Eastern Conference Tour: Will Cavaliers Take Advantage Of WIDE OPEN East? | Is Detroit A New Threat?

Eastern Conference Tour: Will Cavaliers Take Advantage Of WIDE OPEN East? | Is Detroit A New Threat?

In today’s episode of Locked On Pistons podcast, we are joined by Danny Cunningham of Locked On Cavs to figure out are there any teams in the Eastern Conference that the Cavs are now worried about after the Boston Celtics seem to be taking a step back. We’ll talk about today’s episode, Locked on Pistons Podcast. Let’s go. You are Locked On Pistons, your daily Detroit Pistons podcast. Part of the Locked Onet, your team every day. What’s the deal? Welcome back to another episode of the Lockdown Pistons podcast. Per usual, I am your host, Cougar Hill. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons for the last four years for the Lockdown Network, been a credential media member over the last three years. And I want to thank all of you guys for making Lockdown Pistons your first listen every single day. We are free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Lockdown Pistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is closer than you think. Actually, by the time you guys listen to this, I think Thursday Night Football will have already happened. I’m thinking that the Eagles are going to take this one, obviously, especially with Micah gone. But new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets. Download the FanDuel app at FanDuel.com to get started today. So, in today’s episode, we continue our Eastern Conference tour. We started off in Boston. We now move all the way down to Cleveland or not down a little bit to you know to the west a little bit to to Cleveland to talk about the Cavs and whether this past playoff performance maybe will derail them a little bit this upcoming season. Is there anyone of the east in the east that they are concerned about now without Jason Tatum and really the Boston Celtics up at the top of the conference anymore? And how far is Detroit from Cleveland going into this year? But start off by thanking you Danny for coming on man. How you doing? I’m great man. anytime you want to have me on the show, I’m glad to come on Lockdown Pistons. Very much enjoy getting to chat with you, Coup. Appreciate you, man. All right, let’s get it started then. So, the Cavs had a fantastic season this past season. They were arguably the best team in the entire NBA from start to finish. The OKC Thunder, they were they had a absurdly great regular season and then the playoffs came and they had a disappointing outing in the Eastern Conference Finals. They didn’t make it to the Eastern Conference Finals again. uh they had some injuries that snuck up on them in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, but they did not achieve their goal of at least making it to the finals or even the Eastern Conference Finals. So, my question to you is for a team that is so talented that has had some playoff disappointments, I would say, over the last two years, do you think that there’s anything that could, you know, from those playoff disappointments that could maybe carry over to this season that you think maybe the team was concerned about or you could maybe see play out this year? I mean, I I think so much of the postseason story for them is the injuries that they dealt with in that second round of the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers. And and don’t get me wrong, who the Pacers were the better team in that series. Um, but it didn’t help that Darius Garland, as we now know, needed a surgery on his foot because he had turf toe that bad and he might not be ready for the start of the regular season. Um, Donovan Mitchell was dealing with a significant calf strain. Evan Mobley missed a game in that series because of a sprained ankle. um DeAndre Hunter dislocated his thumb in game one of that series and he missed a game. So like all of those things and it’s not something that I think should be looked at as an excuse. And to the team’s credit, they didn’t make it an excuse. They came out and said, you know, this has been a failure of every proportion you can imagine. Um they Donovan Mitchell sat on the podium after the Cavs lost game five of that series and said it’s going to be a lot of noise this summer about us coming up short. And there has been and there deserve to be. Um, but I think if anything, the postseason failure of last year, and I do think that you have to look at this as a year-by-year thing because like two years ago, they got to the second round and they lost to the Boston Celtics and there was zero shame in that. Boston went on to win the title. They were the best team in the NBA from start to finish. Like the Cavs were never winning that series and there was no shame in losing that series. That wasn’t a failure, but this past one was. And I do think that they can look at this and say, “Okay, it’s kind of now or never.” Um, I don’t think that there’s going to be some hangover from having a really good regular season. I think if anything, like if there’s anything to be concerned about from other than the injuries that they had in the postseason that could impact this upcoming season, it’s well, how much are they going to care about this regular season? Because they have gone out in multiple years and proven they can just rack up wins, right? Donovan Mitchell’s first year in Cleveland, they won 51 games. his second year in Cleveland in which Darius Garland was a shell of himself, missed six weeks because of a fractured jaw and just really never got it going. Evan Mobley missed I think a total of 10 weeks in that season. They still won 48 games this past year. They won 64 games. Like there are zero doubts about this team being able to be successful in the regular season. Is that going to be at the same level? I don’t know. But I do think this is going to be a supremely motivated team by the time the playoffs roll around in April, May, and potentially even into June. So the question I have to build off of that is do you feel like there’s a different I know you said that you don’t feel like you should you know derail them at all this year but do you feel like there is like a you know like a cloud hanging over maybe not a storm but kind of like a different sense of energy around the team like they know is there like a sense of urgency or is everyone kind of still obviously you want to win right now but is there kind of like hey we got you know a lot of young players it’s not necessarily that we have to do it now we still have few years in front of us Donovan Mitchell signed this extension like we want to get it done now or is do you feel like there is a sense of urgency around this team this different type of energy like hey we have to get this done right now I think there is a sense of urgency and I know that players on the roster and certainly you know this too guys on the roster don’t necessarily look at what the salary cap looks like and know the ins and outs of of the apron system and stuff like that like because that’s just not something that affects them but the guys in Cleveland know they’re a second apron team there is one team that’s going to be in the second apron this year coup and it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers. When you are a second apron team in today’s NBA, there is a lot of pressure on you to win and to win big. And with the way that the Eastern Conference sets up, not only with Boston taking a step back, but with Tyrese Hallebertton being out for this entire season and the Indiana Pacers also losing Miles Turner and they’re taking a step back, the door is as open as it has ever been in Cavs franchise history when LeBron James is not on the roster. Obviously, this is a franchise that with LeBron had a ton of success, has been to five finals, is one of finals. Without LeBron had, you know, a nice team in the 70s, had some really nice teams in the late 80s, early 90s, but their history without LeBron for the most part is pretty bad. This is the year where they can truly be a team that gets to the finals and maybe wins the finals. The door is open in a way that it’s never been before and in all likelihood will never be again. And I do think people in Cleveland sense that. So we’ll wrap it up with this. Usually when people talk about pressure and urgency on things, a lot of people attach believe, at least I’m one of those people who believe if you believe that, that means there must be like something that will happen if this doesn’t happen. That mean like if there’s pressure on somebody, but nothing will happen if you don’t actually achieve what you know what your goal is. What’s the pressure really there for? So, do you believe that if they don’t whatever the goal is, whether it’s NBA championship or at least the finals or Eastern Conference finals, whatever, if you believe do you believe if they don’t achieve that that they’re this team could be seeing massive changes next year? Um, I think it depends on what your definition of massive is. I do think if they come up short there will be changes. Now, that’s not like they’re not going to move on from Kenny Atinson who just won coach of the year in his first year in Cleveland. Like, that’s not the type of ch I’m talking more so changes to the roster. Evan Mobley is not going anywhere. Um, Donovan Mitchell is in an interesting situation. I don’t think he’s going anywhere. I think he really does enjoy Cleveland. I think this has been the best basketball situation he’s ever been part of. Would not expect him to be available and would not expect him to go anywhere. But outside of those two, I don’t think anyone else is untouchable. And I look at a guy like Jared Allen who, you know, in Cleveland there’s the whole uh the the nickname of the core four, which is something I don’t believe in, but I do think a lot of fans do. And organizationally, it’s just like one of those marketing things that they kind of tout, right, where it’s Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley and Darius Garland and Jared Allen. Well, I don’t think Jared Allen is necessarily a core piece. I think he’s a really nice center, but I think he is somebody that is more so a highle role player and those guys are hard to find and you need those guys. But coup he goes from making $20 million this year to 28 million next year. And Jared Allen is somebody who has not proven to me and I don’t think proven to the world that he is somebody that is a 16 game player, right? The guys that know, you know, are going to be at their best in the postseason. He is an 82 game player. I thought he had a great season last year. became the first qualifying player in NBA history to shoot 70% or better from the floor and 70% or better from the free throw line. So, he’s been accomplished in the regular season, but he’s not backed it up in the postseason. And I do think that that is an area, and there are other areas, maybe Darius Garland is part of this, too. We have to see how this year goes, but I do think that if they don’t get to the finals, I think that we could be looking at significant roster change in Cleveland next summer. All right, we’ll see what happens. Cleveland got a lot going for them this year. They have a really good roster and we’ll compare that to the rest of the East when we come back. Boston seems to be out of the picture. Indiana seems to be out of the picture. So, is there any team in the Eastern Conference that the Cleveland Cavaliers are worried about? We’ll talk about it coming up. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is almost here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer. By the time you guys listen to this, actually, I think Thursday Night Football will have happened. I’m going to go ahead and guess that the Philadelphia Eagles will take care of business. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. 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Make locked on Pistons your first list of every single day. We are free available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Lockdown Pistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. It’s another great way to support the podcast. We are here with Danny Cunningham of Lockdown Cavs to continue our Eastern Conference tour. We talked with John Carales of Lockdown Celtics. Last episode, if you guys want to hear about how the Pistons are finally leaping over the Boston Celtics, we kind of poked fun at John about him finally being a part of the middle of the pack. Uh to see how he Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Yes. Um but with that said, Boston seems to be out of the way. Indiana has lost lost obviously to injury, but Miles Turner in free agency to the Milwaukee Bucks. It looks like Indiana will be taking a step back. It seems like, like you mentioned earlier, the Eastern Conference is as open as it’s I mean, I can remember it being since I’ve started watching the NBA when I around 2009ish around there. Most open I maybe I’ve ever seen it. With that said, Danny, is there any team in the East with all the pressure and all the urgency that’s on the Cavs, is there any team that you look at in the East that it’s like Cavs got to be worried about them? Or does it seem like these teams aren’t on our level? This should be easy. This should be an easy conference finals birth and NBA Finals birth this year. So, I don’t think given their postseason history that they can just sit there and say anything should be easy. Um, but I also look at the rest of the conference and there’s nobody that they should be scared of. Like New York is a very good team and they are a team that is capable of going to the NBA finals next spring. Um, I like what the Orlando Magic did. I still think they’re a little short on perimeter creation as I look at the roster. We’ll see how it looks in actuality when we actually get on the floor in about five weeks here. But I don’t look at them as a team that I think is a serious threat to the Cavs. I think that the Atlanta Hawks are going to be really fun. Certainly when Krisaps Porzingis is healthy, but I just don’t know that that’s something that you can count on. I and the Cavs are not a flawless team. There’s no doubt about that. But I do think that you can look at you can look up and down the East at least at those four that group of four teams and I do think the Pistons are kind of right there too along with the Milwaukee Bucks and you can poke holes in everybody. And if the Cavs don’t make the finals this year, or at the very least the Eastern Conference Finals, which I think losing in the conference finals, despite the fact that this group has not been there before together, I think that would be looked at as coming up short. But if you look at that, is there a team that the Cavs are not better than on paper in the East? Probably not. But I think the Cavs getting to the finals would have more to do with themselves, right? Like the the Indiana Pacers were a better team on the floor last year in the conference semis. They were not a better team on paper. Like I still think the Cavs were the more talented basketball team, but they did not play like it. The Indiana Pacers did. And the Pacers get credit for that. Um I again look up and down the East and I don’t see a team and New York has a very nice starting five, which certainly underachieved last year if you look at their advanced metrics. They were not nearly as good with that group on the floor as they should have been. But I don’t see a team in the East that has as much talent certainly at the top that the Cleveland Cavaliers do. So I don’t know that like there’s a team they should be scared of. If anything that the team they should be worried about is themselves because it is difficult to go out there and prove that you can win in the postseason and that’s a really really challenging thing to do and that’s the challenge the Cavs need to meet. So we’ll talk about how far Detroit is a little bit later in the podcast. So, I’m not going to mention the Pistons. I don’t think anyone realistically will try to throw even Pistons. I don’t think they’ll try to throw the Pistons in this like Cavs need to be watching out for the P. Like, I don’t think anyone’s delusional enough to say that. But, you know, if that actually ends up happening, I would be great for Pistons. I just don’t think anyone actually is delusional enough to say that. Um, when you look at the East though, I look at the East as like they have a top three teams and I think it’s a drop off after that. I really like the Cavs. I like the Knicks and I really like what Orlando’s done this off seasonason with the fact that they were able to win 41 games this past year with major games missed by Paulo by Fron and Suggs like all three of their best players missed a large majority of the season and they still were able to win 41 games. I think that was pretty pretty crazy and pretty good coaching job over there. Uh you expect Paulo to be healthy, Fran to be healthy, S to be healthy. They bring in Desmond Bane I think he’s exactly what they’ve needed. They bring in Atias Jones I think that will help them as well. So, I look at those three teams as like the top of the East. So, I guess to ask you if if there was one team out of New York or Orlando, or if you maybe you want to say Atlanta, could I agree with you with Atlanta? I I I like what Atlanta’s done, but so many of their players they brought in are injuryprone. Chris Stops, Luke Canard, even Jaylen Johnson, who I really like, but he’s also been injuryprone. So, it’s like if Atlanta stays healthy all year, I mean, that’s great. I really like what they have on paper. It’s just hard to picture they actually will be healthy. Um, but if you’re talking about between New York and Orlando, who do you think would give the who who do you think will give the Cavs the fiercest competition to try to come out of the East between those two teams? I think it’s New York. And a big reason why I think it’s New York is one, I if I were to put the rosters of the Knicks and the Magic together, the best player of that pool is Jaylen Brunson. And maybe that changes between now and the end of the season. Maybe Paulo Ben Caro goes out and just has a a killer season as and as is an all-NBA player and he’s been really good in the playoffs in the two chances that he’s been so far. But right now Jaylen Brunson’s the best player on those two teams. And I also look at it and say, okay, well the New York Knicks have also actually been there in the playoffs. They’ve been to a conference finals. They have, albeit a much different Cavs team than what the one we’re talking about right now is, but they’ve beaten the Cavs in the playoffs and they have won a series for three consecutive years where the Orlando Magic won 41 games last year. Um, I thought I agree with you. It was a very nice coaching job by Jamal Mosley. The fact that they were able to be that successful with Paulo Benero missing as much time, France Vagner missing as much time, Jaylen Suggs missing as much time as they did, that’s all great, but that team has not won a playoff series yet. And until they do, and it’s a really difficult hump to get over and it’s going from bad to good is a challenge. And you witnessed this firsthand probably better than anybody else last year with what Detroit did going from not not even bad but abysmal to pretty good last year. Really difficult thing to do. Going from good to great is even more difficult. And the Magic are in a spot now where they have to go from good to great. And until we see that, I’m going to question it. I would pick New York because there’s just a little bit more of a proof of concept. You know, I don’t know that Mike Brown being there changes a whole lot for the Knicks, but if I had to pick one of those two teams that I think is a bigger challenger to the Cavs, it’s definitely going to be the team that was in the conference finals this past spring. Fair enough. Fair enough. And the last thing I want to bring up is is that I read something a few days ago, um I I wish I could give credit, but I forgot who it was by, but I read something a few days ago, maybe like a week and a half ago by now. Um, but referencing how, you know, the weak Eastern Conference is, and everyone’s calling it weak, like people believe that it’s a weak, the weaker conference, but compared to the Western Conference. Um, and it is wide open for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I saw someone tried to say and make the argument that will it hurt the Cavs that they don’t have to go through like the challenges to get to the finals if the East is actually as weak as it is and then when they get to the if they were to get to the finals, now they’re going against a competition they just haven’t been able to face all year. Do you put any stock into that that by not being in the tougher conference that you don’t see the same level of competition, therefore you’re not ready for what will be coming for you by the finals? I don’t know if I really buy it, but I wanted to see if you do. Not in the least bit. Um because if you look at teams that win the championship, they all like teams that win the title can look differently every single year. They can play different styles. Their rosters can be built differently. They can have star players that play different positions. There there are a lot of differences between teams that win the title in one year compared to the next year. But the thing that they almost all have in common is the healthiest team at the end is the team that wins the title. And if you don’t have to go through as grueling of a postseason schedule, it helps you be able to stay healthy. the fewer games. And this was one of the secrets I learned back uh this I was young at the a young reporter at the time covering the second LeBron stint in Cleveland. And someone asked him a question whether or not they were long ready for a long postseason run. Um and I listen they had LeBron obviously they were like and the East then was worse than what it is now. But you know like are you ready for like 25 26 postseason games? And he responds only got to win 16. we just got to worry about 16 games. And you saw those teams and I know Detroit was on the end of it on in one of the years. But those teams swept the first round, the first three years LeBron was back in Cleveland. The fourth year they had had to go to seven games with Indiana. But they would routinely make quick work of the first couple of rounds in the postseason because they needed to save everything in their tank for the conference finals for their annual matchup with the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs obviously can’t look that far ahead right now because they’ve not been there and done that. They don’t have a LeBron James in his prime on the roster for as good as Donovan Mitchell and Evan Moy are. Those guys are nowhere near that. But you look at this and say, okay, that means they do have to get through things quickly. Like I do think it’s a benefit to them that whoever is going to be the eight seed or maybe even the seven seed, I would imagine the Cavs are going to be the one seed in the East. I just think they’re going to be a regular season wins machine again this year. that eight seed has no chance against the Cavs or let’s say the Knicks or the Magic get the one seed. Like that’s going to be a blowout. The seven seed probably also going to be a blowout. I look at that and say that’s a big advantage compared to maybe Houston gets the one seed or OKC gets the one seed which I would imagine will be the case. They might have to face a pretty good team in the first round. That might be a legitimate challenge. The fewer postseason games that you have to play, the better off you are because that means that’s a better chance that you stay healthy. So, I look at it and say the easier the conference is, the better it is for whatever team comes out. No, I completely agree with that. Like you mentioned earlier, injuries, you avoid as many injury possibilities by playing shorter amount of games. You get to the finals, East of Conference finals, you’re not as tired, you haven’t played as many games, especially if you’re going through physical series, you get beat up through the first few rounds and now not only are you tired, but you’re also beat up. It’s I completely agree. I think being able to get series over with in four or five games, I think as long as you’re a great team and you’re playing good basketball, you should get to the finals to be able to play with whoever you play with. I I don’t think it matters if you honestly, like you mentioned, I’d rather go through an easier conference and not have to worry about going long series with great teams, especially if they’re physical ones. I’d rather not do that really at all. Um, and OKC though, I will give them credit. They did go through a pretty uh good gauntlet against the Denver Nuggets. They did make quick work of Minnesota, but Denver really beat them up and they were still able to make it happen. But to that point, part of the reason why, and I know that this did not happen until the first quarter of game seven, part of the reason why they won the finals is because when the final buzzer sounded, they were healthier than the Indiana Pacers. That’s part of and we we will never know what would have happened in that game seven had Tyrese Hallebertton not gotten injured, but they were the healthier team and they won. And far more often than not, that is the case. Like you have to be great too. Obviously you can’t be the Washington Wizard to just say, “Oh, we’re healthy. Give us the title.” But the the best most healthy team is often the one that wins. And having an easier path there, I just think is kind of the best thing you could ask for. Yeah. You got to be a great team and then you also have to have a little bit of luck on your side. What’s the What’s the saying uh great players or so? It’s like you create your own luck. Great teams create their luck. like you whatever the saying is that you definitely need that in every playoff run. Every champion has had a little bit of luck to go their way. So, and health luck is a major part of that. So, coming back though, I want to discuss how far are the Detroit Pistons from the Cleveland Cavaliers. They had a great season this past year. Big bounce back, big jump forward, took a New York Knicks team deep into the first round, played really well. Just how far are they now from the top of the conference, which is the Cleveland Caval? We’ll break it down coming up. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on Pistons your first list of every single day. We are free and available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Locked OnPistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. But now, let’s talk a little bit about the Detroit Pistons and get Danny’s opinion on the Pistons from an outsers point of view. The Pistons, they had a really good season this past year after one of the worst seasons in NBA history two years ago. They come back and shock everybody. Even their own front office has talked about over and over. They did not expect to be this good. Shock everybody. Get the six seed. Take the Knicks to six games. Uh and their playoff win drought that went back to 2008, everybody. 17 years. 17 grueling years. Um they get two wins in the playoffs. They have K Cunningham. They seem to have a bright future and everyone in Detroit is very excited, but I don’t think anyone’s putting them in that contender category. I don’t think anyone’s trying to put them in the top three category yet in the Eastern Conference. Danny, from your point of view, what is it? What are the Pistons lacking and how far are they from being in that conversation of the Knicks and the Cavs and maybe the Magic if you’d want to include them in there, but mostly the top of the conference? What where are they missing and how far are they? So, I think that they’re missing a little bit of maturity. And I don’t bring that up as like some negative thing, but they’re still a young team, right? Like you look at how and Kate Cunningham is awesome and he was so good last year and he deserves all the credit that he gets. Um, but you you’re talking about him as somebody who later this month will turn 24 if I’m not mistaken. Like, he’s still a young player, still developing, still learning the NBA. And I think the sky’s is the limit for somebody like him. but he’s also probably not ready to lead a team to like the finals, right? And the rest of this roster in Detroit is a nice roster. Obviously, they didn’t go out and make big splashes this off season, but they’ve got a solid roster that I just don’t know that the rest of the roster around him is necessarily ready. And I look at and I know he’s somebody that you are very high on. Is Assar Thompson ready to be a co-star? That is one of the biggest questions that I have about Detroit because if Assar is ready and I think he’s going to be a very very good player. I don’t know if he’s ready to be like the second guy on a team that goes to the conference finals quite yet. I think he’s going to be really good though. But I do think that Detroit’s kind of waiting for that number two guy to be like a bonafide allstar type number two guy. That is the thing. And it’s not necessarily something holding them back because I do think that the approach Detroit took this year or this summer I should say where they want to give these young guys a chance to grow together is the right one. So often I think you see teams try and cut the line and try and speed up their process and it doesn’t often end well. And I think that the Pistons are making the right decision because this group should be together for a number of years still. And I don’t know how much better they’re going to be this year than they were last year. I think that they should be around 50 wins which is kind of on track truthfully coup with who the Cavs were when JB Bickerstaff took over there because when they drafted Evan Moley Evan the the year before they drafted Evan Moley when he was a freshman at USC. The Cavs I believe won 21 or 22 games which was not as bad as the Pistons were two years ago because the Cavs have never had anything as bad as the Pistons were two years ago in very few. Not many teams. Yeah, not many teams had it. But they doubled their win total. They went from, I believe it was 22 to 44. And then they traded for Donovan Mitchell. They did try and speed up that process a little bit. They then go from 44 to 51 wins. And that’s kind of where I think the Detroit Pistons should be this year. After that, they had a a rough year injury-wise, but won a postseason series. And then last year we saw them take that huge step forward. As I was speaking about earlier, how difficult it is to go from good to great. It took the Cavs three years of being good before they became great. And I kind of think that the Pistons are in the good area right now. I think that there’s a pathway for them to get to great. I just don’t think that that pathway is within the next 12 months. So, we talked with J John Carales over on Locked on Celtics in the first episode of our Eastern Conference tour. And when we talked about the Pistons at the end, he kind of referenced what you’re referencing as well, but he also went on to say he brought up how he thinks some of the one of the things that he thinks teams like this a mistake they can make is holding on to guys too long and being too attached to guys and not wanting to make a move because you’re scared of making a move. So, I want to ask you for covering a team that did make the Donovan Mitchell trade. What signs or what how long one should it take before you feel like, okay, it’s time to make this move? What signs do you wait for? Jay and Ivy, Jaylen Duran, they’re both up for extension this offseason. I don’t know if they’re going to get it this year. Assar Thompson is up for an extension next off seasonason. K Cunningham is having his extension kick in this year. So, I there was a civil war in the Pistons community a little bit. A lot of people wanted him to go and make this big move, go get another guy to be that co-star that you’re talking about that Kade needs. And then a lot of the lot of the fans, I’d say probably the majority right now of the fans were were like, “Let’s bring everyone back. Let’s play it safe. Let’s be patient. Let these guys develop and maybe one of the the second star is on the team already. Let’s just believe in these guys.” The question at the end of the day does come down to though, at what point do you make a decision on that? How long do you wait and what answer, you know, what answer do you wait for? So, like I said, from someone who covered the Cavs making this deal for Donovan, what should the Pistons and Pistons fans be looking for to know when it’s time to make this move? I think it’s time to make that kind of a splash when one that sort of move is available because if you do look at the rest of the summer with the NBA, like what is the big move that the Pistons could have made and didn’t make this year? Like, they were never going to trade for Kevin Durant. That was not something that was a possibility for them. I don’t know that there was this big move that the Pistons says, “Ah, you know what? Thanks, but no thanks. But the thing that I look at is, do you have your core identified? Because at that point, Darius Garland made his first All-Star team. At that point, Jarrett Allen made an all-star team for the Cavs. At that point, it was coming off of Evan Moble’s rookie year. Evan, the Cavs certainly felt should have won rookie of the year, and I agree with them. I I think that Scotty Barnes winning that award over him was a mistake. And I think that has kind of certainly proven true in the years that have followed because Evan’s been a much better player than Scotty. But they had identified, okay, these three guys are the core of this roster. Lowry Markin was a nice piece, but they didn’t identify him as a core piece. Colin Ston was a nice player, but he was not somebody that was identified as a core player. So, if they had a move that they could make, which obviously they did with Donovan, where they could send out some stuff because they had a lot of draft capital that they could move and they had some good players that I just mentioned, and get a really good core piece without having to touch the existing core. That’s when I think you go ahead and make that franchise altering type move. The Cavs really threaded that needle super well. For the Pistons, it’s okay. We know Kate Cunningham part of the core. No doubt about that. We all think Assar Thompson part of the core feel pretty good about that one. Maybe not as good as we feel about Kate Cunningham, but we feel pretty good about Assar. Think we feel pretty good about Jaylen Dur as part of that core. Jaden Ivy, I think is a question. I I think you could after those three guys, I don’t know that there’s anybody else you feel sure about. And I think that especially because of the injury that Ivy had last year, giving him 70 plus games next to Cade Cunningham will give you the answer in Detroit, whether or not he’s part of that core. And then I think if you’re the Pistons, you can go into next off season knowing, okay, this is what our core looks like. This is what we could move to, maybe add to it. This is what’s available to us. And then you go from there. Yeah, I completely agree with you. And I think Tan Langden has spoken to this as well about I’ve said this over and over that I feel like the Pistons are looking at this upcoming season as if we take a step back but we get answers on the young guys I’ll take it. If the team takes a step forward and we get answers on the young guys, I’ll take it. It seems like that Traan just wants answers however he gets them. He wants to know is like you mentioned is Ivy a part of the court? Is he the co-star next to Kade? Is he the back court mate for Cade? Can Cade, Duran, and Ivy or can Duran Cade and Assar prove that last year wasn’t just a one-off that they actually are a top seven, top eight defense in the NBA when those guys play and they are a top seven, top eight team net rating wise when those guys play together. Are they actually the team to build around or do you want to get a stretch big maybe with Kade and Assar to kind of space out the floor a little bit more? Is a Ron Ron Holland and Asar Thompson your wings of the future? Then can you play those guys with Jaylen Duran? Like I think they want all these answers before they hand out money to Jaylen Duran on an extension too. Jay Ivy to on an extension and I don’t think Trejan and I think his interviews this summer have made it clear that he doesn’t feel like he has those answers and he doesn’t want to move off those guys until he does have the answer. He doesn’t want something to blow up in his face before he finds out his determined answer. So I think that’s what they’re waiting for. I agree with you. My one concern and I think this team will be really good this year. I think simply having a SAR back for a full year, they’ll be really good because of that. So, I do think they’re going to be very good. My one concern though for this team is that talking with John about this, he brought up I forget what team was it back in uh there was a team in 2022 he referenced in the Eastern Conference and kind of took a step back after such a fun season, whatever. I forget what would it have been the Atlanta Hawks. Yeah, I was going to say it might have been Atlanta that he brought up. Um then there’s a team like in Sacramento few years ago had a great season, brought a lot of people back and then took a step back. My that’s my one concern is that I do agree that you can hold on to guys too long and I just hope that the team doesn’t take that approach and try to wait and are too patient to a fault because they’re scared of making a move. I that’s the one thing I’m worried about. But I do agree that move probably was not there this offseason and they will make that decision next off seasonason. And that’s when we’ll start talking about the Pistons maybe competing with the Cavs and the Celtics coming back with Jason Tam and the Knicks. So, the one push back I would have to those comparisons to the Hawks and the King cuz you’re right, like those teams have had seasons that were similar to what Detroit just had and taken a step back. The Hawks have had Trey Young who is a very, very good player. Um, that Kings team had Darren Fox and Damont Sabonis, two very, very good players. None of those guys are one who Kate Cunningham is right now and two who Kate Cunningham is going to be. Like that is the thing that I do think should alleviate that concern is you know I think Trey is a good player but I don’t think he’s a player that can be the best player in a championship team. I think Darren Fox is a good player but he can’t be the best player in a championship team. Damonte Sabonis cannot be the best player on a championship team. Kate Cunningham at right now he can’t like he’s not ready for that now but at some point in Kad’s career I believe he will be good enough to be the best player on a championship team and I think that alone should mean okay maybe the Pistons aren’t getting better every single year but they’re not going to take that same type of step back where they’re just in play in purgatory the way those two franchises are. Right. And I I just remembered who it was. It actually wasn’t John. It was when I recorded with locked on Raptors host Sean Wiggley and talk about he mentioned that uh there was a Raptors team the rookie year of Scotty Barnes they had a really good year and instead of making moves they came back the next year like oh this guy’s going to get better this guy’s going to get better we’re going to be great and they had a major step back and things have kind of went downhill since then. So I agree with you though that that was a point I brought up to him is that I felt like those other teams just didn’t have Cade and Cage’s going to give you a certain floor that you just can’t fall as long as you have competent NBA players around him. not killing Hayes and James Wiseman, you will have you will have a base floor of where Cade can get you to that you just won’t fall underneath. So, I do agree with that. We’ll see how it plays out this year. I think the Pistons will get those answers one way or the other and we’ll see if that maybe makes them make a move maybe at the deadline. Maybe we’ll see it even then as soon as possible. So, um but that’s all I’ve got for you guys today. Danny, let everyone know where they can find you and your work Locked on Cavs and where you ride at, all that good stuff. Yeah, you can check me out um wherever you are watching or listening to this fine edition of Locked on Pistons. If you just type in locked on Cavs, I’ll pop up and you can subscribe to that podcast and listen to me talk about the Cavaliers, JB Bickerstaff’s old home, um five days a week. And I also write about the Cleveland Cavaliers at my Substack, the Inside Shot. All right, appreciate you, Danny, for coming on, man. It’s always fun talking with you. Hopefully, maybe soon we’re talking about playoff series between the Pistons and the Cavs deep in the playoffs. It’ll be a lot of fun. It sure would. We’ve got some regular season games to talk about before that, C, don’t you worry. All right. Thank you guys for making Lockdown Pistons your first list of every single day. Free and available on all your podcast platforms. Hit that subscribe button to the YouTube channel. Leave us a fivestar review, whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. And until next time, stay safe out there everybody. And peace out.

Cavaliers’ playoff hopes hang in the balance as Eastern Conference reshuffles. Can Cleveland capitalize on a weakened field?

Ku Khahil and Danny Cunningham dissect the Cavs’ postseason stumble, highlighting injury woes that derailed their run. They analyze how Boston’s regression and New York’s rise impact Cleveland’s championship aspirations. The conversation shifts to Detroit’s rebuild, with Cade Cunningham emerging as a potential franchise cornerstone. Danny offers insights on the Pistons’ timeline for contention and draws parallels to other young teams’ trajectories.

Tune in for expert analysis on how the Cavaliers and Pistons stack up in the evolving Eastern Conference landscape.

SUBSTACK: kukhahil.substack.com

PLAYBACK: playback.tv/watchpistons

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