Official Pistons Thread: Offseason

[11sanchez11]

really great moves today

[SimbaWho]

Man... Mike Valneti is a scab...   Conductor of the hate train, Literally wished he moved to do the NY gig. Pistons fall two in a row, one really tough, and set up to lose tonight really and he's already feeling vindicated for hating the trade.

I don't think anyone can feel vindicated or satisfied till the end of next year if you hate the trade. Why? Because I don't think ANYONE thought Blake Griffin alone was going to vault the Pistons into a top 3 eastern conference team. Hell, all I knew for sure was for the rest of this year the Pistons will battle for at least the last playoff spot assuming Griffin was healthy.

Questions with the guard play are still there and Stanley Johnson rise was/has just been a small sample size. Anyone that watches the Pistons knew/knows that prior to the trade a real upgrade at PG was needed. I'm not saying Reggie Jackson is a world beater or anything but he is an upgrade over Ish Smith especially defensively which Reggie isn't really known as a good defender either but he's not a complete push over like Smith has been some nights. Ish Smith is ok but pretty rough on defense in most cases. Pistons objective at the moment should be to maintain ground for that 8th/7th seed and go on a real run when Reggie returns if he returns. (Nothing says he'll come back and be good but assuming he doesn't completely fall off from where he was Pistons should get a bit of a boost.)

Pistons should somehow make a move to add some talent again this offseason. What? Idk, I don't think they're going to let Stan move any more future draft picks so he'll have to get crafty with his player movement. Idk what teams may or may not want or the possible moves out there but the Blake Griffin trade makes no sense if you go into the following offseason and stand pat or make no other moves to add talent.

Where people/fans should feel vindicated about hating this trade is when we go into next season, make no real roster improvements and sign a bunch of G-league all-stars, and Pistons are still out of the playoffs, no real improvement from wins/loss a year from now. Then, I think, fans should feel right, about hating the trade, they should feel hopeless and stuck at this point. Next year, Pistons, imo, should be competing for that 3-6 range of the playoffs. If they aren't, I think it's a complete failure and a disastrous trade.

But up an till then, we have an exciting team at the moment fighting for a playoff spot, which the last roster was definitely not doing, it wasn't going to do anything but set up the team for another 14-10th draft selection that we've been blowing. Mike Valenti promotes the "process" way, way too much like Philly is so much better than the Pistons... Or... that the Pistons are some great scouting organization like OKC or SA. Philly isn't winning a championship soon either without a major signing... An they're a tweaked back away from being really bad. It hasn't worked out well at all for the Magic, Suns, Kings, Cleveland was a joke with all their early selections until Lebron came home(even with K. Irving as one of them) The Knicks... pftt, I mean tanking doesn't always translate into success.

Valenti has a show to do, and gets paid to say crazy things, inflame already angry fans, so take his take for what it's worth... All's I'm saying is let this thing marinate a bit before we come quick to judge fully, each side have certain feelings about the current situation but I don't think either side can point the needle towards success/failure till next season is over and we see where the Pistons are at.

Edited February 12, 2018 by SimbaWho

[SimbaWho]

• Lol oh shoot... Anthony Tolliver just stuff a dunk on the rim and Pelicans come right back down a drain a three. Whole lot of that going on this game. Need a big 4th quarter run here, but shots aren't falling easy for people this game.

[SimbaWho]

Pistons are done... It's unfortunate cause I like Blake Griffin. They'll have to move players next year to really make sense of this trade, if not I'm afraid I'll have to fall in line with most fans and think this owner is a just a chump, who made a pure attention grab/play, and is only positioning himself to gain value off the franchise in idk 3-10 years when he sells.

Stan Van Gundy more than deservingly should be fired. I don't blame him for trying to save his job with the Blake Griffin trade but he's just terrible as a coach and even worst as a team manager. He has no idea how to scout/draft players which has come back to hurt him badly. He throws up complete trash line ups in-terms of there is about zero spacing, and knowingly does it. If Luke Kennard has no value on the floor with both Drummond/Blake on the floor let alone Ish Smith who isn't a threat from deep then he'll never find a spot. It's taken him the better part of a year to figure out Reggie Bullock is the teams best two way option on the wing...

Idk, I get you become stubborn as a coach but it's beyond stubborn at this point, there is just no direction or logical reasoning to play four guys at one time who don't shoot well beyond the arch, it's not like James Ennis/Luke Kennard cannot play. Stan Van Gundy is CHOOSING to play guys like Stanley Johnson high minutes.

Just about everyone thinks Kennard/Bullock should be starting.... Idk, just rough. I can't really say much about Stan Van Gundy other than he's been a complete disaster as a Piston. His time is over.

Time to make room for Chauncey Billups and David Fizdale.

Edited February 25, 2018 by SimbaWho

[catcheryea]

(i am a prophet)

[SimbaWho]

On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 8:03 PM, catcheryea said:

(i don't think it's a great deal)

we still need a point guard or a perimeter player who can create off the dribble and we already gave up our two biggest assets and a 1st round pick

For saying that?

I mean you are right about the underlined stuff but our offensive problems are caused by no starter outside of Bullock able to hit a consistent three. Pistons were fourth in the NBA from the 3 and have steadily dropped since trading away Harris/Bradley(as a bit expected) but it's a steeper drop than I thought. Also, the bench is pretty bad, at scoring and on defense. The overall defense is completely laughable. Idk if they've quit on Stan or what... I mean I think people would be ok if we were a game or 1.5 back we're 3.5 games back with losses to Charlotte/Atlanta in that stretch...

Also, I've said from the very begging, this move means another one is coming imo. With an injuried Reggie Jackson, this move for this year was just a half hearted attempt to limp into the playoffs, with the real focus on 2018-2019 with a healthy team. Even now, while I say Pistons are out of it, they're only 3.5 games back and 5.5 games back from the 6th place team. They're just blowing the teams chances game by game though.

Still... Stan Van Gundy should be fired imo, he's been bad at drafting, developing, coaching, and managing a team. There isn't a legitimate reason to me in todays NBA that in four years, four drafts, someone doesn't have one credible starter to their name with 2 top 10 selections on top of it. An the players he's throwing out on the court now at the same time makes it tough to watch cause they can't shoot well and all want to do the same thing sort of. There are good options available now for the front office and head coaching positions that can easily upgrade this Pistons on court play without adding anyone on the roster.

Edited February 27, 2018 by SimbaWho

[SimbaWho]

Man... at times Andre Drummond really boggs down this team. I feel like Pistons could move on from him and play Blake at the 5, allow him to play with the ball and really stretch out teams bring big men out deep. Pistons would just need to find a capable PF with a 3 point shot of jump shot period.

I do like the transitions/adjustments they've done bringing Stanley off the bench, and playing Ennis with Bullock allowing Blake/Drummond more space to work.

Edited March 3, 2018 by SimbaWho

[SimbaWho]

Also, it's OT. An Drummond has had a terrible shooting nice, especially from the free throw line. Easily sit him for this and bring someone off the bench who can make points.

*EDIT* Wow, 0-2 at the free throw line, a turn over, and a goaltend.

This is the Pistons folks, bad coaching while relying on one of your best guys who blew the game for you. He MUST be traded this offseason. I mean MUST be traded. He's completely pathetic with a lot of talent.

Edited March 3, 2018 by SimbaWho

[catcheryea]

drummond is the best player the pistons have had since 2008(?). blake shot worse, bullock shot worse, ish smith shot worse, stanley shot worse. who is coming off THIS bench to make a difference in a close game?

since the trade blake is shoot 25% from 3 and 39% from the floor

drummond is shooting 49% from the floor, 61% from the line and putting up 16 and 17.5.

[catcheryea]

drummond had 22 and 18. blake had 31.

reggie bullock took 14 shots to get 11 points

nobody else had more than 7

i feel like drummond might not be the problem here

[SimbaWho]

I was originally talking about the Orlando game. Where he only had 10 points.... and the last 2 minutes of the game through OT, his time to shine to win the game for the Pistons, he blew it, going 0-4 at the free throw line, a turn over, a goaltend, and 0-4 from the field.... ALL with less than 2 mins in the game and into OT.

Needless to say I was a little emotional to say the least I don't think he's a MUST trade lol. Pistons just need better/more consistent shooters/shooting out on the wing. Lessen Blakes attempts from the 3 himself. I've said from the start of this trade with Blake we don't really know what we have till next season, while also making a half hearted attempt at the playoffs at the same time.

I'm not going to Blame Reggie Bullocks either outside of the game in Miami because, he's like 10th or 11th in the league from the three point line, with over 150 attempts. Need better starters than Johnson/Ennis/Ish Smith. They're too big of black holes offensively or defensively to hide throughout a game.

It's over for this year but I'm expecting something this offseason. Includding a new coach because Stan let the team lose winnable games against ATL/CHA/ORL that you just can't do. Also seems they have a new team president waiting in the wings... so Lets hope for a Chauncey/Fizdale hire soon after the season! Losing to other playoff contenders, one thing, losing to teams like those three I named before is rough. We win those three things are still in relatively good shape... Let's hold out hope for a lottery miracle too! Top 3 protected baby! lol.

Edited March 4, 2018 by SimbaWho

[SimbaWho]

On ‎3‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 10:00 AM, catcheryea said:

drummond is the best player the pistons have had since 2008(?). blake shot worse, bullock shot worse, ish smith shot worse, stanley shot worse. who is coming off THIS bench to make a difference in a close game?

since the trade blake is shoot 25% from 3 and 39% from the floor

drummond is shooting 49% from the floor, 61% from the line and putting up 16 and 17.5.

Did you seriously just compare shooting percentages. Drummond is shooting consistently 5-10 feet from the basket with a busted as jump shot or hook if its not a straight up put back/dunk. lol. At least compare him to someone doing something similar on the court. He's a walking athletic Pilliar, He's extremely offensively limited and with Blake Griffin on the team very expandable. It'd be refreshing to see some actual post play from our C.

Blake Griffin is just better than him anyways, and he's harder to move, moving Drummond to get more cap/perimeter talent should be the job of the next GM imo. Honestly it's about the only thing on the team he can squeeze real value out of. An Stan Van's moves on the court are always a bit late, his act seems old around here, and there's too many rumors and hopeful whispers of his firing to stick around. Whole organizational reboot is needed from firing Joe Dumars scouts, to hiring a whole new front office and letting them hire their own coach to put a staff together.

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by SimbaWho

[Sllim Pickens]

My hopes are that we continue to flounder and get lucky in the lottery with a top 4 pick. The ideal scenario is to land Doncic but if not we can go Porter or one of the bigs.  If we get a big we can either trade them for perimeter help or trade Drummond for perimeter help.  Other than that, we are sort of screwed IMO.  No money to sign anyone, no picks to get lucky on.  No real hope for the future unless you think Reggie Jackson coming back makes us a winner. 

[SimbaWho]

IF Pistons get one of the bigs in this draft, *(Ayton/Bagley) and trade them for perimeter help, we'll be a laughing-stock organization, if we aren't close to it already, I'll literally pick a new team to root for.

For years, I've said the problem with the Pistons is they're building around a player that can't lead a team to anything(Andre Drummond). Stat machine sure but in todays NBA who cares, you need wins with stats. No one cares if you steal a ball, dribble down the court and dunk when you're down 20 to Charlotte. The illusion of his stats make people hang on to him but he's not versatile enough to be a lead guy. He's a 3rd or even 4th wheel on a championship contender getting max money which is rough.

I can hardly stand the guy. "Prove the doubters wrong". Dude you proved EVERYONE RIGHT.

Edited March 9, 2018 by SimbaWho

[Sllim Pickens]

I'm not sold on Ayton or Bagley. I don't really love this draft, but the draft is the only real chance we have to get an asset.  Sure I would rather trade Drummond than one of the rookies but cap reasons may not make that all that easy.  I have been saying lets move him for about 4 or 5 years, but the contract has our hands tied.  I think we need a total blow up and start from scratch like the sixers did but nobody will do that at this point in the organization.  Fire SVG and let the new staff have five years and blow this thing up is my ideal scenario.