That should have earned him a one game suspension, right?
I kinda felt sorry for Darko–no more.
I’ve lived in Minneapolis for a number of years, and remember (unfortunately) when the T-Wolves picked up Darko after his time with the Pistons. The general manager at the time said of the pickup, “It’s like manna from heaven.” Did not turn out quite so well.
(This was also the same general manager that drafted PG Jonny Flynn with the 6th pick in the 2009 NBA draft instead of Stephen Curry - after drafting PG Ricky Rubio with the 5th pick.)
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Think I knew That and forgot. Even more stunning that they can’t win with that group. I know they’re playing better but when you see the guys they have they should be top ten.
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I think what makes Cade and Luka so good is they have outstanding deceleration then make their move before the defender had a chance to finish reacting. It’s a similar characteristic of James Harden. They aren’t explosive athletes but can get to their spots whenever they wanted to.
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I agree. I argued that having Darko allowed Dumars to be aggressive to trade for Sheed for next to nothing. No Darko = likely no Sheed and no title. Sheed pretty much made the team complete.
I think if Joe D wasn’t sold on Darko, Bosh would’ve been the pick IMO. Bosh fits better with the team because they had a need for a big. Would Bosh have succeeded under Larry Brown? That’s hard to tell. No Melo nor Wade due to Rip and Prince.
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Livers buries 2 3s !!!
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And Kelly-O hits a buzzer-beater to win in OT at Charlotte. Heck of a game.
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We’re winning too many games.
We are 3-7 in our last 10, same as the Magic. We are 4 games back of 4th from last. We are fine. Three teams have 15 or less wins. Next closest is 19 games.
As of right now, almost our entire remaining schedule is against teams that are fighting for something. Obviously that changes as we go along, but I don’t think we’re at risk of winning 25 games this season.
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The bottom 3 teams all have the same lottery odds and even 4th has a tiny difference. not worth getting worked up over. though it does change just how far you can drop if you don’t get in the top 4. but if your goal is Smith or Holmgren the Pistons are fine
I think I’m happy with a top-3 pick, assuming it’s spent on Holmgren, Ivey or Smith. Maybe/probably in that order but not necessarily.
Not a Banchero fan?
I don’t think so, no. All the prospects are quite flawed, however. Not as if the other three come with no concerns.
I think my order for the Pistons is: 1. Smith, 2. Holmgren, 3. Banchero, 4. Ivey
And then a dropoff after those guys. I’d be happy with anyone in the top 4. Just can’t fall below that
I’m curious about Shaedon Sharpe. He didn’t play this season for Kentucky, and there is a chance he stays to play a season there, but there’s also speculation that he’ll enter the draft. I believe he was the top high school player for 2022 before reclassifying. A lot of players would mesh well with Cade, but an athletic SG (who can shoot) is high on the list. He might be my #5. AJ Griffin is starting to move up in my mind, as well. He may be a bit of a tweener but he’s shot almost 50% from 3 on the season for Duke.
So, while I prefer the Pistons land in the top-3, there may be other good prospects to be had in the next few picks. Remember that last year’s draft class was thought to not be that deep and it’s turned out to be one of the better ones in the past 10-15 years.
When you’re picking top 3 it’s just normal to nitpick the prospects to such an extent, and I’ve been wondering about that next tier of prospects too, and whether one of them breaks through. It would be nice if someone like Sharpe especially looked suitable. Where I’m at:
-Chet is, physically, without precedent. You’re banking on a guy proving that that kind of body actually IS an NBA body. Big risk with big reward. Might be a one-way player if he can’t hold up on D. You’d still have a talented offensive player.
-Smith can’t (yet) create his own shot. He might be a wonderful and very tall 3& legit D prospect, and although you hope for more in the top 3, that’s still a solid outcome. A guy like that plus Cade and Bey and you do have some nice pieces.
-Ivey’s shot looks bruuuuutal. But his shot is not utterly broken. He shoots 74% from the line. Shooting in the high 20s low 30s from three means you’re incremental improvement to get to that 33%-35% level that so many other NBA stars shoot at. Donovan Mitchell is a good comparison there, and Ja Morant. I’d take that guy next to Cade. NBA teams believe they can get guys shooting better from 3. Absolutely an NBA body and an ideal long and athletic backcourt mate for Cade. Gonna be a one-on-one bucket getter in a way that Cade isn’t, so that, too, is a great fit. Has serious potential on D, although he isn’t getting it now.
-Banchero: somebody said Carlos Boozer and I just can’t unhear that. Carlos Boozer isn’t a disaster outcome, but I’d rather have the other outcomes. Looks to me like the only one-way player in the top 4.
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Banchero is way more skilled than Boozer at making plays for others. I haven’t seen a ton of him but what I have seen is so smooth. I think he and Cade would have great chemistry. Right now I’m…
Chet, Banchero, Smith, Ivey, J. Davis
But honestly I’m happy with any of them,
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I have too much lingering Darko pain to be able to support picking Chet …
Smith seems like best fit given current roster …
But they’re totally different players. The risk with Chet is his body type. With Darko it wasn’t that he had injury problems or that he was too weak for the NBA game.
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Yeah, Chet and Darko are different risks. Darko was super young and had never played high level basketball so you were hoping for his workouts to translate into NBA ability. Chet is playing high level college basketball so we’re at least seeing him compete on the court.
The gamble with Chet is that you pass up a unicorn because he’s so skinny and then turns into Durant…or that you draft him and find out he doesn’t have a natural position in the NBA and struggles to play defense.
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