The one thing missing from the young core is a rim protector/lob threat. Stewart gives some of that but isn’t an out of the gym leaper. I don’t think they could trade up far enough to get Kai Jones or Isaiah Jackson, but maybe they look at Jericho Sims in the second round.
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Do any of those centers excite you? Seem pretty meh
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Yeah I think replacement level is so high for centers that spending a pick when you’re rebuilding and trying to hit big doesn’t make a ton of sense. And other than that, this is doesn’t seem like a great draft for centers. Only a couple dudes w/ standing reach 9+ ft. Jones is one but his game at Texas wasn’t super impressive defensively. Of that group, I think I like Jackson the best. I caught a couple UK games and he’s clearly an athlete with some instincts, but also a long way to go. Didn’t take his measurements though.
I think my value play would be Jay Huff at the back end of the 2nd round or on a 2 way. Measured 9-6 standing reach at the G-League Elite Camp and his FT shooting this year was really really good.
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Sims tested well and he played over Kai Jones and Greg Brown so maybe he’s just a non flashy guy that gets it done.
The Pistons don’t have a lot of spots so maybe they should draft and stash some athletic young big in Europe like this guy:
Smooth stroke…
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In case you’re wondering how well those drills convert to in game %, divide by 2.
So Kuminga put up a 32.5% equivalent:
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And in case you’re wondering how strongly to weight 3 pt shooting vs FT%, this thread is great:
TLDR, FT% a lot more on a per shot basis.
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I haven’t followed the draft process at all outside of what the Michigan guys are doing. I just saw a mock draft and there’s no Josh Christopher on there. Did his stock fall that badly this year?
He’s usually in the late first early second in the mocks ive seen
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Jerami Grant is 27.
I think, if everyone stays healthy, the Pistons could very well have a winning record this year. They were in so many close games this past season and you have to think that all of the past season’s rookies will improve. Possibly Sekou too. He still hasn’t played in a Summer League. I want to see what a full offseason might do for his game. Then you’ve also got the possibility of the guys like Frank Jackson and Hami coming back and developing consistent roles. At worst, I think they win more than 30 games. They should be a lot of fun to watch.
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You never know and I think the Pistons will at least be interesting next year - similar to the Tigers this year. But to have a shot at the playoffs they likely need to win 15 more games and pass a ton of teams in the process. Granted, this year they wanted to lose to get this #1 pick so I doubt they were trying very hard sometimes. But even with that, I counted about 13 games that they lost which were decided by 5 or fewer points or went to OT.
i think it is going to be an uphill battle this year depending on how the rest of the league shakes out. But I do think they can be relevant all season and if the play-in games still exist then maybe there’s a shot. Two years from now is when you’d like to see them in the back-half of the playoffs at least.
Maybe I’m drinking the Kool-aid and I want to see who they draft and how they look in Summer League, but my prediction today is that they go 43-39 with a healthy squad this year.
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I’d bet big money they don’t exceed 35 wins next year.
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They were definitely trying hard to be competitive but they definitely tanked in the last month and half when they sat Plumlee and Grant and a few other players to preserve the top 3 odds. Their point differential indicates that they should be the 6th/7th worst team in the league but they engineered the perfect tank into top 3 worst record while staying competitive for the most part.
I think they’ll be a lot better than this season but they might not be good enough to make the play-in games unless Cade becomes a star from day 1 and mesh well with his teammates. Bey and Beef Stew makes a huge leap with Hayes making an improvement as a G. Best case scenario would be play in games but worst case is top 10 pick. It seems realistic to me as far as 2022 season expectations goes.
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Playoffs will be hard. 76ers, Nets, Bucks, Hawks, Heat, Celtics all mortal locks. Knicks and Pacers both have a combo of good coach and roster that should make the play in easily at minimum. Hornets are basically the Pistons but a year ahead. That leaves the Wizards spot but they still have Westbrook and Beal for now. Then there are the Raptors who had a down year but who are definitely trying to contend and have the 4th pick (but could lose Lowry). Plus the Bulls who traded a lot of future assets for Vuc so you’d think they want to make the playoffs (have to keep Lavine though) and the Cavs who have some young talent, a high pick, and have been rebuilding awhile now
Obviously the offseason hasn’t happened so things will change but the East is finally getting a bit more competitive.
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We may have to revisit this before Game 1.
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Could the days of the East being the weaker conference finally be over? Certainly there’s more depth than in most of the 2000’s.
I like what the Pistons have over the Hornets. The Pistons lost two 3-point games and one 13-point game to the Hornets but never played them w/o their top two guys being out, so that makes their match-up hard to gauge. Charlotte doesn’t have a first round pick this summer.
The Raptors have some question marks. Siakam is not the budding superstar that everyone thought he was a couple of years ago and they did get rid of Piston-Killer Norman Powell.
The Bulls don’t have a first round pick. If I’m reading this right, it doesn’t look like they have a lot of cap space: 2021 NBA Cap Space: Projecting All 30 Teams - RealGM Analysis. While they added Vuc, they went 11-15 with him and they were trying to make the post-season.
Washington? They could be decent. It depends on what happens with Beal. He didn’t seem that happy this year.
I could see the Heat sliding if they let Duncan go. They have no picks in the draft. The 6ers may be in for a shakeup but they should still be a playoff team. The Knicks and Pacers both should be near where they were at this season, if not better.
And the Cavs? Since 1994, if LeBron isn’t on that team, they don’t win.
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Hugely critical that the Pistons are bad for one more year if they want to win anything substantial. Cade + the current core is fun and promising and could end up being a consistent playoff team in the 5-8 seed range annually in a few years. Cade + one of Chet, Emoni, Banchero, Hardy, Duren + the current core + room for a max FA in a year is something special.
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Or they could have good success and target a top young FA (JJJ?) in the summer of '22.
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I’m hoping for the play-in game next year. I think they’ll improve just from the young guys getting better and having more consistent rotations/roles. You really never knew who was going to play from game to game this year because they wanted to get eyes on so many players. But they’ll still be really young.
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