2022 NBA Draft Prelude

[RandyMarsh]

Down to two games, both against teams that have something to play for in Milwaukee and Philly. Currently those two are in the 3 and 4 spot a 1/2 game behind Boston for number 2. With the way Toronto has been playing of late I would think there is a big incentive to get out of the 4 spot and avoid having to play them.  

Honestly with how bad Chicago has looked and their record against good teams if I were one of those teams I may almost prefer the 3 seed over the 2. If you catch Brooklyn or a Cavs team with Mobley and Allen back in round 1 that could be tough. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by RandyMarsh

[Deleterious]

1 hour ago, NYLion said:

Curious, who did they have at 11?

Mathurin at 12 seems crazy to me too. I have him in the top 5 tbh.

Scouts seems to really be falling in love with Murray lately. I'm seeing a lot of top 5 projections for him recently. I like Murray too but I'm not sure that he has as much upside as some of the more athletic younger prospects in that 2nd tier.

They have Mark Williams at #11.

I don't hate or love Murray.  He should be a solid role player type.  Honestly, I feel that way about most of the players in this draft.  Such an odd draft.

[casimir]

8 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

Down to two games, both against teams that have something to play for in Milwaukee and Philly. Currently those two are in the 3 and 4 spot a 1/2 game behind Boston for number 2. With the way Toronto has been playing of late I would think there is a big incentive to get out of the 4 spot and avoid having to play them.  

Honestly with how bad Chicago has looked and their record against good teams if I were one of those teams I may almost prefer the 3 seed over the 2. If you catch Brooklyn or a Cavs team with Mobley and Allen back in round 1 that could be tough. 

Tricky thing about both Pistons' games is that they get both Milwaukee and Philadelphia on the back end of their respective back-to-backs.  Milwaukee hosts Boston tonight (and Boston is in the 2-4 seed maelstrom) and then plays at Detroit the next night.  Philadelphia hosts Indiana on Saturday and then hosts Detroit on Sunday.

Milwaukee, if they care about seeding, is going to spend effort tonight for sure.  Facing Detroit is the least of their worries right now.  Its an easy game for the Bucks to overlook.

Another wrinkle is that Detroit at Philadelphia is a nightcap to Milwaukee at Cleveland.  Philadelphia might be taking the floor with its known seed in hand on Sunday night.

The Pistons, despite the lack of talent depth, are playing hard.  For all of the warts that they might have, they're playing hard.  It's really not difficult to see a situation where they win their last two games of the season despite the discrepancy between their record and their opponents' records.

[casimir]

Here's where the odds are this morning.

[casimir]

Nice work, everyone.

[Deleterious]

Not a lot of highly ranked foreign players in this draft.

 

[gehringer_2]

29 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Not a lot of highly ranked foreign players in this draft.

and too many skinny big men.

[NYLion]

According to James Edwards III who, as far as I know, is pretty connected, he thinks that the Pistons have Murray at #4 and I believe he said earlier in the season that they had Murray rated higher than Banchero so just some food for thought. I like Murray well enough but I'd be somewhat disappointed if he's their pick at 4 with more athletic, higher upside guys available.

[Betrayer]

12 hours ago, NYLion said:

According to James Edwards III who, as far as I know, is pretty connected, he thinks that the Pistons have Murray at #4 and I believe he said earlier in the season that they had Murray rated higher than Banchero so just some food for thought. I like Murray well enough but I'd be somewhat disappointed if he's their pick at 4 with more athletic, higher upside guys available.

I take those types of reports with a grain of salt. I highly doubt that anyone's big board is set at this point, long before the draft combine. I also highly doubt any team would be sharing their big board with anyone. That would take away all leverage for trades going into the draft.

[Deleterious]

Shaedon Sharpe expected to announce entry in the 2022 NBA Draft, maintain college eligibility

[RandyMarsh]

5 hours ago, Betrayer said:

I take those types of reports with a grain of salt. I highly doubt that anyone's big board is set at this point, long before the draft combine. I also highly doubt any team would be sharing their big board with anyone. That would take away all leverage for trades going into the draft.

Yeah I think it's more somebody that is real familiar with the team like Edwards just trying to read between the tea leaves of things Weaver and the staff say and is just making an educated guess. I will say Id probably put more stock into something he mocks than a national mock that has little insight into the Pistons or their front office. 

[Deleterious]

It wouldn't shock me if it was true.  Humans love letting other humans know they have insider info.  So a lower level employee leaking it doesn't seem far fetched.

It also wouldn't shock me if it was total BS fed to Edwards as a smoke screen.

We have officially entered the silly season.

[Deleterious]

I like the players at 5-7 better than 1-5.

Pistons mailbag: Should Detroit sign Miles Bridges? Potential 2022 NBA Draft picks, trades and other roster moves

Quote

“Who are the Pistons looking at if they fall to 5-7?” — @BrendonCrewNBA

I’ve written about this recently, but Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin, Iowa’s Keegan Murray, Memphis’ Jalen Duren and Kentucky’s Shaedon Sharpe are names to keep an eye on if Detroit’s pick falls in that range.

 

[Betrayer]

2 hours ago, Deleterious said:

I like the players at 5-7 better than 1-5.

Pistons mailbag: Should Detroit sign Miles Bridges? Potential 2022 NBA Draft picks, trades and other roster moves

 

It's a mixed bag for me. I like Jabari and Ivey if we're in the 1-4 range and Mathurin or Sharpe in the 5-8 range.

Most of the other candidates just feel like low ceiling rotation guys (like the Luke Kennard pick). I think we need to swing hard for another star next to Cade in this draft. You only get so many chances to draft a potential star and Detroit isn't likely to attract Free Agent stars.

[RandyMarsh]

I want more than just a rotational guy but I don't necessarily think we need to get a superstar either. It would be nice to swing for the fences with a high ceiling guy but then you end up risking ending up with a Sekou or something. 

I'd be content with getting a prime Al Horford type guy(not in terms of how they play just talking the caliber of player), you know the steady guy that is All Star caliber but is never going to be consider a true star.  With the emergence of teams like Memphis, Dallas and Miami, I think the league is trending away from needing 2 or 3 superstars to win. I think they are showing if you have one true superstar a solid second option and a great supporting cast of guys that know their roles you can win in the NBA now.  

[RandyMarsh]

Also I think we could attract star players if we were winning, when OKC was winning guys wanted to go there, same with Cleveland with Lebron, Milwaukee now and so on, I think guys nowadays care more about winning a championship and overall team success than the market they play in. 

[buddha]

15 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

Also I think we could attract star players if we were winning, when OKC was winning guys wanted to go there, same with Cleveland with Lebron, Milwaukee now and so on, I think guys nowadays care more about winning a championship and overall team success than the market they play in. 

i still think players in their prime want to go where the money is and where they feel comfortable.  like kwahi.  he's a weird cat, but he did not want to play with lebron.  did anyone really want to go to cleveland when he was there?  love maybe?  

guys at the end of their ropes want to ring chase and will go wherever, but your big free agents are going to go get paid i think.  i dont think thats happening in milwaukee.

[Deleterious]

 

[Deleterious]

 

[RandyMarsh]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

i still think players in their prime want to go where the money is and where they feel comfortable.  like kwahi.  he's a weird cat, but he did not want to play with lebron.  did anyone really want to go to cleveland when he was there?  love maybe?  

guys at the end of their ropes want to ring chase and will go wherever, but your big free agents are going to go get paid i think.  i dont think thats happening in milwaukee.

I know he's not a top superstar but I brought up Milwaukee cause of Holiday but I forgot that they traded for him, I was thinking he signed there as a FA. 

I just think that the whole market thing gets overblown, guys have gone to huge markets but they also have spurned them or outright chose to leave there like Harden just did with Brooklyn. Also look at KD signing with GS, yeah I know the Bay Area is more desirable than Detroit but did KD really choose to go there cause the location and weather or cause he wanted to play with a great team and win a ring? My guess is the latter. 

[Deleterious]

Holiday signed an extension after being traded.  So it sort of counts.

[Deleterious]

He might struggle to land at a top school.

 

[buddha]

the most unsurprising result of his "college career."  

was it a surprise that memphis did much better without him around?

[casimir]

3 hours ago, Deleterious said:

He might struggle to land at a top school.

 

Maybe his dad will create one?

[Deleterious]

So Bates peaked as a high school sophomore.  Even Al Bundy waited until he was a senior.