I was 18/19 years old when Grant Hill decided to leave Detroit. Up until that point, we had been spoiled with guys that were the face of the franchise in every sport for their entire careers (except the Tigers). I thought Hill leaving would ruin his career because I didn’t comprehend how much free agency was about to explode.
The fact the Pistons gave us such a run after Hill left still shapes my hope for sports fandom.
I think Pippen’s level of on-ball acumen isn’t something Franz is projected to achieve (honestly, I think the Scottie comp is probably most applicable to Barnes right now). Like Scottie was able to be the best player and offensive engine on a solid playoff team - not sure Franz has that offensive upside.
My thought is sort of more Pascal Siakam - a #2/#3 scorer, solid defender across a myriad of positions, pretty proficient both at the rim and from 3 (I think Franz will likely be a better shooter), and a solid secondary playmaker.
Siakam is good. I like that. I was trying to play the game who is Fraz’s 1990s comparator. Totally agree that it’s a remote possibility Frank equals Scottie—and from Pisons fans, that’s no shade!
I thought of AK but did he play in the 90’s?
…we need to stop winning games.
It’s not for lack of trying.
Killian Hayes has been looking at the g league lineups the way my son might look at a kid with a 40 mph fastball when he’s in a slump
Good for X but uh Pistons are playing catch up here
Somehow OKC was still a 4.5 point favorite tonight.
OKC was down by 18 in the 4th and came back to win. Pistons are back in the top 3!
Thank you Xavier Simpson!!
The Pistons finish the season by playing three teams fighting for playoff seeding. Losing out seems likely, though they are playing well.
Ah, the '90s NBA, when you could body slam a guy and just get called for a common foul. Maybe a flagrant if the ref was in a bad mood 
.
The glory days
I think as long as they only win one of the last three, they are guaranteed top 3 odds. I don’t think the Pistons can “catch” the Magic for 2nd as Orlando only has two games left.
Still, can’t fall further than 7th. And that would mean none of the bottom three stayed there, which is fairly unlikely.
Or the 80’s, where a guy like Robert Parish could sucker-punch Bill Laimbeer multiple times and not even get ejected!
If they tie with OKC, I believe it is a coin flip to see which team is third. So best to lose the rest of the games and not put the lottery odds in the hands of a coin flip.
Gotcha. Took Edwards at his word in this tweet https://twitter.com/jledwardsiii/status/1511527715878453251?s=21&t=cyreuI5b8e3YsD3xfHGA2Q
Position will be determined some way, maybe a coin-flip, like you said. However, they’ll split the lottery odds between the 14% for 3rd worst, and 11.5% for 4th worst.
Good to know. I think the biggest issue is it lowers the floor. For every spot they rise in the standings, the lower they can potentially draft if the lottery balls don’t fall their way.
If pistons drop to 4th, they have a 44.7% chance of drafting in the 6-8 range. If they are 3rd, the lowest they can go is 7th and their odds of drafting outside the top 5 are 33%.
And odds of getting a top 4 pick drops from 52.1% to 48.1%. I would really like to land one of those top 4 prospects to pair with Cade. It’s more of a crapshoot after that.