truly didn’t even know dentists had the authority to garnish wages
4 Likes
More importantly, how do you owe five figures to a barbershop? That feels like it should be hard to do in Milwaukee, even at a “celebrity barbershop.”
2 Likes
Well it’s better than being Marathon Man’ed for crying out loud.
1 Like
Given what happened to Beasley’s gambling and debt issues, Langdon did a fine job of pivoting to replace what they’re losing in the FA market. Duncan is the best possible move he can make in a short amount of time. I find it confusing that some Pistons fans think Duncan is a THJ replacement and LeVert is a Beasley (or Schroeder, depending on the fan) replacement when you should be switching both players around.
Pistons regular season rotation:
PG: Cade/Ivey/Sasser
SG: Ivey/LeVert/Lainer
SF: Ausar/LeVert/Duncan
PF: Tobias/Holland/Ausar
C: Duren/Beef
It feels like JB can easily mix and match between Cade, Ivey, and LeVert, but will play both Cade and Ivey as much as possible. F rotation will be interesting because you have to play Duncan for shooting/spacing purposes. Ausar/Holland can’t play together, so it’ll be interesting to work things out. I’d have to imagine that either Ivey or Duncan needs to be on the court at all times because of their ability to shoot. I have confidence that Ivey’s shooting is for real since he consistently shot over 45% in C&S.
Maybe you lack hair…
This team seems one BPA away. Probably best to hold on for now and go bargain shopping later … maybe within season. The great thing is that there are no glaring needs (a backup PF is not a glaring need IMO), so it can be a truly flexible, value-driven sign. Until an injury, of course.
1 Like
I agree that backup PF isn’t a glaring need, but it would be a nice to have. I’m sure JB will shift Ausar and Holland to PF when Tobias is on the bench. I think Ausar’s long term fit is at PF anyway.
1 Like
My personal theory is that Ivey is getting dealt
I don’t think he’s getting dealt tbh
1 Like
Why do you think that? Like in a deal for an upgraded #2?
Ivey is currently the only player on the roster who has the upside to be a star caliber player (besides Cade obviously) and Lord knows Cade could use some help on that front. I’d say Ivey is the least expendable player that they have after Cade unless trading Ivey is what it takes to bring in a legit dude.
3 Likes
I see the opposite because it doesn’t seem like Langdon is putting much effort in a backup PG. That to me suggests he thinks Ivey might fill that role. It looks to me like the plan might be to start Cade & Ivey, then stagger and bring in LeVert for Ivey, then bring Ivey back in with LeVert when Cade sits. It just doesn’t seem like they are prioritizing a 15-20 min/game backup ball handler, so they must be planning to try Ivey in that role.
1 Like
My thoughts exactly. The plan is the same as last season before Ivey went down. LeVert is a bonus for additional ballhandling and secondary creator which mean it’s an upgrade over THJ in that regard.
2 Likes
Yep… and Ausar did some creation last year when people were injured so he can be a 3rd ball handler in spots. Holland has shown an ability to drive too, but isn’t going to be ready for a major role like that yet.
1 Like
Agree w above re guard rotation. For now the plan must be to try to get Sasser regular dose of 8-12 minutes too early in the season. I don’t have high hopes but you never know.
I would also say the forwards are a decent group. A bad poker hand but I see two pair. Ausar and Tobias complement one another (one “shooter” one athlete) and then Holland and Duncan are very similar.
It’s a sensible roster. Wow!
1 Like
I don’t think this is at all true. Ausar is well ahead of Ivey’s schedule and Holland’s age and non-disaster production combo likely is too.
Ivey’s trajectory bc he can’t add much on D is going to take a while to peak and probably means he’s not breaking the top 30. But he’s still young enough that that’s too soon to say esp. if Vinson does work.
1 Like
Ausar’s ballhandling isn’t good enough to take on that responsibility. He will finally have a full off-season to improve his game that he couldn’t due to blood clot issue.
One interesting thing about Beasley, Fontecchio, and THJ going out and Duncan + Caris coming in is the latter just aren’t great bets to give you 2K+ minutes. They’re clearly relying on Ivey, Ausar, and Holland to give them big minutes. I don’t think that’s a bad bet really esp. since Fontecchio and THJ are not giving you really anything close to league average minutes. But def interesting that the training wheels will be off this year.
Low key this is a big value that Tobias Harris is providing to this team. Guy is a real innings eater.
The link to Monk that fell through was the thing for me. Getting Levert and Monk would basically be sinking considerable investment into two guys that basically do the same thing as Ivey offensively. Obviously, every player has a price at which you’d trade him, so really anyone other than realistically Cade is “available”, but it did seem like an effort to minimize him.
Like, Levert and Robinson aren’t coming to Detroit to NOT play at least 50 mpg.
So if you look at 1-3, you figure 35 for cade, 50 for those two, somewhere around 40 for Holland/Ausar combined…you’re down to under 20 minutes left, Sasser is around, etc…
I just think there’s a trade here.
I don’t see it that way in minimizing Ivey tbh. Ivey is already set to play 30 min a game regardless of the personnel
1 Like
I don’t really buy that? Caris has averaged 1950 minutes the past 3 years, and Robinson has mostly been limited by his own play, not his health, in getting there (like maybe Robinson won’t get to 1900/2000 minutes but that’s mostly due to “you don’t want to play him 2000 minutes”)