Pistons Pulse Crossover: What Are The Detroit Pistons Plan This Offseason? Will Detroit Run It Back?

Pistons Pulse Crossover: What Are The Detroit Pistons Plan This Offseason? Will Detroit Run It Back?

In today’s episode of the Lockdown Pistons podcast, we have part two of our conversation with Omari Sen Kofa and Bryce Simon of the Pistons Boss, where we dive into what’s coming up this offseason for the Detroit Pistons. Will they make a trade? Are they going to run it back? What are they looking at? What’s it going to look like? We’ll talk about all that in today’s episode of the 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, Cuckah Hill. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons or the Lockdown Network since 2021. Love doing it every single day for you guys. If you guys 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. If you haven’t already, check the description down below where you can get the substack where I’m writing up player reviews of the playoffs film breakdowns. I just did Cad’s Assar should be coming soon. I’ve been working on it. It’s taking a little bit longer than I’d like, but Asar should be done soon. We’ll have Jaylen Dur coming up next and a few of the veterans as well coming up. So, make sure you guys are checking out the subsec. So, subscribe to the playback room down below if you want to join some of our live watches and some of the stuff we’ll be having going on over the off seasonason contentwise. Check that out as well. But in today’s episode, we are having part two of our episode with or our conversation with Arari Senopa the second and Bryce Simon of the Pistons. Paul, in the first part, we talked about their thoughts and went over the playoff series against the New York Knicks. Some of the takeaways that you had with Kate Cunningham, Assar Thompson, and Jaylen Duran. Um, and then today’s episode is just really focusing on what’s coming in this off seasonason. Will certain guys be extended? Will they make trades? What should they improve on? Will they just run it back? Should they even improve upon anything? That’s really the whole focus of this upcoming episode that you guys will be watching. So, I hope you guys enjoy it. I’ll catch you guys in the next one. Until then, I hope you guys enjoy today’s episode and catch you guys later. Let me write it down so I know where to so I know where to edit for you guys here. Um, we’ll go into the off seasonason. So obviously now I’ve said this a few times in the podcast there seem what the first season is when you’re like happy and butterflies and rainbows everything’s perfect because there’s no expectations now there are expectations now there are going to be we want this this has to happen this is what you need to do if you don’t do this what happened blah all this stuff is going to happen so heading into the offseason I guess I mean there’s a lot of different places we can go with it um heading heading into the off season. I guess just where we could start it off and then we’ll open it up and we’ll take it wherever it goes. Whichever one you whichever one of you guys want to go first. What are your overall feelings about this team right now heading into what I mean maybe is the most important or I I mean I guess I’d say important most important offseason in quite a minute. O2 what is the vibe check for the offseason? Yeah, I would say um so one thing uh Treasure said at the the the trade deadline that stood out um is that this team earned the right to continue to compete and he wanted to support that with Jenna Sharter and I think after that big series, you know, that’s probably the way you lean again is that this group has earned the right to show what it could do. Uh you didn’t have Beef Stew in the playoffs. you lost Ji halfway through the season and just watching the Knicks. I mean, there was just so many moments where it was just like, man, Ji would solve a lot of issues just being a second guy who can generate offense and keep the ball moving. Uh like like especially with Dennis Schroer, uh you know, cuz like that takes the playmaking responsibility off of a JI and and you know, allows him to be more of an attacker, which I think suits his game. Uh so this group still has room for growth. uh you know they have enough cap space to bring the vets back and they can they’ll navigate that and you know maybe some combination or most of them come back you know we have to see on that but uh they I you know I think this group checked every box for you to feel perfectly great saying we’re just going to bring this back and you know we think these guys can continue to grow and we can pick up where we left off. Yeah. My thing coup is optionality is now a real thing in Detroit. I feel like the last couple offseasons I’ve used the phrase thread the needle a lot. Like they had to thread the needle to build this thing out and now all of a sudden it’s like okay well no actually you have control over all of your draft picks after this year’s pick is made by the Wolves at whatever number and you have control over those again. You have these young players. You have a face of the franchise in Cade Cunningham. You have a coach that you can believe in to be competitive at least into the playoffs. Now, if there comes a time to talk about winning within the playoffs, that is a couple years away. You have a general manager who I think has shown us his vision in terms of bringing veterans that space the floor, are healthy, play a lot of games, all of that. And so, I think you feel very comfortable about the foundation of it. And so, now you have optionality and you have different paths you can take to build it out. But maybe that’s the hardest thing, right? Whenever there’s more than one path, how do you know which one to choose? And I think they find themselves in that in that space this very off season of run it back, small changes, bigger changes or huge change, right? Like which one of those paths you take in 25? Yeah. I mean, look guys, I’m going let everyone know who’s listening. This is going to go we’re going to go all over the place. There is no there is not going to be very much structure to this offseason talk. We’re going to be going everywhere. Um, but I I think what my my overall thoughts and obviously we’re gonna get deeper into this, but my overall thoughts are I agree with you Bryce that you have like and Omar you were kind of mentioning this before we started recording like you can go both ways and both ways I could see a reason for why that’s the right direction. Like I truly don’t know what is the 100% right way to go. I just know that if they went this way I see I’d understand why. If they went the other way I’d understand that way as well. I think before there were a lot of people who would say, “Well, if you went that way, that’d just be dumb. Why would you That doesn’t make any sense.” I don’t think there is a truly dumb direction. I mean, okay, let me take that back. There is You could go too far and and maybe do something stupid. But can I add to that real quick? It’s be because now you have Cage, you know, like it to go in last off season would have been everybody would have said too early because we didn’t know that Ca. We all felt we knew what Cade was, but he hadn’t necessarily shown it for how many other games he played this year in the playoffs, right? I think to your point now, it’s like, okay, let’s slowplay it with these young guys or, hey, Kate is here. Kate is ready. Let’s speed the process up. And to your point, I could I don’t agree with it, but I would understand if Trejan said, “Let’s go now. Here’s the opportunity. We like the price of this opportunity. We pair this guy with Cade, and let’s push it forward.” Yeah. I I think there’s just that exactly like you said, they can go either way and I would be I’d understand why they went either way and it is because um that Cade has proven like you mentioned we all I felt a lot of us felt you know he’s going to be that guy but this year he really like solidified it. It was no more guessing hypothetical projecting. It was he actually showed he is the franchise player. He’s going to be all NBA. He’s going to get that extra money that I think it goes up to 30% now. Um he’s going to get all of that. that he we saw him perform in the playoffs. He ended a drought. He broke a b a bunch of record. Like he proved that he is the guy in Detroit. So once that is solved, that’s the hardest thing to solve. Once you get that now, you can there’s a bunch of different ways you can go. Um but I yeah, I think that this offseason is going to be very interesting and where Trajan wants to go with this team. And I mean, we’re going to talk about all the different ways they they could go. The first way we’ll start is this. Um, how would you guys feel if this team just ran it back? Do you guys believe that just run Well, I guess that’s the first area we’ll start. We’ll move into running it back and then specific trades or maybe make an all-in move, whatever. But first place we’ll start. How do you guys feel if this team were to just completely really run it back? Maybe replace Lindy Waters or something, but mostly like the rotation just comes back. Yeah, I think I think you feel fine with that. Uh, you know, again, I think about the Indiana Pacers who had a really good regular season, you know, showed promise and then they went and got Pasco Seakum season, uh, once they kind of came forward and validated the previous season, but also could identify specifically who would fit on their roster. And, you know, for the Pistons, you know, and Tan kind of mentioned this, too. You know, I think you could very validly argue that we still have not really seen what this roster is capable of uh because of some of the injuries that they had to deal with. So, you could you could probably feel pretty good about bringing the vets back. Maybe you address one area of need over another and make a couple changes, but uh you know, this is a a roster that’s earned the right to have like continuity and this team really has not had any symbols of continuity uh over the last like however long, right? So, uh, again, that’s something Tan talked about just from him being a a scout with the Spurs that, you know, that stuff matters. Yeah, you I think you feel good about this group coming back and you get a good read on like what what the ceiling of this team is. And even if it’s not Giannis, there’s always going to be somebody available, you know, like I don’t think teams regret waiting as often as they do jumping the gun and, you know, maybe overpaying or just bringing the wrong player in. Yeah. So, I I have a a slight hesitancy with like true running it back just because I’m a little nervous about having all the same voices in the room, having all the same personalities in the room. I I do think there’s something to be said for changing it up just a little bit, like bringing in some new personality, something like that. Now, I got a lot of push back when I said this on the Pistons Pulse because people were like, “Well, it’s not going to be the same team because JI will be back.” Like, Ji and Assar barely over overlapped if at all, right? like it was very very small and so that fiveman lineup with a with Jade and Ivy in only played two minutes all year. There you go. So like you will have this very important lineup that you will play a lot of minutes. Ji and Shruder never played together. So it it won’t be exact. My thing more was I I don’t know how you guys feel like I feel like this team’s vibes were incredible. The person like the the gel how everything gel and maybe that’s an argument to run it back. I just I hope it doesn’t get st like I have a little bit of nervousness that could get stale and stagnant, but I wouldn’t be upset about it. Like if they they literally could go bird writes for Tim Hardaway Jr. early bird for Shruder you sign Beasley on the non-tax MLE and you know and then like you said like Paul Reed Lindy Waters you replace one of them with the second round pick whatever like you could pretty much bring it back. I would be fine with it. I just would be a little bit interested to see if you had all of the same like positive vibes and energy and all of that was the same. Maybe it would. Um, I would have just a very very slight like hesitancy or I would be watching it early in the season. I guess the days are getting longer, the weather’s warming up, and people are spending more time outside, which means it’s the perfect time to refresh your outdoor space. Whether you’re working with a big backyard or a small balcony, Wayfair has everything you need to make it feel more like you. Wafer’s massive selection of outdoor essentials make it easy to transform any space into your ideal summer setup. 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Would they have changed? Would they have made it to the second round? Who knows? Um Ron Holland will be coming back as a secondyear player, not as a 19-year-old playing playoff minutes, but as you know, a 20 21 year old. You get another offseason for Assar Thompson, who didn’t even really get an offseason. He he hasn’t had one. Now he finally will get one. like, will these guys get better? I completely see why you would take that route. And I I would agree with you, Bryce, that I have just a slight hesitancy to just running it back completely because I think what made this season special was because of the vibes and just like the morale of the locker room. I feel like kind of like a player that people talk about, oh yeah, they they can give you those 20 minutes, but each minute you get over that 20 minutes, that kind of that spark leaves. I feel like it’s kind of the same thing when you’re just relying on vibes and morale in the locker room. Like that could be special for a run, but it it can’t carry you for long. Like eventually that can’t be what pushes everything like that has a expiration date I feel like. But if you if you do feel like like Ivy will take this big step and he’s what you’re missing and SR with another offseason takes another step and Ron takes a huge step and and Cade gets even better and you know all this stuff happens then I could understand for sure saying okay well this team will be better when if we just run it back these guys will get better and we’ll be fine. So I get it. I do have some hesitancy through it but I I would completely understand it. Yeah, I mean to me it’s even something as small as like adding Dennis Shruder at the deadline obviously didn’t mess up the vibes. It actually enhanced the vibes. So to me I think I’m more in the realm of and I’m sure Trejan is doing this. You know I don’t know what the one toone replacements are but is there a way to upgrade Tim Hardaway Jr. where you get 90% of the shooting but some defense? Can you upgrade Malik Beasley somehow as as opposed to paying him coming off, you know, a historic three-point shooting season? And listen, I I will be the first to admit how important Malik Beasley was to this season. There’s no denying that. But can you get 80% of his shooting with defense? Is Shruder the answer? Or as we’ve talked about, where do the ball handling reps go? If you have Cade, you have Ji, you want to try to get a SAR, we’re talking about running Jaylen Duran in the half court. Can you get a Shruder type player, but somebody that shoots the ball better than what Shruder does on catch and shoot opportunities? I’m not saying it’s all there. I just wonder if those could be those little things. I don’t want to mess with any of the young guys. I want them all to be back. But maybe with those veteran presence, you can find quote unquote small little upgrades that are more two-way or hit specific things or whatever to to make the team even more well-rounded. And I’ll also say just to the point of, you know, bringing it back instead of, uh, you know, maybe going for the home run swing, uh, like I I sometimes see fake trades, you know, like either from Bleach Report or wherever and it would be for Devin Booker or Giannis or whatever and, uh, you know, people will be like, uh, they would never give up that much for so and so. But that’s the other aspect of it too is that if you’re going in for a superstar, like you are going in for a superstar. like you are going to give up a lot of uh your draft capital andor uh you know some of your critical young guys and again you can’t even value these guys properly like you can’t properly value Ji uh when you know he was in the midst of his best season and got hurt like you can’t properly evaluate Assar uh when he didn’t start playing you know after missing the whole offseason until November u you know Ron Holland exceeded expectations as a rookie what does he look like in year two uh that’s the type of deal where long term like I think about Tyrese Hallebertton and some some bonus right like you might be able to get instant production but at the same time like you don’t want to sell yourself short on the young guy. Uh another recent examp well well older example with Shay and uh Paul George you know sometimes the young guys do fan out and you look back like maybe we didn’t need to do that. Yeah. I I just want to I want to ask you guys something real quickly. I don’t want to run out of time but I you brought up something Bryce I wanted to make sure I asked you guys. Um, I brought this up on the podcast a few episodes ago. Malik Beasley, he had a fantastic season. Fantastic season. However, my it’s not my question isn’t about a about Beasley himself. It’s about I felt like this team was so heavily reliant on his insane shot making all season that it that if you run it back with if you run it back and you are and your half court offense is still reliant on Beasley having a Steph Curry type shotmaking season, you’re probably going to see that get tanked. Do you do you have any qualms about okay at the very least you should try to upgrade your offense or do something to where you’re not as heavily reliant that if Beasley does take a step back as maybe a shooter your offense won’t just crater because unless you guys disagree that the half court offense was reliant. I feel like their half court offense for a majority of the season was especially off the bench was Beasley hit crazy shots. He does. Oh my god. And it kind of carried. I I feel like that’s a little concerning to rely upon going into next year. Yeah, I I would agree in general that Malik be like I talked to Nick’s people and asked like, “Hey, who do you think is going to be the Piston second best player in the series?” And most said Malik Beasley, right? Like I don’t know that Malik Beasley having to be your second leading scoreer, second option. I know he wasn’t night in and night out, but a lot of times I I don’t think counting on just a historic shooting season. And it wasn’t outlier because Malik Beasley is a career 39% three-point shooter, but he essentially shot his best percentage on his highest volume. The volume, yes, the volume was insane. And and maybe maybe he’s going to do that for another three years. He’s only 28. Um, but I will say I would still have a cap on what I would want to pay Malik Beasley and the role that I I can I would want to put him into. Like I assume Malik will make 250 threes next year on 38% from three, but I don’t know that he’s making 320 on 42% from three again next season. So to your point, yes, I I would want the offense was always teetering anyway, right? So I would want a little bit more insurance and assurance that it was going to be better beyond just another historic shoot three-point shooting season from Malik. Yeah. Um, I would say I’m not as concerned about tweaking the offense because the Pistons like like I feel like the defense is what really won them games down the stretch where I think after New Year’s they were a top five defense. Um, you know, and I think Ji the way he played uh I’d be curious like rotationally how it would look with uh probably Ji, Beasley, and Schroeder uh you know on carrying the ball you know for the second unit essentially. But, you know, Beasley probably slides down to pecking order a little bit just from Ji returning. And again, like the business probably won’t need Beasley to take as many shots because, you know, Ji is going to eat into some of that. Like, he’s going to eat into some of K’s workload. And like that’s a net positive for the the team overall. Uh, so I’m not as concerned about the offense. You know, I think I think they showed enough this season to think that they could at least tread water offensively next season as you know, or even improve there as players get better. Like obviously if you know, Fred Vincent works his magic and a couple of guys come back with with better jump shots, then that’s really huge. And uh yeah, if if you’re making a swing to improve the offense, then you you’ve got to get somebody who can match Kade like as an equal, if not be better as a offensive option. All right, so let’s move into what the next option could be, which is making a trade. I don’t think there’s anything in free agency that anyone would consider like a big swing or anything. And the Pistons aren’t going to operate as a cap space team, which I I I don’t believe they will do that. We had Keith Smith, I’m sure you guys have talked to Keith already as well. I don’t People don’t expect the Pistons operate as a cap space team. It doesn’t make much sense for them to do so. So, I don’t think they’re going to be much players in free agency. Um, so it would come trade. What do you guys think about the Pistons making a trade, whether it be for a star or whether it be for whatever the next level you want to call it, starter level or whatever. What What do you guys think about that route if the Pistons did go actually make it a two-part question. What do you guys feel about making the trade and what do you think if they did make a trade, what should it be for if they did go that route? Yeah. So, for Meiku, the update on the ro upgrade potential upgrade on the roster would be lower level free agent signings, right? Like, hey, we think this guy fits the backup guard role a little bit better than Dennis Shruder because he can shoot it. Or like one that I’ve thrown out is Nikil Alexander Walker. Could you bring in Nil Alexander Walker? like the mechanisms would be interesting, but could you bring him in because you get similar like you get three-point shooting but better defense than Tim Hardaway Jr., right? Like something along those lines. I I don’t see the trade route as much because it’s like I don’t want to trade any of these young guys. What I don’t know what veteran you’re going to trade like what does Simone Fonteo return you and I don’t want to trade like you just got back control of your draft picks. I don’t necessarily want to relinquish those in one of these moves either. So, to me, it’s either, hey, we’re going to run it back or we’re going to make some moves on the margins in free agency that, you know, can you upgrade the Paul Reed position with some sort of stretch big, you know? And the ones I like, I don’t think would sign up for that role, but like that would be the idea for me, you know, like is Boston done with Al Horford for some reason and you can bring him into your your big man rotation? I don’t think Al Horford signs up for that role to be clear, but maybe there’s a different name out there that makes sense for something like that. Shopping for a car should feel exciting, not exhausting. But between the confusing prices and hidden fees, it can feel overwhelming. That’s why I love using Car Gurus. They help you cut through the noise and show you the best deals with full confidence. With over 4 million listings, CarGurus has more new and used cars than any other major online marketplace in the US. They verify dealers, provide real price analysis, and give you the tools and data you need to make the right choice without second-guessing yourself. Need a deal you can trust? Car Gurus makes it easy to compare vehicles sidebyside with unbiased deal ratings. 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And just to add on to that, like you just sort of got the locker room to the a point where like the team dynamics were really good and a sort of natural hierarchy played out. uh you know like Tobias I think was just super massive for the group like how much they lean on him just for so much off the court stuff uh or even just throughout the organization uh like just really came in and embraced everything about it uh you know I think they lose a lot with him not just on the court but what he did locker room wise as well and I think Malle Beasley is kind of this the same way so like Bryce said you’re not trading any of the young guys uh you know assuming you bring back Malik uh you probably don’t want mess too much with, you know, the vets who really establish sort of the order of maturity of a locker room unless again like it’s worthwhile. But also like yeah, like I just got full control of my picks back. So do you want to immediately blow that uh before you have to uh because there are teams who have uh become contenders without doing that? like OKC of course like they’ve made moves here and there but uh for the the most part like it’s the guys that they’ve drafted that uh you know have led the charge for them and now they’re in a weird boat where they probably have 30 draft picks and it’s like well who do you trade for and like what do you address specifically uh cuz I mean you could kind of dictate the market. That’s the the other thing, too, like the Pistons could offer all their picks, but because other teams have way more picks, like uh you’re you’re probably going to have to trade a few of your young guys, too, just to make that even. So, overall, like there’s just a lot of inertia against making the big move now. Uh you know, I think if you’re the front office, you don’t want to blow this up. Uh you know, guys have earned a right to to to to play and establish a legacy here and and you don’t need to commit one way or another before you have to. Yeah, I think if the Pistons did make a move, the position I think where they have to attack is the the four position. I think either whether it’s a backup four for Tobias or whether it’s the future for and then you just move Tobias back to a backup four position as he ages out and and and gets older. I think that’s where the Pistons clear um that’s where I would be looking clear to upgrade. I think they got their you know Ivy, they got K, they got Assar and they got Dur. I think that four position is where they really need. Tobias was good. Tobias was good, but I think that’s the clear uh level of upgrade where I would be looking at if I am looking at making trades. I’m looking at a four. I I’m not really I know I see a bunch of Pistons fans. Obviously, they all want Devin Booker. I see a lot of them want Deon Booker. Deon Booker is great. I don’t know how much I really like I’m going to sound like I’m I’m being too picky, I guess, but like Devin Booker, he would make the team better. I just don’t know if that’s where I would want to utilize my assets at. I feel like a bigger fourwing kind of guy, that’s where I would be going after and I think that’s where I want my my other offensive star to be is is at that four position. But if they did make a trade, that’s where I would be looking at. Um, this is something I wanted to ask you guys and Amari before we wrap up the podcast and we’re going to have to bring up the comment I got on the substack before right right before we started recording. we’ll bring it up. But I’ve had a few people comment and ask me which I think is a fair question and I think I I’ve given the answer. I think I have an answer for it, but I want to hear your guys’ answer because Amara, you are right that there are teams, specifically OKC, that have just said, you know what, we’re going to draft really well. We’re going to develop really well and that’s how our pathway is going to go. There are some examples of other teams that did play it too slow and patient and it kind of came back like Sacramento in 2021 or was it 2022, I think. Um, and then you I I think was it Howard, it might have been Howard Beck that just wrote about this, but Atlanta like their first year, the reason why they went all in because at the trade deadline of the after they made the Eastern Conference finals, they didn’t do anything and then the owner came out at trade deadline. I was like, “That’s our fault. We were too patient. We should have tried to actually improve. That was our fault.” And then they went too far all in and now they’re just kind, you know, both ways. I get my question for you guys is what would you guys tell Pistons fans who have that concern of like okay yeah we like the young guys but what like why is this situation different to uh one of those situations where if they do wait is there a chance it could blow back up in their face or is it you know just what what are you guys’ feelings on those kind of comparisons is it is it is it a risk or no so my thing would be is you have to trust Traan right like you just have to hope they make the right eventually they have to make a move My hesitancy is, don’t you want to know for sure about your guys before you make that move? Um, what is a Sar Thompson ceiling? Because if he develops a jump shot, why do you need somebody else? That’s your number two option right there. If Ron Holland is a true two-way wing, maybe he’s your third option. You know, Ji was shooting over 40% from three whenever he got hurt last year. What what if the consistency of the jump shot and everything else gets there for him? So my answer is I don’t want to make a move before I feel good about knowing and m they know more than us right they’re in there day in day out and they know the work ethic the developmental path the mindset of all of these guys but that would be my thing is and O2 said it earlier there’s always somebody coming available right like all of a sudden it was this guy then it’s Giannis and then it’s going to be somebody else like you just never know and I don’t think the Hawks mess it up because they waited they traded for the wrong dude. Like they traded for DeJonte Murray and that didn’t make sense with Trey Young. And I think you have to hold confidence in the fact that Kate Cunningham is going to continue to move into being a top 10 player in this league because he plays both ends of the court. And because of that, when you make the move, whoever that guy is is going to make sense next to him. Yeah. And yeah, to that same point, uh once you get to know your team, and I mentioned this earlier, but you can identify exactly which players kind of fit that boat. like with Indiana, they looked at their team and they were like, “Oh, we could use an athletic scoring for could also do some playmaking and they went and got Pasco Seakakum and that worked out because he fit their team perfectly.” Uh, if they had went and got uh, you know, somebody who is probably 80% of what Trey Young is already and duplicates the same skill set, maybe it doesn’t work out. And going back to Deon Booker, that’s kind of my concern with hypothetical Deon Booker trade is that him and Kay just have too much overlap. Like there’s still too much you have to do elsewhere to make that work functionally. Um, you know, maybe it’s got Tatum, Jaylen Brown upside, but you’ve also got to get all the other auxiliary moves right for that type of setup to work. And, uh, you know, Boston got a ring out of it. But it’s easier said than done. So, K’s contract kicks in next season. That’s the very beginning of their window. Um, you know, before financially they’d have to start making some really serious moves. So, you know, I don’t think like I think this is where it’s it starts. Like, you got to look at this as a starting point of, okay, we’re here, so how do we navigate this? And you know, I think it’s justifiable to say at year one, you probably don’t realistically expect a team to blow up a a core that just got here. Like imagine the the Lions trading some of their young guys a few years ago trying to go all in. It’s like, well, no, like you competed without having to uh do that. Uh you know, the Grizzlies. Like they they were ravaged by injuries over the last few years. So like with them, I think it was just bad luck. But still like a really good team that did it with their guys. like maybe they waited too long to make the big swing, but again they had a several year window where they were in that space. So that’s where I see the Pistons now and like I would just say uh you get a few years at least before it’s too late. So yeah, real quick thing just I was just going to say what if let’s say you go on on Booker or whoever what if you decide you want to trade Ji and Holland because you think Assar and Duran are the two that you want to keep. What if you get 50 games into the season, we’re still having the same Assar and Jaylen Duran trouble and you like now you’re 50 games in the season, you’re like, well shoot, these guys can’t play together the way we thought. Now you have to trade one of them, right? And so like this, I just don’t think you have all of the data you need on these young guys to even know which ones you would want to move off of in a scenario where you’re trading because I don’t think you want to just trade four first round picks and pick swaps for whatever you’re doing because then you know that the future there it you know is is tough. And so I I just don’t think you have all of that data you would want on all of those guys. Yeah. My answer to those to those that feel that way, I I think the comparison that I think is the most fair for fans to look at and be like, “Okay, well, this team did it and it didn’t work out is the Kings example from 2022.” And my answer to that would be you just have to feel better about this young core than the Kings felt about theirs. Like you have Cade, if you feel better about the fact that they have Assar during Ivy and Holland, then that’s just the difference there. Like you have to feel better about the young core. If you don’t like the young core, then I guess you probably don’t feel that way. But that would just be my flatout answer is that the Pistons young core I know you know the Kings were like weren’t they like the second seed that year? So maybe that would be crazy to see here and say that they’re better but like I you just walk you’d walk into this offseason say well the Pistons young core is better than that so you don’t have to worry about it. So that would be my quick answer to that. Um I wanted to ask you guys wasn’t that team was older though right a little well not a ton like Fox was 25 Sabonis was 26. I guess it was still pretty young. They were younger than what I thought. Harrison Barnes was on that team at 30. So, a a touch older than what this Pistons team is, right? Like, how old is Cade right now? 20. 23. Yeah. So, you know, Cade is 23 and he’s the oldest of the young core, right? Like Assar’s 22, Duran’s 21, 22, Ron, like Fox was 25, Sabonis was 26. Like those guys were were still those guys were older than what than what this team is. You know what I mean? Like Fox was in year one, two, three, four, five, like year six that season. So I I do think it’s a little bit different in regards to that. All right. So the next question I want to ask you guys, do you would you guys extend Ivy and or Duran this off seasonason? And what what and if it if it I know we’re getting to the end, so if it’s too long of an answer you guys want to give, I understand. But if you guys wanted to go on and give an answer, go ahead. So my quick answers here are I think Ivy’s tough where he only played 30 games and I still don’t know that you know his ultimate role yet. Like to me the variance of he’s your number two option and Cade’s running mate to sixman. Like I think that’s my range for him but what you pay that guy has a vast difference. Right. with Jaylen Duran, I still have continued to say what I would offer him and what I think he would take are not the same number. And so I guess in regards to that, I I I wouldn’t end up s extending either, but I don’t know that that’s good business either. I don’t know that they want to go into the season without either one of them extended. I I think you probably at least want to get one of them done. Yeah. Uh personally, I would I would feel pretty comfortable extending JI. Uh I look at the the deal Jaylen Green got uh where I think it was like three years 100 or something like that and uh maybe you tack on a little bit for inflation but um you know I think Ivy showed enough to where it’s like yeah we want this guy under contract we feel pretty good about you know this contract being fine like does Ivy accept that? Like that’s what you have to see, right? Um but again like I think I think what he’s shown um is pretty sustainable and I think you can lock him into the group uh you know with the understanding that if you get him on a good deal uh on the the back end of that I think that gets pretty in interesting uh especially if that clicks with K Cunningham uh Duran I think I think it’s more like a comeback next season and see uh just because one like I think it it would just be a lot to like lock them in now and I don’t know how much it would take to get Duran to agree to that. But, uh, like just with his skill set, like I think you want to see him do it for another season before you make that commitment. And that’s all it boils down to. All right. So, as of as of uh May 12th, I want everyone to understand this is May 12th. I can change my opinion by the end of the offseason. I would not extend either of them. I have my I have reservations about the same thing with JD is the same thing I that you said, Bryce, is I would what I would offer him is not what I think JD wants. Like I think JD looks at the Claxton contract and says, “Pay me more than that.” Yep. And I’m not doing that. So, and coup, he should like this is what I talked about was if I’m Jaylen Duran, I look at the Claxton contract and say, “I’m better than that, dude. Pay me that.” Right. And then it’s like, but then the Pistons could look at some other contracts like I think Zubox is the one that I used on the other end where Yeah, Zubox is at 20 million for the next three years. And I’m the Pistons. I’m saying you’re not him. So, why should we pay you more? Like the center market is really really tough in regards to that. Yeah. So, that’s the main reason why I wouldn’t wouldn’t pay JD this off seasonason. I’d wait. Ivy, I’m not I wouldn’t extend him this off seasonason either. I want to see what he looks like coming off the injury. And uh ju just wait to see how he looks and I also want to see how he looks with the rest of the guys with the Cade, Assar, Tobias, Duran group before I paid him. I also want to I I I feel comfortable in some areas of Iivey’s game, but I also don’t feel as comfortable about other parts. I’d like to find out kind of like you mentioned Bryce where I feel like like his peak outcome is like maybe like third and then like his lowest outcome is potentially like the seventh man in your rotation. That’s way too for me way too much of a variance for me to feel like paying him um what I feel like he would possibly ask for. And I I would just be more comfortable. Also, I I I like you got JD and JI this offseason, then you got Sar next off seasonason, which I think he’s going to get extended. Then you got Ron the following offseason. So, I just feel like you got a lot of these coming up. And I would just I think you probably want to be a little like you got to be smart with some of these. I feel like and I’m just I am a little there’s some just there’s just some things up in the air about these two guys that I wouldn’t just, you know, hand a blank check over or whatever and just like extend them no matter what. I I’m notorious for like being nervous about like paying guys giving giving contracts like outside of Cade. I’m like I don’t know maybe and the hard part of the equation is the cap is going to continue to rise and so like adjusting for the you know all of that and like O2 said maybe you give him a Jaylen Green contract which essentially the Jaylen Green contract is it’s shorter. It was only three years with a player option on the end. Well then it’s like well then he has a lot of control if he ends up being good, right? So like that’s the give and take of that contract if you gave Ivy something similar would be okay we can get you know it’s only three years but then if he pops off then it’s a little we don’t have the team control on it. I mean the thing and the other aspect of that too is that it essentially bridges you over uh you know while you’re making decisions on and and true uh you know you lock them in and yeah like you’re giving and taking a little bit but you’re evaluating the core as a whole that entire time and if JI ends up being worth max money or a lot more uh you wait out against the rest of your core and you kind of make that judgment call then but again like I think just having them under under contract uh you know while the other guys become due for their own extensions could have a lot a lot of value. And I I was one of the people that said when they extended Isaiah Stewart, I was like, I would have just waited. I would have just waited and seen what he was worth and then I would have paid him later. And now it looks like a great contract to where you got him on what seems like a really good bargain. So, I mean, there’s risk to I that’s the main thing I always try to tell people is that there’s risk in both any decision you make, there is a risk. You just have to choose what risk you would rather take. Um, all right, Omari, let’s wrap it up with this. I had a comment on myself literally right before we started recording. Uh, someone commented on my substack. I’ll read the comment. I want you to just give your answer to this. Um, they go in the chat. They said, “Hey, bro. I know you’re cool with Omari, but he’s on one right now about trading for Giannis. We don’t need no trades. Add free agents and grow within just like OKC.” So, Omari, if you want to give a just a clap back to that. Yeah, I have a I have a a brief two-pronged response. One, I did not say they should trade for Yiannis. I said they have the assets to trade for Giannis. There’s a a distinction to be made there, which is just that they have the ability like it’s like saying I have the money to buy a car, you know, like it’s not saying that I’m going to buy the car. I just have the money to buy it. That’s essentially where they are there. Two, you also have the ability to have a lawn to take care of. I just want you to know. I don’t actually I don’t have that ability. Uh two, I don’t even know what my second point was going to be, but but but but but Giannis is good. So, you know, I think it’s fair to at least point out that yeah, like this is a conversation that you at least need to have. Like it’s not like they closed the door on it happening. But click on the links, people read. And if you don’t subscribe, subscribe. And if you don’t subscribe, then just hold your takes because a lot of times the headlines and the story um you know have slightly different content. So I’m not going to jump on that. They should trade for Yiannis grenade. Uh I’m just not going to do that. Like that’s a tough grenade to jump on. I also say like people will scream at you both ways. Like they’ll say, “Oh, like you’re an idiot if you think that they should trade.” But then also people would be like we always wait and we miss out on guys and that’s why we’re always mediocre. So no matter what you no matter what size you take, somebody’s going to yell at you. So that’s just part of it. I I just want to say real quickly to that point, I was talking about this the other day on a NBA draft show over on New No Ceilings. I I get the chance to talk to some scouts across the NBA with NBA draft stuff. I’ve literally talked to scouts and one scout would have a player fifth and another scout would have the same player 25th. So if these dudes that are getting paid for a living working in the NBA can be that far off on players like we in this space and fans and everything else can be as well. That doesn’t mean anybody is idiots or stupid or whatever. It’s just like it’s a subjective game and roster building is also subjective to what do we think this team’s identity is? What do we think would be best? like all of that. So, it’s it’s all very subjective. Can I I just want to make it clear that even if Omari said that, I would be completely on board with him. This is I’ll just say this. This is my take. Giannis, in my opinion, is a top 15 player of all time in his prime. I would literally empty out my entire asset chamber, not including K. Cunningham, to have Aianis at Takmpo play for the Pistons. That’s significant because they have their entire asset chest right when they get good. The first wish was kind of by design, but they couldn’t even sniff these conversations a few years ago because you couldn’t offer more than, you know, up to a certain point, uh, one draft pick. So, again, you’re probably going to get outgunned by, you know, teams that are sitting on like eight, nine, or in OKC’s case, 20 plus draft picks. But, uh, again, like it’s conceivable that they could put together a package that Milwaukee is like, hm. Like, you know, this is at least worth thinking about. Yeah, we’ll see what happens. This offseason is going to be really interesting. Bryce, Amari, is there anything else you guys want to hit on or mention before we wrap up? Yeah, this this offseason is going to be really interesting and it starts as we record this in about 10 minutes with the NBA draft lottery. And I will guarantee this, the Detroit Pistons will not fall to number five in the lottery this year. None of us care about the draft lottery because the Pistons aren’t in it because they won 40 plus games and played in the first round of the playoffs. So everybody remember that. If you’re watching, you’re listening, you’re a Pistons fans. Remember, 40 plus wins, playoff appearance, vibes are good in Detroit right now. Amari, anything you want to wrap up with? Man, I’ve got nothing to add except I’m transitioning into offseason mode. So, there you go. This is the first offseason. I told Bryson this before you joined Amari that this is the first offseason I I like literally maybe ever since I like started following and becoming a fan of the team that there like this lottery night is not like one of the most important nights of the year. Like this is probably the first time where it’s literally not like determining whether I’m happy or not the rest of the year. And and this one would have because this is the Cooper like last year I was like you know because the draft just wasn’t this one Pistons fans would have been on the edge of their seats because it does matter if you land number one big time in this draft one or two in my opinion with Cooper and then Dylan Harper. So it it would have been it would have been exciting and potentially depressing uh if they were a part of this one. All right, we’ll wrap it up there. Appreciate you guys for listening. Uh, this is now part two where I’m recording here. So, I hope you guys enjoyed part one and part two. You guys can obviously follow Bryce over on Twitter, Motor City Hoops. You can follow Omari, Elmari San Kofa, obviously their podcast, the Pistons Paul. So, you guys can check it out on whatever podcast platform you guys listen to this this one on. Thank you guys for making lockdown pistons your first listen every single day. Free available on all your podcast platforms. I’ll see you guys later. Stay safe out there and until next time. Peace out, everybody.

Can the Detroit Pistons reshape their future with bold offseason moves? As the team navigates its options, the potential for trades, free agent signings, and contract extensions for rising stars like Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren takes center stage.

Explore the Pistons’ strategic possibilities, including the impact of Cade Cunningham’s leadership and the intriguing prospect of trading for a superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo. With insights from guests Bryce Simon and Omari Sankofa, this discussion covers the team’s evolving strategy, the importance of maintaining roster chemistry, and the potential risks and rewards of early contract extensions.

Will the Pistons make a splash in the offseason, or will they rely on their current roster’s growth? Tune in for an in-depth analysis and expert perspectives on the Pistons’ path forward.

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