Detroit Pistons NBA Season Preview With Bryce Simon!
[Music] [Music] And we’re back with another episode of the Lakers Fast Break podcast. More NBA team previews because I know that’s what you need. I know that’s what you want and I know that’s what will fill up your heart until training camp. It is of course Gerald Glasford. Thanks again for joining us. And we’re on to Detroit City. Detroit, Rock City, here we come. I feel like I’m I’m going to Detroit right now because who better to go ahead and talk about the Pistons. Good man indeed. Go ahead and check out what he’s doing today at Motor City Hoops and so much more in the podcasting world. It is of course Bryce Simon. And Bryce, great to have you here. Thank you so much for stopping by and talking about the Detroit Pistons. Thanks, Gerald. I appreciate you having me on. I’m excited to to do this. I appreciate it whenever you reached out, ask me. Um, I have to say I always love the little intro videos. That’s some of my favorite things to like look for whenever I go and guest on other people’s pods. Makes me feel worse about my own pod. Like ours definitely doesn’t um match up to your guys’, but I’m excited to be here. talk Pistons and maybe a little bit of Lakers, too. No worries. Uh I am not uh I’m not a a director our tour. I am not in creating. I just was uh cut a few things together, find some splices. There you go. And uh put it there. But I’m sure you’ll come up with something much better in due time. Uh rest assured, rest assured indeed. But I’m just great to have grateful to have you on. Um Detroit. Let’s head to Detroit. I’m always thinking to myself, RoboCop, uh, all the good things out there with with Detroit. Obviously, things are looking much better for Detroit, including the basketball team. The football team is doing sensational. The basketball team is on the rise. Uh, one of my Lakerhollics crew from the lakerhollics.com website as far as our friends are there. El Robb lives in Detroit. He has spoken great things about Detroit. How good is the mood right now in Detroit about what’s going on with a team filled with youth that is looking to take that next step? Yeah. I mean, it’s a lot better than it was the first four years I covered this team, Gerald. Um, so for your listeners that don’t know, like I’m not from Detroit. I live in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. Um, I I jumped into the podcasting world during COVID just because I love basketball and one of my former college teammates had picked the Pistons. So my first year covering the Pistons was Troy Weaver’s first year. So Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Sadique Bay draft, and that’s where I started out. So I got in on the what they called the restoration. We did not call that a rebuild. We called it a restoration. And as most NBA fans know, it took four years to finally get through that restoration. new general manager, new decision maker, a few different coaches, and finally we got to watch competitive um structured basketball that we could actually analyze, Gerald, which was nice. And so vibes are very good. As you mentioned, the Lions had a really good season last year. So, lot lots of I’m not much of a baseball fan, so I don’t want to comment on the Tigers or hockey fans, so I can’t comment on the Red Wings or or anything else, but it is nice to have a basketball team that you’re like, man, that this is a potential playoff team. They have an MVP caliber candidate and some other really young interesting pieces. Uh, the Tigers actually are doing well as well, so don’t want to leave them out of the out of this this conversation at all. But I will say for the Pistons, uh, in a conference that looks to have the door a little bit more wide open than normal because of the fact, you know, the injuries, uh, that have happened to Boston and Indiana that should circumvent their seasons, almost create gap years in a sense for both those teams. a team like Detroit which are is coming off of actually a very strong performance in against New York in the playoffs, they could take that next step and actually become that that team that many people saw in Indiana last season. Yeah. I mean, it’s really interesting to see. Uh I I always fascinated to know what people from the outside thought about Detroit’s off season because there was no big name. There was no huge addition. I I think essentially what they did was run it back and I think the plan initially was to run it back with Malik Beasley and then make a couple other moves and of course you know that situation happened and Trajan Langden had to pivot. The thing I always like to have people to give people a perspective at the end of the season in the playoffs the Detroit Pistons essentially traded out Dennis Shruder, Tim Hardway Jr. and Malik Beasley for Jaden Ivy because he was injured after 30 games last season. Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert. And so in my opinion, they actually upgraded what we had at the end of last season. It’s also worth noting that probably hated Detroit Piston Isaiah Stewart for Laker fans. They probably not a fan of him, but only, you know, did not really get to play in that Knicks series either. And he is an important part of this roster as well. Now, injuries always happen and I know that’s part of the game, but my point is even though they didn’t go out and make a huge move, I do think the roster upgraded in terms of Jaden Ivy Ivy being healthy, Assar Thompson getting a full off season because last offseason he had the blood clot issue and the late start to the season, Jaylen Duran having a really, you know, a a a rise throughout his season where he was playing his best basketball at the end of the year. Year two of JB Bicker Staff, Gerald. I mean, we were coming off the Monty Williams just disastrous season last year. Of course, it took him 30 games to figure out, you know, competitive, consistent basketball. Who knows how they can start this season and build off what we saw last year. Once again, I’m talking to Bryce Simon. We’re going to go ahead and keep on talking about the Detroit Pistons, but you can find him each and every time out on Motor City Hoops. And also as well he has a side gig on a very famous hoops podcast called the game theory podcast with Sam Bassini. One that I’ve listened to on more than one occasion for not only just regular basketball but for you draft Nicks as well. Just you know just a just a little tidbit right there for you guys. But uh Bryce I want to ask this. Uh the development of that youth I think is key to your season. uh the Assar Thompsons, the Ron Hollands, the Jaden Ivy’s, Kate Cunningham also as well. I mean, it starts with Kate Cunningham and him already being a top 20 player in the league. Can it get even better for him? Do you see even him taking even bigger step towards superstardom? Yes, there’s definitely areas of growth, right? Like, and ultimately he does. If if this wants to be a real title contender, you know, whatever that window is, let’s say, you know, to create a five, sixyear title window in Detroit, he does have to take now, you know, he took the big steps, right, from his rookie year to what we saw last year. you know that next whatever people want to say that 5% that eight whatever that those steps are hard Gerald as we know to go from what he was last year to true perennial superstar MVP conversation but it starts with the turnovers that have to come down a little bit and then continues on the offensive end with the three-point percentage and even the finishing at the rim so th those are those little things those little nuances of his game that take him into first team allNBA BA that make him more successful in a playoff series along with the defensive end. And I think that’s the part of Kate Cunningham’s game that doesn’t get talked about enough. Think about the number some of the primary initiators in this league that really get critiqued for their defensive lapses or ineptitude or being a negative defender that you have to cover up for. That is not and should not be Cade Cunningham. At the very least, he should be a neutral defender for a superstar. and Mabian has the potential to be a plus defender. And that’s what I’ve always loved about his game is the potential for the all-around aspect outside of just the scoring and the creation and the hub of the offense potential. So with that, again, the development of that youth is going to be key to your season. Uh Ron Holland again, Assar Thompson, Jaden Ivy. Which of those three players do you feel is uh has got to improve the most? Has got to take that next step in order for the team to take that next step as well. I think the biggest spotlight is on Jay Ivy this season season. Um you know, we’ll see what happens, you know, contractwise. Him and JD obviously are up for extensions off their rookie deals. We’ll see if those get done. Um, if I if you made me ask me for a prediction, I think Duran’s is more likely than Jade Ivy’s. You mentioned Sam Bassini in the Game Theory podcast. Sam’s favorite word right now over there is delta. And Jaden Ivy’s delta of outcomes is just has a has a range, Gerald. Like, it really does that. I don’t think Jaylen Durn is as much. And I think that makes negotiations a little tougher for Ivy. But for me, now that Kate Cunningham has established himself where he has, Detroit’s next goal is to find the number two guy. Who is the number two guy? I did a study over the last 10 seasons before this year. And what were the average points per games for the number one, number two, and number three scores for the four finalists, two in Eastern, two in Western Conference. So 40 total teams, right, over the last 10 years. And the number one score was right around what you would imagine, you know, 25 26. the number two score was right around 202122. Who is that guy for the Pistons? Is it Jaden Ivy? Could it be, you know, Ron Holland? Or do they have to make a move to go acquire that guy via trade? And I think that’s why Jaden Ivy has the biggest spotlight on him is are you the number two scorer on this team? Do you have the play style to be the number three guy if we go get a different number two or are you a sixman? And that’s when I mean whenever I say Delta, that’s what I mean. And so I think he’s the most important evaluation at least for Trajan Langden in the organization this season. But with Assar Thompson obviously seeing his brother get a lot of the spotlight last season and uh coming into this season with the spotlight even more on him about a potential superstar status for him. I feel that people should neglect him and leave him far behind. I know that there are assets or aspects of his offensive game that need to be worked on and improved, but defensively there are few better right now in the league than Assar Thompson. I would agree. And again, not not to continue to shamelessly plug the Game Theory podcast. We did a top 25 defenders in the NBA series. Yeah, we did a top 25 defenders in the NBA series. Assaar is probably higher on the list than most would expect, but you know he he was right there in the range of like the second tier of perimeter defenders like behind his brother who is you know he’s just a different level like a men is one of the best if not you know yeah well I I’ll say one of the best go listen and so that defensive impact is huge for this team and so I don’t want him to be neglected in this conversation with Ji I’m talking just kind of like the the scoring options on the offensive end. You could convince me that Assar is the second most important player just in general, right? But Cade, no question. But Assar may be the most valued player after Cade Cunningham currently on the roster because of that defensive potential. I think he has all defense level potential in his game. And then, you know, offensively just trying to figure it out, right? Like is he, you know, offball cutter? Um, can you use him more in, you know, screen and roll stuff like in a unique way? Can he get a little bit better on the ball, Gerald, the way we’ve seen a men get used in Houston at times? So, figuring out that offense is important, but there’s no denying his impact and especially just the the foundation of what he does defensively. So, with that, and again, your team is is really starting to line up with depth, which is obviously a great bonus. I’ve seen a lot of teams, the successful teams building teams with that thought in mind, that very thought in mind and not just frontloading teams, but building with depth, which obviously your team is is doing. I mean, modeling themselves after Indiana and Oklahoma City. Both teams had depth that they could rely on consistently throughout the regular and the postseason. With that, you guys added to your rotation with Duncan Robinson. Obviously a little bit more expensive piece as far as the shooting is concerned than Malik Beasley, but how much do you think he’s going to bring to this team for what he’s coming in for? I think he’s vitally important. Like I I just think he is. And and I realize that may sound crazy to people. Um but they need floor spacing. My my here’s my biggest takeaway from what I’ve watched every single second of Detroit Pistons basketball for five years and this doesn’t apply to the Lakers and it probably never will because they don’t really fall into this. When you are a rebuilding team, you need veterans and you need floor spacing to properly evaluate your young players. I watched so many games and I could argue seasons get wasted because not because they lost games, Gerald, but because you could not properly evaluate the players, the young players, because there was no spacing and there was no veteran leadership. I’m not saying you need seven veterans. I’m saying you need a couple adults in the room that are going to come in and in and out every game and show the young guys how to play, keep you competitive in games. So you can evaluate your players through four quarters and floor spacing. So that way when Kate Cunningham uses a ball screen, he has somewhere to go with it or if he makes the right read, there’s somebody in the weak side corner that’s actually going to knock down the shot. So, that’s a long way to a short point of Duncan Robinson has to be that elite floor space here for this team because if you look at the rest of the roster, like Jaden Ivy shot 40% from three, but are we sure that’s the level of shooter he is? What kind of volume? You know, Carris Levert has some ability to knock down shots, but is that really what he’s known for? Tobias Harris, same type of thing. all of a sudden you remove Duncan Robinson from that rotation and there’s a little bit of like oh what’s the floor spacing going to be like there. So I think he has a very important role for this team. So with that again I want to ask this uh your team is full of depth in a Eastern Conference. I’m not even going to call it the Eastern Conference because a lot of people have been uh saying that and and that seems to be the day, but just an Eastern Conference to my opinion where there’s a lot of opportunity for the right team to take advantage of it. I don’t think it’s a gimme that New York or Cleveland are going to have their way in the Eastern Conference, but I think that there are teams like Detroit out there which can take advantage of it. And especially at the fact if you stay healthy, you’ve got the youth that develops. Kate Cunningham takes that next step and you’ve got a monster back there in Jaylen Duran cleaning everything up on the boards like I’ve seen him doing. With all that said, if everything goes right, absolutely everything goes right for Detroit this season, where do you see them ending up? Yeah, I think I would put them at four in the Eastern Conference, maybe three. Like, okay, you said everything goes right. If everything goes right and like K takes the little minute like improvements we talked about, Ji becomes the number two scorer, Assar defensively, JD is the player that we saw over the back third of the season in that playoff series. Maybe third, right? Like I I think third still I think you still have to give the Cavs and the Knicks their due love because they’ve done it. They’ve got into the playoffs, but then I think this is a team that can absolutely make a playoff run, right? Like that is dangerous when you have what potentially could be the best player in the series in Kate Cunningham. In my opinion, that always gives you a chance. And then if these other young players take those leaps that we’re talking about, you’re talking about a real contender that’s in the Eastern Conference semifinals and is giving one of those two G teams everything they want in that series. So, I think that’s kind of the ceiling of, okay, they maybe finished third in the East and then now they’re potentially making a run into the Eastern Conference Finals because, you know, things have clicked the right way. Who would you want them to match up against better? Who do you think they match right now looking at it on paper, who do you think they match up better against? Uh, as far as the two favorites are concerned, New York or Cleveland? That’s interesting. You know, I would want them New York again, Gerald, just because of last season where that was such a competitive fivegame series, you know, like at the end of the day it all those games were so excuse me, six game series. Um, you know, where you just couldn’t win a game at home for whatever reason. Um, that that was probably the most disappointing thing for Pistons fans, you know, where they got a playoff win, but they weren’t get able to get a home playoff win. But all of those games were so close um in that six game series. So I I would say the Knicks, the Cavs one is interesting. Uh well, the thing with the Knicks is it would be if they would go too big or not. So like because with Cleveland with the two bigs, yes, they have Tobias Harris, but if there is like a hole in the Pistons roster right now, it’s as a backup four. And I’m not really sure how they would navigate defending two bigs because it’s like, oh, Assar can play minutes at the four, but if Assar is guarding Evan Mobley, he’s not guarding Donovan Mitchell or Darius Garland, which you want him to be able to do, right? So, that would be interesting. The other thing is I think the Knicks have the best defender for Cade Cunningham between those two teams with OG and Anobi. And so I think Cleveland would struggle in terms of like the primary defensive matchup a little bit more than the Knicks would where they have OG and you know even Muel Bridges even though Cade kind of works Muel Bridges over in that matchup. So um I I’ll I’ll still go Knicks though just because I would I if if they’re going to do this I would want them to get some of their their their get back on the Knicks after last year’s first round exit. Oh, that’ll be another nasty nasty uh conference finals. That would be actually a pleasure to watch indeed. Absolutely. Especially if it goes back to New York, comes back to Detroit. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Bring back It would bring back fond memories of the ‘9s. Uh for me, I could I could tell you that for sure. Yes. Uh so with that again, Bryce, I truly appreciate you stopping by. But before we head on out, couple last things I want to ask. Yep. What about the Lakers? Where do you see the Lakers this season? You’ve got Skinny Luca uh just finishing his time with his European vacation, so to speak. It came to an end obviously after their loss to Germany in recent days. Uh but he heads to back to the US coming to LA, his first full season with LA. You’ve got LeBron age 41 season coming up. Uh whether or not he still defies the odds at what level, we’ll have to wait and see. How do you plan it out if you’re JJ Reic as far as his time, how many games, etc., etc.? Uh you picked up a couple of uh as I like to call them uh low uh low as far as high high potential low cost high ceiling as far as with with of course DeAndre Aiden smart if he actually comes through and and is just you know revitalizes himself and also Jake Laavia is concerned. So adding a little bit to a team that really needed some depth, where do you see the Lakers falling this season? Yeah, I mean I have them right in that like four to six range. Um, you know, I have Oklahoma City won like most people do. I like what the Nuggets did this offseason. I think Nicole Joic, I know he didn’t win it, but I think Nicole Joic is the best player in the world, and they have a little bit more depth on that team. And then obviously the Houston Rockets, you know, that I I I don’t know that they get enough credit. I I think one of my favorite quotes last year is like we can’t say the Western Conference is awesome and the Houston Rockets finished second in the West and not give the Houston Rockets a little bit of credit. And obviously they traded for Kevin Durant as well. So I have the Lakers kind of in a tier with the Timberwolves. Um I don’t know what you said circumvent earlier and my mind immediately went to the other team in LA whenever you when you use that word. I have no idea what’s gonna happen with the team across town with, you know, I I don’t I don’t even know where to put them right now. I like that roster a month ago and now that’s just something completely different. Mavericks have their own issues in the back court. The Warriors roster is still incomplete here on September 14th as we record this. So, I I think the Lakers are very much in play for a home court team if healthy. I have learned I am not going to count out LeBron James being able to be a very good NBA basketball player until he gives me reason to think otherwise. I love Luca Donuch. I’m an Austin Reeves guy. I think Austin Reeves can play with Luca. I don’t have concerns there. Um I like the additions of Labraia and Smart giving I think Labraia an underrated defender in this league. I think Lakers actually um I have a video out if people want to go check it out on YouTube kind of breaking down Larabia’s game specifically on the defensive end. Um Marcus Smart, we’ll see how much is left in the tank, but it gives you some potential defensive guys. I think the center position, right, Gerald? I mean, here’s like here’s why I bring that up. I thought Dallas had created the perfect roster around Luca. You had a number two guy in Kyrie who could play off of him or play with ball in hand when Luke was off the court. And then you had these big guys that were perfectly situated to play with him in the pick and roll. Can DeAndre Aton can be that guy? Excuse me. Can DeAndre Aton be that guy? And so I think at the end of the day that center position is the X factor between him, Jackson Hayes. I assume maybe there’s some small ball minutes with Jared Vanderbilt there like you know whatever they decide to do is you what does that position look like? So with that, uh, excellent thoughts indeed. It is Bryce Simon. Please go ahead and make sure you get a hold of him as far as following him and get a hold of his great work. And with that, it’s what I call the cheap plug time for every one of my guests out there to go ahead and plug away anything that they want. Obviously, you’ve got some very highprofile gigs in the world world of podcasting. My compliments to you on that. So, with that, how can people go ahead and catch your great work on a daily basis? So, Motor City Hoops on Twitter, on Blue Sky. I got a Substack. Um, you probably don’t want to subscribe, but anytime the Pistons play the Lakers, um, go check go check it out because I have these, it’s my raw game notes. It’s like four or five pages and I just put like it’s it’s not paragraph form. It’s just literally I type stuff out as it comes across, you know, pops in my head. And so, just check those out whenever the Pistons play the Lakers. Um, it’s completely free. You don’t need to subscribe. You’ll get overblown with Pistons content you guys don’t want to see. But, you know, follow on Twitter, Blue Sky, because it’s NBA draft stuff there. The Pistons P Pulse podcast. Again, you probably don’t want to listen, but um, I had a recent really fun episode with my former college coach that we just talked general basketball. So, you may be interested in that, Coach Jeff Jones. And I had a Western Conference preview with the Slamin Jam guys from the Athletics. So maybe a couple episodes that would be interesting to your listeners. And then the biggest thing you guys should definitely check out is the game theory podcast with Sam Bassini. We talk NBA draft over there at least two times a week. Uh Gerald, thank you for that for letting me plug all of that stuff and very much appreciate you asking me on. I was really excited and uh always enjoy coming on talking hoops with uh fellow hoop heads. I appreciate it. Well, again, for someone who is in so many high-profile podcasts, continued success to you. Uh, and thank you for stopping by my humble little podcast. So, I just truly appreciate it. Uh, and I do enjoy this uh conversation. if you can can if you please if you can stop by during the season and so we can revisit this conversation once again because I’d love to hear you talk about the how well the Pistons are doing because again I like to see teams that build through youth and are able to go ahead and ride it into great success and and I’m just uh happy again that the Pistons are now a team that people have to be concerned with. They’ve done it the right way and are going forward this season. No, I listen anytime and I know maybe the draft isn’t like, you know, a Lakers fan’s biggest thing to talk about, but you need some draft content some point. You want to talk general NBA, whatever. Um, I’m always game to come on. Like I said, I enjoyed the heck out of this. We love the draft. This channel loves the NBA draft. Does not matter where. All right, perfect. Yeah, anytime. Anytime. You just hit me up and and we’ll make it happen. Sounds good indeed. Once again, it is Bryce Simon. I am very fortunate uh that I got a chance to talk to him. I will try to get him back on if he’s able to. It sounds like he was able to and willing to. So, that part is is great for me. Hopefully be great for you guys as well. Hope you enjoyed it. This is again our NBA team previews. We made the stop in Detroit City. Where are we go next? You know where we’re going next alphabetically. So, we will go ahead with our next shows coming up here in the future. But Detroit right now looking good. How good? We’ll find out this season. Bryce, hopefully we’ll get a chance to stop on back right here at the Lakers Fastreak podcast. [Music] [Music]
Our NBA Team Previews continue with Bryce Simon of Motor City Hoops, and the Pistons Pulse and Game Theory Podcasts stepping in to talk about the Detroit Pistons! Listen in as he and Gerald go over one of the fast-rising NBA teams and how the Pistons can take the next step in the Eastern Conference. They go over Cade Cunningham’s possible elevation to the next level in superstar status, the team’s abundance of talented young players, and whether the team is ready to jump up the standings in a weakened East. Bryce also has some pointed thoughts on the Lakers and what their opportunities look like in the West as well. Are the Detroit Pistons ready to be called a major contender in the East? Find out what Bryce thinks as our NBA Team Previews continue right here on the Lakers Fast Break podcast!
Check out Bryce’s work with Motor City Hoops on YouTube @MotorCityHoopsBryceSimon and https://motorcityhoops.substack.com/
You can also find Bryce on The Pistons Pulse at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pistons-pulse/id1610177375
And don’t forget when he’s on the Game Theory podcast with Sam Vecenie on YouTube @GameTheoryPodcastwSamVecenie
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