re squeezing the players and like maybe they are kind of squeezing the players but like it’s just it’s the give and take in the business of the NBA. So, yeah, I I want both of those guys on my team. I want both of those guys under contract for a long time. What the numbers like what the numbers are going to be like that’s between the agents and the team. So, we have some players from their draft class that have signed extensions. Obviously, Paulo um has signed his extension. Chat just got his extension. JDub just got his extension. Um, the one that the Yeah, tell me about uh the one that I that really matters here is Jabari Smith to me. He got his extension and he’s not a superstar. Neither either Dur Ivy. I feel like he kind of falls in that same category. You can argue that they’re better than Jabari. I’m sure Rockets fans will try to argue that he’s better than them, but they’re around they’re like in the same category where they’re not superstars, they’re not stars, but they’re fine, you know, they’re fine good players. Um he signed for a fiveyear $122 million which I believe on average is what around 22 what is it? Uh on divi 24 and a half 24.5 million. Um so that’s where he signed at. I want to ask you specifically some things about each one. Get your thoughts on each one specifically based off what I’m going to ask you and then we’ll wrap up the podcast. Um with that with what you saw from Jabari Smith. Let’s start with Ivy. Uh let’s start with Ivy’s extension here. Like you mentioned, they have to start playing for Assar and Ron’s extensions coming up. They have to address this back of force situation. You brought I I’m glad you brought up the point of what you’re seeing these other score type guards. Doesn’t seem like that. Now again, a few years ago it was big men who needs a big man blah blah you can do this. And now it’s like, oh, you need bigs now. Now it’s the return of the bigs. So maybe two, three years from now it’s like, oh, we need score guys and we need someone who can score. Like what? Maybe that happens. But as of right now, seems like they’re kind of being devalued. Based off Jabari’s contract number and what you’re seeing around the league, where what would you want to give Ivy if in order for you to feel comfortable about extending him? Whether you want to go uh annually or just the totality of the contract, whichever one. Yeah, I think like I what I’m hoping for is they land in like the four years, $90 million range for both of those guys. I think that’s a good number. I think that’s a fair number. Jabari got five years and so that that’s like what 20 that’s like four years like 87 something like that. Um which like again that’s totally fine. Um so yeah four years 90 is like where I hope they land for for Ivy and and for Duran. Um if either one of those guys wants to fight for like player options on the final year so they can get back on the market. Uh especially for a guy like Duran who Duran’s really young and so like he could he could be on he if he could get to a second deal by like his age 25 26 season like even as a big man like I think that’d be really valuable for him. So I can see him pushing for something like that. Um but yeah uh yeah I think like in that in that neighborhood would be fine for both of them. that allows you that I think that’s going to be what like it’s going to be 20-ish% of the cap moving forward. That allows you some flexibility. Um like you got Tobias’s expiring money and you can figure out that contract situation. It’d be great if the Pistons could work something out with Tobias like the Rockets were able to work out with Fred Van Fleet. Like hey like uh like we love you like you’re you’re great for our culture. Um nobody else is going to give you $30 million. Here’s two for 30, right? and like that keeps you in our plans but also like at a number that both of us can like live with. So yeah, that that’s where I’m hoping things end up. Um I don’t I don’t know if uh either guy’s representation like really goes for that. I can see Jade Ivy looking at the Jaylen Green deal and being like, uh, I have just as much impact as that guy and he makes I believe it’s like 28 29. Like, yeah, it’s a fun it’s a funky structure, but he makes almost 30. Like, I want like almost 30 and then you’re you’re kind of back to the draw board. Um, we’ll we’ll see what Cam Thomas gets. We’ll see what Giddy gets. like if Giddy’s able to uh I like I saw that Cam Thomas was basically pointing to the Emanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett contracts and both those guys make I think about 30 and being like I’m just as impactful as those guys like I want 30 and like sure if Josh Giddy somehow extracts like 28 $30 million from the Chicago Bulls that’s going to cause a lot of uh comparisons and uh points to be to be drawn. So like I sorry Josh Giddy like not only do I think you’re not that good like I hope you don’t get paid so like it makes my life easier but um but yeah so like I that’s where I think the number like ends up in like that 22 to like 24ish range. Yeah. So Jaylen Green he’s getting paid 33.5 this year 36.2 next year and then 36 on a player option the final year. It’s a three-year extension he got. I I can definitely see like Ivy’s agent and Cam Thomas’s agent being like like yeah he was the number two overall pick but like they just traded him like pay pay me. It’s like it’s it’s a hard thing to say. Yeah. I I know there were some recent reports that came out I believe from Keith Smith uh he spoke with it was a Piston executive and he kind of asked him about uh extensions for these guys. We’ve talked about this in the podcast before, but basically a lot of people are holding on to the, “Yeah, we’d love to have these guys back. You know, we love them, blah blah blah.” The sentence I’ve told people to pay attention to the most is things I think it was like on a deal that makes sense for both parties. And that that’s the that’s what I’ve heard all off seasons is that the Pistons would be willing to extend these guys if they get them on a deal that makes sense for them. They’re not they have a from what I understand, they have an ideal ceiling of what they want to pay. They already have it set. if they don’t want to get to that point, they’ll find they’re fine going into the season with him. They’re not It doesn’t seem like they’re going to budge. Again, it’s August 4th. We’ll see if that ends up happening. If they end up going a little higher, but from what I understand, they they know how much they want to give out to each guy, and that’s, you know, if they’re willing to come down to that, yeah, they’ll extend them. Um I I have heard some noise over the offseason that one of these guys does want a lot more than what’s being put on the table. So, I’m interested to see if like I won’t say which one, uh but like we’ll see. I’m interested to see just if they get either one done because I I I don’t think Trajan’s going to move on where he wants to get them at. I think he’s very I think if we’ve learned anything from Trajan is that one, he’s very patient. He he will take his time and he’s very calculated. He’s he’s thinking long term. He’s not going to let anything that happens in the short term dictate his long-term plan. And I feel like he’s not going to budge. And maybe if you could get Duran or Ivy in 22 to 24, sign me up. like you can if you can do that that’s that’s like that’s a great deal but I just I question whether they whether the player will want that. Um but if they can’t I think it would be a great deal. I that’s I’m really really really interested to see how this ends up going because yeah I mean like you you look at the Kaminga situation right where like we’ve seen some reports on like what the numbers like we’ve seen like again like he wants 30 the team is offering him like 22 23ish and that’s just like too big an impass and like you like I I don’t think this is not like Steve Kerr actively calling out Kaminga like in the media or Kaminga like dropping in leaks that like he wants Steve Kerr fired. Like it’s not that bad, right? Like I think both of those guys like have their heads on straight and they they want to play for the Pistons, but it is like it’s it’s just a really big gap between like what the market is willing to what the market used to be for uh guys who were coming off like solid not spectacular rookie scale deals like usually like up until before the previous CBA like you just paid those dudes, right? Yeah. Um, I mean like I I wonder if you gave uh like Messiah Jerry like true serum like did he really want to give Scotty Barnes like the max? Like I don’t know. But like that that’s kind of what you did, right? And now it’s like it’s it kind of like after the every team is operating in complete terror of being locked into place by the aprons. And so it’s like what do we got to do to prevent that? Like part of that is like squeezing guys where we can squeeze guys. and restricted free agency makes it really easy to squeeze guys. Yeah, I I think that’s the main thing that people need to understand is that a few years ago when teams were hand they didn’t know the CBA was about was coming what was coming with the second apron stuff and now we’re seeing teams strip their teams to get away from it and teams we’ve seen Brian Winhorse report on this a bunch and we’ve even seen Traan he doesn’t want to give up any contract longer than two years like he doesn’t want any kind of long-term flexibil or long-term contract on the books seems like multiple teams are trying to for whatever reason there’s a few theories but trying to cap space open for two years from now. There’s a few theories I’ve seen about this, but something about this 27 season that people are looking for. Um, so I’m just interested to see how this ends up playing out because there’s so many angles of, you know, what each party is considering and you you’d think that, like you mentioned, coming off a playoff series like this and a successful season that usually you just pay these guys and get your young core locked in, but it’s not. It’s just not as I would say simple as that anymore. So, we’ll see what happens. Uh, Lass, is there anything else you want to say before we wrap up here? All right. So, I want you to put the Darth Coup hoodie on. I want Conspiracy Coup. You mentioned earlier the Pistons have two uh roster spots open. Right. Right. Do you think they’re holding one of those roster spots for Malik Beasley in case the in case it like turns out that this was actually nothing and he can come back in like February? You think they’re just going to like hold a roster spot the like for half a season just in case they can bring him back? I do think it’s possible. Yeah. Because he’s been he’s been working on like Piston shorts. He’s constantly talking about how he like he told Pet Bev that he was going to be on the roster next year. So, I do feel like that there’s a chance that they’re just like, “Okay, we’ll wait it out and we’ll see if if anything does. If nothing comes of it, we’ll give you a one-year, five-year deal and then take care of you next year or whatever.” That kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. The the Duncan Robinson contract is uh suspiciously structured, I’ll say. Yes. Yes. Non-g guaranteed after next year. It’s like, okay, they must have a plan for like, you know, we’ll see what happens. Uh but that was it. That was it. Thanks, C. Appreciate you coming on the podcast. You can find them over on Twitter at last chance. I appreciate you coming on the podcast, making time of your day to talk with us here. I appreciate all of you guys making Lock on Pistons your first listen every single day, free and available on all your podcast platforms. Hit that subscribe button to YouTube channel. Leave us a five star review, whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. And until next time, I’ll see you guys later. Stay safe out there. Until next time, peace out everybody.

Pistons’ Offseason Moves: Shrewd Strategy or Missed Opportunities?

Detroit’s NBA landscape is shifting. The Motor City’s basketball team navigates a crucial offseason, balancing roster needs with long-term vision. Host Ku and guest Lazarus Jackson dissect the Pistons’ recent decisions, from addressing the power forward position to potential trade targets. They explore expectations for the upcoming season, analyzing how Detroit compares to Eastern Conference rivals such as Atlanta and Orlando. The conversation shifts to Cade Cunningham’s development and the looming contract extensions for Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren. Jackson offers insights on fair contract values and the NBA’s evolving financial landscape.

Tune in for an in-depth analysis of the Pistons’ path forward and how recent moves could reshape their playoff aspirations.

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