Drummond always seemed to have that Ben Wallace offseason every year where he supposedly discovered his jump shot.
The Pistons wonāt be good which is fine with me. The 2021 draft is supposed to be deep with elite talent but I want Cade Cunningham for the Pistons. Hayes should not preclude Weaver from taking Cunningham. You can move Hayes off the ball because he can shoot but can give you secondary playmaker as a SG.
Problem is that so far, Hayes hasnāt shown he can shoot.
This just made me think of Charles Rogers, Roy Williams, and Mike Whatshisname.
Do the Timberwolves and draft a PG every year
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Embiid got away with a lot of flopping too against Andre.
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Andre never embraced his size. Perhaps because of a late growth-spurt after being a guard or perhaps it was never his nature. Every so often, heād show a post-move explosion that looked like Shaq out there but more often than not, heād be a notch or three below that level of aggression. Iām also convinced he canāt palm a basketball while moving his arm around. There were always a few dunk-attempts a year that slipped out of his hand before the finish.
That said, I know I have a higher opinion of him than you. He still led the league in rebounding several years, which is something Shaq somehow never did, and was among the best bigs for getting steals. He also hardly ever missed a game, after his rookie year.
He wasnāt worthy of a max contract (although heās not far below Gobert and that guy somehow got paid an insane amount) so I wasnāt that sad to see him moved but he was probably the Pistons best player for the 2010ās. Thatās a dubious title but I think he gets it over Blake since he was there the whole time.
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Itās still amazing that they took both Rubio and Jonny Flynn and passed on Steph.
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To be fair Rubio was discussed as a generational talent at the time given his size, handle, and vision. As it turns out all those were as advertised, we just entered an era where shooting was the most prized skill and heās utterly miserable at it (worse than projected). As such he was just a solidly above average starting PG. He actually was quietly pretty good last year, and his shooting is no longer a joke - itās just that his defense has started to slip some so the total package is probably equally valuable.
I will also say that Iāve gotten to see Ricky play live a few times, and he is one of the most fun guys to see off a miss in the league.
Flynn is the real mind-breaker.
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Oh thanks for bringing it up! The Wolves GM at the time, David Kahn, apparently didnāt believe Curry would be able to get his shot off in the NBA. A couple years ago he gave an interview and the blame shifted to saying Dell Curry didnāt want his son to play in Minnesota because of the winters.
After taking Rubio and Flynn I remember Kahn saying that he thought they could play together once Rubio got there. That never made any sense to me and the Flynn pick goes down as one of the worst picks in NBA history. Interestingly enough, Rubio is getting the start tonight for the Wolves!
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Would the Pistons have the cap space next year for Caris? He and Killian would be nice tandem for a few years, no?
Finally caved and bought League Pass for the first time since grad school. Not a ton of nationally broadcasted Pistonsā games since I left Ann Arbor, so Iām excited to see the Pistonsā young guys for the first time outside of highlights.
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I think the Pistons are too far away from being a contender to go after a guy who is entering his prime years.
Regarding KAT, I missed or forgot that his mom died. Heavy quotes here:
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Wow, that was tough to read. I hope he finds meaning and stuff, that can be a really tough road to go down. Losing a loved one, especially if itās unexpected, is among the most difficult things that life can throw at you.
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Can anyone explain why the Piston let Christian Wood go ?
My uninformed reasoning has been that re-signing Wood would have made them too competitive for a rebuild, but not good enough to compete for any serious winning. I view cutting ties with him similarly to Kennard, although Wood is a much better player. Having a bunch of 24-25 year old guys who are good enough to get you the 8th seed but not good enough for anything more is crippling to a franchise.
I basically wanted a bunch of competitive losses this year from the Pistons and theyāre 2 for 2 in that so Iām ecstatic. Only gripe so far is I wish Killian Hayes had a bit longer of a leash, and Iād like to see some Bey/Stewart minutes. But itās clear the vets we do have arenāt good enough to win games against anyone decent, which will hopefully guarantee a top 5 pick in next yearās draft and a shot at a truly transcendent talent for the first time in a decade.
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Let him go? Maybe Wood was determined to leave. Not many free agents want to play for a bottom 3 team.
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Cause they donāt know what they are doing
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Thanks guys ! Make sense. Also, maybe, Wood would have competed for minutes with Blake.