Betrayer

Pistons killed in the 1st and 3rd. 2nd quarter was a mess of turnovers, a lot of them just bad passes. Then again, Houston has a very good defense with a lot of long, athletic guys who can make it tough to thread the needle on passes. They trapped and doubled Cade all game and that makes 3 games in a row now. I think the secret is out, so the "others" are going to have to step up. Sasser played well in the 2nd half and I just want to see him be more aggressive with his shot earlier. There was a stretch were it felt like he kept passing up decent shots only for us to wind up with a worse shot from a bad shooter. Credit to Duren for having a solid game on both ends. First time in a while he's outplayed his replacement. Great win against the #2 team in the West. Let's keep it rollin' on this road trip!

I'd throw in the one against Minnesota as well.

Agreed. I don't see how you bring in Lavine and keep Ivey. They can't play together or you'll sacrifice 150 pts a game, especially with Duren in the paint. If I do this deal, I'm sending out Ivey instead of Stew but then NY doesn't want it anymore and the whole thing has to change. Even then, I don't trust Lavine and I certainly don't want to buy high when we could have bought low last year. His next injury is always a month away and he's not a winning player. Also, Stew is clearly more meaningful to this team and this locker room than simply a bench big man. I think the deal would have to be for someone more significant than Lavine to move him.

Frustrating to watch this game, but it's the same issue I brought up recently. When teams play up on the perimeter (playoff defense) we have no answer. Off-ball cuts and penetration can loosen up tight perimeter defense, but we don't or can't do either of things consistently. Combine that with Cade and Beasley being ice cold from three and you've got an ugly game. That said, some of the whistles in this game were interesting. Holland wasn't allowed to play defense at all, yet Indy could clutch, grab, move on screens, and have two hands on our guys (especially Cade) at all times. That's the benefit of establishing your style and control over the game early - the refs just start letting it go. On a positive note, I love how these teams hate each other. JB's postgame comments were priceless.

None. I hate Lamelo's game. He's a chucker who doesn't play winning basketball or defense at all. Mitchell is the closest, but with Cade's size and the fact that he's just 23, I'm taking Cade. Lillard's washed. You can make a case for Brunson, but he doesn't and can't defend, just too small. I put Trae in the same bucket as Lamelo. Maxey is a nice scorer, but not a franchise leader, imo.

Fan voting is always garbage.

Wasn't there a rule recently where the NBA will fine you if you come out and publicly say things like you want to be traded or whatever? I thought I recall something coming up about that with the Lillard stuff. And if so, how is Butler not guilty of it?

It might take all of that 19M to bring Beasley back.

A bunch of players may not be eligible, which will help Cade make third team. Guys like Luka, Embiid, Paolo, Franz, Chet, etc I'm happy he's playing at that level. I'm not so happy about the loss of cap space for a team that already has few options to improve.

Heck of a win and a fun game! I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately. There are a lot of positive things to say about this game, from Cade's performance to Stew and Ausar's defense to Beasley's shooting. There are also some negatives...does Duren realize that the team is better when he's on the bench, because at this point I think everyone else must. I was screaming for JB to put Stew back in the game in the 4th. Luckily Duren fixed the problem himself by fouling out for us.

This is where the mismanagement by Weaver (and SVG before him) is really going to hurt this team. We have no war chest of assets and now we need to build around our star. It's a tough spot. The only way to do it is to move one or two young assets, some vet contracts to match salary, and a future pick. But that could totally screw up the chemistry they have cooking right now. I'm curious to see how Trajan handles this.

Countdown to next injury in 5, 4, 3...

Sexton was going at him. He was not happy Collier didn't give him the ball.

If I'm collecting picks it's not for drafting, it's for trading. You need multiple firsts to bring in the type of star you'll need next to Cade for this thing to actually go anywhere.

The thing to remember is Cade just turned 23 this season. He'll get better. Shai's 4th season when he was 23 years old: .453 FG% .300 3P% .514 2PG% .496 eFG% .810 FT% 5.0 REB 5.9 AST 1.3 STL 0.8 BLK 2.8 TOV 24.5 PTS Cade's 4th (effectively 3rd) season at 23 years old: .457 FG% .376 3P% .497 2PG% .518 eFG% .792 FT% 6.6 REB 9.3 AST 0.9 STL 0.8 BLK 4.3 TOV 24.3 PTS Difference is that Shai's team had a real GM (and some assets to trade), so they've built something around Shai that can contend. The Pistons have Cade...