Betrayer

Finals don't start until June 1st regardless of the outcome of the next game, so get ready for a long wait.

One of those meetings needs to be with Quinn. If they called him and he doesn't want the job, fine, but I haven't heard anything about them even pursuing him. Look at what Miami is doing in the playoffs with way less star power than any other team, including multiple undrafted players in significant minutes. The players hold each other accountable but they don't rule the roost. It's very much an old school culture under Riley and Spo. They're about playing defense, playing the right way, moving the ball, trust, culture, and heart. They're playing the way our most beloved Detroit teams have played and we need to get back on that track. People are going to be trying to pluck assistants off of the Miami coaching tree like they used to do with the San Antonio tree. If we haven't at least made an effort to call and interview Quinn, we're idiots.

Maybe so. But Casey should have sent Nurse half of his Piston's salary for getting him that Coach of the Year trophy.

I'm fine with **** if Troy manages to get a second pick later in the lottery. I'm not taking him at #5 and certainly not over Hendrix, Whitmore, or even Walker. A lineup of **** and Bogie at Forward might even be worse defensively than Bey and Bogie - so hopefully getting that pick includes shipping Bogie out. Every team needs shooters, but this was the second worst defensive team in the league. We aren't getting better by just adding more guys that can shoot. Conversely, we don't need to add guys that have to have the ball in their hands to be effective because they can't shoot at all (the twins). As long as they're in a similar draft tier, I'm prioritizing 2-way players like Hendricks, even if he might have a slightly lower athletic ceiling than the Thompsons and a slightly lower shooting ceiling than ****.

I don't know, I view it as Gores might save us from Weaver's nepotism on this one. Ironic that Gores could be the savior here, but I'm ok with whatever prevents us from hiring Ollie.

I was being mildly conservative, but also somewhat realistic. We're talking about a guy who would've been 21 in just his second year. How many wins did SGA give OKC in 2022 when he was 23 years old and played in about 60 games that season? They won 24 games and he averaged 24/6/4. Was he a bust? They turned the corner in 2023 with a 24 year old SGA and a roster that makes way more sense around him. Even if Cade played, he doesn't solve the youth, defense, and roster issues from last year. 3-5 wins might be slightly conservative, but not by much. These kids need to grow up and the roster around them needs to improve before one 21 year old can make that much of an impact.

That's why I said important "numbers", not measurements 😄 And for an 18 year old who started the season with a thumb injury on his shooting hand, I'll take 40% C&S all day. Kid shows real promise as a play finisher both from the three and on the drive.

This is a big offseason for Weaver to prove himself. No Wemby cheat code to circumvent the process and save him. Writing on the wall seems to be that Gores is done with competing for top lottery spots. I don't think they'll go as far as sacrificing the future, but I think you'll definitely see moves designed to put a better product on the floor. He's got a top 5 pick and some cap room to make changes. They only won 17 games last year, but they weren't a 17 win team. Cade was out all year and they shut down multiple key players for the last 20 games of the season to tank. Even a 20% win team gets 4 of those last 20 games if they don't shut everyone down and Cade probably gives you another 3-5 over the course of the year prior to that. So, I'd estimate them as a ~24 team with this roster. They need to take an Orlando-like leap and get to around 34 wins. It won't get them the play-in, but it'll show progress. So, can they get about 10 wins with off-season moves and player development? That's Weaver's test.

You might have left out some of the important numbers: Vertical - 41" Finishing at the rim - 65% Catch and Shoot threes - 40%

Maybe a 1% chance Miller is available at 5, so I wouldn't get my hopes up on that. One of Whitmore or Hendricks will be available and I'd be happy with either of them. You'll find others who are high on Ausar Thompson and Jarace Walker, both of whom will be available in that range. Walker is definitely a Weaver guy, so it wouldn't shock me if we picked him. But, if we sign Ollie as our head coach you can pretty much guarantee it'll be Ausar Thompson (assuming Amen is gone as expected).

I like Hendricks a lot as well, and pairing him with Duren would be fun defensively. Still, I have Cam one slot higher just like Vecenie due to what I believe is a higher ceiling. Hendricks is rising up draft boards but I’m not seeing too many that have him over Whitmore. And speaking of combine measurements, Whitmore is a 94th percentile athlete based upon draft measurements since 2000. He’ll also be just 18 on draft night.

Would’ve at least liked to get #4 so we could control our fate on the best of the third tier of guys.

Well, the positivity didn’t work, so imagine this garbage off-season that’s a real possibility: Kevin Ollie is the coach, we draft a Thompson twin, and sign Dillon Brooks on free agency. Someone put me out of my misery.

Just tell me we’re going to draft Whitmore or Hendrix and not Jarace Walker.

Nooooooooooo

Nothing but positives vibes for me tonight. Not usually my thing, but let’s see how this works out. Have my Ben Wallace jersey on and I’m ready for Wemby.

I'm immediately looking for trades if we get #2 and putting feelers out for #3 as well in case Scoot drops past #2. Brooklyn is my first call. Are they going to try to blow it up and rebuild or do they think they'll attract a star to play with their team full of role players? If it's the former, I'm checking to see if they want Scoot, #31, and Bogie (cap relief) for Bridges. It's a long shot, but I'm trying. Orlando is my second call. Give me #6 and #12 in exchange for #2. I'll take Hendrix at #6 and Gradey D or something at #12. It's a great pairing. Duren will take the pounding inside to save Wemby's body. Allows Wemby to be a roaming shot blocker and help defender, which is where he'll thrive rather than trying to hang in the post against the bigger bodies. Duren is also a good passer and a great offensive rebounder. With all the attention on Wemby, Cade, and Ivey he'd really thrive in those roles as well.

Spo coaching tree is a big selling point for me. Also, Heat culture. They've been worse than every team they've played, but damnit, they're just going to play harder and smarter than you are. Bring me some of that in Detroit.

Before I was just underwhelmed, but now I'm disappointed. Quinn is available for interviews but no news that Detroit even tried.

After what I've read about him in the locker room, I don't even understand how he gets an interview.

I'm a bit underwhelmed by all the candidates, including Monty, but you do have to give him an interview if he's interested. Weaver listed, "discipline, development, and defense" as his requirements for the next coach and I just don't see the "discipline" aspect from Monty. He's very much in the Casey mold of a player's coach. I'm also not in love with his strategic X's and O's after watching him choke in the playoffs and leave obvious weaknesses unexploited (Jokic's PnR defense) in route to another really bad playoff exit. Still though, he's certainly a better candidate than Kevin Ollie, so you gotta give him a call.

How many losses is that for Doc after he's been leading a series now? Pretty sure nobody has more. Harden is the ultimate choke artist. Embiid got the pity MVP because of voter fatigue and the media narrative that was built up over the past couple of months. Mark Jackson didn't even put Jokic on his voting ballot - of course he says it was "an oversight". Only one team left I don't want to see win, but the Lakers will do a better job of exploiting Jokic on defense than the Suns did. Still, I'm hoping the Nuggets can pull this one out.

I hope Ben can do it again.

Duren, Wiseman, Bagley, Stew, and Wemby. We don't need Ayton 😄

Looking at the free agent list, he'd actually be one of the better signings. I'd certainly take him over Kuzma, Green, or Barnes. Problem is, he's going to cost you about 27M a year. I wonder what BKN is going to do. Are they going to try to go forward with a capped out middle of the pack team or blow it up and rebuild while they wait for Simmons contract to come off the books? If they want to rebuild, then I'm coming after Bridges. Give them Scoot when we land #2, Bogie (cap space & tank commander), #31, and some salary filler like Bagley. I know it's a dream that'll never happen, but he's the perfect player to slot in with a Cade/Ivey/Duren starting unit.