Possible Trade Targets For The Detroit Pistons & NBA Trade Rumors?!

Possible Trade Targets For The Detroit Pistons & NBA Trade Rumors?!

So, good people over at Bleach Report made a I know made an article talking about trade targets for every NBA team, which you know, I thought it was like a a pretty good like kind of just an idea. So, for the Detroit Pistons, they had these three players, Sean, and we we can kind of talk about them individually. So, Trey Murphy from the New Orleans Pelicans, Michael Porter Jr., uh don’t put a podcast mic in front of Michael Porter Jr. and uh Lori Markin. So, I don’t know which player you want to start with first, but um I’ll I’ll let you do it since you’re the guest on this podcast. Yeah, I mean, we can start with Michael Porter Jr. because that one’s really easy. We can just go No. Um he just doesn’t just doesn’t fit what this team’s about. doesn’t fit the if you’re talking about getting the getting the right people in the locker room, I don’t even think it’s about the content of what he said. I mean, if he threw in the content of what he said, it probably would disqualify him, too. But the fact that he could potentially even be a distraction at all like that, I just don’t think they would want that. Um, to me, that’s like a pretty easy I just don’t see it. Um, now the the Trey Murphy name, that’s the one that makes my ears perk up a little bit because you have New Orleans having a bit of a sideways season, things not going well. You have a team that that pretty clearly wants to start heading towards a rebuild around Derrick Queen, around Jeremiah Fears, about around like some of these, you know, intriguing prospects that they have. And in being realistic, they’re not going to get the assets that they want to rebuild by just trading Zion Williamson. That that’s going to be an Andre Drummond level return where it’s like, okay, we’re just getting them off our books. Uh whereas with, you know, like a you know, someone like a Trey Murphy, that’s someone that could potentially command, you know, some assets and be a really interesting player. And it’s someone that we’ve talked about for a long time as someone that fits the mold. Oh, yeah. and he also was a Traentian in New Orleans. So, just a lot of those make a ton of sense. And quite frankly, based off of all reports, it would cost infinitely less than going to get Lorie Markin in who’s the third player on this list, which we’ve talked before about how great of a player Lori Markin is. He’s awesome. Like, if we’re just in a vacuum going and getting a basketball player without worrying about what the returns are, yeah, go get that guy. He’s great. However, makes a lot of money. He is uh he is like he is 28 like you know almost 30. So you you wonder how much longer this run is gonna is going to go on for as far as this level of play. And quite frankly I know I personally don’t want anything to do with trading with Danny A. So I imagine I’m not the only one on that. Yeah. Um Michael Porter Jr. I agree with you and it has nothing to do with his basketball skill. I think he’s a very skilled basketball player. I think offensively he’s probably what a lot of Pistons fans are looking at for like just secondary third option. The guy guy can score the basketball. I think the reason why I would probably be out on Michael Porter Jr. is I don’t know. I don’t know him personally. I I I don’t I think that he would be a very big distraction in a Pistons locker room. Um I don’t really think that you hear JB and Trajan talk about good character, culture setters. I don’t really know if he fits the bill of that’s a Detroit Piston. Is it does the talent outweigh the distraction? I I I don’t think so. Um, I know the Nets owner basically told him, “No more podcast.” Yeah. From from what I from what I heard with his time in Denver, um, the one of the phrases that I that uh someone told me was it was apparent right away he didn’t need a microphone. Um, and also, um, the way like the vibe of like the way that it was, you know, just kind of described to me, it almost just kind of felt like Antonio Brown in Pittsburgh where it was like once he got out of the walls of a stable organization, you can just kind of start to see some of the other stuff leak out. And this isn’t an Antonio Brown level talent or or like pro like producer on like this isn’t that level of comparison from NFL to NBA. So, yeah. I mean, I I I like him as a basketball player. I I just think I don’t really know if the talent outweighs uh you know, the the possible headache that could come. Um I I don’t know for a fact if you put him in the this Detroit Pistons locker room if the antics would still be the antics that he’s uh having in Brooklyn. And obviously like you could kind of contextualize being on a rebuilding team, not having a really good team. um you might act a certain type of way, but um I I think he’s talented. Brooklyn could probably get a haul for him personally if they they really want to just ship them and, you know, continue to stockpile draft picks. Um their last draft was puzzling to me. I don’t know why you draft five guards and you only play one of them. It’s the wildest thing. Yeah, quite literally. the throwing darts at a board and seeing what sticks method. Never seen it in professional sports before. Yeah. No, it’s uh it’s weird. So, second guy on that list was Trey Murphy. I think Trey Murphy to me is very appealing because he does play small forward, but I think the way the NBA is trending, he could definitely be a stretch for. Um, maybe not every night, but I I think he would fit on this team really well. Obviously, you look at the contract he has. His contract I I think is probably the best out of everyone on this list. Um, he doesn’t make an absurd amount of money whatsoever. Um it it’s honestly puzzling like what he’s actually um under contract. I I and I forgot by the way. I’m so I forgot how bad things were in New Orleans this year. Do you know what their record is off the top of your head? Do they have five wins or no? No. No. They’re three and 20. They they haven’t won a basketball game. Okay. They won they won November 24th. That’s better than I thought it was going to be. But they went about like they won November fourth and fifth and they went almost three weeks without winning a basketball game. So like even looking at some of the stats and like I know people have been worried about like some of the production and like some of the dips from Trey Murphy. I would wager he’s one of those guys that he just needs to get into a competitive environment again. Like I think he’s one of the guy those guys who he needs to feel something as a competitor again. Yeah. I know you mentioned that that’s a traan draft pick as well. Yeah. Um, we have former Detroit Pistons executives in the front office now in Joe Dumarz and in Troy Weber. I know how probably trade conversations with go Troy would probably want Isaiah Stewart back. That’s not going to happen. I don’t really know what New Orleans is looking to do. Well, I’ll tell you this. I mean, we we know one thing about Troy Weaver. We know he likes re reacquiring assets and players that he likes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he would want to give Jaden Ivy a set like a fresh start and a and a place to try and reboot his career. Like I know they already have Jeremiah Fierce. I know they already have Jordan P. That hasn’t stopped uh uh Troy Weaver from massively overstocking at a position before, but uh you know like I just like it’s one of those things where there’s a lot of things there where like you said relationally there’s already ties. Um, you know, there’s already been transactions that have been made between the two teams in the past and like it’s just when you talk about the type of player that just he just fits what the the bill of what they’re looking for, it’s Trey Murphy to me. Not to mention like we need three-point shooting this year desperately. Like our we’re not the same perimeter shooting team we were last year. And it’s so evident like Duncan Robinson being back these past two games. you can just see the gravity that he kind of uh gets defensively from opposing teams and it opens up so much for the Pistons. Uh getting another caliber shooter like a Trey Murphy I think is a no-brainer. I just think it’s probably going to cost you a couple draft picks which I would be completely fine with because I I think he’s a type of player that he can grow with Kate Cunningham. someone had mentioned it um in in the live chat that um as soon as he saw Kate Cunningham and Trey Murphy work out together in a uh you know a summer run together. He could kind of see the chemistry and like what it could possibly look like. I I I would love a Trey Murphy on this team. I’ve always been a fan of his from afar. I’m sure Tanjan would love to have one of his guys back in Detroit as well. And it’s kind of funny he has not actually brought in any of his guys that he’s drafted in New Orleans yet. Yeah, I mean I would imagine if there was a guy that he would want to bring in, I think Trey Murphy would be kind of the top of the list. Yeah, Trey Murphy or Herb Jones, I think, are probably the two that he would probably try to target. I mean, Fred Vincent worked pretty well with Trey Murphy in his time in New Orleans. Yeah, that that too. Herb Jones, I feel like Herb Jones is just going to be a Laker. I feel it. I feel it in my core. Yeah. I mean, Herb Jones, like that’s like a that’s that’s one that’s hard to predict, but it’s like I just I know that, you know, again, like if there if there are guys from New Orleans I think they would go out and get, it would probably be it would probably be those two guys at the top of the list if I were to guess. Someone on Facebook says that we need James Wiseman or Kevin Knox to sweeten the deal. You guys are trolls. Throw throw throw in throw in Sadique to sweeten it. I forgot he was back in New Orleans and I did not know they only had three wins. That’s That’s crazy. I thought they at least had five, but Oh, dude. I haven’t been paying attention. Oh, dude. And it’s bad. Like if you go to their uh like cuz like if you go to like basketball reference, they’ll show you the game results as like the as like kind of like the red and green bars of that they’ve won or lost. It’s a lot of deep red bars that go very far down. Bro, that’s so sad. They fell off so hard. I saw earlier today and we’ll we’ll talk about Larry Markin in a minute that you could get into a Pelicans game on tick pick for free. The the tickets for zero zero dollars. Yeah. Like I I it is it is starting to get to a point where like it is getting uncomfortably real the conversations about relocation are getting about New Orleans. Like uncomfortably real. And it’s crazy because you look back at the 2019 draft class and you look at when Memphis and New Orleans like both went one and two in that lottery like like do you remember like their like their like New Orleans like their season ticket line like they sold out like that night and uh like like with Memphis like they like their their hype was very real too. And now just six short years later, if you’re having a conversation of who are the two most likely teams to be relocated in the NBA, it is New Orleans and Memphis in that same order. I throw Dallas in there, but hey, that’s just me. [Laughter] If you know, you know, if you know, you know, the the owners there, you know, after the Cooper Flag thing, I like if if if they took Cooper Flag with him to Vegas, I think I think Patrick Dumont legit might get like like he might have to up his security. That’s all I’ll say. To keep you monetized. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I don’t I don’t That would that would be honestly funny. But um Yeah. Poor Pelicans. I I didn’t know it was going to be that bad. I I see them definitely rebuilding. I mean, they even said like if we get a good offer for Zion, he’s out the door. But I don’t think so many teams are lining up for Zion Williamson outside of Charlotte, maybe. But yeah. Yeah. Patrick Dumont might want to be careful otherwise they might be consuming their food for a straw. Yeah. Yeah. So, the uh the last guy that Bleach Report mentioned was Lori Markin. Now, we’ve talked about him, I think, multiple times over the last year or so. Um, it sounds like there was actually internal conversations with the Pistons and the Jazz. Danny A for Sar Thompson. It was reported uh by your buddy Jake Fischer and um that’s not going to happen. Yeah. It’s like a hang up the phone like all right cool click. Yeah. Yeah. Uh if you remember Danny A tried to trade up with the Pistons at five because I believe the Jazz had two draft picks that year. They really wanted um Assar Thompson. They uh settled for Keon George and Taylor Hendris. So, I mean, there’s always been appeal from Danny A and Assar Thompson uh just with his defense. Utah doesn’t really have a lock down defender like an Assar Thompson on the roster, but I I think for Lori, the price is going to be very expensive to pry him away from Danny A. And I don’t really think you’re going to hand over three, four draft picks and one your best perimeter defender for Lorie Markin. I just don’t think it makes a lot of sense when you’re trying to build a team to eventually win a championship. Um I said last week, Sean, I think if the Pistons do make moves, it’s very marginal and it’s three-point shooting. I mean, I I I told I told you and Eric like some of the guys that I I think they could target like a a Dante Devenzo. Um, even though him and Ron kind of tried to choke each other out. Um, I mean, him and Duncan kind of fought too. I mean, I I feel like Dante um, and Ron would probably hug it out. Um, that would be that would be a three-point shooter I’d love on the Detroit Pistons. And Minnesota’s season is kind of like kind of going on a seessaw and teetering. You know, one week they’re hot, next week they’re not. So, I mean, and they need a point guard right now really desperately, too. Yeah, there’s there’s a lot of teams right now where things are not quite going as expected. And I definitely think, you know, I think we’re gonna see trade conversations intensify quite a bit throughout the league. I just I just think, you know, with with a guy like Lori, he’s just one of those guys where the the the value is just never quite matched the reality to me. Again, I know he’s playing awesome hoops right now. I know offensively he’s piecing a lot of things together. He looks like an all-star, you know, caliber player. He looks exactly like that type of player that you could slot in. I know he’s played under JB. There’s a lot of things that make sense. I just if until Utah has a different frame of mind about what that price is going to be, then that’s just that’s just where we’re at. That’s just what it is. Yeah. I mean, they even reported this week that they’re trying to build around Lori now that teams don’t want to give them um you know, five, six draft picks for Lorie Mark. And I mean, for for crying out loud, John, he was trying to get two first round picks for Walker Kesler, right? It’s Yeah. It’s like at that point if you’re if you’re not willing to like if if if you’re just not willing to move off of them off of anything you’ve heard, like if you if you have a price that pe that people just aren’t willing to reach for, what’s the point of of trying to keep moving him? Like what’s the point of keep having this conversation, you know? So, like I I mean again like I you know I think if you know if there is like I I definitely think Detroit is a team that makes sense if it’s like a reasonable like trade package or more like agree like agreeable upon you know uh compensation package but we just haven’t heard that yet. It just keeps going in the wrong direction. Yeah. I mean, like, and I know you touched on on Twitter about just the Pistons lack thereof of of three-point shooting. Um, and how much they do rely on Duncan Robinson and you touched on just like what he’s been to this team and the presence and the signing that the Pistons had with him this year. But like I honestly think though, like at this deadline, their needs this year is perimeter shooting. Um, yeah, I mentioned Dante Devenzo. Uh Grayson Allen could be a a fit. He he reminds me of like a a mini Bill Ambir. Yeah, like he could shoot threes. He might make an occasional dirty play. Uh I feel like Bill Ambir was a guard. It’d be Grayson Allen without a doubt. And he taken such a stride in his three-point shooting, too. I don’t think a lot of people realize what a good three-point shooter he’s been over the past couple of seasons. Um, obviously he’s a different type of three-point shooter than Duncan Robinson, but I feel like he’s a player that could really help this team out. I I don’t know how you feel about him. Yeah, I mean, I I I definitely think he he makes a lot of sense as well. I mean, anyone that just, you know, kind of kind of fits that mold, like you said, of of bringing additional shooting, I don’t think they need to go get someone that’s like a a world beater as far as, you know, anything like that. Grayson Allen is like he is one of those guys where when the the dirty plays aren’t the conversation. Like he like he the reason he’s still in the league is because he’s a legitimately good basketball player and especially when you look at like what he’s done in Phoenix like he’s really raised his level of play quite considerably compared to where he has been and he definitely fits that identity and that mold of like what Detroit’s about. And I mean, you know, Tjan, former Duke guy, so he definitely knows like what uh you know, like what Grayson Allen’s all about as far as like that regard goes. Um, you know, I I I I want to do some more research and kind of like go team to team and just see, you know, like like what potential pieces could be available come the deadline because I I do think we’re going to start seeing some teams do some disgusting things to tank and put themselves like Oh, yeah. Yeah. like like and I don’t even think it’s just to get the number one overall pick. I think teams are going to be fighting with like fighting o over each other to get into the top five, you know. So, um I I think you’re going to see a lot of teams like go, “Hey, maybe this isn’t our year.” Maybe like like you said, maybe in Minnesota, maybe they recognize there’s only so much we can do as far as continuing to like to hit our head on this wall of getting to the conference finals every year cuz it’s like, let’s say they even just figure things out right now as is with this group. Is there anything about we’ve what we’ve seen from them that says they could beat Houston, Denver, or OKC? No, because like when Lori’s or when Lori got Lorie Marin on the brain when uh Rudy Go Bear is off the court, they are a horrific defensive team. Y and I I know they they drafted a a French prospect that um I think in a few years he’ll probably take over for Rudy Gobear, but I don’t think he’s ready right now. Um only reason why I mentioned Dante Debenzo is because I know he can put the ball on the floor. I know he can shoot threes, play some defense, talk some I think a lot of Pistons fans would really just kind of fall in love with the guy. I mean, there are other players that I’ve looked at like Gary Trent, who we just saw tonight. I mean, he’s a good three-point marksman as well. He might be a pretty getable kind of considering um the Bucks. I mean, AJ Green, he he killed the Pistons this week with his three-point shooting. I mean, there’s a lot of under the radar three-point specialist that I think that the Pistons uh could target. I mean, Chicago doing Chicago things are being buyers, right? Um I I really I mean, they didn’t they didn’t want they didn’t want Malik Monk in the summer for what they could have gotten them. I wonder if that price has gone down quite considerably, seeing that they’re not doing much better than New Orleans over in Sacramento right now. A lot of a lot of more deep red bars on basketball reference. Yeah. I mean, Malik Monk actually does two things that you need. You need more playmaking and you need three-point shooting. Um, and I know that there were reports that, you know, the Pistons, you know, being internally interested in Malik Monk and the the whole Dennis Schroeder thing. And you have a trade exception as well, which I think more Pistons fans are probably going to be talking about over these next, you know, two months. like the Dennis Schroeder signing trade. You’ve got, you know, 14 million of a TPE, so you can use that um to, you know, get trades. I don’t know if they’re going to use their full trade exception. They might use a little bit of it just to kind of even out the salary, but Malik Monk’s an interesting name. Um another name. Yeah. What do you think of Kobe White? Love it. like if you’re able to bring in uh like $12 million expiring contract uh a he’s averaging about 24 points a game right now. Uh he’s so he’s definitely someone where at the very least he’d be a rental. Um but he’s you know you’re you’re probably bringing him in with the with the desire of wanting to you know like bring him into the fold long term. He’s not even 26 yet. like when you talk about like timeline like like fits a lot there and I don’t want to have this conversation tonight because I know we’re probably going to be having it at Nauseium uh going forward but I think you would have a lot more clarity uh with him as your two guard than another certain young Pistons guard at the moment. Yeah, I I talked about this last week and a lot of Pistons fans got upset over it because they’re like, “You have Sasser, you have Ivy. What? Like, what are you going to do with Kobe White?” I was like, “Well, one of those guys is probably involved in the trade.” So, um, he’s been a he’s been a Yeah. I mean, he’s been a guard that I think has been underappreciated. And I I thought I thought once they traded Zack Lavine, he really started to put solid games together, like great games together. And Chicago, they have kind of like a three-headed monster with their guards. They have Josh Giddy, they have Trey Jones, and they have Kobe White. I don’t know if they’re willing to move on from him. I know Vinnie Goodwell had touched on, you know, him being a possible trade candidate with the Bulls, but the Bulls look like they want to be buyers and try to compete for that playin tournament. They started out the season really redot, but they’ve kind of come back down to earth. Um, it’s a team that reminds me so much of the very early Andre Drummond led Pistons where we were okay competing for eight seeds every damn year. Um, but I mean they’re they’re buyers, man. Like I I don’t understand it whatsoever. I mean I mean they like if like they might think they’re buyers right now, but like they just lost by almost 20 to the Pacers yesterday. Yeah. like if if things start if if things continue to head in this direction and the because the only way I could conceivably like see Chicago be a buyer is like let’s say they can somehow bring in Anthony Davis and and get like the bring the star home, right? And like make the Bulls interesting again. I don’t even think that’s as uh like as like uh glad and and set in stone because once they threw in uh like once once they threw in Ryan Nemhard into the lineup and Anthony Davis has been back, Dallas is starting to look more competitive and realistically speaking, if they keep winning games, they’re losing their incentive to to lose a whole lot of games, too. So, um, it’s just going to be like like Chicago is just one of those situations where, like you said, if you’re just operating operating upon logic, they would have blown things up years ago. Yeah. But, yeah, they almost won the lottery last year. They got hosted. Yeah. In the in the pre- lottery, they won it. Um, and then I I’ve never seen a lottery like last year. like one team falling. Sure. But Sean, there were so many teams that fell in that lottery last year. If legit, it’s crazy if you go back and look statistically like if if Josh Giddy didn’t hit that halfcourt shot against the Lakers to win like that crazy game. The Bulls get Cooper flag. Yeah. Like a game winner that everyone was like hyped about in the moment. It’s like, all right, cool. Imagine finding out that cost you K Cunning. Like imagine like the Pistons made a half court shot and that would have cost you K Cunningham. Oh man. Yeah. I mean you’re stuck with Jaylen Green instead or Evan Moy. Evan Mobley. Yeah. Yeah. I mean there I mean there’s no guarantee like rightceptive except for Chicago. It wasn’t the difference between one and two like with Detroit. It was the difference of one and 13. I know. That’s what I’m saying. Like the uh the draft lottery last year was crazy. Um this year’s draft I haven’t really got too into it because we’ve been winning so much, but I haven’t Yeah, I haven’t even had to think about it. I’ve been watching a lot of college basketball. Uh I like the kid Boozer out of Duke. Uh, I think Peter Peterson is gonna go like if he goes to Atlanta with their pick, I think they trade Trey Young. I mean, I think they should trade Trey Young anyway based off of how they’ve been playing without him. Yeah. Like I think I think Jaylen Johnson like he’s I think he’s proven he’s your he he’s your he’s your franchise player. He he he just had his second triple double in two nights. He had it at halftime. Like if like what else does Atlanta need to see? Like that’s your guy. He’s I know Grant Hill because he’s a minority owner with the Hawks. Yep. He loves Jaylen Johnson. Yep. Um speaking of potential mentors for Kate Cunningham, by the way. Yeah. Hey, you never know. You never know. But um yeah, I mean Atlanta has played a lot better with him out. I mean the Kila Alexander Walker has been such a good fit for them. Um I don’t even know where you would you would trade Trey Young to. I don’t see a lot Sacramento. Do you hate the man? No. I Well, no, I don’t hate I don’t I mean I’m not a I’m not I’m not a Trey Young truther. I’m just thinking of who like what team I really really like if like realistically I know we’ve talked before offline like I know I know Orlando is like a really always been like a really fun Trey Young concept. Um I feel like if you’re looking at like other potential teams like like I feel like the Clippers are so desperate that any level of like star power or like even though that doesn’t make any sense because they have they have James Harden but like I mean the Clippers are gonna clip at this point. Um, it just feels like that’s like a like Sacramento. They just they just need anything at this point to get people excited. I know you’re talking about the Clippers and I actually start this comment um from our guy Rocky because he’s he’s really funny and I want to put it on the screen because it’s just pure chaos. He said, “I’d very much like to see Zion go to the Clippers just for the drama, just for entertainment purposes.” Oh, if you want to talk about the drama, I want to see LaMelo go to the Clippers for the same reason. If you want to talk about like my petty ass, I want to see LaMelo go to the Clippers. I I honestly feel like we’re going to see a lot of trades at this deadline and the return on these stars are going to be like dirt. It’s not Oh, yeah. It’s not It’s not going to be high. It’s not going to be multiple draft picks. It might be like players and like a sec like just a stash of second round picks or maybe a very heavily protected first round pick. Like I I think I think in I I think two I think there’s a couple things like at play here. Like I was even listening to Ryan Winhorse like talk about like what the like what the return for a Giannis trade would look like. And he’s like he’s even been saying like just based off of what I’ve heard it’s not going to be like multiple stars and all these picks. like I think you’re seeing based off of what’s happening with the with the Clippers right now um based off of what the Thunder are doing, but then on top of that just how strenuous and crazy this um salary system is. I think you’re seeing more teams going the most valuable commodity in the league right now is a first round pick. And so like we like like we can’t conceivably trade a lot of those like even Oklahoma City like people are like oh well why don’t they just go and trade for Giannis and give up a lot of those picks like like they could just you know they could just become mega unstoppable. Well, the reality of like what makes those first round picks so dangerous for OKC in particular is they’re going to be able to supplement all these guys that they’re going to eventually have to let walk because they’re just not going to be able to pay everybody because they keep getting all these awesome players like like AJ Mitchell for example right now is like going off and being incredible for the for the Thunder. Let’s say for whatever reason like a team wants to pay him like 30 or 40 million a year. Oh no, they have four lottery picks next year to go and replace whoever they’re going to lose. Yeah, it’s it it’s crazy. Um I had to look up where AJ Mitchell was drafted cuz like I’ll be completely Oh yeah, I already saw this the other day. It’s painful. Go ahead. Yeah, I know. I’m I’m not going to say his name, but like go look where AJ Mitchell was drafted. I’ll say it for you. It’s okay. I’m okay with people hating me. He was drafted, right? He was drafted the pick after Bobby Clintman. The pick after Bobby Clintman was AJ Mitchell, which no disrespect to Bobby Clipman, that’s just that this isn’t a Bobby Clintman problem. This isn’t blaming the Pistons. This just shows you like what a crapshoot the second round can be. But you go and look at that and it’s like, man, OKC the way they draft players, like they they had a lottery pick this year and I remember watching the draft. They they drafted this big I believe out of Georgia or Georgia Tech. I don’t remember what college he went to and I remember watching the draft and everyone’s just like, “Wow, really?” Like I had this guy projected like you know 25 to 30 and he goes like lottery right? Yep. And he like I believe tore his ACL or had some kind of like surgery and he’s going to be out for the remainder of the year and it’s just like OKC doesn’t even need any more talent. like uh Nola Topic who was drafted in the lottery. Um he still hasn’t played and he’s going through like procedures of like where he had testicular cancer and it’s just like they have so much talent Sean it almost gets to the point where like I’m listening to other podcasters and they want to have something called the prestige rule where teams can’t have multiple draft picks like OKC because it’s unfair. That is insane. Like I mean that just speaks to just the level that he’s operating at in comparison to everyone else in regards to evaluation, but also it’s like I just you got to you got to wonder how many owners right now are just so pissed at Steve Balmer and the Clippers. just not like not only because of the fact that they just completely just allowed, you know, Oklahoma City to just essentially build a dynasty off the backs of like one of the worst, if not the worst trade in the history of professional sports. But on top of that, you throw in all the unwanted attention that the Clippers are getting with this aspiration stuff. Oh my god. And like all these owners, like do you have any idea the potential like doors you’re opening here for for investigation? Like like like all the owners are like all the stuff that I have in my closet that could be dug up by Pablo Tore now. Yeah. So I was just curious to see how many draft picks uh OKC has. Too many. So they have the Rockets pick this year, which is currently sitting at 26. So, that’ll probably be a late first. Yep. Um, they have Philly’s pick. Yeah, it’s currently sitting at 19. Um, and then you kind of go up. They have Utah’s pick, but that is top nine protected. Utah’s currently sitting at nine. Yeah, they’re not getting that pick. And then they have the Clippers pick that’s sitting at four. I think like I I I there is a very real chance the the that we are going to be sitting there on lottery day and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the very least have a top three pick. Yeah. Like like like do not be shocked. Like if anything like I know the Clippers they might try and make a trade to save their season. Like who knows what they’re going to do. I mean, they they you know, they got rid of Chris Paul, which shows that they can literally do anything at this point. Although, they technically still have his contract under the books. So, um like they might be trying to try and like include him in whatever moves they make financially, but I just I just don’t see because it’s like what’s the what’s the piece that like what what are the desirable assets that they have? There’s only two. It’s It’s James Harden who like you’re not getting much for like a 30 plus year old James Harden who we saw yet again crap the bed in the in a game seven last year. And then the other guy is is Zubac, which like no like no disrespect to Zubac, but if that’s your best asset, then good god. You know what’s funny? So, I was scrolling the timeline this week and I I see these uh these guys. They they had a podcast about the Pistons. I could only take about 30 minutes of it. And I let them know like I didn’t agree with their assessment of the team whatsoever. So, this Nick reporter says, “If I’m the Pistons, I would trade for James Harden and pair him next to Kate Cunningham.” And it took everything in me because I wrote something really mean. I was like, “You know what? I I I’ll be civil.” I said I just disagree with everything he said. James Harden would be a disaster next to Kate Cunningham. I just what there are so many things that come to mind, but I’ll just say the most PG inappropriate one. I cannot think of a player that would be a worse pairing with JB Bicker Staff as a coach, right, than James Harden as a player, especially at this age. And you talk about like all the things that James Harden needs to succeed, like he like even at this age, he still needs the ball in his hands pretty much at all times. Oh, 100%. Yeah. Which if you if you watch K Cunningham play basketball, you kind of want the ball in his hands a lot. Yeah. And not like I said, I I I it took me about 30 minutes and I’m watching this and I was like, “Okay.” I had to look up this guy. I was like, “Oh, he’s a Knicks reporter. He He just wants He wants the Pistons to go away.” Yeah. I got you. I got you. Sabotage. You uh You know what? Like as like just as like a sheer like basketball fan, agent of chaos. Like you know what would be my favorite Zubac team? Who’s that? Boston. Oh, that would make sense. Like they need a big badly. He’s someone that could come in. Shore in at the very least is just like a very reliable rim protector and as a as a really good rebounder. Like I know that they’re not really in a position where like they’re looking to win anything this year necessarily, but like don’t look now. They’re 14 and N. Like they’re right there with Orlando and Miami. Like they have they’re better than Cleveland right now. Yeah. I mean they they they have a good system. I think Zubox would fit in there as well because he’s white. Um that team has so I swear, man, they have the most white guys in the NBA have never like I you know it’s true. Boston has so many white guys and people in Boston people in Boston be like, “Hey, he’s white.” I mean, I can’t say you’re wrong. Like, I can’t like historically speaking, I just can’t dispute that argument. I mean, look at Danny H. He came from Boston. Look how many white guys he has in Utah. Perfect city for it. Well, I mean, that’s I mean, that’s I mean, that’s Utah. That’s just like I mean, they’re just that that’s just that’s that’s where that’s where it is, man. Yeah. Um I know. I’m I’m wild in tonight, man. It’s Oh, I was going to say we are we might want to press the end live stream on before we get deeper into before I get in trouble without talking about Utah. So, two white guys saying that Boston’s a white city. We might get cancelled for it. I guess we’re we’re prejudice on on our own skin color. I guess I know he’s Europe I know he’s European and he’s not white. Like I I know I know that but I I know some people probably say they get my sense of humor. They get the joke. Other people might not find that funny. But um I did see I did see someone say uh just because we were talking about Boston. I saw someone say, “What about Anthony Simons?” Yeah, I was gonna put that on screen actually. Yeah, he’s one of those like in like Anthony Simons is one of those guys where like offensively he can piece a lot of things together, but like he’s kind of been struggling to to consistently have a spot in Boston’s rotation or like have like a defined role. And on top of that, statistically speaking, Anthony Simons is one of the worst defensive players in basketball. I think he literally is statistically the worst defensive player in the NBA. At least he has been in years past. Oh yeah, 100%. He he’s he’s not a good defender, but if you’re just talking about bucket getter, um Oh, for sure. A guy that if you need a bucket in in a moment, like I I’ve seen that that him just go for 45 on any given night. I think his role in Boston is really weird. Um and I I think it’s an adjustment period for him because he was starting a lot of games in Portland. Um, and funny enough, Jaden Sharp is actually coming off the bench, and that’s who Johny Bops was starting over Anthony Simons, and now TIA Splitter has him coming off the bench. But, um, I I I like him as an offensive threat. I don’t know if he would be a solution as a long-term two guard. I think the Pistons are still trying to puzzle that together because I don’t even think they know who’s going to be their long-term long-term two guard and what the backourt of the future may look like. I think a lot of people still have stock in Jaden Ivy. I would just say Jaden Ivy to me is actually a better defender and Anthony Simons. And that’s not saying a whole lot because Jaden Ivy isn’t really known uh for his defense. I mean he hacks like a mofo still. But I mean that could just be him, you know, still rehabbing on that leg because I thought, you know, last year he did show a little bit of progressions of at least staying in front of his um opponent. But I wouldn’t be opposed to Anthony Simons. I think it’s an intriguing piece and I know when Boston as soon as they traded for him they’re like, “Yeah, he’s available if you want him.” I was like, “What?” I think he’s to me he’s in the uh he’s in the Cam Thomas class of players where where you can without a question see that he like he’s good enough to be in this league. You can see that like he like he is like he is very good at putting the ball in the basket. Like like there’s no no questioning that. But I think what is pretty clear and I think like what is hard to decipher is what it’s like okay but like what is their value like what is their value really in this league like like what is because right now like let’s say if Detroit were to trade for him like he he like currently Anthony Simons he’s on an expiring deal but his salary this year is 27 million which yeah you’re not paying that entire 27 million salary but you’re you’re figuring that into your salary cap and So like just for this season that would be taking up a pretty significant chunk. So like it’s just one of those things where like what is the market for an Anthony Simons going forward? Like does he even get to 10 million? I’m imagining he’s probably not going to want a 100% pay cut. Yeah. I mean I I I think he’s interesting. The Pistons could definitely use their trade exception and you would only really have to, you know, match $14 million of salary if you wanted to do that for like an expiring. I I think there’s ways that, you know, Tjan Langden and Michael Blackstone could kind of get a deal done there. But I think it’s kind of in the right ballpark of like the type of players that they might look to be targeting. I think they’re just looking for playmakers and three-point shooters because that’s what they that’s what they need right now. Like they desperately miss Dennis Schroeder. Like they they really do. Like they they they’re they’re still trying to figure out who’s going to be the backup point guard. I mean, I don’t know how many times this week I’ve seen Danis Jenkins take a stab at it. Caris Svert try to play point guard when it’s not really his natural position and then Jaden Ivy on a minute restriction try to do it. I mean, I think JB’s just trying to see who’s going to be that backup point guard because I don’t even think they know right now who’s going to be that like come playoff times like who who’s going to be leading the second unit. And unfortunately, it’s like uh Dennis Shooters like it’s almost kind of like the Jeremy Grant problem where it’s like Yeah. where it’s like you miss him right away of like what the of the impact that he brings but unfortunately the millisecond he signed his name on the dotted line for the amount of money that he got. Yeah. He be like it became like a he can never come back. It’s like unfortunately like even like like with how I know things have not been going great for Dennis Shruder uh in uh in Sacramento. I mean it’s just been like Sacramento’s just a disaster in general. That’s not even a Dennis Shruder fault. It’s just unfortunately like unless things change, I just don’t see a world where Dennis Shruder just doesn’t play out that contract in Sacramento. Yeah. I mean get get the money while you can, man. Like I don’t I don’t I don’t blame him whatsoever for, you know, getting the bag in Sacramento. Oh, I don’t either. I just I don’t think Sacramento is going to be able to move him. Like I think they I think they like I think they are stuck together now because of that deal. And unfortunately, this this might be his last stop of his career. Yeah. I hope I’m wrong. I hope I’m wrong. I saw some reporting about the Pistons being in contact with uh the Kings about Dennis Schroeder and I was like I can’t even like work because you can’t trade him to the Pistons because the new CBA rules. He’d have to get rerouted to another team and then you could trade for him which good luck trying to find someone to take his contract because he signed a a pretty big deal. So when I saw that report, I was like, it kind of seems like baloney to me when I saw

Today we discussed some possible NBA trade targets for the Detroit Pistons and landscaped the league.

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