NYLion

I'm thinking that too. He's a likely cut candidate next offseason especially now that they have Hutch and Harris on the edge, not to mention Julian potentially emerging and Paschal perhaps being able to slide over at times whenever he returns, also Austin Bryant looks primed to make some noise now that he's FINALLY healthy. It's money that can be better spent elsewhere, like corner for instance.

This is the first year in a while that I'm not too invested into the lottery. This draft is supposed to be really deep anyway so they should get a good player even if they're in the lower end of the lottery. Some really good wings too which is the Pistons biggest need. I want to see progression this season. I don't expect miracles but 30-35 wins should be a good target even for a team as young as this one mainly because I expect Cade to be THAT good. If they go under, assuming relatively good health, I'd start to be concerned that maybe this young core isn't quite as good as I think they are.

Okudah had an Achilles tear not even a year ago and this is an injury that usually takes more than one year for full recovery unlike an ACL tear (like what Williams has) which has a much quicker recovery period so I wouldn't expect him to be at full strength until next season if ever again, same with Okwara who I think is a write off this season. Personally, my expectations of Okudah went into the toilet the moment he got injured last season. For a guy who already had mobility issues, that injury was likely a death blow for him being an above average corner in this league. If he proves me wrong that would be great but I'm not expecting much.

I think it's a combination of being the biggest winner in NBA history and him playing a big role in civil activism off the court and being a barrier breaker for black basketball players that followed him. I wouldn't call him the Jackie Robinson of basketball necessarily but... yeah... sort of like that.

The defense is filled with either really young guys, injured guys (Okwara, 2nd rounders and lord knows when they'll see the field again) and washed up vets so it's going to be a year filled with some ups and lot of downs. Don't expect much from the defense and just hope that they're better to end the year than they will be to start.

If Goff isn't the guy, the Lions will be in position to draft one of the top QBs anyway. If the Lions win some games in spite of Goff (highly doubtful since they're not strong enough yet to get away with average QB play) and are drafting outside of the top 10, they have the extra 1st and can just package an additional to 1st to move up to get their guy. Either way, they can draft one of the top QBs in this draft if they really want/need one or even stand pat and let one fall to them like the Patriots, in your example.

The cap will rise quickly (NFL is always raking in insane amounts of revenue) so this contract will probably be close to middle of the road halfway through. Regardless, It's a big overpayment right now but you have to pay QBs with franchise potential because as we know all too well, it's not so easy to find those guys. When the Lions paid Stafford, who at the time was the highest paid QB in the league, he had a ton of question marks surrounding him too but just like Arizona, the Lions had no choice but to pay the man. Personally, I'm not a fan of Murray and think he lacks the mentality to be great but Arizona had to pony up to keep him.

I think Livers potential as a high end 3 and D guy is underrated. He's one of those guys who is always in the right spot, making the right play and can shoot the 3 at a high level. He's also athletic enough to defend the more athletic 3's or even 4's reasonably well. He could be our version of Mikail Bridges.

That Gobert trade is.... something. Minny basically unloaded all their picks until the end of time for a one dimensional 30 year old center with a massive long term contract attached. This is why the Wolves are the Wolves.

They are. They're going to have around $60m cap space as it looks now. The only multi-year commitment they made was Bagley and that was fully expected. Meh is good, who the hell wants to splurge in this free agent market?

The Bagley contract is a bit of an overpay but not anything egregious. He's a pretty well rounded post scorer so if he improves his defense, the contract won't be an issue. My only problem is that they have all these bigs but none of them are floor stretchers outside of Olynyk who is old as dirt and oft injured. Looking at a Bagley, Stewart and Duren frontcourt long term and I can't see a fit unless Stewart starts hitting that 3 with more consistency.

Well, there's your sin eat. I was hoping for one of the Knicks 1sts if the Pistons are taking on that much salary but I actually view Burks as a net positive pickup so it's essentially the two 2nds to eat Noel's contract in my mind. I like that they are expirings too so Weaver could get another asset or two at the deadline, for Burks in particular. I'd have to think there's more stuff in the works because the frontcourt is overloaded currently.

Would love Portis but I don't think he'll leave Milwaukee. TJ Warren is an interesting target, pretty good shooter/scorer but oft injured which means they could probably get him a discounted rate.

Woah, are you a wizard? Eerie I had a feeling that Weaver would draft a stash kid. The roster already is overloaded with young guys as is.

This makes me think that they'll still pursue Ayton. Sign Ayton to a 4 year deal and Duren will be fully ready to take on the prominent center role by then or even a year or two before then. However, adding Duren lessens the urgency to splurge for Ayton. I wonder if they make a run at Bridges after the way this draft played out, not a great 3 point shooter but a prime scorer on the wing.

I see that the Pistons are only absorbing $9M from the Kemba contract. It gets even better. Apparently Weaver is going to buy him out so they'll still have pretty much all their cap space remaining. I don't know anybody can dislike this move.

Yep. Well, Walker's salary included but, yeah, the trade looks nicer when you look at it that way. They got two 2nds btw, they're own 2nd in 2025 and the better of the Portland/New Orleans 2nds in 2026 so Duren (#13), Walker salary dump and two 2nds, plus move up 10 spots in the 2nd for Grant.

No. Duren was included.

Gave up the Milwaukee 1st so essentially, Grant+Walker's salary+some 2nds for Grant, assuming that the Pistons aren't sending anything else out. Makes the Grant trade look a lot better now.

The Pistons got Duren. They got Kemba Walker? They're still talking to the Knicks about Ivey. What in the world is going on? This is wild.

That's where I'm at too. I'm skeptical of his fit next to Cade but for pure upside, he has way more than the other options at 5 if he corrects that long range shot which did show signs of improvement last season. I think there's only two, maybe three, players in this draft with real starpower potential (if you include Sharpe). Ivey, Banchero and Sharpe. you need multiple stars in this league so they got a guy with that potential. Also, athleticism, man did they need an injection of some in the worst way.

Boom. There you go @Betrayer I don't know about the fit but this kid definitely brings the starpower. The Pistons will be exciting if nothing else. If Weaver can pull off Duren later in the lottery, this is an A level day.

Eh, I think Houston probably preferred Banchero to the other two but I could be wrong.

https://twitter.com/JakeLFischer/status/1540119331861893124?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1540119331861893124|twgr^|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2205202start%3D980 Seems to be a lot of smoke that the Pistons are willing to absorb salary to add picks. Good move by Weaver if executed. As an aside, how do we embed tweets again?

Ok, I'll take your word for it. I just know Edwards as being one of the most plugged in media guys so I hold his opinion in high regard. I do wonder why they made this trade a day before the draft (I'm pretty sure there wasn't a lot of urgency to close the 46th to 36th pick portion of the deal) so perhaps Weaver is looking to add draft capital by absorbing a contract. This trade sure made the next week or so a lot more interesting if nothing else.