Ivey having his best game of his career as an lead guard proved that Monty doesn’t know what he’s doing or doesn’t like Ivey.
It’s interesting that the Pistons are 4-7 without Cade. The ball movement were there and the shooting were there. Monty has to figure out how to play both Cade and Ivey together. Ivey needs the ball to share the load with Cade and not being stuck in the corner.
(It’s almost like “how can we play Cade and Ivey together?” should have been the primary mission of the season)
The best path to relevance is to move Cade off the ball and give the key to Jaden. It’s clear there’s better ball movement and Jaden’s gravity is opening up the offense. Duren clearly likes playing with Jaden as a lead guard.
Monty does not like Jaden for some reason and it took the front office meeting for them to make Monty start and play Jaden heavy minutes. Monty did not praise Jaden in the press conference and praise other players first which is mind boggling because Jaden is the reason why they beat the Kings on the road when they’re shorthanded.
I mean, obviously shooting 55% from 3 helps
I’m generally more pro Ivey than most people I think just because I think with his athleticism he should be a nightmare on a spaced floor (the Pistons don’t have that) but I think it’s clear that if you’re going to leave one alone when they’re off-ball as a defense you’d probably rather leave Ivey, so….
I’m not positive they work together generally but you gotta try!
I think there’s a real path of Ivey shooting in the high 30s on a consistent basis which is more than good enough to be a threat where he can use his athleticism to his advantage. Ivey has changed his shooting mechanics from a push shot to a natural shooting motion. I think part of the reason why his mechanics are off is he worked with his mom and the women’s basketball players so it makes sense when you think about it. At least it’s not a broken shot unlike Ausar.
Monty is treating Ausar like a Bruce Brown type aka a wing player playing like a big on offense in screen, cutting, playing off the dunker spot and have him pressure the rim. Muscula has helped unlock Ausar as a player which is helpful.
Yeah I think it’s clear that Ivey has already gotten to “fine” as a shooter which I kind of think is all he needs, but he’s not a guy who the defense is going to flex to when he moves off ball. Like, they can’t LEAVE him but he won’t worry them if that makes sense. For me, he needs to shoot well enough that the defense doesn’t sag when he has the ball, and I think he’s already there honestly. There’s still a ton of fundamental un-soundness/silly stuff to his game but I’ve always thought he’s a good kid who wants to do the right thing. I’m really confused still at the degree to which he was dog-housed
Bogey to the Knicks. Pistons getting Fournier/Flynn/Grimes
Pistons carrying the trade deadline so far
https://x.com/wojespn/status/1755629735910973482?s=46&t=SywsRwjImAPP0DFzyXGjwg
https://x.com/wojespn/status/1755620536271376444?s=46&t=SywsRwjImAPP0DFzyXGjwg
Pistons are making a lot of moves, none of which really move the needle.
Nice deal for the Knicks though. Bojan and Burks will be very helpful for their playoff contending team
Yeah, I’m going to need you guys to explain and rate these trades for me since I only sorta follow the Pistons and NBA. Feels like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic a bit - no major salary dumps or draft picks or impact players.
Bogdanovic is a salary dump kind of to the point that he has a player option for 19 mil. Grimes/Flynn/Fournier all have player options that most likely won’t get picked up. Not including any player options picked up the Pistons during trades and picking up Ivey/Cade/Duren options they have 49 million committed to 7 contracts.
I do not like the Pistons trade return with the Knicks tbh.
https://x.com/thedunkcentral/status/1755629948700651861?s=46&t=SywsRwjImAPP0DFzyXGjwg
Knicks have put together a pretty solid roster
Why wouldn’t Fournier pick up his player option? He isn’t going to get close to the salary he is currently being paid on the open market. Or did you mean team options?
https://x.com/jledwardsiii/status/1755636275225481324?s=46&t=SywsRwjImAPP0DFzyXGjwg
Gotcha. I see you meant team option
Fournier has a team option I was just including existing team options of players already on the Pistons. Flynn is fodder, out of Milton/Troy Brown Jr/Grimes/Fournier I can’t see them picking up many of those. Maybe a Milton or Grimes.
Pistons are also currently way over the roster limit so either more moves are going to be made or some of these guys will be cut
They just cut Joe Harris. That’s 1 and 3 more to go. I’m praying that it’s Hayes and Wiseman.
https://x.com/jledwardsiii/status/1755664101353943258?s=46&t=SywsRwjImAPP0DFzyXGjwg
End of an era. Drafted top 10 and released for nothing 3 years later.