Reacting To ESPN’s Top 100 NBA Players | Which Pistons Made It?

Reacting To ESPN’s Top 100 NBA Players | Which Pistons Made It?

All the dirty work, all dog. I’mma dive on the floor, go try to block every shot, and I’m going be physical with you the whole game. You know, still going to be physical with you. You think of the Pistons, you think just hard work and just pretty basketball. That’s just identity you got to have when you put on that jersey. I’m not your average dog. I’m bad for life. I set the tone. Don’t care about it. I get my respect come in the lane and see I don’t blow you if you retaliate that’s on you talking I walk in the shop you must mess around [Music] me around Heat. Heat. [Music] for somebody. You better compete for [Music] [Applause] me right now. [Music] What up do? Welcome back to another episode of the Downtown Deuce Show. Hope everybody is having a great Thursday night Friday E. We are joined once again by my brother from another Clutch Points beat writer and reporter for the Detroit Pistons, Eric Benson aka E Vinnie. Eric, welcome back to the show, bro. Pleasure to be here, man. I’m telling you, dog. That’s that’s definitely my favorite song of yours, Dog Pound. I need you to let me get on the remix, though. I can’t rap, but I just want I just want to do something on that song, bro. Just just one time. Let me drop an ad or something. You got No, you got bars. You got bars. We definitely have to make that happen. Hey, pull up in the studio, bro. You know where I’m at. Come on. Okay, we going to make it happen. You bet. I appreciate you, though. Appreciate you, man. For sure. For sure. Let me ask you this. Are you as ready as I am for the NBA to come back, bro? Cuz I’m like, these days, bro, seem to get longer and longer the closer and closer we get. Yeah, I’m excited to have football back, but I’m kind of over the Tigers and, you know, what’s happening with them. So, we need some more, you know, real excitement. Um, you know, the Pistons got a lot to look forward to. NBA just in general. So, yeah, it’s about that time. I’m excited for these next two weeks to creep up. Media day coming next week. It’s a lot to look forward to coming up with the NBA for sure, bro. I have had my off seasonason filled of mock trades and fake news free agency signings. Like, I’m I’m just so over it. I’m ready to get it popping, man. So guys, summer is officially over. Happy fall day everybody. And you know what that means? When we hit the fall season, it means NBA basketball is right around the corner. And we don’t have much longer to wait. Pistons coverage will be in full swing next week as Eric just mentioned and we are going to get into that a little bit later. But first things first, we appreciate all the support and as always, we want to make this very interactive. So we want to hear from you guys. So be sure to drop your comments. I see you guys already here already. Shift God, happy birthday to you. I think you are the legend that was born on the 25th of September, which is today. U Ricky, I see you. What’s going on? C4, Aaron, what’s going on? What up though? What up though? What up though, James? So, I see you guys all here in the chat. We gonna have fun tonight, man. We gonna have fun. James says Pistons wouldn’t know. Winning winning at all. I got I got I gotta um pitch my homie real quick. He He gonna be shy and not, you know, make his pitch. My dog Ricky is probably the funniest dude in Detroit. I know you done had some people come on the show and rock with you and talk about the Pistons. You got to have Ricky on here one of these days, man. He he going to be he he’ll be a great addition for sure. Okay. Okay. He already cutting up in the comments already, so always. It translates to camera, too. Don’t worry. Don’t worry. That’s good to know. So, Ricky, I’m I’m have to reach out to you, bro. Take your DMs. All right, man. So, like I said, um if you guys want to be part of this conversation, um get moved to the front of the line, drop a super chat or whatever, and we’ll get right to you and get to your topic. As far as tonight’s topic, um we are going to get into that now. So, Eric, ESPN recently dropped their top 100 NBA player rankings and the Pistons were represented by three players. Now, some of these players were unexpected. At least one of them were unexpected, but for some it was more than one, but a lot of Pistons fans were overall not happy with this list for a number of different reasons. And I’m sure you’re going to get into your opinion and your take on this list here. So, we’re going to get into that for sure. So, let’s just start with this, man. Let’s let’s get into the first Pistons player to make the ESPN top 100 list and that player is none other than Jaden Ivy. He comes in at number 85 on this list. Eric, what are your thoughts on Jaden coming in at number 85? I like that he’s on there. I’m not going to lie. Um, I think he balled out. Um, contrary to a lot of what we’ve seen on the timeline from certain fans and certain viewers, I have no problem with him being on the list. I don’t think his number is egregious. Um, you know, it’s kind of hard to keep him or really move him up any higher due to his injury and whatnot, but I’m cool with it, especially looking at the names around him. I mean, if it were me, I probably would have moved him up maybe a little bit higher. Like, I think he played better than like Jonathan Kaminga. Um, I I don’t think I’ll probably move him above Tobias. I think Tobias maybe could have moved up a little bit considering his offensive output, who we’ll probably get to in a second, so I’m sorry to be bouncing around. But yeah, I like um I like Jaden’s placement under here. I don’t mind um again having a breakout year that he did. Um you know, stepping up I think he did on defense in certain areas. Um, we saw a lot of progression in his jump shot obviously and you saw even though again people always go back to the record, oh they had a losing record with him, they just played a lot more free and open when he’s on the floor. You see how he can compliment Cade. You see his passing ability and how it can help stretch things out for the Pistons. And it also adds with his speed and his athleticism how they like to play uptempo. And he’s like the definition of that for the Pistons. So no, I like it. I don’t have a problem with his placement at all. I think he was well deserving of being on this list. Yeah, I think he deserves to be on this list, too. You know, some might think that he doesn’t because, you know, he missed, you know, the second half of the year in the playoffs as well, but he obviously showed enough to still make this list. You know, I think that had been healthy all season, he’d be probably higher on this list. So, voters though obviously saw enough from him in half a season, not even half, not even really half a season to reward him with a spot on this list. And you know me, I’ve already gone on record, bro, saying that I think he’s going to be the number two on this team in a Jaylen Williams type of role as far as being a secondary guy with two-way potential on a contending team. I’m not saying, and I said it before, I’m not saying that he is Jaylen Williams or he’s a defender of Jaylen Williams. JD is a little bit bigger, a little longer, but Jaylen is or Jaden is more athletic and he plays with the same level of energy and effort on both ends of the court. So, like I said, I’m not saying he is Jaylen Williams today, but he does have the ability to be the same level of impact player for this team on both sides of the ball for sure. So, I said that during the playoffs last year. I’m standing 10 toes down on that. And I think with a full off season to gel with his teammates, something that the guys didn’t have last year while still tracking towards a career season, that means he’s only going to get better. and I think he’s going to finally prove to all of his doubters that he is an all-star level player and he will be the clear number two on this team next season. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I’m 100% with you. I think um while he may not ever become the defender that Jay Will is, I think offensively he has all the tools to be better as an offensive player than him. I mean, I think he’s a better passer. Um I think the jump shot is clearly there, the explosiveness. Um you know, and again, the way he complements the rest of the team, I think it’s just a seamless fit. And I think that works to Jay Will’s advantage over in uh OKC because I feel like like the Pistons, they all have certain roles and everybody kind of embraces what they need to do and it fits their skill sets perfectly. I think Jaden’s in a perfect position as well to be that number two. Um I mean if you look around at the rest of the roster, like a lot of guys like Duran and Assar, um you know, they’re not offensively proven or well-rounded as guys like Cade and Ivy are. Um, and even with Tobias, who we’ll probably talk about, um, you know, he has his offensive skill sets and he has his ups as well, but I feel like considering he’s a little bit older, we maybe probably have seen the best of him at this point. Um, so I still think Ivy has, you know, a lot of steps to take moving forward in his career. Um, I think he’s a perfect fit in terms of what this roster needs and I still think we’re going to see a lot better version of him, assuming his health is, you know, at 100%. Which from what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard, it looks like he’s ready to go and he’ll be just fine. Yeah, he’s ready to go. He’s definitely ready to go. And when you think about his trajectory, Ro, just from year to year, starting with his rookie season, I mean, year one, right, rookie season, he basically had to do it by himself, at least on offense, cuz Kay was hurt for nearly the whole the whole year with his leg injury. Um, year two, Monty Williams, enough said, right? um year three, which was last year, career year, as soon as he gets in put in position to be successful, a position that doesn’t include 30 plus different starting lineups in one season and being randomly benched by your coach. So, there’s not I don’t think there’s really more that realistically we could have asked for him in those first two years considering those circumstances. And there’s no reason to think in my mind that he won’t continue to play at a high level next year and get better. I mean, that’s just me. Yeah, and that’s why I mean me and you are both staying so high on him again at this point he had a career year or half a year uh last season and I feel like in terms of his development based on everything you just said for all that he’s been through with, you know, three different coaches, you know, 400 different roster adjustments and lineups that he’s had to go through, I feel like with everything that we’ve seen from him, he is he’s at where he should be in my opinion in terms of his development. I don’t think he’s behind. Like are there areas he can improve? for sure, but I don’t think he’s behind in anything that people are looking for him to do. Like even when people question or, you know, have issues with the the analytic numbers of his finishing. I agree, it can certainly be better, but we saw games and plays where he’s hanging in the rim, switching hands, you know, showing the ability to drive downhill, get past his opponents, and be confident enough to at least go for the shot. Like, we have other guys on the roster that are still scared to kind of even take those kind of looks. So, you know, with Ivy’s everything that he’s been through, it doesn’t look like he shied away from anything that the team has needed. And again, even the the Monty Williams era where he was, you know, coming back and forth off the bench and still having the mindset and the confidence to still like he said before the year, I’mma still beat Ji. He said that out of his own mouth and he still showed the confidence and the ability to adapt, do what they need to do, not complain, not be a diva on social media. He just adapted, played ball, and it rewarded the Pistons to winning basketball last season, and I think it’s going to continue to add on next year, too. 100%. 100%. I could I couldn’t have said that any better myself, and that’s exactly what Detroit Drew echoed. He said, “I couldn’t have said it any better.” Thank you. So, yeah, I think I think we’re on the same page. Yeah, we see it, bro. We see it. In this season, I’m going to record saying that everybody else is going to, too. That’s I I’m that confident in his ability and what I’ve seen from him and his work ethic. Yeah, he he’s he’s I think it’s going to be his breakout season for sure next year barring injuries. Knock on wood. Um, so let’s that takes us to our Oh, go ahead. You got something else? No, I was just going to say because there’s been a lot of conversation I’ve seen about like there’s been reports about the market for, you know, guys in shooting guard positions. Like a lot of conversation has been around guys like Cam Thomas and how that could translate to a guy like Ivy. I don’t feel like he’s going to be in that kind of a situation because Brooklyn is dead in the water for this season. I don’t see anything coming out for them. The Pistons need a guy like Ivy to kind of build for their future. So, while people question what his market could be or what his contract could be, I still think he’s in a position and the Pistons are in a position where he is needed for, you know, their progression. I feel like if they were to let him go, they would still try to find somebody similar to him. Like, I don’t feel like he’s too far off again from what the team in the roster needs. So, I think that’s most important in terms of what his future’s going to be. Yeah. Yeah. And especially considering where we are in the trajectory of our title contention hopes, you know what I mean? Like this this is the perfect kind of player you want. You don’t want a guy who can bring in who doesn’t fit the timeline of these guys to where by the time the Pistons young core is starting to hit their prime, the guy who you got is is exiting his. So, it’s all about timing as well, right? So, yeah, definitely, bro. Next season’s going to be fun. Let’s go to our next guy who was on this list and that is Tobias Harris. Tobias Harris comes in right after Jay Na’vi on this list at number 84. So Eve Vinnie, thoughts on Uncle T at 84. Should have been higher. Should have been higher. I like him being on the list, but he should be higher right now. Now, someone maybe you can clarify this. Maybe I’m uh tripping on what this list is supposed to be. Is this a projection for next season or is this their ranking for what they did last year? I was taking it as um based on what happened last year because I feel like we would have guys on this list, more guys on this list if it was a projection type of list. Okay, got you. Okay. In that case, yeah, he should be higher than on this list. again, Tobias, you know, coming in to the to Detroit after leaving Philly being a a punchline on social media and basically silencing every single one of those daughters. There was no game last year, even though Tobias did have some, you know, struggles early in the season, shooting, um, you know, scoring overall. Defense was solid all year, adjusted to JB Bigger Staff system, and I think played some of the best ball of his career. And again kind of there was no again there was no game where like all those jokes were verified of oh see that’s the Tobias we thought he was going to be. No, he was really damn good basically all season. And if you look at the way he played on a two-way perspective, you know, hitting the glass the way he did um you know being that reliable second or third option for the Pistons when they needed it and you know expanding his scoring ways in the post off the dribble in different ways outside of just being a spot-up shooter. I think he really answered the call and I I honestly would probably have him somewhere in the 70s. Like you can make the argument that he was better than a lot of the guys in front of him. Like again, I don’t think Kaminga should be as high as he is. Uh Nimhard, I don’t really like him at 81 um above Tobias. I think he could have been higher than that. Um Kamar from Portland, I think he could have been higher than him. Like there’s some names that you could, you know, probably move on. Even Brandon Ingram, I don’t know how he was as high as he was when he was barely playing last season. So, right. Um, yeah, I love what Tobias has brought to this team. Um, I think he’s become a staple to what they need um, moving forward as a veteran and I feel like he’s going to be even more valuable next season based on what their roster looks like right now. Um, yeah, I love Uncle T being on here. He should be higher and I think he deserves a spot. Yeah, I think I think I would have I would have wanted to see him in the low 80s. Um, I think that would have been fair, but I’m not mad with where they had him. I mean, 84 is mid 80s, but you know, I’m not too mad at that, you know. But one thing that I noticed, um, is that most of these guys on this list, and you mentioned it earlier, bro, don’t really have glaring weaknesses in their games. They’re pretty well-rounded. They may not be elite in every area, but most of these guys are well-rounded players at the very least. And I think that’s why Tobias Harris is on this list. To your point, he’s not really a top He’s not really top shelf elite at anything, right? Especially this at this stage. but he’s good at a lot of things and he doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses. He’s not a bad shooter. He’s a good pretty good shooter. Um he’s a solid defender, right? He’s not a bad athlete. He’s not a great He’s average athlete, right? But he’s very polished and wellrounded. I know I keep saying that, but he’s very wellrounded in what he can bring to the court. And I think his reputation outside of the season before last with Philly, I think that kind of precedes him. He’s just been really steady, really consistent, and really reliable his entire career. I think that’s why he made this list for sure. I agree. I agree. It was um again I feel like a lot of people had their jokes ready for Tobias. Again, I think it was more of a Philly issue than a him issue. Um you know, giving him the contract he got, the whole situation with Jimmy Butler, like the way, again, it’s not even just him alone. Like, we look at their injury problems with Embiid, the Ben Simmons fallout. Like, it’s just a lot of things that went wrong. Now again, the contract issue was its problem, but I don’t really look at Tobias as, oh, he’s a big issue to why things went the way they did. It was a lot of expectation because of the deals and the money he got prior. And he’s always been a very talented player. I just feel like it didn’t mesh well with the team that had a lot of turnover with their injuries um and a lot of expectations that all of them couldn’t meet. E Tobias included, but I don’t think he was at the forefront of it. coming into a place like Detroit where they again learning how to win, having a lot of young guys around, needing a stretch forward that can shoot in space for them. Um, and just kind of steer them through an 82 game season on what it takes to be successful, be prepared for the regular season and for the postseason. So, he checked every box this year like or last season. I think Tobias did a fantastic job. Again, I would put him up a little bit higher, but I’m happy to see him on the list at the very least. That kind of made me think about something that you just said. I don’t know if you got this treatment or not, but there were a bunch of Sixers fans, bro, in my DMs this time last year saying that I’ll soon basically I’ll soon understand why Tobias got traded from Philly or why they didn’t, I’m sorry, why he didn’t get resigned by Philly, why they were happy to see him go. They were just telling me just wait till the playoffs, you know, he’s going to disappear. And you you touched on it. They were they were basing this mostly off of his last playoff game with the team with the Sixers cuz he went scoreless in that game. Okay. Right. But that wasn’t the case at all last year when it came to Tobias Tobias Harris in the playoffs. This is the guy we got last year. This is this was not the guy that disappeared in the playoffs like a lot of people were saying. And just some of the things that he accomplished last year, man. He in the playoffs alone, right? Last year in the playoffs, I looked it up. points, his rebounds, his field goal percentage, which was 48%. His three-point percentage, which was 44%. And his free throw percentage, which was 100, didn’t miss one in the playoffs. All those things went up from the regular season. So, that guy right there, he proved all those fans, those Sixers fans wrong. And last year, he had, like you mentioned, one of his better years in recent memory. And other than the first month and a half of the season, he was consistent. You know, he he struggled early. Like you said, he wasn’t really able to score the ball. We kept saying, “Man, just hit a corner three, Dubai, please.” Right. Yes. He just couldn’t knock it down early in the season. But after that, he was very consistent once he knew what his role was and everybody else understood how to play off of him. He was a solid scoring option for Kate, especially in the playoffs while spending a lot of time guarding Cat on the other end. So, I think it was that and I think it was also the fact that the expectation that Sixers fans had for him, he was making 36 million a year. He had a 5year $180 million deal. So when you’re making that much money, the expectation is going to rise as opposed to 26 million a year, 10 million less with the Pistons. So I think those two things were the biggest reason as to why they were disappointed and I understand that. But him coming to a place like this with a coach who’s going to put him in a position to be successful, right, allow him to lead and the expectation on him is not as high as it was with Philly with the contract and on the court. I think those things helped him when he came here. Yeah. Yeah, and I’m glad you touched on his defense, too, because even though Cat numbers looked good throughout the series, the Pistons, especially Tobias, I think he guarded Cat better than anybody else on the roster. They obviously didn’t have Beef Stew and Duran, you know, was not the best on the perimeter, but whenever he was out there guarding him, Tobias was even had him in the post. We saw, I think it was Gabe three or four, it was one at LCA where they were jawing at each other crazy. Yeah. Tobias wasn’t backing down. I love that energy from him and I think the young guys saw that too as a hey, we’re here to fight no matter what the score is, no matter what the momentum of the vibe is. We’re going to keep pushing and pushing and pushing and I think his leadership kind of reflected that. Um, yeah, he did a fantastic job. It wasn’t barbecue chicken every single time Cat had the ball. He had to earn damn near basically every shot that he got. Like I don’t I don’t remember a whole lot of clean looks that he had. He did a lot of tough fadeaways, a lot of shot clock expiring shots where he was just jacking stuff up and you know that’s if it’s it’s like a a if he makes it, he makes it. There’s nothing you can do. They always say great defense, better offense. You can live with, you know, moments like that. And I was really happy seeing what Tobias’s effort was in the postseason based on what you just said for what his reputation was. I don’t I don’t think I got too many Sixers fans um on my timeline about that. I think they were okay before the season I remember seeing it but as the season went on boy they got quiet whole lot of oh where was that for us it was way more of that then oh see I told you he ain’t nothing Tobias he balled out I think he had one of his better years as a pro last year with the Pistons for sure and to like to the point of good defense like I do think Tobias played probably the best defense on cat because of his quickness right but but JD made him take some tough shots. We’re going to get to JD later, but he forced Kat into some really tough shots. Man, JD wasn’t playing bad defense when he was guarding him. He just didn’t have the ability to move his feet as quickly sometimes. But even when he did, Cat was making shots behind the backboard, falling out of bounds. Crazy crazy shot from like three or four feet, five feet behind a three-point line, knocking it down all bottoms. It’s like sometimes, you know, better offense, you know, good offense beats good defense, right? So, we’re going to get to JD later, but you know, Tobias did play solid defense on him and I think, you know, he definitely was inspiring to the young guys and giving them that confidence that they they could win the series and they were right there. So, yeah, Tobias, where he’s at 84, I’m I’m totally cool with that. Um, yeah, I’m good with that. Anything else on Tobias? No. Yeah, I’m very excited to see him. I know a lot of people uh saw his open gym run on on social media. I know you posted the clip. I posted mine as well. Um, if he looked good, obviously he gonna look great playing against guys from Lifetime Gym and whatnot. But hey, he looked like he’s in good shape. You know, shots looking good. It was one of the first times I seen him dunk the ball with one hand. If anybody knows Tobias Harris, he always got that real polite dunk with two hands that he goes up with. This is the one time I saw him go up with one where he do it in the YMCA. Like, come on, man. Crank that in the league, too, while you’re doing it, bro. Yeah, we need Yeah. You got to save your legs so you can do that in the games, you know? These runs don’t mean nothing. Exactly. All right, man. Let’s move on to the final player to make this list. And this is come as no surprise. K Cunningham. K. Parker Cunningham coming in hot at number 12. Almost cracking the top 10. Eric, holla at me. How do you feel about Kade Cunningham coming in at number 12 on 100 list? 100 100 NBA players list. First and foremost, Kade, happy birthday, big dog. 24 streaming well, man. There we go. Happy birthday. One time for Kane, man. Him and Chy, I keep forgetting him and Chy got the same birthday. That’s so fire. I love that. It’s crazy. Happy birthday, Kane. Exactly. Absolutely. Um I love his placement. Um I’m I’m kind of surprised they had him as high as he did. I’m surprised he was above Donovan Mitchell. I’m surprised he was above Evan Mobley. I mean, not to me. If it was on my list, I would have put him up there for sure. But I’m surprised ESPN had him as high as they did. I thought they were going to do him greasy and put him back like closer to 20 than 10. But I love where he’s at. Again, I think he could have been a little bit higher. Um I I wouldn’t have put Jaylen Williams higher than him on my list. Um but like I tweeted before, when you win a championship, it offers you some different favoritism. And I’m okay with that. Ain’t got no issue with that at all. It’s It’s not egregious to put him above Kade knowing how good of a player he is, the two-way value that he adds. I’m fine with that. He’s grad I’ll even say he’s graduated because last season was so egregious putting Alex Caruso, KCP, Kobe White, all these role players that are nowhere close to the player that K Cunningham is. Having him at 67 last year was just ridiculous. So again, the guys that he’s at, the the area that he’s at now, I think he could have been he probably could have on my list. I would have probably snuck him in at maybe nine. I think he has any he has an argument to be as high as nine and as low as 15 if you ask me. So I’m cool with it. Um you know, a fantastic allNBA season making it to the playoffs. Um not shying away from that postseason spotlight at all. He showed up in every single game. Even the games where people would say he struggled shooting in game one, he still had a double double and still was, you know, facilitating and making plays all over down the game. So, right, yeah, I’m I’m totally fine with where he’s at at 12. I think he can move higher um as soon as as soon as this season, but for right now, I think that’s a perfect spot for him. Agreed with all those points. And I don’t know if you guys remember, Eric, I know you do, but when Kay did that skit with Funny Marco last season, Marco asked him what his favorite number was, and do you guys recall what he said? He said 67. Yep. That wasn’t on accident. That was not on accident. So, look, I after after that skit, I asked Ashton about it at AB. I asked him if that was intentional, and he confirmed it was. So K Ashton for anyone who doesn’t know is is K Cunningham’s cousin. Um yeah so K probably felt disrespected by that ranking and with good reason. You mentioned it already but there were also guys like Emanuel Quickley who was above him. Chris Middleton who was above him. Josh Hart was above him. You mentioned Kobe White. Derek Lively. RJ Barrett. OG and Anobi who got cooked by Kade last year over and over again in the playoffs. Insanity. All above K. Insanity. All above Kate. So Kade made one of the biggest jumps from last year to this year on the court and in these rankings, 55 spots. And a lot of the question, it’s funny, a lot of the questions, bro, that people had about Kade before last season are the same questions that they now have about Jaden Ivy going into this season. Can he say hell? Yeah. Is he a true uh star level player? Is he just getting empty stats on a bad team? Is he a leader? All these questions, right? And Kade answered all those questions just a year later. You know what I mean? like last season was also the first that Cade was both fully healthy from beginning to end of the season and having a competent roster around him. And just with that, he shut all that no that nonsense down and only took one year. So after one season with that recipe, which isn’t really asking a ton, he’s already established himself as a start in this league. Didn’t take long. Just need a good situation. This list right here changed my opinion about something that I had with Kade last year. There was so much discussion about the most improved player list. If it were me, I don’t have a vote. I’m a B reporter, but I don’t have a vote. If I did, I would not have voted for K to win most improved player. But this is the problem I have. Y’all had him at 67 on your list, and he jumps all the way up to 12, goes all pro, all-star year, makes the playoffs, does it I don’t want to say single-handedly, but does it without other stars around him, does it without his co-star next to him, there’s other players that were in and out of the lineup. He still answered the call, and he can’t reap the benefits of that. That bothers me a lot because, again, they they changed the conversation towards the end of the year. Oh, well, he’s the number one pick. he’s supposed to be this good. Like, well, you didn’t say that when he was 67 last year. And another problem I have with that, too, is if if if again he was 67, not really because of his skill set. He had high turnovers. The three-point wasn’t there yet, but the main reason why he was so low is because of the winning percentage for the team. And if that’s the case, how the hell is Victor Winyama five, right? Per their rank, per their logic. Again, I have no problem with Wimby being five. If it’s on skills alone, he deserves it. Giving you 24 and 12, I think he had last year, he’s playing like he can win DPO for the next decade if he wants to. Yeah. But again, based on what they logic was, Cage’s not winning, so we can’t give him this. Wimy’s not winning a damn thing. So, where is the consistency in that? Like that that bothers me with a lot of the voting in terms of how they give out give out awards in these kind of rankings. I just like to see a little bit more consistency in what they do. That’s very fair. No, because it seemed like the goal post is kind of moving as far as like you mentioned earlier, is this projection or is this based off of last season? If it’s projection, then I can see him being at number five. If you’re looking at what he could do going into next season, but on the flip side, if you’re going projection, why aren’t other guys from the Pistons on this roster who are going to for on this list who are going to get better, right? So, the goal post is kind of moving. It’s not really consistent. That’s why it’s just a list. ESPN list doesn’t really mean much, but it is something to talk about. Um, but you make a good point there. I think with regard to the with Cade, I think for me, I think 12 is is good for him. I wouldn’t I wouldn’t put it any higher or any lower cuz he’s 23 and he just got his first taste of the playoffs last year. And I think he played well last year against the Knicks in his first action, but I did feel like he left some meat on the bone. Pause. Um, the next step for him, I think, is advancing now in the playoffs. I think that goes into the voting process is what did you do? How did you perform in the playoffs? And I think with him making the AllNBA third team, I think that’s what that’s 15 total guys. So having him at 12 basically means they only think one third is better than him. I’m cool with that. That makes sense to me. So by that logic, I think he’s right where he should be for now. But when you look at guys like Jaylen Brunson who advanced in the playoffs, made more bigger made more plays in critical moments in the playoffs, I think that kind of goes into the voting process. Especially when you look at guys like Jaylen Williams like you mentioned who dropped a 40 piece like Heisenberg mentioned. I think that goes into it like how far can you advance? What do you do in those critical moments? Dropping a 40 piece in the finals. I’m sure that played a part of him being where he is right ahead of Kate. I’m sure that those little snapshots in time, those moments in time are what people remember whether right or wrong. So, I think that’s okay. I think right at 12 is perfect for him. But I think next year, next year I think he’s going to crack the top 10 because I think the Pistons are going to advance past the first round and I think he’s going to find himself in the MVP conversation for sure. Yeah, he’s my darkh horse pick for sure this season. I haven’t um I’m supposed to do a ballot um with Clutch Points. haven’t finished it yet, but I’m trying to I’m trying to give a an unbiased uh selection for him. Good luck. Uh but I think Kade should be in that discussion again. If they loved if they loved Joic so much for what he did and was it was K’s rookie year 2021 2022 where they where Denver finished in a six seed and I remember a big point of why they were so in love with what he did and why he won MVP was because he did it with so little help around him. Well, that’s been the story of Kad’s entire career. So, he should be getting a lot more consideration assuming they finish. Like, I I wouldn’t give him the six seed if he were to win MVP or be in that conversation. Piston’s got to be at least a four or three seed at the minimum to kind of, you know, be in those kind of conversations. I think they’re very capable of making that happen. But, yeah, I’m very excited to see Kade um, you know, mentioning those conversations this year. For sure. That’s a great point. So guys, these were the three Pistons to make the list and I think that they were, you know, represented pretty well. However, missing from this list were two guys that many people were expecting to see. And those two guys were Jaylen Duran and sorry, Thompson. Eric, I’m coming to you. I’m coming to you on this. Between the two of these guys, who do you think would have had a better case to crack this list? Okay. So, I definitely think they both should be on it. Who had the better case? Yeah, that’s a good If they were on it, who would be higher? Yeah, I Who would be Okay. Who would be higher? I think Assar would be higher just because he’s an elite defender. Um I think um I’ll stick with Assar for right now. Yeah, I think considering his um his upside as a defender and what he did this year, I mean, a lot of people are going to remember the last shot that he had against or not he had, but the last shot he allowed against Jaylen Brunson, but I mean, outside of that, he did a really damn good job against him in a lot of spots. Was really spot on as their number one defender um for most of the season when he played. Wish he would have played the whole season, kind of like Ivy. Um, but you know, they’re obviously dealing with the situations. But yeah, I I think I I would think I I think Assar could be probably anywhere between maybe 75 through 85. Um, based on the guys that are in front in that list. Um, I think, you know, again, it was two-way ability. Um, I think a lot of his offense I think can be slept on just because he’s such a bad shooter, but he is still very effective as a passer on the second level. um even when he was running the show as a as a primary guy, like he did still have spots and moments where he looked like he could be a focal point guy, you know, distributing the ball or whatnot. Um and obviously, you know, the ability to jump out the gym dunking on guys, um and and crashing the glass as well as he did. Um yeah, I think he would probably have the best case um in terms of how high he would be over Duran. Um but again, I definitely think they both should be on that list. Okay, gotcha. So, let’s stick with the star for a second. Um I want to start with the fact that he missed. We gota we got to preface it. We got to set it up, right? So, he did miss all of last offseason, right, with his blood clot issue and the beginning of this the last season last year. Um, and not having that time, those eight months off really hindered his his development, his conditioning, getting a chance to work on his game, those things were a non-factor for him. And I think that had he had that, there’ be a good chance that he would then find himself on this list. But but that along with the fact that some of his weaknesses were exposed last season is what I think kept him off because just looking at the numbers, he shot 60% from the free throw line last year. He shot 20% from three-point and he averaged 10 points. So if we’re keeping it a stat, right? Just keeping it real unbiased. You can’t shoot 60% from the line, 20% from three, average 10 points, and be upset that he’s not on the on the top 100 list. So, while I think that a case could have been made, I’m not surprised that he didn’t crack the top 10 hundred for those reasons. What are your thoughts on that? I agree with you. I’m like, there was some people on social media that were trying to push back to me saying that it’s surprising that he wasn’t on the list. I’m not going to crash out like I’m not going to crash out about him not being on the list. Um, but I do understand your argument 100%. Like, he has he has some very glaring, you know, parts of his game that were definitely exposed. Um, again, I don’t think he’s a perfect defender yet. I think he gets a lot of credit or a little more than he probably deserves. Like, again, he’s not perfect yet. He still has to work on not fouling, you know, defending with his body, using that athleticism and speed and length instead of, you know, being grabby and flicking with his hands so often. Um, I think that’s an area where he can improve on. And I think obviously with, you know, if you’re not going to be able to shoot, you’re going to have to be a little bit more aggressive offensively. That’s the difference between him and his brother. his brother will go get it and he won’t be apologetic about it. They call they call a man the evil twin between those two because Assar does play like the nicer one between them. I want to see him throw somebody on the ground like Tyler Hero got last season. I want to see that energy from him. Like he’s a real nice dude. Like what he got I think what was it against Cleveland where Jared Jack cracked him in the uh fourth quarter. Like I want to I want to see him get up and like you know square up on it like yo what’s up with that? So yeah he he’s got some improvements to make. Again, I understand him not being on the list. If I were to make it, I would have put him on it, but the glaring holes in his game make sense to an extent for why they may have left him off. If he can if he can do a little bit more as a scorer to make up for that deficiency, then I think he’ll make a much easier case. But it’s a much it’s a lot more questioning about his scoring than certainty about his scoring because of how bad of a jump shooter that he is. Right. Yeah, that’s that’s that’s a great point. And for me, I’m just going off what I think they’re going off of. Uh cuz I looked at the guys in the list and once again, most of these guys on this list don’t have glaring weaknesses. Almost all of them. Like they don’t have where they’re just really struggling in the area. You know what I mean? So that and honestly, that’s why I think Jaden made it and didn’t because they both missed time, right? But Jaden still made it. But you think about Jaden, other than Cade, Jaden Ivy is the most complete player on this team. He’s not glaringly bad at anything. If you want to argue that he’s a below average defender, fine. You know, the numbers suggest that he’s actually a slightly above average defender, but that is I guess that doesn’t matter. But the narrative on him being a bad defender is is overblown. And I totally agree. Yeah. Like, bro, he he’s got the physical gifts that most people don’t. And he’s a willing defender. So, if you have those two those two variables, you’re going to be at least an average defender. you’re willing to defend and if you have the gifts to stay in front and you’re strong and you’re tall like that’s gonna that’s half the battle right there. Now you just got to learn how to play within the system and he does have room to grow defensively for sure but he’s not a bad defender. So the point for me here is that with Jaden there’s no glaring weakness with him and that’s why I think he made the list. Assar does have a glaring weakness. He’s got a couple glaring weaknesses, right? By NBA standards, he’s a bad shooter, right? By NBA standards, the numbers bear it out and the way the defenses guard him on the perimeter, it shows that they give him room because they don’t trust he’s going to make the shot. He was often left wide open because of that. So, also his handle sometimes can be shaky. Yeah. So, we always talked about it last year. Slow down, sir. Slow down. He’s so fast that sometimes he just moves a little bit too quickly and he gets out of control. He makes great plays and then he makes bad plays. Like, he makes a play on the break behind the back. Euro step, you know what I mean? Like he makes really incredible plays, but then he makes plays where he’s got a, you know, twoonone break and he loses the ball of bounds. And it happened, not consistently, but more times than you’d like to see it, right? So to me, those two things were really key pieces into why I think he don’t he didn’t make the list because of the the weaknesses. So defensively though, we already know he’s the best defender on the team. It’s not close. If you want to argue Stu, I’m here for that, right? But that’s it. Um, I’ve often called Assara the backbone of the Pistons defense. That’s why I call him Tasmanian Thompson, right? Because he’s literally a menace defensively. He’s wreaking havoc all over the court. So, while you could argue that he has the highest ceiling, right? I think that’s fair. Meaning, he could possibly make the biggest jump between now and next year’s list, but today he’s got some weaknesses, some glaring weaknesses. So, I think that is what the le the list may be based on, at least in part. not potential, but where are you today going in the next season? And I think that’s why he didn’t make the list. Yeah, I think he needs to do what we saw Ivy do um this season or last season where we saw like even in the preseason, we saw Ivy coming down in transition and we saw his ability to slow down his speed and then when to turn it up, when to like kind of slow down his dribble or use like a big stride step to get to the hoop. Like Assar needs to take that next step. Like again, it wasn’t a whole lot of confidence. And you could argue that Assar even considering he’s got longer arms and he’s taller, he’s probably more athletic than Ivy is. And like that’s not a knock or a slight or an insult either way. Yeah. But yeah, as long as the confidence is there, that’s going to open up a whole lot for you. So again, it’s simply just having the confidence to do it because defenses can smell if you have that or not. That’s when they back up and say, “Okay, we dare you.” And like Ivy got to a point where he was getting dared and he made them pay for it with that jumper. A lot of teams weren’t sold on it early until he made them start adjusting. And we need to see a little bit more of that um that confidence from Assar, you know, offensively as well. Um the one person the one other thing I wanted to push back on u just a little bit. Yeah. At least on the list, the Pistons I think are fine. Um in terms of where they at, the one person that really bothers me on this list is Miss Robinson. He’s 91 on this list and we talking about glaring weaknesses. He has glaring weaknesses offensively and we saw it in the postseason and dog played 15 games I think in the regular season. There’s no way in hell he should be 91 on this list at all. That was that that’s probably the name I have the biggest problem with even Oh, just 91. I don’t care, bro. He should not be on this list based on what his resume was last year. He has some friends at higher places. I’m going I’m going to venture out and say and that’s no disrespect, but you’re right. He’s one of the few guys who’s like dude is dude is nothing on offense. Like he doesn’t really give you anything on offense. So yeah, I definitely agree. He’s one of the guys 91 is is low on the list of 100, but it’s still too high for him. He shouldn’t be on this list at all in my opinion. So that’s that’s a good take. That’s a good take for sure. Yeah. And I think that kind of showed itself in the playoffs last year, too, when he was playing against some of our big who should have been in the list. But anyway anyway. Yep. All right, let’s go to JD. We we covered this. Let’s go to J D. So J D was the other guy that many people were surprised to not see on this list. Um I think he has personally I think he has a bigger case um than Assar for this list, but Eric, what are your thoughts on him not making the list? I think it’s I think it’s a little crazy. Um again, I would throw Mitch Rob out the window and put Dur spot. Um, right. You know, Dur Dur started off a little slow defensively last season. He was he was the one to admit it at the end of the year. I started off soft. I didn’t play as good as I should have, but he turned it on big time. And even when he wasn’t turning it on, he was still at least making an impact in certain ways. And it helped him grow in other ways as well once that defense started turning on. He was steady on the glass all year. I think he’s still one of the best rebounders in the game. Um, he formed, I think, one of the best tandemss in the NBA with Kate Cunningham as a lob threat. Cade Kade Cade and him look like Stafford and Megatron did where Stafford would just throw it up and say, “Hey, go make a play, big dog.” And he did. Dur did the exact same thing. That I I think about this play all the time. The pass early in the season where I think they were playing Miami, Kade is posting up and Dur is cutting down. There’s a guy guarding Dur and then there’s a dude in the paint and Kade threw it in the perfect spot where only Duran was able to get it and he was able to flush it down. I think he had another pass like that against Sacramento on the road where he was able to put it in a position where nobody else could go grab it. I think off of that alone on top of his playmaking that got a lot better towards the end of the season. I think off of all of that and again while he’s still a big man and I think he can improve with his free throws, he’s not a he’s not a liability where teams were able to do what they did to Mitch Rob which is hack him and try to get him off the floor. They weren’t doing that with Duran. Unfortunately, his defense and his foul and took him off the floor, but there were still games and stretches where he figured that out and was one of the most dominant players for the Pistons on the in each game. So, yeah, I I don’t know. I think it’s kind of crazy. Yep. The lobby against San Antonio. That’s another one he had. He had a lot of plays where it looked like he was ready to jump out the gym. I still think he’s going to break the blackboard at least once in his career. Uh but he he 100% should be on this list. Again, one of the best rebounders in basketball. Um grew as a defender, you know, grew as a passer and expanded his game and his scoring a little bit to still be effective when the Pistons needed him most. He should be on this list without question. Agreed. Detroit Drew says during passing is underrated, which is very true for especially for a big man. And Heisenberg, that’s a great point. He had he had some crazy a few lobs last year, not even just loss, but just on the break just going up one hand and just throwing it down on top of people. Um the the the play not the play, but the NBA Cup game against the Heat against Miami when we caught the oop. Yeah. From Kade at the buzzer, right, to go to overtime. I believe that one he got up. So it’s like he has his We got so many athletes on this team, man. We got so many young athletes who have an extremely high ceiling. So for me with JD, you made great points there. Um you touched on a few things I’m going to get to as well. The connection between him and Kate was one of the staples of the offense, right? They were the most productive in the league last year. They connected last year on 84 dunks, which was the most between any guard and big man combination. So JD, like a few pitchers last year, came out the gate slow. You touched on that. He admitted how he’s playing soft um to start the year, which you what you mentioned. That’s maturity for a 21-year-old. I was happy to hear that from him because I would often see him. I’m like, bro, I I would just watch him early in the season. I’m like, is he hurt? like he’s he just didn’t have the same the same amount of intention to go out and just dominate on both ends of the court like he can. So, I was happy to hear him say that. And once he committed to his role, you know, being a rim protector, rebounder, a finisher offensively, um you know, making passes when it’s there playmaker, he became a top 12 big man in my opinion. And I think if he came into the season last year as locked in as he was by the end of last year, he would have made the list. I agree. I agree. I mean, I just I for how he played and what they needed for the Pistons. Um, again, there weren’t a whole lot of times where because again, I like Stu and what he brings off the bench, but even though Stu was a better defender, JD just gives you a different level of athleticism and finishing and just excitement in terms of what that half court offense brings. I think that was the staple of their half court offense was that, you know, that pick and roll dynamic and and high credit to Kade too with that because you have to like Kade’s understanding of timing with his passing because he understands, okay, if a defender takes his step here, I know to get the ball out of my hands here. Like he knew like when the perfect time to throw a pass up to JD. There wasn’t a whole lot of times where, you know, the defense was able to anticipate it and get there. Maybe towards the end of the season in the playoff, they keyed in on it a lot. But throughout the regular season, teams really struggled to stop that. And I think when you got a 67 guard coming downhill, you don’t have a choice but to step up with him. And then when you got a guy as big and athletic and as strong as Duran is, you’re not going to stop his dunk. Like I had never seen anyone block a dunk from Jaylen Duran. So, no, he he needs to be on this list. I I don’t understand how he was able to be off. I can understand the argument you made of why he would have a better case than Assar. Um because while I do think he has weaknesses, they’re not as glaringly bad as a SARS jump shot. So I agree with you on your case and your understanding of that matter. That was what it was, bro. That was the only thing. I think it it’s levels. It’s levels to it, right? And I think that was that was the difference for me. JD also is one of the few players who average a double double and didn’t make the list. He averaged 12 and 10 with three assists. Right. Mhm. He also shot 70% from the field last year. Mhm. crazy. And he played 78 games out of 82 last year. So, and more importantly in the playoffs like like Tobias, he upped his rebounds, his assists, his blocks, and he shot 82% from the free throw line, which is great for a big man. So, I think overall he shot like 67%. That’s not good enough. JD is better than that. I want to see him at least in the 70s. At least in the 70. He’s got the touch. It’s just a matter, I think, for him. Just reps, confidence, and just focus. He’s young. He’s young, so I’m I’m confident that’s going to improve, but I want to see him get to that 70% range, but just off the things that he did in the playoff. We talked about how playoff moments are important. I think those things should have at least got him into the top 100 for sure. But one more thing on him, I want to see him next season or this offseason or whatever going to call it. I want to see him add a midi to his game. I just want to see a midi if the because and I was thinking about it if the lob threat right if the lob threat isn’t if the lob isn’t there out of the pick and roll him just being able to catch a pass from Kate to Jaden out of the short row and then being able to shoot the midi if like if the baseline pass to a cutting assar isn’t there that’s going to be huge because him being able to to knock down that midi is going to draw the defense in which is going to leave Assar wide open to cut under the basket right and we saw that happen last year without JD having that midi So, if he has that, that opens up the offense so much more. And I think that’s going to be huge for him. I don’t want to see him taking threes. I don’t want to see that. If he ever does, okay, fine. Maybe five, six years. But now, just work your way out. I don’t think I ever want to see him consistently shooting threes to be honest. But totally agree with you. You know what I’m saying? But like just just the midi game like Jermaine O’Neal type of game. Just the midi 10 to 15 footer free throw line, knock it down consistently. If he does that, he’s going to be a perennial all-star. Period. like like that’s going to change so much for him and for the Pistons offense. But aside from that, um his impact in the second half of the year, bro, was definitely felt and the Pistons are going to need him to continue to grow year over year to become that contender that we’re trying to be. But like we mentioned, there’s no rush. He’s 21 and the sky is the limit for him for sure. Go ahead. Yeah, I think that midi can change a lot too because not only do I think he has the touch to make it happen. I feel like he also has the handle to hit you with that up fake and then go buy you and dunk too. So the second he starts commanding that attention, that’s really going to be where it changes a lot because if he gets to midi and they start collapsing in on it and try to contest, he’s going to be able to be quick enough and has a strong enough handle. We see a lot of the last season where he was bringing the ball up and trying to facilitate whatnot. So, I don’t I didn’t I didn’t love that. But, if he’s able to be confident from 15 feet away with a quick up fake, two dribbles, and, you know, boom on somebody’s head, I think that’s going to be huge for this team. I think he’s going to have that, you know, versatility. He’s worked on it a lot with K. There was some stretches during pregame where a lot of times when they do their pregame, they kind of work on their own things, but there were areas where they would do a pick and roll together and then Kay would, you know, flip it behind his back and then see if JD can knock down the 15-footer. I want to see that become a bit of a staple. Again, their connection opens up a lot in terms of how that half court offense works. And I’m really excited to see how they expand on that. Yeah. And I don’t I don’t I’m not saying that I don’t I don’t think JD can do those things. Like I’ve seen him I forgot who it was against where he went up for a shot, blocked it with one hand, cuped the ball, caught it on the way down, and then went coast to coast with and laid and laid the ball up. And Stew was on the sideline jumping going crazy. I forgot who. Trying to remember what team it was on. Yeah, I can’t remember. But I definitely remember the play too. Yeah. Yeah. Chad, if you guys know Chad, chime in. But so he can do it. He can definitely do it. But as far as defining roles, we always talk about it. He may be able to do this, but for this team right now, we just need this, right? To just focus on the role, the things that we need to do. We got Kade, we got Jaden, we got Assar. We got guys who can do that. So for me, I just want to see him focus on those things. But yeah, if he gets that midi, like my dog, our dog King is saying, “What’s going on, Kane?” King says, “If I was coach, the whole team would be developing midies.” King and I talked often last year about Stu and even the year before last when Monty had him shooting threes. We were like just have him just start with the mini game. We went to a game, we were there early and we were just watching him warm up and I think he made like 15 straight midies. Ste did just just easily. So it’s like just work your way out instead of just trying to go from playing center your whole career up until the NBA and then start taking launching threes. So you know I I’m with King on that for sure. Shout out to you, bro. Definitely think the whole team Kade’s already on that. Kade is the mid the midi king for this team. He’s gonna be approaching Shay level I think pretty soon. He gonna be coaching them out. He gonna be coaching them all on that mini. They gonna be on the [Laughter] I’m here for you. Shout out King. Yeah, for sure. That Okay. Detroit Drew. That was Brooklyn. Okay. Thank you. Exactly. When JD cup the ball, caught it and just shot down the court coast to coast. Nice little layup. Yeah, that was that was cool. So his his ceiling is limitless, man. Like it’s it’s crazy. But that’s why I had him with a better chance than Assar to make the list just because you mentioned the levels of the weaknesses that they have right now. And I think JD doesn’t have a weakness that is as glaring as you know the shotmaking for Assar as of right now. So we’ll see how that transpires going into the next season. Eisenberg says the problem with these big men getting good at threes is that they end up falling in love with it. Yes, preach. And then they just want to hang out on the perimeter, i.e. cat envy. Well said, bro. Well said. 100% agree. That’s what I don’t want JD to fall into because he has the ability to stretch the floor a little bit. Not consistently yet and not in games yet. We’ve seen him, you know, all season, you know, shooting threes and things like that, but within the construct of an offense, putting the players in their best positions doesn’t result in him shooting threes, right? You know what I’m saying? And I I think Cat is a great example of that. Cat needs to be in that post for me. like he can shoot the long ball, whatever, but he is not in the post nearly as much as I think he should be. But, you know, that’s just me. And same thing with Joel Embiid, who’s even better post player, right? And yet, he’s on the per all the time. Always shooting jumpers, the little midi. It’s just like, yeah, they fall in love with it. And I think that’s a that’s a big problem. And I hope JD does not fall into that for sure. Go ahead. One thing I like about JB Bigger Staff’s coaching is he he draws up plays and he works on things that best suit what their team is good at. because, you know, we’ve asked him before like he said that he doesn’t love how so many teams are just dying to shoot threes all the time or you know how you see the big man basically, you know, how they were with guys like KG or Tim Duncan or Shaq back in the day to now where they want to shoot threes all the damn time. Like he said he misses having that and I think having a guy like Duran where again he has the touch to be able to knock down a midi, he’ll be able to add that to their repertoire as well and it’s not going to look clunky when they do it. it would make sense instead of, “Hey, we need you to start shooting threes because the analytics makes sense to do that.” Like, nah, that’s not their game. The Pistons are really good at playing their game. Cage shoots midies even though everyone else don’t like midies. Like, Ivy likes going to the hoop. Um, Assar, you know, a passer. Duran likes to do what he does. And it’s the stuff in the talent that it fits them. It’s not what fits today’s game because that’s what the numbers say. They like to play their game. The Pistons make you play their game. They’re not going to play like the Celtics. They’re going to play Detroit basketball and that’s why they saw a lot of the success they got. Yeah. Last year. For sure. For sure. Ryan says, “Dur Durant’s potential better in the post or shooting?” Um, I think I think immediately as of right right now, I think the midi for him will be good. I think the post is going to take time. That post post games take time to develop if you don’t have it when you’re already in the league, right? So, I think that’s something that will take a few years for him to really get polished with. maybe develop a couple moves, you know, as a fourth, you know, or fifth option offense in the offensive side of the ball, but I’m not running plays for him in the post like the Pistons did with Andre Drummond. And I I think Jaylen Don is a better basketball player, but I still don’t think that’s a string for him. I think it’d be much easier for him to focus on the midi because I saw him at Memphis in college knocking it down. I saw his touch in college, so I know it’s there already. I didn’t see him really doing too much of a dream shake and like like how Elijahan does, right, in in the post. So I think for him just getting that 15 foot, whether it’s the corner, whether it’s, you know, the elbow, whether it’s the free throw line, wherever, just work on that and then work your way out. I think that’ll be the the best thing for him right now. And Ryan also says during his those free throws, you know, he can make Exactly. If he can knock down free throws, you can knock down a a midi in rhythm, right? Because at the line, you’re not in rhythm. You gota you got to kind of create your own rhythm. So, I think I I definitely think him um knocking down that that 15-footer is should be one of the priorities offensively for him for sure. I think Yeah, I think I agree with you. I was going to say maybe it will be in the post just because I feel like if they can get him in situations, dude is huge, bro. I know there’s conversations like constantly on social media about how tall he is. It don’t matter if he’s seven foot or not. He plays like a sevenfooter. I don’t care if he’s 6’10. I don’t care if you pull out a measuring tape and he’s actually 6’9. He don’t play like he’s 6’9. He plays like a whole 97footer with his game. So I think if you get him close enough to the basket, he’s not going to need, you know, too much footwork if you get him on the right guy. He’s not like to me and no disrespect to dude because I love him. Shout out to Andre Drummond. There were still moments where he was a little clumsy sometimes where he was trying to post up. I don’t see that from Duran a lot. Like sometimes he can be a little bit if he’s outside or further away from the hoop, but when he’s close to the hoop and he’s right there and he’s patient with it, if you give him enough time, he’s dunking it on your head and everybody just clears out and say, “All right, let him have it.” Like, I think that’s still a big part of his game. Again, if you get him close enough and if they can run sets and considering that he’s a good passer as well, if he starts seeing doubles, if you find Duncan Robinson on the wing or K or Ivy on the wing, that gets open looks for them. Um, so I think just off of his size and some of what his passing offers as well, I think you can make an argument that his post up could be, you know, what has a little bit more potential. But I can see both sides for sure. For sure. And I I feel you on that, too. I mean, you think about who he had as a as an assistant coach, you know, at Memphis. He had Rasheed Wallace over there with him. Fast go along with Larry, you know what I mean? So Rasheed Wallace is one of the best post player of all time in my opinion as far as being able to get a buck in the post when he needs to, whenever he wants, whenever he wants, with ease. Yeah. So, I could definitely see a case being made because I’m sure he picked up some things along the way from Rasheed when he was, you know, under his toutelage playing for Memphis. So, I can see it. And you mentioned the height, too. Yeah. JD is 610. We both seen him up close. He’s he’s 610. Maybe he’s gotten tall. Who knows? But even if he’s just 610, he’s got a 7 foot five wingspan. Yep. We talked about guys like Nas Reed. We were looking at I wanted who I wanted last year and now was people were saying, “Well, he’s only 69, 610.” I said, “Yeah, he’s got a 7 foot4 wingspan.” So he actually is about close to seven feet when he puts his hands up. You know what I mean? So definitely think there’s a case to be made on both sides. And that’s the fun part is that there’s potential with either because he’s so young and he’s so gifted. Now it’s about just polishing those things one thing at a time, one year at a time, getting better incrementally. So the sky, like I mentioned, for the thousandth time is the limit for Mr. Jaylen Dylan for sure at the young age of 21. All right. Totally agree. So now bro, um let’s let’s hit a couple real quick. Heisenberg says, “I would love for JD to study some Adrien Danley and Kevin McCale film and practice those post moves in the offseason.” Listen, bro. Kevin Male, in my opinion, is a top five post player of all time. That dude’s footwork in the paint was stupid. It was rid Like Charles Barkley says the toughest player to defend the post was Kevin McCale. Hands down. I’m with that. I think I think guys like Hakee Elijahan are in that conversation, but Kev Male is right there. He’s right there in that conversation because of his footwork and his touch. So, Heisenberg, you’re dead on. I wish we could have somebody like him work with him with him being a Celtic. I don’t see it happening. But if we can get somebody I wish she would come back. If we had she here to continue to work with him, man, what man? I don’t know. That’s his wishful thing. Go ahead. I see Kade offer some pointers too and two. I think Kade is the best post up player on this team and it’s not just because he’s a 67 point guard. Kad’s footwork was spectacular in college. Like I think he could really take a lot from him in his game too. Like I think we heard Ron Holland talking about him watching a lot of Cad’s film and how he got downhill, how he posted up. I want to see Dur in that same film room. I think he can soak up some knowledge from him, too. That’s a great point. That’s a great point, bro. For sure. Asar was recently talking about how one time he was talking with his brother on the interview. He was saying how Kade posted him all the way took him all the way from the dog walked him down from the three-point line all the way down to right under the hoop. Just posting him just just walking him down, walking him down, walking him down. He’s so strong. He couldn’t do anything with him. So yeah, to your to your point, yeah, people don’t realize how damn good this kid is. They they don’t see it yet. It’s okay. It’s coming. Like Kade is is all the way special. I ain’t seen nobody be able to lock him down. I’ve seen him maneuver through double teams in college. Like I love I love still going back to his college tape right now, playing like an NBA player against college dudes. Like he’s he’s so polished and I think he could offer a lot to a lot of his teammates, too. So yeah, you Pistons got the perfect franchise guy for what they need. Yes, they do. In all areas, not just on a basketball court, but just in general as far as representing Detroit as far as keeping his nose clean, not being in all the tabloids and just being low-key, not all over social media, which I love that he’s not all over social media. What you got? What’s up? Yeah. What do you think about him being a celebrity now? I think I know we got more to talk about, but what do you think about him taking pictures with Gunonna and being on Jimmy or not Jimmy Kim, Jimmy Fallon sitting up there with the suit on with the chain, hanging with Ari Linux. What do you think about celebrity Hollywood Kane out here now? The best thing to me was when he gave him those buffs. No better gift you can give anybody as a Detroiter. And then when Jimmy put them on and they just fit him like a it just fit him so well. It looked like he had owned them things for 10 years. So, but yeah, it’s it’s it’s fun to see it, man. like it going back to last year when he started getting national publicity um on NBA on TNT inside the NBA. He always handles himself well. He he just he just has that about him. Ashton always talked about that. He’s he’s he’s always just been ready whenever the lights come on, right? You know, he’s always been a performer when he played quarterback when he was younger, you know, play football. He was always just that guy that, okay, we live, let’s go. And he’s always kind of been like that. And that transfers to the basketball court when the lights are the brightest. So yeah, 100% man. I I love it for him. Especially considering what he had to endure the first few years. The fact that he didn’t jump off the boat and he didn’t make a fuss, didn’t complain. We saw him kind of staring staring into space sometimes like thinking to himself, “What in the world is going on?” But he never publicly complained. He never blamed anybody. He always took accountability as the guy of this team. He stuck up for his guys. He said, “We’re not this bad.” Like, he did everything you want him to do. So, it’s just like for him to be able to get these things now, he more than deserves it because he’s been consistent as a player and a person since he’s been here and now the whole world is starting to understand what we’ve already known. Yeah. In the words of Kendrick, he deserves it all. I I I love seeing what he did. You know, like you said, you couldn’t have put it more perfect. like from the struggles that they had, you know, the turnover and the turmoil with the front office and just things being really uncertain and him still being able to sign that extension coming back and saying, “Hey, you know, I’m you know, we going to make this happen.” And during that Monte Williams year when I I it was my first season being credential, but I was only at a few games. The one of the last games I was at was the game where they set the record for the most losses in a row. And Cade sat up there and said, “All right, let’s do it.” And he owned a lot of it. He said, “Hey, I need to be better. It don’t matter what else is going. I need to be better, too, with what’s going on. My numbers can be this, but you know, if I’m going to be the guy, I got to be better. So, yeah, to see him in this spotlight now, um, you know, getting the admiration in the All-Star game, being all NBA, being on TV, I think he was in a commercial, like he’s done a lot that that that he 100% deserves, man. It is really cool to see, especially from a um a Detroit standpoint where Detroit is the, you know, the lunch pale and, you know, hard hat and all that. I want us to be Hollywood, too, man. Like, let’s have some Hollywood style and flare to it. The lies are getting it with St. Brown and Hutch and all these commercials. Give Kay the same treatment, man. He’s deserved it. He’s got a great personality and I think it’s cool that it’s kind of starting to reflect now within the league. Two quick things. Um, it was so dope last year to see him on the bench in the fourth quarter with the game firmly in hand and the guys are on the bench just smiling and laughing. It’s so I would see that so many times, you know, over the years with great teams. By the fourth quarter, they’re chilling because they got a huge lead. They’re on the bench in their warm-ups, cracking jokes, laughing. The vibes are high. Usually he’d be on the bench in the fourth quarter because we were getting blown out, right? Not because we were blowing somebody else out. So, it’s just it was nice to see him last year smiling, happy, excited as if he was contemplating what the future might look like on the sideline while other guys would get an opportunity like Ron Holland got to put up 26 points as a career high in one of those games, right? So, it’s just like it’s just cool to see guys get the opportunity and guys like Kay be able to just chill and relax and preserve his body a little bit, but more importantly just be able to kind of just soak in the success that they’re now having. That was one of the biggest things for me. Yeah, exactly. That’s what Detroit Drew just said. Glad to see smiles instead of the K, right? The K desk. That’s what I was talking about. Just kind of just staring into space, right? So, it it’s just nice to see because he’s put in a lot of work. He’s put in a lot of work and now he’s starting to reap some some benefits. One more thing you mentioned St. Brown. Did you see the shimmy he did after that first down? The uh the M Beasley shimmy. One time for Bees. That was fire. I like that. He got the first down. Did the little wiggle in the shimmy and all that. Hey, Malik. We don’t know what’s going to happen with Malik Beasley, but his influence is going to live forever for sure. Like the ye the year that he had, the personality that he brought, I think that’s still going to be, you know, within this roster, within this team. So, shout out to me, man. I hope he’s in good spirits right now. And aside from vibe, he set records last year. So, he’s etched, bro. What? Oh my goodness. Yes. You know what I’m saying? So the impact like you mentioned is is there. It was there and I hope he’s able to come back and provide more vibes cuz the guys like him, man. Yes. Like I had Total Smith on about a month and a half ago, two months ago and he was just like, man, thank you, bro. Yeah, he he’s he’s a great dude, too, man. To I really hope he has a a place here on this team. He’s a really good human being and um he was just talking he was just talking about a few different things with bees and how the guys love him. He always kept the vibes high. And one thing that I will always say, I I didn’t know for sure, but it kind of just seemed that way. I asked Tou, I said, “Do you think that Bees is the perfect uh gap to to the bridge as far as being old enough to be respected, but young enough to still be current with and have the young guy’s ear?” He said that’s exactly what it was. Bees was that connector. He’s he’s on social media. He’s into fashion, right? but he’s also an elder statesman, so he has their ear as far and he can give them different pointers and experience and all those things. So yeah, shout out to Bees, man. He he was great for his last year and I I hope wherever he lands, hopefully he’s back with us. He’s back in Detroit now, you know, hopefully able to come back. But hopefully he’s back with us. Go ahead. Yeah. No, I just remember seeing him overseas with Cade and uh and JD, you know, I think they were in what? Greece it was like Yeah, it seems like they still locked in. So again, hope we’ll see what happens with this league investigation they still got going on. But yeah, I’m I’m hoping he’s in good spirits. Hoping everything is looking up forward for him. And um yeah, best case scenario, he’s back in Detroit. But we’ll see what happens. Yeah, we’ll see what happen. I think it was Rome. They were where they were at. Okay. I could be wrong, but yeah, somewhere somewhere overseas for sure. Somewhere I can’t somewhere. I’m dead, bro. Not right now. Right. But hey, but wait on it. Wait on it. We get All right. So look, man. I got I got a few um quick questions for you with regard to these guys with the list. So, let me ask you this. Which players do you think will make the list next year that were not on this year’s list? We talked about a few guys, but just to kind of reiterate, who do you think is going to possibly crack the 100 list next year that’s not on the list this year? Um yeah, I think Assar and JD have to be. Um if they didn’t, I think that’s a really bad sign. I don’t think it’s going to be because, you know, ESPN is overlooking them. I think they have to take some steps, you know, to to make it undeniable. Um, again, they don’t they don’t have to be top 50 or top 20, nothing crazy, but be on the list to make it undeniable, right? Um, I think I think a huh I think Ron got a chance. I think Ron can probably get up there. Again, I really like what I saw from him in summer league. Um, I talked to his pops. Shout out to, you know, Ryan Senior. Um, used to say he put on a lot of muscle. Um we saw him his passing looked really good for some reason. Like he’s you know was able to kind of like wait and you know dish off to the cutter and you know make some plays that he didn’t really make a lot of last year. A lot of the stuff that he did was kind of just sporadic and you know just the momentum changing plays that you can’t really script out. I think they’ll maybe draw up some plays for him next year coming off the bench so he can be um you know a little bit more potful this game. I think standing next to and sitting next to Caris Levert is going to be a big benefit for him. Um, so yeah, I I’ll go with Ron. I think Ron has a chance to crack that list. Probably like probably around the 90s or the 100. You know what’s funny? It’s funny you mentioned Caris Levert because I was talking to uh Ron’s trainer. Um, shout out to Charles Hill. And I was asking him about player comps if there are guys who he who Ron might want to try to model his game after in some in some ways. And two of the guys he mentioned was Jaylen Brown, who I I mentioned Jaylen Brown. He said yes, Jaylen Brown and Caris Levert. But to your point, okay, to your point, bro, you’re dead on with that. And I think those are two guys who he can really learn a lot from, especially Caris now that he’s here. Caris is very underrated, I think, for this team. Him having played with coach Bigger Staff before, played his best ball, in my opinion, with Coach Picker Staff. He played defense. He was encouraged for the first time in his career to play defense under coach. And I think that’s he said he became a better player because of that. So being back with coach Baker staff for Caris, understanding how what he wants him as understanding him as a man and then understanding what he wants from him on the basketball court, I think he’s going to be a seamless fit for this team. I think he’s going to be the most important offseason acquisition. I think Duncan is going to be important, but I think Caris and his ability to score and playmate under a coach he is familiar with is going to be huge. So we’ll see. But yeah, I definitely think it’s going to be um I I can see that with for sure. So let’s let’s do this real quick, bro. Jump to next year when ESPN drops this list a year from now, right? What will Kad’s ranking be? We going to have fun with this. Okay, I already think some of the guys ahead of him shouldn’t be ahead of him. I’m sorry. I don’t think Steph Curry had a better year than Kate. I I don’t know either what people saw from Steph. Like the first half of the year, Golden State was barely in playoff contention. Like I at least on the KD side, he was top five in scoring, so it made sense. I wasn’t mad at KD being where he was or Brian being where he was, but Steph, I think they way overblue. Like I remember for half the year, he wasn’t even top 20 in scoring. So to put him top, was he six or seven or eight? I thought that was way too high for him. I think I think Cade will lap Steph. I think he’ll lap Braun. I think he’ll lap KD because I don’t know. I like Houston, but I don’t know how good he’s going to be with them. I’m a little iffy about that on some on some fronts. I think Kade Yeah, that’s huge. That’s a big deal. So, I think I think Cade can be as high as I’ll go I’ll go seven. I think he could be like around six or seven. Like, I think he can teeter close with guys like Ant Edwards, um, Luca, who I we’ll save that for another time. But yeah, I I think Yeah, I think Kade has a has a good chance of of passing a lot of those guys like very very soon. I think he should be around that range. What you think? Let’s Let’s get I I have I have him at eight next year. I I think he’s going to be right there at eight and he’s going to be top 10 for sure. I’m just trying to be Okay. I’m try I’m trying to, you know, I don’t I don’t want to get too crazy. Um he’ll be 24. Like, you know, he’s got time to to get to top five and top three and top one, right? Um let’s get to some comments. Muffin says, “I think all Piston starters will make the list next year.” Um, Heisenberg Blue says, “J, Assar, and Ron.” Okay. Detroit Drew says, “Starting lineup has an argument to make the list to be honest. If they do and watch out, Ricky Sanders says, that means a lot of good things are happening.” That means a lot of good things are happening for sure. Ricky says Kate will be number four. Bobby Clement will make this list. I don’t know if he’s joking or serious, bro. Like, all right. Unless Never mind. Don’t bring Don’t bring him on. Don’t bring him on. I changed my mind. Don’t bring him on. Nah, he he messed it up right there. Come on, Rick. Listen, I’m the I’m the biggest Well, one of the biggest Bobby Clintman supporters as a Pistons fan. I think that’s safe to say. I’ve been knowing him since last year. He’s not making a top 100, bro. It’s not happening. He’s gonna I think he may be a rotational piece. He may get 10 to 12 minutes next year, but I don’t think he’s No, we not we’re not going to do all that. Ricky says, “Man, come on. You got to be playing, bro. It’s it’s opportunity more than anything. Opportunity more than anything. Especially if we want us to go get a power forward, whether it’s a starter or a backup, right? You got unless you have confidence that Bobby can be the backup, which I do, but if we’re looking to get to add more depth to that spot, it’s only going to make it harder. So, we’ll see. But I am high on Bobby Clement, and I do think he is going to be in the rotation at some point next year. So, we’ll see. We’ll see. Eisenberg says, “Kada to seven or eight.” Um, okay. So, okay. I thought he was just playing. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. for sure. All right, you can come you can come back. You back. You good? You good? Yeah. Yeah. He’s good, buddy now. We good. We good. Let’s go to Jaden. When ESPN drops this list a year from now, what will Jaden’s ranking be? Jaden Ivy. I think Ivy will be I think he’ll hover around 50. I think he’ll hover around the 50 spot. Again, I think he’s I won’t say he’s underrated as a defender, but I think he’s better than people give him credit for. And again, assuming that if assuming on a in a perfect world that they’re able to play at least, let’s say the core plays, let’s say they all play around 65 games at a minimum. If that’s the case and they’re picking up from where they left off last season, I can see him hovering around 40 or 50. Again, I don’t care about I’m not that sweating and crazy about his defense because this season, assuming Assar is there, assuming Kane is there, he’s not gonna have to be guarding the two top three guys or top two guys on the on the team. So, considering that, if he’s still healthy, if the speed is still there, the jump shot is still there, I think he’s going to be one of the more slept, not slept on, but I think he’ll be one of the guys that should be in the most improved player conversation. Yep. Um, and again, I I I think he’s very suited to be a number two for the team. And I think looking at that list around where those guys were around the 40 range, I think he’ll be, you know, probably around in that discussion in the 40 and 50. Yeah, I got him at 55. I got him at 55 next year. Ricky says Jaden will be 54. So, yeah, I I got him between 50 and 60. I’m just going to say round number 55, whatever. Right. Um, yeah, I think that’s going to be because like I mentioned, I think had he been healthy all year, he would have been higher than 85, right? So, I think with the jump that he’s projected to make and that I think he’s going to make on both sides of the ball, getting better, having a full off season with all these guys, it’s only going to make all these guys better. And I think he’s going to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of that because because he didn’t play last year, there’s not as much film with Jaden Ivy on this team with these guys, right? So, I think that’s going to be important, too. So, yeah, I got him at 55 and I think he’s gonna have a really good season. All right. When ESPN drops his list a year from now, what will Assar Thompson’s ranking be? I don’t think we’re going to see a big leap in his jump shooting. Um, I do think he’ll maybe make a jump in terms as a score because apparently according to Tan, he’s put on a lot of muscle. Um, the handle’s getting stronger. say I think that’s a big point of emphasis he’s been working on off season. I could see him between 50 60 cuz I think he’ll be an allNBA defense um consideration this season. Um I think he’s a better defender than his brother. I think he’s one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball. Um and he’ll have a whole season. Again, assuming they play around 65 games, I think he’ll have enough tape on his resume to prove that. Um, again, I don’t think I think again considering he’s an elite defender and has the potential to be that, I think having that elite skill set allows for some people to overlook those deficiencies. And if he’s making some steps in some other areas again with the handle, his passing, his scoring, um, hopefully with the free throw shooting as well, if he’s teetering around 70%, I think I could see him probably around like in the 60 range. Okay. Yeah, I think he’s going to be um, a huge beneficiary. I I think these guys are going to be Jaden and Assar are going to be great for each other. I think they’re going to Yeah, they’re going to allow each other to get so many easy buckets. Bro, we saw how I talked about the importance of the Pistons identity defensively, at least in part being defense offense. Defense offense. We saw so many times the Pistons turning defense into offense. And I think having a guy like Jaden on the break sprinting with a guy like Assara, you got two of the you got to me you got two of the fastest teammates teammate combination in the league. I don’t think there’s two guys on the wings who are who can claim to have guys faster than Assar Thompson and Jaden Ivy. So I think those two guys are going to get a lot of easy buckets for each other. Not in half court, but more so just turning defense into offense. I can really see them getting a lot of easy buckets that way. That’s the funniest part of this entire conversation because we saw a lot of the timeline pitting them against each other. You were spot on with what you just said. They are going to help each other out as much as anybody. We know Kade is going to be a big beneficiary, too. But Assar is going to take the defensive, you know, prowess or necessities away from Ivy. And Iivey’s offense is going to take away the demand for Assar’s offense. Like I feel like that’s going to be huge for them. And like it’s it’s assuming Hobie. Oh, he has to be this, he has to be that. Not necessarily. Like, if they just all play healthy and just stick to their roles for right now and then progressively grow over time, you don’t need that to just be an immediate fix for a start. Like, again, I’m not expecting them to be shooting, you know, 30 to 35% from three. I I don’t expect them to take a whole lot of threes this season. So, um I I don’t think they need that. If they’re able to play defense, if they’re able to get out in transition, get easy buckets, you know, Kade playing at an MVP level. We see a step forward from Ron. Um, Beef Stew still playing at a top level defensively. It’s not it’s not need to rush that. Again, it would be cool to have, but I don’t think it’s a rush necessarily for right now, assuming that everything else is taking the proper steps forward for his game. That’s a great point, and I totally agree, bro. I I hate I hate the the pinning of these two guys against each other or who’s better or whatever. Like, it’s no point to to cause division within unity. Like, these these guys are on the same team. It’s fun, but when it gets out of control, it’s like, what are we doing? Especially when we just came off a playoff appearance. Like, y’all, we can’t find nothing better to talk about. Like, why are we doing this? Like, this should be happy times in this city, but it should be very I don’t know. Yeah, it was a weird summer on the timeline, but it’s all It was It was I think a lot of It was It’s It’s tough, bro. It’s the offseason. It’s It’s hard for for everybody who cares. That’s true. You know what I’m saying? So, I get it. I totally get it. Um, all right. So, next guy. when the ESPN drops his list a year from now, what will Tobias Harris’s ranking be? I can see him kind I think he’ll be on the list. I can see him kind of hovering around the same range. I don’t think he’s going to have a big drop off in his game. Tobias does a really good job of taking care of his body. Um he understands his responsibility to this team. You know, he’s not trying to be um you know, slacking off. Um JB always talks about how he sets a proper example for the young guys. Um I I I just think he understands that as like the veteran and leader of this team. So I feel like he’ll probably still be around 70 80. I think he’ll maybe take a little bit of a step back defensively, but I think offensively I think his skill set can still be, you know, very beneficial for this team. I think um he’ll still get proper looks, you know, as a shooter. Um I think he’s still a really good postup score. Um and I think he’s really kind of underrated with his handle as well in creating his own shot. So, as long as that midi is there, as long as he’s still, you know, strong and lean and, you know, you know, finding the proper shots and can knocked out, you know, corner three or two, I think he’ll be just fine. Um, I think I can see between 75 and 80 being around for him. And I think that’s fine. Again, he don’t need to be 30 or so. If he’s that high, that means something bad went wrong with the other guys. So, I’m cool with him being around 75, 80 for the uh for next season. Okay. Yeah, I could see him slipping slipping, right? So like in the ‘9s range. I mean, and I don’t think it’s going to be because of him. I think it’s going to be because we got guys on this team who can take some of that load. We have a Jaden Ivy coming back. We have a Ron Holland looking for a bigger role, right? More opportunity. So I think it’s just going to be the fact that we have depth and he’s not going to need to do as much as he did last season. And I also So I think he’s going to be efficient like he was this year. I think he shot like 46% from the field, something like that. So I think the efficiency is going to be there. I just think the usage may not be as high because we got guys coming back and we will we’ll be full strength. So yeah, I can see him I still see him in the hundreds. I just think he’s going to be may slip a little bit because he won’t be asked to do as much. But right, big deal, right? I’m with you, right? Yeah. Okay, cool. Let’s go to JD. When ESPN drops this list a year from now, what will Jaylen Duran’s ranking be? He needs to take the biggest jump on this list. I think I think there’s there’s a world where I again if Ivy’s was around 50 and 60 that’s not a big deal. That’s a big jump for him. Um for JD to not even be on the list. I don’t think he can be like in the 90s or the 80s. No, I think he’s to me he’s got to be between Okay, let me answer your question. I think he will be probably like kind of around what I said with Tobias maybe 75 80, but I would like to see him in the 60s. I think um he don’t need to again I don’t think he needs to be um you know Shaq or Dwight Howard offensively for this team. The most important area where he needs to improve is his defense. And I feel like if he is producing at an elite level um defensively and still, you know, grabbing offensive rebounds and crashing the glass great, you know, having that great connection with Cade, I would like to see him around like the 60 range to an extent. Like I I think assuming his offense is, you know, taking those slow steps, but the defense is the most important. Like it it can’t be I don’t want to see Beef Stew as the best, you know, defender in the paint for the Pistons. It has to be him if he’s going to be the guy and get that extension that he wants to be around for the next several years. So, um yeah, I I would like to see him in the 60s. I know that’s a big ask considering he’s not even on the list, but again, I think he should have been on the list. But for me, I would like to see him in the 60s, assuming everything goes right. I think what you said about Stu was was was was dead on, bro. Because you look at just the way JD is built there, there is no excuse in his prime when he ever whenever he gets there to not be as good as whatever Isaiah Stewart was in his prime. And that’s not taking anything away from Stu. I am you know how we feel. We both love Steu. Love St. He is Detroit. So, but but he also has great technique. You can tell he also watches film. You can tell he also takes care of his body. He cares about that end of the floor. It’s a mindset that he has. So, I am 100% with you. I think JD at some point needs to be the best rim protector, the best paint presence, whatever you call it on this team just because he has the natural ability. The other things you can improve on. You can’t teach height. You can’t teach size. You can’t teach those things. And somehow Isaiah Stewart has just made it seem like those things don’t matter, right? So, for a guy like JD He Yeah. And I love it because Steu, I think, kind of kind of lights a fire under him a little bit as far as, hey, if I can do it, why aren’t you doing it? If I’m doing this, if I’m coming into the game, I shouldn’t be a better defender than you. You, you know, coach shouldn’t be coming to me. You know what I’m saying? So, I 100% agree to JD’s point or credit. The second half of the year, he looked like a totally different guy. Yes. Going after everything. just the reckless abandon in this, if you will, that he had as far as just the energy, the effort, and just really embracing the idea of being a star in your role. I saw that from him in the second half of the year, and that encouraged me that he can eventually get to that level, we’re talking about. So, I could see him in the 60s for sure. If he if he does that, if he commits to it, he makes the jump, I can definitely see that because he’s got the skills to do it. Yeah, that was a big point of emphasis for why the Pistons were able to keep afloat after Jay Kny’s injury. Um you saw a lot of guys take steps forward. Assar played better. Ron played a lot better, you know, in the second half of the year. Um and JD as well. He was the biggest improvement that they had and I feel like that can still be there again offensively. Um you know, he can still be that guy, you know, the secondary creator, you know, dropping off, you know, the cutting dunk passes to Ivy or Assar as they slash to the lane. You know, that can be there and still open. But again, the defense is what they need more than anything. Like I don’t I don’t think it’s going to be that midi or a three-pointer that puts him over the edge and Tan says, “Okay, now we got to sign him.” He’s looking I believe I don’t know the man, but I believe he’s looking at his defensive progression and I think that’s what’s most important for this team. If he’s able to establish himself as one of the five to 10 best paint protectors in basketball, he’s going to be here for the next 5 to 10 years. Yeah, I I definitely agree with that. And I really hope that happens, bro, because he y man, he could be he could be a serious anchor for this team long term, man. He really can. So hopefully he’s able to do that for us. Heisenberg chiming back in says JD is going to be in top 40. Woo. If that happens, man, watch out again. That’s huge. That’s crazy. He says JD look like he descended upon us from Mount Olymp. Yeah, man. He’s got a grown man body, man. So it’s I just think about him at 25, bro. He gonna look like Brock Lesnar at 25. He gonna be a wall by then. That’s gonna be crazy. Oh man, if the big show was chiseled, Jaylen D. That’s hilarious. Ryan says, “Kate always was playing in a crowd when he went to the basket in the playoffs. If Assar or JD could hit a jumper, do you think that would improve?” 100%. I think that, but I also think just having Jaden Ivy back in the court. Yep. you you know we saw so often um not even when he went to the basket but when K was just cross half court the double team would come there was nobody who could handle the ball and get downhill and make secondary plays out of it that was what Jaden Ivy did so I think that I think you’re you’re right Ryan I think those things could help but the the biggest thing for me is just getting that secondary guy back to take four or take eight to 10 eyes off of K Cunningham every time he crosses half court I think that alone is going to be a huge thing and would have been a huge difference in the series and took to the Have we had Jay Na’vi last year in the playoffs against the Knicks? What are your thoughts? Yeah, I’d like to see Kade like that’s actually something that JB Bigger have talked about a lot. Not even just for Kade, just in general. Don’t play in a crowd. That was one of their biggest emphasis emphases um in their half court sets, even in transition. Don’t play in a crowd offensively. Um so I would like to see um you know, obviously having Ivy back on the floor, it’s going to create a lot more catch and shoot opportunities for Kade. Like I don’t want to see I don’t need to see Kade, you know, shooting like Steph Curry where he’s, you know, dancing on the outside and, you know, a step back like hard. Like I don’t want to I don’t think he needs to play like that. If he can just find open looks that maybe set up from guys like Assar or Duran or Ivy, cuz again, a lot of these guys are super willing passers and if they’re able to command some extra attention, that’s going to give a lot more open looks for Kade. And I think that’s a big reason why his three-point shooting came down drastically after the All-Star break, not having Ivy next to him and having so much space like kind of clamored to him. Now, granted, he still had great shooting around him and, you know, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Beasley, but Cade has to be a part of that next season, especially assuming we don’t know what’s going to happen with Beasley and Tim Hardaway not being here. Um, yeah, Kade has to be to me a big anchor of that three-point shooting. um you know I don’t want to say resurgence but keeping it afloat to where it was last year. He has to be a big part of that and I think he will. Great great point. Great point. That’s dead on bro. Two more guys as far as this question and I got one or two more for you and we can get out of here. Um when ESPN drops this list a year from now. What will Ron Holland and Isaiah Stewart’s ranking be? Will they crack the top 100? Either one of those guys, do you think? Um, I think Ryan, yeah, I think Ryan can cuz again, I think he’s I think he can make an explosion offensively. I think um I think his game is really going to take a step forward offensively coming off the bench for the team. Um I think I can see him averaging, you know, double digits, maybe close to maybe 12 off the bench, which would be huge for them. Um, and I think he makes enough plays defensively where it’s going to get a lot of attention on ESPN. You know, again, where he’s when he’s able to pick the ball off and play in transition and get those open dunks or run with Kade or run with Ivy there. You just talked about it earlier. There’s so many athletes on this team from Kade, Ivy, Assar, Duran, Ron. Like the athleticism and the speed that they have should be a track show. It should look like Sha Richardson going up and down the floor. Um, so I want Yeah, I think I think he’s going to be able to capitalize on that. I don’t think Steu will. Um, which is I don’t think it’s a problem that he was. Again, I love what he did defensively last season. Um, I just think unfortunately due to like the minutes he’ll probably be playing and assuming that JD takes the step that’s needed, you’re not going to necessarily require Stu to play the defense that he played last season. Again, it’ll be cool to see, but I don’t think it’s a priority for them. you need to see Duran take that step instead of Isaiah playing at that peak level which was kind of saving Dur in some stretches in the first half of the year. So hopefully that’s what it looks like. I think that will be a good thing for them. That’s a great It’s kind of like the Tobias thing. If he’s doing more that means something’s wrong. Like Tobias had to do more when Jayden Ivy went down because something was wrong. Exactly. So yeah, and when it comes to the the minutes thing, great point. Great point. And that’s another point of emphasis. I know I mentioned with JD, I want to see the midi. I also want to see and I saw it the second half of the year again, the foul trouble has to come down. It has to come down. Getting two fouls in the first four minutes is is is not that will be what allows a guy like Steu to be able to maybe get on this list if that consistently happens because that means he’s getting more opportunity off the bench. He’s playing more. So once again, by as a domino effect, I I don’t want to say I don’t want to see Stu on the list because I want him to get all the accolades he can, but what does it mean if he is? If if he doesn’t, that means he’s not playing enough to qualify like he didn’t last year to qualify for defensive um defensive teams. He didn’t play enough minutes. So if he’s playing more minutes next year, what does that mean? So, for if JD can work on just defending without fouling, like you mentioned with Assar, defending without fouling, the discipline, staying down, um then that will mean that Isaiah Stewart probably is not going to make the list because he’s not having to come into the game and play as many minutes that will require him to get there. So, that’s the only reason I feel like he wouldn’t get there because I’m banking on JD making a jump next year defensively, if that makes sense. Right. Yep. I’m with you. Yeah. Okay. All right. One more question. Is this the last question? I think there’s one more question for you. All right. So, this upcoming season, right, we talked about these guys rankings potentially. This upcoming year, will the Pistons in chat, you guys chime in, too. Will the Pistons trade for a player that will be impactful enough to make next year’s top 100 list? Will they trade for someone impactful enough to be a top 100? I I want to say yes. Okay. because I don’t I don’t I don’t want to see them, you know, crash for just whoever to say, “Oh, hey, we made a move.” Um, I think they I think Trejan’s going to be, you know, patient to find that perfect piece. Um, but I I think they I think they do. I I I have a hard time believing that knowing where they again, they don’t they don’t have a whole lot of depth at the four position. I hate seeing these images where they show the depth chart and they got Ron Holland as a backup four. Ron Holland is not a power forward. Like he’s closer to a two or three or two three than a 34, you know, on this rotation. Like I I don’t see him playing as a small forward. I don’t or as a power forward. I don’t really like the idea of Assar playing as a as a power forward. Like I just think they’re all they’re both better suited as a three. And looking at their rotation, they got a lot of guards. Like they got a lot of guards and a lot of them are in situations where they got to prove who they are pretty quickly. Like yeah, Ivy’s got to prove who he is quickly. Car’s got to show his value. Duncan I think has more pressure than really any other guy coming off the bench for the Pistons. Um, and yeah, really just their wings. Like they feel they got a lot of a bit of a jam that they kind of need to, you know, you know, figure out. And I think they could use one of those contracts and one of those guys and maybe a pick, you know, to find something that works for their front court because as of right now, the scoring in the front court is leaving a lot to be desired. Again, they have lanes that play and that work saw with his defense. Um JD with his, you know, connection with Cade, but they still don’t have the ability to kind of just go get their own. And Tobias is getting older for the reason we just said. You don’t want you don’t want to be relying on him to do too much. So, I do think it’s possible that they do go get somebody that’ll be top um 100 on that list. And I think that would be huge for them. I got a couple names in mind, but we going to wait and see who they could be. Um but yeah, I I do think they do make a move. I do. Okay. I’m kind of torn with this one, bro. Like part of me is like I just want to run it back and I I know everything you said is accurate. It’s for me it’s just timing. Yeah. It’s I feel like unless we feel like we can legit go get one this year. What’s the rush? This will be year two of these guys playing together. You think about the Thunder Shay was had been there since 2019 before they actually got a ring. So it’s just like I just I just don’t want to rush rush anything, make any moves prematurely. I feel like the internal growth of some of these in and the chem the chemistry and the consistency that these guys have playing together, I think is going to be really important. We still don’t know what this group as a whole can do. I think that’s the thing. I think if we come out the gate slow and we get to the trade deadline and it’s just like we have enough data to see this is just not working something, you know, then I think maybe. But I kind of just want to run it back and just see what we have. I mean, Tobias is in his last year of his contract. You know, I just see them letting him play it out, you know? I I see them honoring the contract he signed, him playing it out, him being a mentor for the young guys because he’s probably going to be included in any trade that you make to get somebody like that. I would imagine. So, I’m not moving Ron. I’m not moving Jaden. I mean, it’s like, okay, if you’re not moving those guys, you got to move somebody. And I I keep seeing this Devin Booker for Tobias Harris, Ron Holland, Jay Knight in 100,000 first round picks and 100 million second round unprotected picks. So I just like it’s not not I mean like I mentioned if there’s an opportunity to go win it this year. Okay. But if it’s not I I just don’t see what the rush will be to do that. That’s just me. Maybe I’m just oldfashioned with it. I understand we got Rasheed Wallace mid mid-season so it is possible, right? But it’s just like I just don’t want them to make the right the wrong move that they can’t undo and it just kind of messes with everything else too early. You know what I mean? Go ahead. Yeah, I think the patience has has rewarded them thus far. I mean, obviously we didn’t know what it was going to look like um last season cuz obviously they were going to be patient. The number one thing they wanted to do was see what they had with the young core and they blew you know the expectations out of the water for what they were supposed to do. Like I don’t Tanjan himself said it like I didn’t know we were going to be this good this quick. So, you know, the fact that they were able to do that meant a lot. And I also just think we’re seeing patience really being the like kind of the model of of roster building now in the NBA because we just saw what happened with Phoenix when they tried to rush. That didn’t work out with with uh Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. We remember um the Clippers, you know, blowing up what they had um to go get Paul George and Kawhai. while they were still a good team, it didn’t get to where they wanted to get, which was a championship. That was their expectation. Even um Brooklyn twice, if I’m not mistaken, because before KD got there, they had the core Caris, one of the guys, um I think Diezo Russell, and I’m forgetting a couple other days, but they had a nice little core of guys that were playing well in the East. As soon as they blew that up and championship expectations with what they wanted to be, it didn’t help them and it crippled their future. That’s the biggest problem. So, I think yeah, patience is going to be um you know, obviously it’s something that uh Tan stands on. He obviously knows, you know, their expectations of what they want to do sooner than later, but as of right now, I don’t see that being, you know, the model of, you know, what teams are doing now. They’re not trying to crash and just get somebody and play, you know, NBA 2K ball. Like, they’re taking their time, letting their young cores develop, and we’re seeing it work out. we saw with the champs uh in OKC and I think the Pistons are kind of following that model. You mentioned Paul George um moving from or moving to the Clippers from OKC. Didn’t didn’t the rights to Shay go or didn’t Shay get Wasn’t he part of that deal? He sure was. Him and that’s what I’m saying, bro. That’s why it’s like you you can’t undo it if they could go back in time to 2019. There’s no way they make that move. No way they do that move. So when you got into a crystal ball Yeah. Exactly. That’s that’s only getting better in year one should see what we got first. Exactly. That’s just kind of where I’m at. So I’m not saying it’s impossible that I wouldn’t ever do it, but it’s it’s got to be the perfect to where you you’re just like why aren’t you making this move? That’s the only way. If it’s like h I can see this working and you only had half a season this I think Heisenberg put it well. He says, “I feel like if we’re trying for a big move at the trade deadline, then this current roster is probably underachieving.” That’s kind of what I was saying. If you get to the trade deadline, it’s like, uh, this is not working. This is not working out. These guys aren’t jelling together. They don’t like each other, which is not the case at all. I’m just saying, that would be what I could see kind of making that possible as if we got to we got to do this. But if you don’t have to do it, I don’t see why you would. So, and the last thing I want is to get a guy who is injuryp prone after we he gets here and then the guy we trade for is like a J we trade Jayen Ivy and he goes somewhere and he just balls out and it’s just like no no not again no I would just rather play safe. That’s just kind of where I’m at with it. Yeah. Looking at the landscape of the Eastern Conference right now, if you have to do something like that, if the Pistons are in a position where they’re not, you know, sniffing the fourth, fifth seed or higher and they’re, you know, teetering around seven or eight or nine, something really bad happened in terms of what they’re doing right now. And I can’t I anything could happen. We saw Luca get traded to the Lakers, so anything can happen. I just would be really dumbfounded to see them regress that much considering the steps that these young guys took, considering how great Cade has been. I just I can’t see them falling to a point where they have to crash and make that kind of a deal. I just I don’t see that happening. Right. Yeah. And one one more thing to add on to what you’re saying, bro. Like going back to the Rashid Wallace, that’s probably the closest thing we can compare it to as far as what is being kind of out there, right? As far as making that move for that one guy at the right time. That the previous season 2003, we got swept by the Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals, right? Yeah. Before she got there. And then going into 2004 before she got there again, we played the Nets again and we still look like we couldn’t beat them, right? That so to me that makes sense. You got these guys, they’re right in their primes right now. There’s no And that’s a little bit different because those guys are ready to take that next step. They were ready. They had the experience. They’ve been deep in the playoffs. They were ready to make the next jump. But watching them and me was a good player. He was even an allstar with the Utah Jazz who was a center before she got here. But you could just tell they needed more out of that spot. Ken Martin Kenya Martin was going crazy. He was dominating us in that paint, right? Because Ben Wallace can’t be everywhere, right? So, you know, and when we got she, you saw the difference and it still took us seven games. So, it’s just like it’s got to be that kind of move. It’s got to be that kind of situation for me for them to do that. So, I’m with you 100%. I’m not mad if they stand pat and just remain patient. Even if it means we don’t advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, if we can get past the first round and we show growth, internal growth, which is the mission, the young guys getting better, it’s a win. It’s a total win. So that’s Yeah, 100%. Truth over Motion said, “I’m glad the Pistons didn’t trade for Harden or an older superstar and trade the Pistons future young talent that could be stars.” 100%. You get it, Truth Over Motions. Exactly what we’re talking about. And I think Tan Landon has the temperament to just wait on it if if it’s not there. So yeah, we’ll see. I was just thinking last thing bro um of all the young core we just talked about these rankings all the young core that we mentioned we expect all these guys basically to jump right so some of you guys in the chat were saying the whole starting five could be in the hund in the top 100 next year so let me ask you this in an alternate reality right in the multiverse if those guys who we mentioned in chat too if those guys that we just mentioned hit those marks of what we’re expecting next season or predicting next season. How will the se the Pistons season end in a perfect world? In a perfect multiverse for the just based on the rankings that we’re saying we project for next year, you know, Jaden and 660 50 or Assar or JD and and you know 40 Heisenberg or 60 just based off the projections we have for them improving next year where how does their season end? Last year it ended in game six against the Knicks in the first round. How do you see their season ending next year? Assuming everything goes right, let’s say they all play 65 games, everybody’s on par with what they should be doing, making gradual steps. Let’s let’s not even assume that anybody’s Let’s say Kade’s an all-star and everybody else is just good. Let’s say that this is a ECF team. Yes, this is an ECF team. I feel like we’ve talked about it before. I’m not sold on Cleveland at the top. They just signed Killian Hayes, which should say a lot. Um, Darius Garland. Yeah, I think Darius Garland is hurt, which is a big deal for them. Um, their depth, like I I I kind of question a lot. Their coaching I question a lot. Um, Cleveland is not Cleveland, excuse me, New York is a good team. I still have questions about them and their depth as well. Um, and I feel like outside of that, it’s really just kind of for the pickings. I feel like Orlando’s a good team, but they haven’t proven anything yet. Atlanta’s a good team, but they haven’t proven anything yet. I feel like this team is ECF bound. I feel like they have a chance to surprise, maybe not surprise in the first round, cuz I would expect them to win if they’re seeing a team like like if it was four or five the Pistons played the Hawks, I would expect I think the Pistons would be the favorite in that matchup. agree. Um, and I think after that, if you can sneak off, you know, a series against, I don’t know, maybe Boston is better than we expect, or they got to see New York again in the second round, which would be mustsee TV. I would like if Derek White. All right, y’all. Y’all have a good day. Um, I had a great time here. See, we we went this whole time without saying his name. Didn’t even talk about him on the rankings. And you just ruined the conversation. I’m usually getting on you, so that’s my fault. I’m usually cuz you’re usually bringing him up unprompted for no reason. So, I had to I had to back to you. I watched Kade dunk K dunked on him twice last season and I watch both of those highlights every single day. I kid you not. I’m so sick of hearing Derek White’s name. How much time did you spend on that 20 second clip of him dunking on Derek White? Probably about an hour. The one on the road that he had because the one with the left hand was kind of soft. The one with the right hand where they were down like 15 and he stares at him coming down. I’ I’ve had that on replay like a like a bug. I ain’t gonna hold you. Oh man, my bad. I I had to get you back, bro. You always You always get you back. Got to give me PTSD before I go to bed. Of course, man. Got to make sure you go to sleep well, you know. Got to make sure that happens. What do you think? What do you think their their perfect reality is in a in a multiverse? ECF. ECF. I think I think finals is ambitious. Going from the first round to the finals is like that’s that’s a lot, right? But facts, I could see them getting to the second round for I I actually have them getting to the second round for sure. Um I think they’re going to win the They could I think I think they have a great shot at hosting a first round matchup. Me too. Top four seed and I think that’s how they finish and I have them winning that series whoever they play whether it’s the Hawks who I think will probably be at five, right? Um I I have Orlando at three, Pistons at four, Hawks at five. So I think the Pistons will play the Hawks in the first round. I think they’ll beat them. Um they have some issues they have to worry about. you know, Chris Daspering is there, but he is not always healthy. So, it’s a lot of things that can factor in that and of course the injuries that we know about already in the Eastern Conference. So, I think it’s kind of setting up for them to at least be able to get to the second round. I have them in the conference finals. I could see them potentially falling short to a team who has more experience in the playoffs. That’s that’s little I I I think we can beat the Cavs, but I wouldn’t be upset if we lost to the Cavs, right? Because they’ve been there, right? So, I wouldn’t be mad at that. The Knicks, I think we I would probably be more disappointed if we lost to the Knicks than the Cavs because we proved last year we can beat the Knicks without two of our guys. I agree. So, yeah, I I have them going to the Eastern Conference Finals, bro. I I think that’s what I think that’s where they could land for sure. They They could be what the Pacers were year before last or what the Hawks did where Trey Young teed off and beat the Sixers. The Knicks and then the Sixers. Yep. I think that could be them this year for sure. Great great example. That’s perfect. So yeah, I think we’re on the same page. Chat, y’all feeling the same way? Detroit Drew has a present for you, Eric. Here it is. All right, guys. Yeah, Derek White. My last time on Deuce’s show. Uh, y’all just want to troll and just just my nerves today. We about to start the season and this is what we on. Come on. Come on, Chad. Help me out, y’all. I started it. That’s on me. That’s on me. They just piling on. They just falling on. All right. You don’t even Oh my god. Don’t even get me started on Papar, bro. Oh my god. The way Trey Young cooked him. I ain’t going to talk about All right. That was beautiful. That was beautiful. That was Yes, it was. He did it so sophisticated, too. Like, bro, you’re not you’re not that guy. It’s okay. Cable called like, “Excuse me, Pat. Excuse me for a second.” All right. Back to Okay. Yeah. So, anyway, um guys, that is all we have for tonight, man. The offseason has been very quiet, man. No Rico Hines runs. Um no consistent social media posts of guys working out. It’s been really quiet this off seasonason and I Eric I love it. That tells me these guys are working in this in silence just hanging back in the shadows. So I’m really looking forward to hearing what the guys have been up to um what the development has been like for these young guys. Eric is going to be in the building guys um on the 29th for media day. If you guys have any questions that you want Eric to ask, make sure you go over to his channel at Toptile Detroit and make sure you chime in to his content and drop those questions. And I’m sure if he can, he will definitely ask them. And with that, um, Eric, where can we find you, bro? Where can we tap in with you? We talked about your YouTube channel, Toptile Detroit, but let everybody know we can find you, man. Appreciate y’all for tuning in, man. Dudes, always love being on the show, brother. Um, yeah, lock in with me on social media, I am Eric Vincent, as you see on the screen. Um, yeah, any questions you have for media day next week, you know, send them to me. Um, you know, we try to, they’re pretty good with allowing a lot of questions, a lot of time for us to flick off. So yeah, if you got something you want us to ask, hit me up on my social media at I am Ericvincent. You can check out my work um as the B reporter on clutchpoints.com. I’ll definitely have some write up and some quotes um from what we get from the players, from what we get from JB, when we get from Tan. Um it should be a really good conversation. I’m really really excited for media day and I hope you guys are as well. Um and I’m going to have my coverage on my YouTube page, Top Title Detroit. I’m I think just under 20 subscribers away from 500. So, if y’all can bless me and make that happen, I would really appreciate it. Um, I’m going to have as much content on there as I can this season. I’m really excited to get that booming for y’all. Um, so yeah, lock in with me on Top Title Detroit. I would really, really appreciate that. So, guys, once again, man, Pistons media day this Monday, September 29th. It is almost that time again, Pistons fans. We are almost there. So, listen, Evenny, we appreciate you, bro. As always, pulling back up to the show, man. Your YouTube channel is growing, too. Like people are starting to get hip to the movement. They starting to get hip to who you are and what you know as a NBA fan, as a Pistons fan, as a beat rider, as a credentialed beat rider, right? So you guys make sure you guys join the movement. Go support him over there at Toptitle Detroit. Also, make sure you guys keep your eyes open for some new Pistons music from yours truly before the start of the regular season. Y’all know I got to come with a new anthem every year. Last year was Dog Pound. Like Eric mentioned, he g gave me a shout out. I appreciate that, brother. And um I got some new stuff for you guys coming um pretty soon. So stay tuned for that. And then lastly, there are going to be some notable upgrades to the show this season as well. And I’ll have more on that for you guys soon. And as always, we appreciate you guys hanging out with us tonight, man. It’s been a great show. I appreciate you guys for showing up, for being here. Detroit Drew says, “I wish we had Maro Hines run around, but great show regardless.” And I appreciate you, bro. Me, too. It’s bittersweet, but I’m glad that these guys are locked in and they’re probably working on the games as we speak right now. So, shout out to you guys for being here with us, man. This has been a great show and y’all know the drill, man. Detroit verse everybody. Peace. And when you knock me down, I’m getting back up cuz when I step on the floor, you know your time’s down. I’m on my way up and I’m not going to stop. We headed straight to the top and I know I got to waste it. I got no time to waste it. Where you with everything we hear with me?

The Detroit Pistons have three Pistons on this years rankings!
Which players should have been on the list?

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