3/11/25 7:00PM Wizards @ Pistons

[Tigeraholic1]

Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena

Pistons 36-29

Wizards 13-50

Next game: 3/13 At home, again the lowly Wizards

 

 

 

[Sports_Freak]

Pistons by 30. 😆

[buddha]

the only time i've rooted for draymond greene is when he punched jordan poole in the face.  cant stand jordan poole.

[casimir]

Gotta love FDS showing a replay with sound of Marcus Smart cursing at Isaiah Stewart when the live sound clearly broadcast the verbiage two minutes prior.

[casimir]

Lots of bickering back and forth between the games.  Good thing this is a back-to-back two game series.

[Sports_Freak]

Indy beats the Bucks on a 4 point play.

[Hongbit]

Bucks, Pacers, Pistons essentially all deadlocked for 4-5-6z

[Shinzaki]

Really enjoying the way Cade and Duren play together.  Having Kelser calling the games...it really brings to mind what Magic and Kelser had working in their championship season.

And it really seems like Blaha has kicked it up a notch this year...

[buddha]

so are we going to pay duren now?

[gehringer_2]

33 minutes ago, buddha said:

so are we going to pay duren now?

I would take the question as: Is Duren bringing something above average to the table or would any big athletic player do as well being fed by Cade? If he could develop even a little short offensive game.... But how many guys have we said that about who never did.

[papalawrence]

2 hours ago, buddha said:

so are we going to pay duren now?

With his rapport with Cade and his ball handling and passing abilities blossoming, they need to keep him. He is a big part of the core imho. Plus, what is he, 21?

[papalawrence]

12 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

Really enjoying the way Cade and Duren play together.  Having Kelser calling the games...it really brings to mind what Magic and Kelser had working in their championship season.

And it really seems like Blaha has kicked it up a notch this year...

I agree, good memories of Magic and Kelser. And Blaha seems more animated. It's been a tough decade for Detroit sports, but a new era is starting

Edited 16 hours ago by papalawrence

[Betrayer]

4 hours ago, buddha said:

so are we going to pay duren now?

I don't love investing in big men not named Jokic in today's NBA, but I think they will after how he's elevated his game since Ausar got in the starting lineup and JB made some defensive adjustments to account for his limitations. He's also continued to show flashes of passing and handling on the offensive end. The playoffs will be a big determining factor for his final value.

Which leads to the real question, "how much?". Just don't make the contract untradeable (i.e., max contract) and he can be an asset that leaves you with options down the line.

Edited to add:
Claxton got a 25M descending contract last year and Hartenstein got about 29M. I expect it would be  somewhere in that range.

Edited 14 hours ago by Betrayer

[Shinzaki]

Duren has gotten better defensively this year..he's not Stew at the rim, but who is?  I like what he brings to the table offensively ....he's got a decent handle and can pass the ball, plus he's got an undeniable chemistry with Cade. 

[papalawrence]

Plus he turned 21 this season. He's shown enough improvement this season to warrant a top half of nba center salary imho. With his passing and ball handling skill I believe he has begun to show a higher ceiling. If Det doesn't pay him someone will 

[Deleterious]

They don't have to worry about paying Duren for another 15 months.  Unless he takes a team friendly deal like Stew did there is zero reason to sign him this year.

From Duren's side, there is also no reason for him to sign this summer.  If he thinks he is an up and comer he would be better off putting another season, and another playoff run, on his resume.  This summer, he can't negotiate with other teams.  So he has no external pressure to put on Detroit to give him a larger deal.  Wait until summer of 2026 and actually enter free agency so he can negotiate with everyone.  It is also a decent FA class that summer, so teams are starting to maneuver to open up cap space.  Another plus for a guy like Duren. 

If he stinks it up in this years playoffs, you have to give considerable thought to trading him this summer.  If you feel Ausar is part of this team's future, I don't see how Duren also is.  You can't play two guys at once that are not a threat from more than 5 feet from the basket. 

The picture will be a bit more clear after the playoffs. 

[Deleterious]

Since Hartenstein was brought up.  Here is what Zach Lowe said about him at the end of last season when discussing his two all defensive teams.

Quote

Isaiah Hartenstein deserves a deep look here too. He ranked toward the top in several advanced metrics, and was an expert playing the cat-and-mouse game on the pick-and-roll -- baiting ball handlers into wayward passes and getting his hands on the ball. Opponents shot just 52.5% at the rim against Hartenstein, on par with the numbers for Gobert and Wembanyama. They averaged only 0.76 in isolations against Hartenstein -- fifth lowest among all defenders.

Hartenstein was one of just 11 rotation players to average at least one steal and one block per game, according to Basketball-Reference. (That group also includes White, Wembanyama, Davis and Caruso. Adebayo and Draymond Green came very close; Green would have probably made one of these two teams had he met the 65-game criteria.)

I'd have no objection with Hartenstein appearing on either team. He ranks a tick below the four first-team bigs for me -- not as physically dominant as the first three and not as nimble in space as Adebayo. (He's also a little behind everyone but Wembanyama in minutes, and Wembanyama is on another level of dominance.)

 

[Deleterious]

 

[buddha]

the league needs to find a way to make lakers-mavs happen.

lakers-warriors is a total "root for death" series.  hate both of them.

bulls could beat the heat.  the heat suck.  

pistons could beat the knicks.  put stew on kat and watch him shrink like george constanza coming out of a pool.  otoh, i dont know who guards brunson.  ausar on bridges would be interesting.

[Deleterious]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

the league needs to find a way to make lakers-mavs happen.

lakers-warriors is a total "root for death" series.  hate both of them.

bulls could beat the heat.  the heat suck.  

pistons could beat the knicks.  put stew on kat and watch him shrink like george constanza coming out of a pool.  otoh, i dont know who guards brunson.  ausar on bridges would be interesting.

Bridges just asked Thibs to back off on the starter's minutes.  He might be in the G-League by the time the playoffs start. 

[NYLion]

19 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

Really enjoying the way Cade and Duren play together.  Having Kelser calling the games...it really brings to mind what Magic and Kelser had working in their championship season.

And it really seems like Blaha has kicked it up a notch this year...

Blaha, while clearly way way past his prime, seems rejuvenated with his play calling this season much like we feel watching the team I'm sure. I just can't imagine watching the Pistons post-Blaha, man is a legend that's been through all of it.

 

[NYLion]

9 hours ago, buddha said:

so are we going to pay duren now?

I think they almost have to, the chemistry between he and the franchise player is special.

Ivey is the big question mark. I think he might have enough value along with the 1sts they will now have full control of to bring in a legit #2 option to team with Cade but that depends on what a team thinks of his ability to recover from injury because he was showing some notable improvements prior to the injury. Maybe they just keep Ivey and can now get him at a lower number on the next contract because of his injury but I'm still unsure of his fit and with the Pistons in what should be getting close to win now mode starting next season so I'm not sure they should be tinkering with fit like developmental teams do.

Edited 9 hours ago by NYLion

[Deleterious]

Betrayer's post in the info thread reminded me of this.

Sam and Bryce talk Duren.  100% with Sam when he says no way is he giving Duren $25 million a year.  Also agree with them that if Ausar is the guy, Duren probably has to go.

It should start at the Duren segment.  If it doesn't then skip to 16m0s.

 

[Shinzaki]

Hate to be contrarian...but I think it's a wee bit early to say definitively what you have with either player or how they could fit together going forward.  They're both talented players...good teams keep talented players. Plus...you have 144 minutes of basketball across the 3-4-5, that's a lot of minutes to spread around.

[Deleterious]

Good teams do not pay to find out if a player is good or not.