Betrayer

I feel like he's the new Doc Rivers. Not a good coach but everyone thinks he is for some reason.

I'm basing it on what I'm hearing from Kyle Metz (who is apparently a Pistons cap guru) on a podcast. I suppose it could be wrong, but he seems to know his stuff. I guess we'll find out in 4 days when all of these things become official.

With the moves the Pistons have made they still have the choice to approach this from two directions: Stay Over the cap: Kings have structured the Schroeder deal in a way that allows for it to be a S&T. This could give us a trade exception or allow us to bring in a player from the Kings or even rope in a third team. Go Under the cap: We would still have the 8M Room Exception to use.

After initially being super unhappy about this (mostly about missing out on NAW), your viewpoint is exactly how I've started to view it as well. And honestly, through that lens it's...fine. Not great, just fine. Robinson might actually be a tiny upgrade over Beasley. Gives you the same movement shooting in a taller frame so he can play multiple positions. Both bad defenders for different reasons, but Beasley is actually a bit worse because Robinson is a smarter team defender who knows where to be and how to rotate (he's just slow footed). Beasley was always lost off ball. Duncan is also a better rebounder, passer, cutter, and a nearly 90% free throw shooter. Good, tradeable contract too. Levert versus Schroeder (or THJ if people prefer to make that comparison) might be a bit better as well. I was done with THJ and there's not much more to say about that because it's obvious how bad his defense was and how little he offered when it wasn't that one game out of 10 where he was on fire from three. As for Schroeder, he's a poor 3 point shooter and even though he tried hard he was just too small on defense. Levert isn't lighting it up from three but he's better than Schroeder in that regard. He's also a bigger body on defense which is helpful. And he gives the team some much needed shot creation when Cade isn't on the floor with a good assist to turnover ratio. We'll see if he can keep up the offensive efficiency he had last year, because that's always been the big problem with him...not that Schroeder was very efficient either. Oh, and dumping Tek's contract is a bonus here. Every minute he's not on the court is going to be an upgrade from last year whether it's Ron, Ausar, or even Duncan playing those minutes. It's too early to say, but I think I'll enjoy seeing Lanier play over Sasser (hopefully) as well. His college numbers are pretty crazy (pulled from Woodward Sports): 2nd in nation in ppg off of screens, 4th in jump shot ppg, 95th percentile on unguarded C&S 3s, 94th percentile in isolation ppp, 82nd percentile in transition ppp, 84th percentile in halfcourt ppp, 91st percentile ppp in cuts. He could be a solid role player. None of this moves the needle in a huge way, but it actually does feel like a tiny improvement over the guys we had last year. It's disappointing because I was hoping for a real improvement on the margins and we didn't get that, but it takes two to tango in free agency. The sad part is that we'll probably slip down the ranking because other teams have improved. There's always the trade deadline I suppose...

Just saw a post that said you can't do a sign and trade for a 2 year deal, which is what was originally reported for Schroeder (2 for 30M). So, the announcement of this new deal for 3 years (the last year could be an option) might actually mean it's more likely that there is a S&T involved and that could have been the hold up with Sacramento trying to structure a 3rd year on the contract to make it work. Just speculation, but interesting.

Players have to want to come here. That's why playing in free agency is almost always a bad idea for Detroit.

Nothing gets signed until the 6th, right? They could pull a reverse-Boozer 🤣

I wasn't sad about the Beasley news when I heard we were pivoting to NAW. But now Trajan is learning what we all know: The free agents you want simply aren't coming to Detroit. Sounds like NAW is favored to go to Atlanta and so we've had to pivot to the table scraps (LaVert and Robinson). At very best those would be lateral moves from Shroeder, THJ, and Beasley in an offseason where you needed to be improving around your core, not taking steps sideways. Playing the Free Agency game in Detroit never works. Meanwhile we're getting leapfrogged by multiple teams who finished just a couple games behind us last year such as the Magic and the Hawks. Let's not forget that both of those teams had significant injuries to some of their top players last year and now they've taken steps to improve on top of returning their existing talent.

Apparently it's not related to his time in Detroit. Back from when he was with LA. If he's found guilty that's an NBA ban and his career is over. I'd like to hope that Trajan is smart enough to stay away from him this offseason even though this is just an investigation at this stage. Not worth the risk. No need to operate over the cap now. Beasley in trouble, Schroder going somewhere to be a starter, and THJ isn't someone that you need to worry about prioritizing. Release the cap holds, Free up the money, and go get NAW or DFS or something. We needed to replace last years vets with some 2-way players anyway.

There aren't a ton of options if they're looking for a replacement for Fontecchio at the backup PF. Santi isn't a bad option depending upon what he'll cost. He'd certainly be a much better (and younger) version of Tek. I've heard a lot of Portis talk as well, but I think that's just fans speculating. Their plan obviously isn't to push in their chips and instead to improve on the margins. If that's the case, then I'm ok with Santi on a small sign-and-trade and getting NAW in free agency. Ivey takes THJ's minutes, NAW takes Beasley's, and Santi takes Tek's. Any minutes that were going to Sasser (if he's still around) would go to Lanier. Those are all solid upgrades. The question remaining after that is whether they want to trust Ivey to be the backup PG again (I hope not) and where they're going to find one without much cash to spare. Oh, and a legitimate 7 footer to replace Bball Paul on the bench would be nice insurance.

Does this mean they don't have the money to retain NAW? I'm guessing Langdon wants Beasley back, but NAW would be a clear upgrade as a 2-way player.

Surprised to see Raynaud still on the board.

6'5" movement shooter. 23 year old senior, so probably ready to contribute very soon. This is your replacement or insurance for moving on from Beasley/THJ. Would've loved to see the Pistons do something bold, but this is a solid pick that I can't complain about at #37.

Robinson intrigued me in the past, but he's never healthy so I'll pass. I'd be interested in Bridges but I doubt NYK is ready to trade him for his actual value so soon after trading so much to get him.

A few things... 1. I actually hope Sacramento takes Schroeder and forces us in another direction. Schroeder was fine, but his ability (or willingness) to get to the basket and create for others didn't impress me, he's small, and he's not a floor spacer. At least give me someone who can shoot the three reliably while we're developing all of these other players who can't. 2. After listening to Trajan's presser rather than just going off of the quotes, it's not as simple as "we aren't going to be aggressive." He said they're going to keep their options open for a trade like what Orlando did as long as they don't have to mortgage the future. Maybe that's not going to materialize, but I think it's a little more nuanced than "we want to run it all back" as I've been hearing the media say. They want to be smart about it. 3. Trajan didn't seem like he was in a rush to sign extensions with Ivey and Duren. He very much acted like it was no big deal if they go into restricted free agency next offseason. 4. He also said they want to bring back the 3 vets, but also that they're doing their due diligence in case that doesn't happen to find replacements. Essentially, he left the door open.