Official Detroit Pistons thread

[FVD]

Being worse wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

[chemiclord]

Being worse wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Not initially, no.

The point of tanking is that you secure a high draft pick while being competent enough to know who has the best chance of emerging into a superstar. Just being garbage isn't enough.

Boston (another team that Froot carries water for) kinda played the tanking game in the sense that they didn't chase short term wins (knowing it was fruitless as long as a guy named Lebron was suiting up), and instead dealt good players at the time for potentially good picks later. It helped them build a team that could withstand injuries to Heyward and Irving.

Of course, they also have the benefit of being an appealing free agent destination for a guy like Heyward, which the Pistons don't.

[froot loops]

I think you will go back and inspect years of my Piston posts and not find many that approve of the free agent signings. Nobody clamored for those terrible signings, those were the short term BS moves he's talking about. That has been the biggest issue by far followed by bad drafting. If they tanked and had a top 3 pick, you can be sure they would had drafted Hasheem Thabeet, Nerlens Noel or Wily Cauley Stein.

I named a lot more than the Celtics. Most of these teams didn't tank, it didn't happen. A lot of the good young players were available to the Pistons, they chose stiffs instead. 8 teams went into the tank this year, most of them will suck still 5 years from now.

But if they can tank, that would be preferable to the mess they find themselves in.

[Futureshock]

...But the team would be in much better shape if they drafted Donovan Mitchell, than Luke Effin Kenard. WTF.

THIS to me, is the reason they are in purgatory. I get a lot of flack about being so interested by the draft. But in every sport, every player is drafted and the best, cheapest way to acquire talent is always going to be the draft. Your chances of getting a better player is having a higher selection, but there's no guarantee you pick 1st or fourth with the worse record in the league.

Also, with every sport it's just critical to find THAT guy at your pick. Then you have to develop and play him. SVG was terrible at all three of those.

This team would have a shot if SVG drafted Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell instead of Stanley Johnson and Luke Kennard.

But even if he did I don't think he would have developed them or played them. Which I guess is the same thing in the NBA because they don't really practice.

[Futureshock]

It's truly sad that the Stones have turned into the old LAC.

[chemiclord]

The old LA Clippers wanted nothing to do with the playoffs because it was rarely worth the investment to do so by Sterling's reckoning. Gores on the other hand is fixated on making the playoffs, even if it's only for two games, no matter what the long term cost.

[froot loops]

THIS to me, is the reason they are in purgatory. I get a lot of flack about being so interested by the draft. But in every sport, every player is drafted and the best, cheapest way to acquire talent is always going to be the draft. Your chances of getting a better player is having a higher selection, but there's no guarantee you pick 1st or fourth with the worse record in the league.

Also, with every sport it's just critical to find THAT guy at your pick. Then you have to develop and play him. SVG was terrible at all three of those.

This team would have a shot if SVG drafted Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell instead of Stanley Johnson and Luke Kennard.

But even if he did I don't think he would have developed them or played them. Which I guess is the same thing in the NBA because they don't really practice.

The Mitchell thing is particularly aggregious because people who don't follow the draft closely(me) knew Mitchell was the pick. I mean what was the ceiling on Kenard?

[ghandi]

Oh sure they can. There's a long list of Pistons coaches and GMs who were far worse.

I guess it depends on how you measure success...TO me Stan won 0 playoff games in 4 years...That's a pretty low bar.

[Masspartan]

The Mitchell thing is particularly aggregious because people who don't follow the draft closely(me) knew Mitchell was the pick. I mean what was the ceiling on Kenard?

I wouldn't have know if Mitchell was the pick or not ... what I did know from watching Kennard was the he certainly wasn't the pick.

[Forsh]

The Mitchell thing is particularly aggregious because people who don't follow the draft closely(me) knew Mitchell was the pick. I mean what was the ceiling on Kenard?

Manu Ginobili / Chris Mullin ... horrible ceiling

[Forsh]

Stanley Johnson was the stupid pick. He had red flags on top of his red flags. I tried to come around on him pre draft ... but he just screamed wing version of Mateen Cleaves

[ghandi]

Manu Ginobili / Chris Mullin ... horrible ceiling

I dont think Kennard is anywhere near as athletic as Ginobli was in his prime....I can see maybe a Chris Mullin type, or maybe a Kyle Korver 3 point specialist, but it's highlt unlikely he even gets close to Mitchell's ceiling.

[Forsh]

I dont think Kennard is anywhere near as athletic as Ginobli was in his prime....I can see maybe a Chris Mullin type, or maybe a Kyle Korver 3 point specialist, but it's highlt unlikely he even gets close to Mitchell's ceiling.

True ... Mitchell just transitioned so well

[Masspartan]

What Danny Ainge has done in Boston is remarkable. So many young assets and they still have extra firsts going forward.

[fontes91]

Not bad for a former Blue Jays third baseman.