BREAKING: Detroit Pistons Will Not Extend Jalen Duren Or Jaden Ivey | Decisions Coming This Season

BREAKING: Detroit Pistons Will Not Extend Jalen Duren Or Jaden Ivey | Decisions Coming This Season

Reports are suggesting the Detroit Pistons will not come to an agreement with an extension for Jaylen Duran or Jaden Ivy. That means this season some big decisions will have to be made for the Detroit Pistons future. 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 Lockdown Pistons podcast. Per usual, I your host Cougill. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons for the last four years for the Lockdown Network. Van Condential media member over the last three years and I appreciate all of you guys who make Locked on Pistons your first listen every single day. We are free and a develop on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel, 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. The season is starting up this week. On Wednesday, the Pistons will play their first game. Looking forward to it. But before we get into any of that, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 to use in bonus bets across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started today. Later on, I want to give my final takeaways from the Detroit Pistons preseason. And then I saw there was a little bit of conversation going on. We had this topic actually, I believe, two years ago on the podcast. It’s been two years. My opinion has changed. So, I wanted to talk about Lil Caesar’s Arena versus The Palace. Which one is better? Which one have I liked more? Now that we’ve had a few more years with Lil Caesar’s Arena, I want to give my updated opinion. Again, like I said, it’s changed. So, we’ll talk about that a little later. I’m interested to hear your guys’ thoughts on that. But, let’s start with the biggest news of the week. According to Mark Stein and Jake Fischer of the Stein line, the Detroit Pistons are unlikely to come to an agreement with an extension, a rookie scale extension for Jaylen Duran or Jaden Ivy. I will say that if you’ve been listening to the podcast all summer, this doesn’t come as much of a shock um I would say to the daily listeners of this podcast. It doesn’t come to a huge shock of mine either. Um I did not think uh it was very likely that either of these guys would get an extension. Now, over the last week, two weeks, I thought there was maybe a a higher chance that they’d come to an agreement with Duran, but it doesn’t sound like they’re going to come to an agreement with either one of these guys. Um, I feel like what’s more interesting about this is what was what else was said in the article and then also obviously looking ahead due to Jane Ivy’s injury that’s going to keep him out the beginning of the year, how everyone should be looking at this season, the future of this team combined with this report and the decision to not extend these guys. We’ll start with what else was said in this article and kind of backs up something that I’ve been telling my listeners every day over the summer, which was we’ll start with Jay and Ivy. Jake Fischer says within this article that um Jay and Ivy’s camp basically believes that in restricted free agency next year, there’s going to be a big market for him. They they’re off him and the Pistons are off in the evals of what a contract would look like. I had been telling my listeners throughout the offseason that I had been hearing that the Detroit Pistons and Jay and Ivy were off on what they believe was a fair contract for him. Jay and Ivy wanted a lot more than what the Pistons were offering from what I was told throughout the offseason. Um, I don’t have an exact number. Um, but I did hear at one point during the offseason, you guys can quote me with this. Um, I had heard earlier in the offseason that Ivy’s camp had been looking at Jaylen Green’s contract number as a potential comparison. Um, that was early in the offseason. So, don’t know if that stayed throughout the offseason, but that’s where I was early and I was repeatedly told throughout the offseason that they were not close to each other and what they thought was a correct eval for a contract extension for Jaden Ivy. So, that kind of backs up what I had been saying on the podcast. Also, moving on to Jaylen Durren, the article also states, which was a bit surprising to me because I hadn’t heard any anything really with Jaylen Duran um throughout the off season, but the report seems to suggest that Duran and his camp are expecting a contract north of $30 million a year, which is pretty hefty. North of 30 $30 million is pretty hefty for Jaylen Duran. Um, so it makes sense why the Pistons would not extend him at this moment because I don’t think he’s worth $30 million a year either. I like Duran. Um, I’ve talked about his offensive skill set a ton, but there are still questions like I wrote about earlier in the offseason over in the Substack. There there are still questions about the future um fit of all of these guys together and that includes Jaylen Dur. The Pistons are going to spend this season trying to get answers on who is actually the young core, who are we building around, and who fits together. Everyone knows that obviously Cade is the main guy. Everyone knows that he is the franchise player. But if Dur like they need to find out, is Duran your second most important player? Is it are you building around Kade and Duran? If that’s the case, do you believe that you can play Kade, Duran, Assar, and Ron at any point in the future? You got to answer that question. if they come to the midway through the year and they’re like, “Okay, we’re building around Kadan Assar. Can you play Kadasar?” Like, you got to figure out who your main guys are so you can know where and and Traan talked about this in the offseason. You got you got to get these answers before you go and make a big trade, before you go and make some moves so you understand what it is exactly you are needing. So with those questions still out there and then also Duran needing to show improvement on the defensive end, you cannot play it you you cannot pay a big man in 2025 that type of money unless you believe they can be a defensive anchor. You are not going to see guys unless they are Nicole Joic or Donna Sabonis who are elite offensive hubs and offensive players and obviously Okic is arguably the best offensive player we’ve ever seen. Like outside of that, you cannot pay defense or big men that type of money without them proving that they can be anchors defensively. So, I don’t blame the Pistons at all for not wanting to match that match that contract. What I will say is this is that this brings this is going to make a very interesting season, especially when you see how much it seems like these guys are valuing themselves in the market. Because I if I had to guess, I think the Pistons are basically saying, “We don’t believe you guys are going to be worth this amount. We will wait. If you prove to be worth that amount, then I guess we’ll pay you it. But we’ll go into restricted free agency next offseason. And if you believe you’re that worth that much, go find somebody else who’s going to pay you that much.” As we saw this past season in restricted free agency, there just wasn’t that type of money out there. Like we saw Cam Thomas, we saw Josh Giddy, we saw Jonathan Kaminga, uh Quinn Grimes, like three of those guys took qualifying offers or actually two of them. Jonathan Kaminga ended up make taking like that two-year option, what whatever. Um and then Josh Giddy had to end up coming down off the asking price he was he was asking for from the Bulls. So we’ve we’re seeing how the market is changing, especially because of the Second Apron and the new CBA. We’re seeing how restricted free agency is not as rich of a of a of a field that you’d like to be in. So, it feels like the Pistons are basically making the bet that if we do want to bring these guys back, we don’t think they’re going to be able to go into restrictive free agency and find this contract that they are thinking they’re going to find. And the article states that Jane Ivy’s camp apparently believes and both actually it says both Ivy and Darren’s camp believes if they get into restricted free agency, there’s going to be this huge market next off seasonason that’s going to force the Pistons to pay. And I just don’t know if that’s going to be the case. like there’s Darren will have to improve quite a bit defensively for him to get north of $30 million a year. Now 20 25 plus million a year I I think he might be able to find 25 fair enough. But 30 plus like if he he’s going to have to make some big improvements defensively and really step it up. And I I’m not a box score guy, but I think this is probably the, you know, most simple way for maybe some casual listeners to understand this a little easier. Like, you’re not paying like again, as much as I’m not a box score guy, 11 points and 10 rebounds a game, you’re not getting 30 plus million a year. Now, there’s a bunch of You guys know I’m deep into the film. I’m deep into the numbers. I I don’t like just looking at the box score. But sometimes there are like if you’re just a casual person, you want to look at the box score. That does make it pretty simple at times. like 11 and 10, you’re not getting 30 plus million dollars when you’re also not, you know, um, developed all the way defensively. Now, that’s not to say I don’t like Durn. I think Dur’s going to have a really good year. I think he’s going to be have better numbers than that. But my point is is that I I think he’s going to be looking for a minute to get $30 million. And I think that’s how Treasur Ling’s looking at it as well. The other angle I want to look at this from is that I think this could lead to the Pistons having to make some decisions in the middle of the year. And we’ll wait and see. We are only in October, so I don’t want to jump too far ahead, but I I’ve been saying it all off seasonason. Traan’s kind of hinted at it all offseason as well. This season is is simply about getting answers and then making moves off those answers. And with both of these guys, the Pistons are at a point where their superstar is on his extension now. He’s getting paid big bucks. This is when you start. The next step of team building is always the hardest. The next step of team building is when the hardest decisions come. And they’ve now entered that time now that Kade’s on that extension where you have to start making decisions. And if you are not if you have not extended these guys to long-term extensions, does that mean they are for sure being moved on from 100? No. Absolutely not. But does it mean they for sure are coming back? It also means no. And I I I honestly feel Duran’s situation I think is different. Iivey’s situation is really going to be interesting because he’s going to be out four to six weeks. I think it’s probably going to be closer to six weeks, maybe a little bit longer than six weeks. Um, I had just watched the doctor, one of the the the sports doctors on YouTube, uh, talk, I forget what the exact doctor’s name, but he was talking about how it’s usually like a six week injury. Um, and that’s not taking into account like getting getting back into shape, you know, all that stuff, whatever. So, I think it’s probably going to be close to six week injury. Anyways, my point being is that having that injury happen in your extension eligible year, the team doesn’t extend you. You’re wanting this big contract next off. You believe there’s going to be this big robust market next off seasonason and now you’re out the first six, however many weeks of the season. We’ll see what the role is coming back off that injury. You still have to work yourself back into shape. You haven’t played basketball in going to be around a almost a year, if not a year, by the time you play again. I think that whole situation around Ivy is going to be very interesting because of the unfortunate circumstances of yet again another injury. So, we’ll see what ends up happening during the season. But what we know is that this is going to be a big year for Ivy and Duran. This is big year. Decisions will be made, moves will have to be made if things don’t go right. This is where the Pistons are at now. You have to start making these decisions. And it seems like they’ve already made the first step of don’t feel comfortable extending them right now. We want we want want to see how this season plays out. And I think revisiting this conversation in mid January, early February is where we will be at. And I’m interested to see what the conversation we are having. Is it okay, these guys have proven themselves? There’s going to be a big extension coming this offseason. The Pistons are in a good spot with these guys. or is it going to be the Pistons might need to fish around that trademark at February and start making decisions on do they need to move on from some guys before they get to the offseason. So, let me know comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cook Hill, what was your reaction to the report that the Pistons are unlikely to extend Duran or Ivy and where do you believe this puts them heading into this year and what kind of decisions do you think are in front of them this upcoming year? Let me know comment section down below or over on Twitter. Go. Coming up, I want to give my final preseason takeaways. There’s some good, there’s a lot of good, to be honest, but there’s also some bad and some mixed results. I want to just give my final thoughts on the preseason before the Pistons kick off their regular season on the 22nd, this upcoming Wednesday. Today’s episode is brought to you by Pelaton. Pelaton is shaping the future of fitness with the brand new Pelaton Cross Training Tread Plus powered by Pelaton IQ. It’s their most advanced equipment yet, designed to give you real-time guidance and endless ways to move. Whether you’re running, lifting, or crossraining with your favorite instructors, this is training re-imagined. Pelaton is built for breakthroughs with tools that help you plan, stay motivated, and reach peak performance. The swivel screen is a game changer. You can go from running on the tread plus to a strength training without missing a beat. And the personalized class recommendations keep you engaged. You get workouts tailored to your vibe and energy level each week. So, let yourself run, lift, and flex, and move forward with the Pelaton Crossraining Tread Plus. You can try it out today at oneplaton.com. Again, explore the new Pelaton Crossraining Tread Plus today at one pelaton.com. Then, I got to tell you guys about another one of our sponsors, Monarch Money. Let’s be honest, most of us can’t even name all of our financial accounts, let alone what they’re worth. between 401ks, savings, and investments is easy to lose track. And that can mean ling, excuse me, money on the table. That’s why I started using Monarch, an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or on your phone. I love that I can review everything with my partner, see our shared goals, and make more better or make better, excuse me, my goodness, financial decisions together. Monarch’s visual dashboards and smart tools make it so much easier to understand where my money is going and how to make it work harder for me. Don’t let financial opportunities slip through the cracks. Use code lockedmbba at monarch.com for 50% off your first year. That’s monarch.com. Use code lockdown NBA for half off your first year with Monarch money. So, I want to thank you guys again for making lockdown pistons your first listen 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. That’s another great way to support the podcast. I want to give my final takeaways um from the preseason. Actually, before we get into that, let me let you guys know Substack this week there will be a deal half off all subscriptions for the Substack. If you want to view all the film breakdowns I’ve been doing over there, we’re going to have one after every single game this upcoming season. We’re also going to have written reviews. We’re going to have written breakdowns. All that stuff. You guys were a subscriber last off or last season, you guys know what it’s about. If you guys are wanting to check it out and see all the new content, different type of content I have going for you guys, we’ll have all our or half off deal for the subscription starting Monday. I’ll link it down below. Or if you want to watch the Pistons games with us live, me and the Pistons fan base, you want to join the live watch parties and have fun watching them, join us this Wednesday. hit the playback link down below and you’ll be able to watch the games with me and the rest of the Pistons fan base. But now, let’s go ahead and start my takeaways from the preseason. The very first takeaway I have is it’s a it’s a very positive one. I want to start with the positives. We’ll go back and forth. The positive is K. Cunningham looks like he took an absolute step this this preseason. if if he’s able to play this season, how he played in the preseason, if that’s any indication, we’re looking at a potential superstar, legitimate top 10 player, universally recognized this upcoming season. During the preseason, he shot 62% from the field, 58% from deep, and 91% from the free throw line. He averaged 20 plus on these 504 90 slip or uh splits. My goodness. Very efficient. The three-point shooting looked a lot better. The finishing the finishing looked in a ton better. That was probably the the the part of his game that I was most excited to see. Looked so good in preseason that the finishing just looked so much better. We know how much of a how much of that was needed based off his last few seasons in the NBA. He hasn’t been a great finisher so far and if he can turn that around, it really will lead to him being such a a much more efficient basketball player. So, my first takeaway was Kade looked awesome, looked fantastic, looked way better than last year, and that’s saying something. And hopefully that transitions over to the regular season. They the coaching staff talked about his conditioning and strength being up. We know that he spent a large majority of his offseason just focused on that. And to see it already like being on display in preseason makes me feel confident it’s something we’re going to see play out during the regular season. Number one, K Cunningham’s play in the preseason. Now, we’ll go with the mixed bag. Next takeaway is a mixed bag. It is Assar Thompson as a point guard. We saw some really good stuff, but we also saw some not so good stuff. Let’s start with the good stuff we saw with him and then we’ll move on to the mixback. What made him such a mixed bag? I think one my my number one thing that I love seeing from the Assar having the ball in his hands a lot more was in the first few games he was drawing 10 plus free throws every like his free throw away rate was through the roof. He was getting to the free throw line almost every single time he drove to the drove to the rim which was fantastic to see. You want that to be the case. You want him to be aggressive getting to the basket. You want him using his athleticism. you want him really putting stress on the defense and forcing them either to stop him, which is gonna be hard to do because of how athletic he is, or follow him. And they were doing that a ton. So, the free throw rate in and and his ability to end his drives with positives, I thought were really was was by far the biggest plus of this experiment that we saw in the preseason of him having the ball in his hands a ton. Now, we can just immediately go to what made that even more of a mixed bag. I talked about in the podcast. He didn’t shoot very well at all from the free throw line the first three games. Shot 41%. Now, I know I think he shot two of two in the final game um from the free throw line, but he only got to the line twice. Um first three games only shot 41% from the free throw line. Now, I’ve said over and over the last 23 games of this past season, he shot around 71% from the free throw line. Overall, in the whole season, he shot 64, but he’s got better as the season went on from the free throw line. I don’t expect him to shoot that bad. I don’t think anyone really expects him to shoot that bad from the free throw line, but is he going to be better? Is he going to be better than last year? The fact that he wasn’t shooting well from the free throw line the preseason made it hard for me to come on here and talk about the process of the drives because even with him drawing the fouls and that being a big plus, he wasn’t converting the the looks. So, while you take the, okay, we’re seeing good drives, we’re seeing aggressive drives, we’re seeing him use his strength creation to really move guys at the rim and draw fouls. That’s a big plus, it’s hard to come on here and talk about when you’re not then making any of the free throws. So, that’s part of the reason why it was a mixed bag. Let’s go with another positive from Assar. I thought that the handle in transition looked a lot better. I thought even in the half court the the handle looked better than last year. That’s a positive. The other end of this is that the handle still doesn’t why I it 100% to me looked better than last year. 100%. It still I don’t know if it looks good enough to where you can put the ball in his hands a a ton. Now it was just preseason and I I was listening to Bryce Bryce Simon of the Pistons falls on the game. I was listening to him talk about it and I thought his analysis of it was pretty on point. Um he talked about how m some of it obviously may be about him having a looser handle but then maybe other part of it which I I think you see it when you watch the film is that he’s learning how to navigate screens and how to make the next move off of navigating screen. Like for example when guys go under his screen instead of just waiting and then rescreening again. it seems like he’s moving too fast to try to rescreen because that’s usually the the best move to do if someone goes under the screen against someone like that that’s an athletic driver. You have your screener reset flip and reset the screen. So now the guy who’s going under is now stuck on that screen that’s resscreened and now you just go the other way. That’s usually what you do and Assar tried to do that a few times but either one went way too fast didn’t allow a screener to rescreen which got him into trouble at some times and caused him to lose the ball. So, I think some of it has to do, yes, the handle maybe is a little bit too loose still, but I think also some of it will just come with reps as he gets more comfortable running, you know, an action or running a pick and roll with whoever he’s running it with and really getting comfortable. I think that as the reps continue on, it’ll look better. But it wasn’t all great. You saw times when you again, he runs a pick and roll, gets to the rim, it looks great. And then the other times we see him run a pick and roll. Guy goes under the screen and then he maybe goes too fast, loses control of the ball or he doesn’t rescreen or he forces the issue a little bit too much. Like there was it was good and bad and I think it will get better as the reps go on, but I think at the very least you saw enough to say it’s probably not going to be perfect right off the bat. We’re going to have to come back to this after the first 25ish games and say, “Okay, how did it look?” Because you guys know I like reviewing the season. I’ve done this for years. I’ve talked about how JJ Reic talked about how a lot of coaches and himself look at seasons at like by the 20. Um, so after 20 to 25 games is usually where I make my first big takeaway. Um, I think the main thing is you want to see after that how has it progressed to that point and does it give you signs to keep going or whatever. So that’s where I’m at. That’s my next takeaway from the Pistons preseason. The next takeaway I have is Jaylen Duran. I I know we just talked about him in the first segment and about how, you know, the contract that he’s wanting. We’ll see if he ends up earning it, but I thought he looked very good in the limited time we saw him in preseason. We didn’t see him very much at all, but in the limited time we got to see him in preseason, I thought he looked incredibly engaged. I thought he looked even more engaged on the defensive end. You saw them put the ball in his hands quite a bit. And I I think him with the ball in his hands also provided a little bit of a mixed bag. I thought in the game without Cade, you can see he felt like he had to force the issue cuz there’s no one else that’s really going to, you know, create offense. I felt like it really hurt the entire Pistons offense. I think it hurt Danis. I think it hurt Asar, Duran, all of them. I think they all felt that responsibility. So in that game I thought it was a little bit more of a mixed bag. But in the other minutes we saw him I thought you continue to see I there was few I I think there was two plays in actually in the Cleveland game where he gets a defensive rebound starts dribbling pushing the transition and ends up outletting for Javvante Green layups on some really good passes that you just don’t see big men do. So I think you’re starting to see like the the extension of his offensive game a little bit. I think that was really good to see. Um, again, I think the the increased ball handling is the biggest takeaway with Duran. We’ll see how much really with, you know, Assar, Duran, all these guys. They even talked about Ron before this the preseason that they wanted to see the ball in his hands a little bit more. So, I guess we’ll see how much they really want to put the ball in these guys’ hands. But I thought with Duran, you saw just like with the Saw, you saw the good and the bad, but you saw, I would say, even more promise with Duran off the defensive rebounds and pushing and how that could be really unique to the Pistons offense because there’s not many bigs that can do that. Um, and then my final takeaway, there’s a few minor takeaways I had, but my final takeaway is it’s really a question actually. Who’s going to get the backup guards? Is it going to be Danis or is it going to be Marcus Sasser? I thought Danis looked all right in preseason. And I thought he had some up and downs, especially in the Cleveland game. I thought he made some tough reads and turned the ball over a little bit too much. I actually thought he improved as a scorer within the half court as a as a offensive player. I thought he actually improved as a scorer. Um whereas the playmaking I thought took a dip a bit. Um but I thought he gave good minutes and I think he put on a decent showing to show why he should be getting the minutes. We also heard from Marcus Sasser on the on the broadcast in the final preseason game. He was on the broadcast with Greg and George and he said that he’s been dealing with tightness in his hip. He’s been dealing with a little bit of an injury. Um but he’s ready to crack the rotation and be be a big contributor this year. Who’s going to get those mints now that Ivy’s out? Who is JB going to go with? Is he going to go with Danis or is he going to go with Marcus? I my prediction what I would do I think you have to go with Marcus because especially with how I what Ivy’s role is going to be as an offball guy if you’re going to put the ball in Kade and Assar’s hands like when they staggered Kade and Assar if that’s the plan you want to put the ball in Assar’s hands you want to put the ball in Caris’s hands you want a guy who can play off ball and be really be that threat as a scorer off ball I think Marcus is like one of the best on the team at that so if that’s the role you want to plug in I feel like you should go with with Marcus but we’ll see what JB’s decision ision is that’s my biggest question coming out of preseason. Which one of those guys get the minutes? Is it Danis or is it Marcus? Let me know what you guys think. Who gets the mitts at the guard position in the comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cuckoo? Yo, coming up, I want to give my thoughts on this debate that we had, I think two and a half years ago on the podcast. I saw it re resurface in the Pistons community over the last few days. And because my opinion has changed since last time I talked about this two years ago, I wanted to talk about it here. Lil Caesar Arena verse the Palace of Auburn Hills. Which one is better? I’ll give my opinion coming up. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That’s right. Pick a bet, put down five bucks, and if it hits, you’ll unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love how FanDuel gives me so many ways to play. I’ve built parlays, tried player props, and even followed the live lines during games. It makes watching football even more exciting when you’ve got a little something riding on the action. Whether you’re a casual fan or love diving in diving into the stats, excuse me, FanDuel makes the game day experience so much better. So, what are you waiting for? Visit fanduel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. And if you use your $5 bet and it hits, you unlock $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Again, visit fanduel.com to download the FanDuel app today and get started. Now, I got to tell you guys about another one of our sponsors, one of my favorites, Game Time. Basketball season is officially here, and nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games. But let’s be real, getting tickets can be a total headache. Between waiting in queues, surprise fees, and prices that drip right before checkout. It’s easy to get frustrated when all you want to do is cheer on your team. And that’s where Game Time comes in. The app that gives fans the advantage. It’s your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NBA tickets fast, easy, and stress-free. The reason why I love game time so much is because I’m a procrastinator, I wait till the last second with like almost everything I do. And same thing with my tickets. So, when I go to buy tickets anywhere else, not very good seeds, prices are way too high. It I end up screwing myself over. But with Game Time, I got last second deals and so many seats to choose from. You got zone deals, which are a game changer. You can pick the section and game time picks your seats and you save big. You can do it all the way up to the last minute and sometimes there’s even deals after the event’s already started. I It saves me so much. So, take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. That’s code lenba for $20 off your first purchase. Swipe, tap, ticket, go with game time. So, I want to thank you guys again making Locked on Pistons your first listen 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. I appreciate all of you guys. Check out the links down below, the Substack, the playback. Again, if you want to sub to the substant, get all that content. Or if you want to watch the Piston games live with me and the rest of the Pistons fan base, click that playback link, join the room, and get the update or and download the playback app, I should say, and join us on Wednesday for the Piston season opener. I want to ask you guys this real quick before we get into the the LCA versus, you know, the palace. For those of you guys who have a pet, specifically a dog, do they also bark at every single thing that come? Let’s say you live in an apartment complex. Someone’s walking outside or someone’s walking inside the building, get to their get to their room, get to their apartment. Does there does your dog also just bark uncontrollably no matter even when the person’s not bothering nobody, not bothering anybody, just barks non-stop? Because I don’t know if you guys have heard my dog in the back, but she has been barking the entire time I have been recording and there is nothing going on there. There is just nothing happening. She’s just barking for no reason. Let me know. I need to know if it’s just me, if is it just us? Do we Is it just our dog or is it, you know, got to know. Um, all right. Let me give my thoughts on the whole LCA verse the Palace. So, a few years ago, we talked about this and my opinion at the time was I had been to the Palace multiple times throughout my childhood. And if you don’t know what the Palace is, the Palace was the Pistons Arena out in Auburn Hills before they moved down to Detroit. I believe the first year was 2019. Um, they their first year here was the first playoff series, right? I believe um uh with Blake I believe that’s their that was their first season. Um they moved from the Palace to downtown Detroit. They’re right next to the arena’s right next to for Ford for Ford Field and Kame Park. Um that happened I like I said about six years ago, six, seven years ago. Um but two and a half years ago I gave my thoughts and I said I enjoyed the Palace a lot more. I like the fact that the Palace had parking right outside for everybody right outside the arena. I thought it made a lot more accessible. Um, I like the arena a little bit more. Um, and I think I just had a lot more memories in at the Palace when from me being a kid, obviously the going to work team. I think a lot of that played into it. Obviously, I love the intros at the Palace, the fire that burns up, the you know, I thought I really love the palace and I still love the palace. The memories I have of the palace are great. So, a few years ago, I said the palace was better than LCA. As of now, I have changed my opinion. I have grown to really, really like LCA. for a few reasons. One, the number one main reason why I’ve grown to really love LCA is because of the way downtown Detroit looks with all these arenas next to each other, especially when they all play on the same weekend or if they or if they all play on a Sunday. Like, I think the the the vibe of downtown and the way it just the atmosphere is special. I don’t know if other cities have like I don’t know if you’ve never been to Detroit, if you never been to downtown and you just you have never seen it. I’m not joking. Within like a on all like a four corners, you got one corner, there’s the Ford Field corner, you got Kame Park, and the other corner you got LC. They’re all right next to each other. So, it it brings like this this crazy fun atmosphere and just I think it makes it so much more appealing. So, that’s my number one reason for why I’ve loved the L Caesar Arena and grown to really like it a lot. Um, two, I know I spoke about the parking that was right outside the palace. Um, a few years ago, I didn’t know much about the parking in downtown. I always spent like forever looking for parking. I feel like now that the years have gone on, I think the fact I now know all the parking spots and I know like where to go if I’m going non-credentialed or if I’m going as like I know where the parking’s at downtown next to arena, it’s made it less a hassle and less stress. Um the stressfulness was like my biggest complaint going to LCA because it’s just like bro there’s no parking anywhere. Where am I supposed to go? That was the biggest thing. But now I feel like as the year’s gone all of us know like okay this is where parking’s at. This is where parking’s at. Blah blah blah. That makes it a lot better. So I that was my biggest complaint about LCA. But now let’s talk about the actual arena itself. I think the look the the only complaint I have about LCA is I feel like it’s very shallow and like I feel like that like the seats like I the only comp how do I explain I don’t really know how to explain it. Like I feel like the higher up you go when you when you are sitting somewhere like the higher up you are the more it feels like is all is just like one misstep and you could fall forward 20 ft. Like I don’t like I feel like it’s all like it feels like it’s almost like straight up all the seats are just straight up and not enough space is given. So that’s my one complaint. But I’ve been on the court a few times obviously because I’ve been credential. I think the court’s really nice. I really love the court. Um the fact that the fans have really come out and shown out in Detroit, which they have the last this past year, obviously has really built up the atmosphere of of of Little Caesars Arena. Um so that’s another really good uh plus. I like this is now a media part of this. I I like how you know where the media rooms at, how close it is, and you know the that’s like something that you guys obviously probably won’t care about, but that’s something I’ve really grown to enjoy. Um, I also enjoy like the I I actually I don’t even know if this can really be like used as a as a positive because I’m sure like the Palace had good concessions as well, but I feel like the concessions at Lily’s Arena, again, I was really young, so maybe I just didn’t know. Like I like the concessions at Lily’s Arena. I think I think they do a good job of of all that. Um, I I’ve grown to really like Lil Arena. I think it’s a really good place. I think it’s a I think as they win more I think a lot more people will start to say they like Lily’s Arena over the Palace. Um and I think for the main really like I said earlier like the main argument for Louis Arena is that it’s really helped bring Detroit back and Detroit’s been on this upward trajectory over like the last 15 years by having all your teams in downtown and all the teams playing well at the same time. Like you got the Tigers playing well, the Lions are playing well, the Pistons are playing well. I don’t watch m much hockey so I don’t know how the Red Wings are doing but like all of them playing well and having that scene downtown and really seeing like the seats get filled up this past year I think it just brought such an insane environment to Louis Arena that I just again maybe because I was too young obviously I know that it was crazy in the palace when the going to work teams um but I feel like the energy especially during the playoffs this past year like my god how loud it was for a first round series. I could not hear whistles. Like there was one play and we’ll wrap it up here. There was one play where Assar got a steal. I forget it was at the end of game five, I think it was, or yeah, no, game six it was. He got a steal and went and finished at the basket and was pressing Jaylen Brunson, but the Knicks called a timeout, but nobody in the arena could hear the timeout. No one could hear the whistle. So, you had Piston players still pressing up playing defense, and they were all coming onto the court trying to get a timeout. Like, that’s how loud it was in Little C’s arena. So, I think that experience in the playoffs really is what pushed it over for me. That fans can really turn that environment into just of a special environment as the Palace was, except it’s going to be downtown instead out instead of out in Auburn Hills. It’s going to be in Detroit, which I do think is a big deal. The Detroit Pistons should play in Detroit. So, um, that’s my takeaway. I have now grown to have LCA over the Palace. But, I’d love to hear from you guys. Let me know comment section down below over on Twitter, Cuckoo Hill. Do you guys like the Palace or LCA more? Until next time, I’ll see you guys later. Thank you guys. Make lockdown pistons your first listen every single day. We’re free and available on all your all your podcast platforms. And I will see you guys later. Stay safe out there and peace out everybody.

Detroit Pistons face crucial decisions as contract talks stall with rising stars Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey. Will these negotiations reshape the team’s future?

Host Ku Khahil breaks down the Pistons’ preseason performance, highlighting Cade Cunningham’s impressive leap and Ausar Thompson’s potential as a point guard. The discussion covers Marcus Sasser’s impact and also revisits the Little Caesars Arena vs. The Palace debate, offering fresh insights on the team’s home court advantage.

Please tune in for expert analysis on the Pistons’ roster moves, preseason standouts, and how these factors could influence their upcoming season.

PLAYBACK: playback.tv/watchpistons

SUBSTACK: Kukhahil.substack.com

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

DoorDashNext time someone goes off for 50, use promo code NBA50the next day to get 50% off on DoorDash with DashPass — plus your shot at the Bag Drop.DashPass members only. 50% off up to $10 the day after a 50-point game with promo code. Terms apply.No Purchase Necessary. Ends April 13th. Open to U.S. residents 21 or older. Visit DoorDashInYourBag.com for full details.DoorDash — In your bag all season long.

RobinhoodYou expect more from yourself. Expect more from your money. Get started today at robinhood.com/yourmoney. Your money. Your move.

All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Options, futures, and crypto trading carry significant risk and may not suit all investors. Securities offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Futures trading is offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC and not SPIC or FDIC protected. Crypto offered through Robinhood Crypto, LLC (NMLS ID 1702840), not FDIC or SIPC protected. Portfolio management offered by Robinhood Strategies, an SEC-registered advisor.

SKIMSShop SKIMS Mens at SKIMS.com/lockedonnba. Let them know we sent you! After you place your order, select “podcast” in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.

GametimeToday’s episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBAfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.

Mint MobileReady to say yes to sayingno?Make the switch at https://MintMobile.com/LOCKEDONNBA

Upfront payment of $45 required (equivalent to $15/mo). Limited-time new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speeds may slow above 35GB on Unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

BILTTurn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood by going to https://joinbilt.com/lockedonnba.

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

RugietReady to level up your confidence in the bedroom? Head to https://www.rugiet.com and use promo code LOCKEDONNBA for 15% off your first order.

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

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

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

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

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPistons?sid=YouTube

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

#DetroitPistons #Pistons #NBA