PRESEASON IS HERE! Detroit Pistons Kickoff Preseason Play Against Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies!

PRESEASON IS HERE! Detroit Pistons Kickoff Preseason Play Against Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies!

Detroit basketball is back as they opened up the preseason against the Memphis Grizzlies. And I’m going to let you guys know what we have to see from the Detroit Pistons in preeason to feel even stronger about them going into the regular season. Today’s episode, Locked on Pistons podcast. Let’s go. You are Locked on Pistons, your daily Detroit Pistons podcast. Part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. What’s the deal? Welcome back to another episode of the Locked on Pistons podcast. Per usual, I am your host Karen been covering the Detroit Pistons for the previous four years for the locked on network band credential media member over the last three years. I want pre or I want to say thank you to everybody who makes locked on Pistons your first listen every single day. We’re free and available on all your podcast platforms. I appreciate all of you. Make sure you guys that subscribe button at the YouTube channel if you haven’t already. We’re on our way to 12,000 subscribers. Or you can leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fanduel.com today to get started. Later on in the podcast, we’ll talk about do the Pistons potentially have rotation problems. JB Big Bicker Staff talked about how he feels like this team is incredibly deep, but they’re going to have to make some tough rotation decisions when the regular season comes around. We’ll discuss whether that actually is real or not and what kind of decisions he could be talking about. We’ll break down break that down a little bit later. And then ahead of the preseason, I want to give my final uh standings prediction for where I believe the Pistons will end up ahead of the season. And we will come back to this obviously like we usually do at the end of the year. and see how far off I was. Was I right? Was I wrong? Same thing with you guys. I want to see you guys comment down below what you guys officially believe the Pistons will finish this year in the Eastern Conference. And we will revisit everyone and see how close or how off we all were. But let’s go ahead and start with talking about the preseason as it kicks off. I’m recording this the night before. I’m recording this right after the Lions game. Good win Detroit Lions. Um they play Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Detroit basketball is back. can’t. It feels like the offseason went by quick as ever. Um, we will be hosting a live watch party over on the playback for this game. Click the link down below if you want to come and watch the game with me and the rest of the Pistons fan base. What do I need to see from the Detroit Pistons in preseason to feel strongly about them going into the regular season? Um, I I there’s a few things I really do want to see that I I think would give you feel would make a lot of fans feel even better about them. As we get into a little bit later with the standings, I’m going to let you guys know, just kind of spoil it a little bit for you guys. As the season gets closer, the the the better I feel about this team and the more my expectations are rising. Maybe that’s just because of the excitement and media day and happiness about the season being back. So maybe I’m being impacted a little bit by that, but I find myself getting higher and higher and higher on this team. Um, so these are some of the things I would like to see from them do to kind of like make me feel a little bit more confident in my growing belief in this team. So obviously I want to start with we’re going to go down the roster. I want to start with Cade. I just want to see Kade make it through the preseason healthy one. and two, I’d love to see him take quite a bit of pullup threes and see his pull-up threes be a lot more effective and and see him go to it a little bit more, especially off pick and rolls when they’re in drop coverage or they’re giving him any space or if his guy goes underneath the screen or even if they’re trailing around the pick and roll. I think it would be really nice to see Kade take some pull-up threes off the dribble and show that that’s another area of his game that he’s continuing to try to get better at. So, that’s a little minor part of Kad’s game. I don’t think you’re going to see him very much in this game against the Memphis Grizzlies. I don’t know how much he’s actually going to play throughout the preseason, but as he does play as he plays throughout the preseason, usually every usually in the preseason, you see like a glimpse from each player of like what they were working on, what they’re how they’re attacking preseason. And last year, I know Kade spent a lot of preseason kind of just working himself into shape and kind of just, you know, taking it easy. had some Pistons fans. I remember this last year talking about the preseason. A lot of Pistons fans were like, “Oh my god, what’s going on with Kade? He doesn’t seem like he’s aggressive. Why is he not scoring?” blah blah blah. I remember that. Go back to the pre the videos and the the episodes from last preseason. We talked about that. That was a that was something being talked about in the community. So I could Cade attack it like that again? Yes. But my point is usually you see I feel like Cade more so rather than looking at it as he wasn’t as aggressive last preseason. I feel like it was more so him trying to let his teammates get some comfortability, give his teammates some confidence and allow them to kind of test out everything they wanted to do. I think they ended up playing out well. So I feel like that was a good way the way a good way that Kate attacked last offseason. So this offseason, I’d like to see him take some pull-up threes and try to work himself into rhythm to get started into the season. Jane Ivy, what I am most excited to watch about for Jane Ivy in preseason, and it’s going to be the same thing throughout the regular season, is really how does he look when Kad’s off the floor, especially if they are going to be trusting him as the backup point guard and and trusting him to be the secondary playmaker. How does he look when Kade’s not on the floor? And can he run the offense? Or is the offense in the non-cade minutes going to look bad like they did all of last year until Dennis Rutder arrived? We’ve talked about the numbers before over and over about how bad they were in the noncade minutes. They got Dennis Rutder, all of a sudden they got infinitely better in those minutes. Can Jaden Ivy or has Jay and Ivy improved in this area and how will those minutes look with that? Okay, that will be the number one thing I’ll be watching for with Jay and Ivy with Assar Thompson. It will be me watching only his ball handling. I will be if he hits a few threes, that would be fun. That would be great. I’m sure a lot of people will be watching that and be excited about that. I will be only literally my main thing I’ll be watching is how does his handle look? Does it look tighter? Does he look more confident in it? Is he running some more pick and roll actions? Is he running some actions within the offense? Is he getting the defensive rebound going full court and getting all the way to the basket? Is he being more aggressive getting to the basket because he trusts his handle more? That is the main only skill set for real with me that I am watching with Assar cuz I think it’s that important. I need to see what his ball handling looks like. I want to see him be aggressive with it if it actually has improved on drive to the rim throughout the preseason. With Jaylen Durren, I talked about this a few episodes ago with JD. I am interested to see if they run any kind of on ball actions for him within the half court. Do they try to get him some inverted pick and roll looks again? Do we start to see him be a little bit more aggressive? And honestly, do we start to see him get a little bit more uh confident within his offensive repertoire? Do we start start to see him extend his range out a little bit? I’m not talking about from three, but do we start to see him maybe try some floaters? Do we start to see him try to go to some, you know, maybe some floating hook shots, more so the floater is what I’m talking about here. Does he start to show some confidence in that and go to that a little bit in preseason? That will be interesting to see. The veterans, I don’t really need to see anything from them like Duncan. don’t need I like there’s nothing that matters really with uh for preseason to be honest. Tobias same thing there. Stu I will be watching to see. He told me at media day that he’s hoping to go back to some more threes if he is going to be shooting more threes. I’m not just watching to see in the preseason if he actually shoots them. I want to see in the preseason how are they deploying him then if he is going to be shooting threes. Like are they going to be spotting him up in the corner? Is he going to be popping off pick and rolls? Like I just want to see how the offense changes a little bit if he is going to be shooting more threes and how is he going to be taking those threes? Is it in trailing looks again? Is it pick and pops? Is it spotting up in the corner? Like how if he’s going to be shooting more threes, how is he getting them within the offense? How are they planning on using him? I’d like to see how it looks uh in the preseason. See if there’s anything has changed there with that. And then Ron Holland. Is Ron going to keep this aggressiveness? Is he going to carry over how aggressive and confident and cocky he was from summer league? Is he going to carry that over to his minutes in the preseason? Is he going to be when he’s on the floor feel like I’m the best player on the floor, I’m the best offensive player. Give me the ball. I’m getting to the basket and I’m scoring this rock. Is he going to have that kind of confidence? He had a plenty enough confidence this past year, his rookie year, but it like got to another level in summer league where it felt like it was oozing with I’m the best player on this court and obviously he was at summer league, but you’d like to see that confidence carry over, especially with how JB was mentioning that they’re going to be trusting him a little bit more to be a scoreer off the bench for them. So, I’m interested to see that. Um, just how confident he is when he has the ball in his hands. Is he just passing the ball, let it move, or every time he touches the ball, is he looking, hey, this is my time. I’m trusted to be a scorer. I’m going to be that scorer. And then I guess the last guy we’ll mention is Marcus Sasser, which he’s going to be someone that comes up in this upcoming um segment we’re about to talk about with this rotation. Does Marcus Sasser really force JB Biggerstep’s hand to ex either one extend the rotation or two kick someone out the rotation to give him minutes. So I think that’s a perfect way to segue into the next topic we’re going to be discussing. Do the Pistons potentially have a good problem, but a rotation issue that they’re going to have to address that maybe leave some players out that you would rather not leave out of a rotation. Are are they going to have to deal with those problems? We’ll talk about that and break it down and why I don’t truly believe there are those problems that maybe JB is overhyping a little bit. I’ll tell you guys why coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by Pelaton. And Pelaton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Pelaton crossraining tread plus powered by Pelaton IQ. It’s their most advanced equipment yet. Designed to give you real-time guidance and endless ways to move. Whether you’re running, lifting, or crossraining with your favorite instructors. This is trained training re-imagined. Pelon is built for breakthroughs with tools that help you plan, stay motivated, and reach peak performance. The swivel screen is a game changer. With Pelaton, you can go from running on the Tread Plus to strength training without missing a single beat. And the personalized class recommendations keep you engaged. You get workouts tailored to your vibe and energy level every single week. So, let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward with Pelaton. Explore the new Pelaton Cross Training Tread Plus today at onepelon.com. again. Run, lift, flex, and push forward with the new Pelaton cross trainining. Tread Plus today at 1pelon.com. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on Pistons your first listen every single day. We’re free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Lockdown Pistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. Real quickly before we get into this topic again, we will be hosting a live watch party for the Detroit Pistons game against the Memphis Grizzlies over in the playback room. You guys were part of the playback family last year, you know that we had a ton of fun this past season. If you want to join us and the whole family over on playback and watch every single Pistons game live together, I’ll link it down below. You can join the room and you’ll be notified when we go live tomorrow. It’s always a lot of fun, so I think you guys will enjoy it. Um, and then lastly, I just posted that breakdown I was telling you guys about last episode for that Duncan Robinson, Jaylen Duran, DHO, the passes, the lobs, how, uh, Duncan Robinson is going to unlock something different for Jaylen Duran. Uh, and I broke it down with some clips from Miami with Duncan Robinson and Benio, and then some opportunities that were missed with Jaylen Dur, Malip Beasley this past year. I broke it down over in the substack. If you want to go view that breakdown, I’ll link that down below for you guys as well, and you guys can sub over there at the substack. I would really appreciate it. But let’s go ahead and get into this problem that JB Bigger Staff seems to insinuate the Pistons will have this year, which is he believes the Pistons are a very deep team. Says that they are a very deep team, but that’s going to lead to them having to make some tough decisions. His exact quote goes, quote, “The way camp has gone, there’s not one guy out here I can tell you doesn’t deserve to play. I’m pleased with the depth that we have, but we have some tough decisions to make because of it. Now, I want to go ahead and and and not only answer the question of who’s going to be left out of the rotation, but I want to kind of start off with is um is JB overhyping that a bit? Is he overrating the Pistons death? And do they actually have these tough issues or tough tough questions that they’re going to have to answer and leave people out of the rotation? Well, I think so. I think he’s kind of just complimenting his players and and and and trying to be, you know, a good coach by having his guys back and kind of overhyping them. I don’t think the Pistons are really going to run into these type of issues. I think the rotation is pretty clear for how it’s going to look. So, I’m gonna go ahead and write this down as we do this. So obviously you got Cade, you got Ivy, you got Assar, you got Tobias, and you got JD. That is a clear fiveman starting lineup. There is no question of that there. No one’s questioning if that’s going to be the starting lineup. Everyone knows that will be the starting lineup. That is five players are going to take up a chunk of your minutes. There’s no questioning any of those guys. Now we can get to the guys that we know will definitely be playing off the bench. We got Stu. We know he’s going to be a huge impact player off the bench. That is six players now. We know Ron Holland is going to play a huge role off the bench because everyone you’ve talked to all summer has made it known and and made it a point to say that that Ron Holland is going to be a big part of this team this year. And we know how much Trajan Langden loves Ron and we know how much JB Biggerstaff loves Ron. And also Ron deserves to play. So we know that’s seven players now. You got K, Ivsr, Tobias, JD, Stew, and Ron. that seven players that we know for a fact will be getting heavy minutes in this rotation. Another guy, Duncan Robinson. There is no question that Duncan is going to be getting minutes simply because whether you believe he’s a great player or not, he is the only player on this team that can replicate the type of shooting that Malik Beasley brought to this team last year. And he is the only one that will allow the Detroit Pistons to run the same type of actions that they ran with Malik Beasley this past year. and they need that kind of threat coming off of what we just talked about with my breakdown, these DHO actions with Jaylen Dur. They need that space or that shooter in their lineup. He is going to play heavy mid. So, now we’re at eight guys. And I’m sorry before we even keep going, I’m sorry to break it to JB or fans that seem to believe what JB had said and took it took it seriously. The Detroit Pistons are not the OKC Thunder. They do not have 13 guys that they have to play where you’ll randomly look at a box score in one night if you missed the game and see they played 12 guys in a game that was decided by seven points. They don’t have that kind of depth where you actually could see 12 players played throughout a game that wasn’t a blowout. They’re not going to do that. They are going to at most play a 10-man rotation. So at Cade, IVSR, Tobias, JD, Stu, Ron, and Duncan. That’s eight players. The next player I can guarantee you guys will be getting minutes is Caris Levert. They gave him a good contract in the offseason. They gave him the entire MLE. He will be played this season heavy minutes. There is no situation where he is not being played. They did not pay him and bring him to this team for him to not play heavy minutes. And I think he’s going to take a lot of those on ball reps, which will be interesting to see because one, Jay and Ivy, we were told by Tan and JB in the offseason that they wanted to see Jay and Ivy play on ball and have another chance at that backup point guard position. But with bringing in Caris, that kind of gives me questions of how much are we actually going to see that and were they telling the truth? We’ll get to find this out, I think, maybe in the first preseason game, but that’s now nine guys that we know for sure will begin to play. The one guy that’s left, there’s only one player that’s left that I think you could make an argument might crack the rotation. And as we talked about last offseason, JB throughout his career as a coach has leaned towards nineman rotations. He has gone to 10-man rotations at times, but he mostly leans into nineman rotations. Now, as we t talked about last offseason, if your team is really that deep of great players, then yeah, you’ll go 10 deep, but usually your team is not that great. Most teams are not great enough to go 10 deep. And I don’t know if the Pistons team is going 10 deep either because I don’t know if they have good enough players to force the issue. Is Javante Green going to get minutes? I’m sorry. No. Let’s go and just break that down. I know he’s a, you know, he’s been getting along with a lot of guys in the locker room. Guys like his personality, like being around him. He’s a hard worker. He’s worked with JB before. I’m sorry, he’s not cracking the Pistons rotation. Is Tou Smith cracking the rotation? No. Is Dannis Jenkins cracking the rotation? No. Is Bobby Clipman breaking the rotation? I am sorry to all the Bobby believers, but he is not cracking the rotation this year. Ron Holland will be getting the majority of the backup fourman split with the SAR. I believe I don’t think there’s any way for Bobby to even get into the rotation honestly because you have to create those minutes for Ron. If you’re going to play to do so is if Ron starts taking up some of those backup four minutes. So, Bobby Clipman, I’m sorry. He is not getting minutes. Kobe Jones, he is not getting minutes. The only guy left, Ch Oh yeah, Chaz Laneir, no. Sorry, not getting minutes. Not breaking the rotation this year. I’m sorry. The only guy that is trying to force the coaching staff’s hand to play him is Marcus Sasser. And that would be a 10-man rotation. So, we just answered the question of, do the Pistons actually have a deep enough rotation where they’re going to have these Man, can’t believe I had to tell this guy he’s not going to be able to play, but it is what it is. No, I don’t believe that to be the case. The Pistons don’t have that deep of a roster. I know I didn’t even mention Paul Reid, but we all Paul Reed, another guy that’s not playing in a rotation. Um, no, I don’t believe the Pistons have that deep of a roster. It’s not that deep. So, I think JB was just overhyping and complimenting his players with that. But now I want to segue into is Marcus Sasser going to crack this rotation. I I don’t know. It’s going to be he’s going to have to play extremely well in the preseason. And I think out of everyone on the roster this preseason, Marcus Sasser is playing for the most. He has the most to lose during preseason. If Kade goes out there and shoots 40% or something, whatever, like no one’s caring. It’s preseason. We’ve seen him play preseason laxidasical. We’ve seen him not really, you know, press, you know, the pedal in preseason. Like no one K’s all NBA guy. He doesn’t have to show us anything in preseason. Like it doesn’t really matter to be honest. Jane Ivy Jane Ivy could go out there and play horribly and maybe I would come on this podcast and say, “Okay, I’m a little concerned that didn’t look good. How is he going to play during the season?” But is that going to change whether he’s going to be a starter? Is that going to change whether he’s going to play 30 minutes? No, it’s not going to change anything for him. It’s just going to change my level of confidence. and maybe the fans level of confidence in him. Same thing with Assar. Sar could go out there, do whatever. He’s still going to play. Tobias is still going to play. JD, he is not going to lose minutes. Steu is not going to lose minutes. Ron, I that now Ryan, he might have a little bit to gain because he’s still fighting for minutes with Duncan, Caris, and a little bit with Tobias. So, if he goes out there and really looks great, he could gain some extra minutes maybe. But really, Ryan could go out there and not look tremendous and he’s still probably going to be penciled in minutes. Same thing with Duncan and Caris. They don’t have nothing to lose. Marcus though is playing for his life. He is playing for his rotation life to prove to this team that he should be the backup point guard and that he should get those minutes. Problem is is if he does he has he is working an uphill or he he is fighting an uphill battle because we know they brought in Caris Levert to take up some of those onball actions or on ball responsibilities. We know that we’ve heard them say they want Jay Ivy to take up some of those on ball responsibilities. And then at media day we heard Marcus Sasser say he knows that he has to be able to play point guard. So it seems like they still believe Marcus to be this point guard. Where are those reps going to be available for him if they want to give it to Caris and Ivy? That’s a question I have. Or maybe they finally going to start playing him as I’ve said he should be played which maybe he plays next to Caris and Caris plays on ball. Marcus is just used as the scorer. He’s not asked to set the offense up. Maybe he plays next to Ivy. Maybe he plays next to Kade and when in the non Ivy mitch, maybe he comes in with Cade and he plays next to Kade, he plays off ball. Maybe that’s how they try to utilize him. Could they find a rotation spot for him to do that in a 10-man rotation? Yeah, you can do that with a 10-man rotation. But with JB’s history and what we saw last year, I I tend to believe the only way that he’s going to go 10 deep to make that work for Sasser is if Sasser really does look good in preseason. if he really shows that like, hey, you’re you leaving me on the bench, you’re just wasting a guy. You’re you’re wasting me on the bench. Not playing me, you’re just you’re hurting the team by not playing me. And we’ve heard all but great things about him in training camp so far. He’s been turning heads training camp. They said he’s looked great. Out of all the players in this rotation, the only player that is fighting for his rotation life is Marcus Sasser. So, he has the most to lose and the most to gain in preseason. This is probably the most important preseason, the most important offseason of Marcus Sasser’s career. If he plays extremely well in the preseason, he’s going to force JB’s hand. And maybe the Pistons are deeper than I’m giving him credit for. But if he doesn’t go out there and play well, if he doesn’t go out there and really force the player or the the the coaching staff’s hand, the Pistons probably be going into the season with a nineman rotation and Sasser maybe going into a year where he’s going to be 24 25 years old still fighting to be a mainstay rotation. I think that would be really tough for him. So let me know in comment section down below or over on Twitter cuckill. Do you believe the Pistons are as deep as JB Biggerstaff has insinuated? And what do you think the rotation will look like? And who do you think is fighting for the most to gain in the rotation this preseason? Let me know comment section down below over on Twitter. Since the preseason is starting, I want to give my final standings prediction, my final prediction for this team win loss-wise heading into the year. I’m going to tell you guys now. I feel a little better about them now than I did a few weeks ago when we were potentially talking about this. You guys will hear what I mean coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and you’ll get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love how FanDuel gives me so many ways to play. I’ve built parlays. I’ve tried player props. And my one of my favorites for years was following the live lines during games. you see a team go down that you think is just a better team all all of a sudden the odds shift cuckillo coming in taking advantage man I was doing it for years it makes watching football even more exciting when you’ve got a little something riding in on the action whether you’re a casual fan or love diving into the stats which you guys know I love to do FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better so what are you waiting for visit fanduel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started place your $5 bet and if it hits you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app again visit fanduel.com today to Download the FanDuel app at fanduel.com. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on Pistons your first listen every single day. We are free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Locked OnPistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. My final predictions for the Detroit Pistons season, which is officially unofficially starting Monday, preseason. So, technically it’s starting, but technically it’s not starting because it’s not real games. Um, I’m going to go ahead and get my prediction out there. Can’t go back and forth on it. Now that it’s here, I have to actually give my line in the sand. I I plant my flag. This is what I believe about the Pistons season. Not going to lie to you guys. I know throughout the offseason I talked about how I wasn’t the, you know, I didn’t think the Pistons had a bad off season, but I didn’t think they had the greatest one either. And I know throughout the offseason I I’ve seen a lot of fans be extremely and a lot of people in the community be very high on this team and I kind of felt like well you know I was kind of insinuating that I felt like they’ll be around the same maybe as last year maybe two to wins above that you know maybe be around like that six seed again somewhere like that. As the season’s gotten closer and closer and closer, I’m getting I’m getting even even more excited and I’m believing in this team even more. So, I’m before I tell you guys what my exact prediction is, I’m going to tell you guys why I’m feeling higher on this team. Number one, I’m starting to believe even more on how great Kade’s going to be this year. Like I already believe Kate’s great and I already had such high expectations for him, but I I now I’m starting to get I’m starting to believe he could be even better than I believe he could be. And you guys know that I think he could be amazing. And I’m starting I’m starting to believe that maybe this is the year we start seeing like MVP talks and that kind of player completely changes the ceiling for this team this year. Not just a AllNBA guy, a guy who’s on all NBA 13. We’re talking like potentially MVP type of stuff. That that player right there that that changes. So, I’m starting to buy stock into that a little bit. Um, you guys know I love the numbers, man. I love getting into the numbers and I’ve looked into how this team played with Assar Thompson after January 4th once he was brought into the starting lineup and they were on such a a 50- win pace after he was brought into the starting lineup. And I believe that diving further into those numbers and continuing to watch some of the films from last year, simply having a star in the staring lab, I they should play closer how they did last year. And then also, it was something I said like a few like maybe three or four episodes ago when we were talking about Jane Ivy. And I said this throughout the off season, but I guess as the season’s gotten closer, it’s hit more with me that I am very high on Assar Thompson. Like I think Assar completely changed this team. I think that the evidence was in the film last year and the numbers last year of how they looked after January 4th and how great they were. That was with the lineup with Assar and Tim Hardway Jr. And and while I may not be the highest on Jay Ivy, Jane Ivy’s better than THJ. He brings a different dynamic than THJ. He’s going to help make the Pistons play even faster. He’s going to give him another threat off the dribble. He’s going to give him another threat um more off ball, cutting to the basket, being able to uh get dribble penetration, paint touches, like he’s better than THJ. So if that lineup with THJ sade, Tobias and Durham was great. You take a THAI, you put Ivy in there, that should be even better. They should be even better. As long as Ivy is what everyone expects them to be, they should be even better. So, that’s another reason why I’ve slowly started to get even higher on this team. Another reason why I’m slowly started getting higher on this team as the season get as the preseason starts and as the season regular season’s getting closer, Milwaukee I think’s going to be it might not be very good. I almost said really bad. That would be very disrespectful. But Milwaukee, I’m starting to think may not be very good at all, like fighting to stay in the playoff picture. I looked at their roster, man, and I hate saying this because when you have Giannis on your team, you have a floor that you can’t dip below, and you kind of got to give respect to having one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen. So, I don’t want to go too crazy on this, but their roster is just flatly not good. I don’t like I don’t think their roster is very good at all. So I think the they’re not going to be very good. I don’t believe. So I think that changes where the Pistons could place. Indiana’s falling off the cliff. I think in Atlanta that is the team that I’ve said all offseason the Pistons will be fighting for or fighting with, excuse me. And as as the season’s gotten closer and closer and closer and closer, I have been scared off of Atlanta. I really like their offseason still. I do like their off seasonason, but I have I have been scared off by Atlanta as the season’s gotten closer. I’ve gotten more nervous about them because so many of their players are injuryprone, man. So many of their players are injuryprone. You have to hope that a lot of their players just play 50 games. So with that said, with all that I said right there, also with me, I guess another reason why another reason now I am feeling better about this team is obviously I think Ron’s going to be better this year and seeing being at media day and listening to him talk I they’re doing a good job of swaying me over to being optimistic. So with all that said, I think the Detroit Pistons will be battling this my official prediction. I think the Pistons will be battling with their Orlando Magic for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. I think the likely scenario is they probably fall to four because I think Orlando has a deeper team. I I really like what they’ve done, but I am not ruling out that they finish above Orlando at number three anymore. I before I was completely ruling. I said I had a Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando in their own tier. I have now changed. This is my official prediction. I don’t think Orlando’s in that same tier. Could they go three seed? 100%. They could have a great season, but am I already just putting them in there? No longer am I doing that. I think it’s going to be Cleveland and New York at the top of the East. I think it’s going to be Detroit and Orlando. No longer Detroit and Atlanta fighting for four. I think it’s going to be Detroit and Orlando fighting for three. And if Kay can take this jump that I think he’s about to take this year and if that starting lineup can be as good as they were with THJ and plus even two times better, three times better because of Jay and Ivy. And as Sar makes this jump I believe he can make and Ron plays as well as he can off the bench. I think the Pistons could be a top three seed in the Eastern Conference this year. It’s going to be a battle between them and Orlando. I’m getting excited. Maybe I’m starting to fool. Maybe maybe the one year, man, you guys know usually I’m always pessimistic. I I I stay on the other side. I won’t say pessimistic, but kind of I I play it safe. And for what it’s worth, let me say this. For what it’s worth, I was right to do that for the majority of the last five years. Like it was bad. It like it was bad for five like for a long time. And now last year got a little bit of taste of of success. You feel me? And now now after some success last year, they played this hourong documentary on their season this past year at the Lions win. Then you add in a media day, all the positivity coming out of media day. Now you got me buying into the I’m drinking the Kool-Aid over here. You’ve completely won me over. Now I’m drinking the Kool-Aid. So hopefully I don’t bring the jinx over and they don’t, you know, knock on wood, have a bad season now because all of a sudden I’m drinking the Kool-Aid, but I am starting to believe a lot more and more and more in this team. I think they’ll be fighting with Orlando to be a top three seed in the Eastern Conference. So with that said, let me know where you guys think they will place this season in the comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cuckoo Hill. That’s all I’ve got for you guys today. Thank you guys for making Locked on Pistons your first listen every single day. Free and available on all your podcast platforms. Hit that subscribe button to YouTube channel. Leave us a fivestar review. whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. And until next time, I will see you guys later. Stay safe out there. I’ll catch you guys in the playback room for the preseason game.

PISTONS PRESEASON PREVIEW: Cade’s MVP Potential, Rotation Battles, and Playoff Aspirations

Detroit basketball is back! Host Ku Khahil breaks down what to watch for as the Detroit Pistons open preseason against the Memphis Grizzlies. From Cade Cunningham’s pull-up threes to Ausar Thompson’s ball-handling, get insider analysis on key players’ development. Dive into potential rotation issues, with Marcus Sasser pushing for minutes in a deep roster. Ku shares his bold prediction: Detroit competing with Orlando for the East’s third seed, fueled by Cunningham’s MVP-caliber play and Thompson’s impact.

Tune in for expert insights on the Pistons’ path from rebuilding to contending in the 2023-2024 NBA season.

SUBSTACK: kukhahil.substack.com

PLAYBACK: playback.tv/watchpistons

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

QuoSee why over 90,000 businesses trust Quo, formerly OpenPhone. Get started free and get 20% off your first 6 months at https://www.Quo.com/LOCKEDONNBA.

PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBA

PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.

Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first year

FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting https://FanDuel.comto get started

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPistons?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#DetroitPistons #Pistons #NBA