NYLion

It's not an easy schedule by any means but these are the Celtics playoff/play opponents... Minny, OKC, Atlanta, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, Charlotte, Knicks and Orlando. Of their final 12, they play 9 of 12 against play in or playoff teams and the play in teams in the east this season are pretty strong. If the Pistons go, lets say, 7-7, the Celtics would have to go 10-2 as I believe the Pistons win the tiebreaker. That's a tall task for the Celtics even with the Pistons not having Cade and it's not like the Pistons have been junk without Cade this season.

The Pistons have played reasonably well without Cade, the schedule doesn't look that daunting. 3.5 games is a lot of ground to make up with only 12-13 games left. I don't think this is a death blow to the season. Assuming that this is a 4-6 week thing for Cade to get fully up to speed, they'll likely have to navigate Round 1 without a fully functional Cade. It'll be tough but it's doable.

Too early to tell obviously and Ratledge was a nice pick but they only have one surefire starter from that draft and ideally you want 2-3 starters. Tyliek was more of a rotational guy which is fine for a 1st season so we'll see on him, they traded an extra 3rd rounder for a #3 WR who I like but for a team that was going to lose guys due to cap restraints wasting an extra 3rd on a luxury pick looks like a mistake IMO. The rest of the guys are projects which is fine for lower round guys, Frazier could turn out to be something. There's some guys with upside there, I'm a big Teslaa fan, but the returns are modest thus far one season in which is all we can really judge now. Time will tell...

Have to say that I agree. Two questionable drafts in a row although early to give a final judgment, no FA acquisitions of note and what looks like it could be a dud in Reed, no trades of note outside of Carlton Davis who they let go to sign what looks to be a worse player in Reed. I will say in his defense that the catastrophic amount of injuries and Ragnow's retirement late in the offseason kind of started this spiral downwards which was out of his control but he hasn't done a great job of plugging the holes partly due to poor draft decisions with the trade ups for project players.

You would think that Holmes sees all the holes on the roster and doesn't think that the draft can fix even most of them. I didn't expect any big splashes but at least some guys that can plug in as a starter or at least a high quality backup. We're talking about a downgrade at RB, no starting tackle opposite of Sewell, no edge rushers to speak of, thinned out depth in the interior of the defensive line, lost quality depth at linebacker, less depth at CB and one healthy safety currently in Izien. They improved at center but downgraded in a lot of other areas. We'll see what happens the rest of free agency and at the draft but this is the worst roster the Lions have had in quite some time. The core guys are mostly still here but the depth has been decimated.

The Ravens probably dodged a bullet, nearing 30 and the injuries are piling up, just had surgery. The Raiders are probably pissed that they lost those 1st round picks and now are pretty much forced to trade him for a lesser return because they already went on their FA spending spree and can't keep the contract now.

Holmes is unpredictable. I wouldn't be overly shocked if he took Jeremiah Love for instance if he dropped to 17. He's never cared about need or position and he'll go into the season with these tackles if he doesn't see a tackle he likes in the draft.

I'm not so crazy about it. I loved him like 3 years ago then he had a serious injury and hasn't been the same since. I think this is a significant downgrade if we're getting the Pacheco of the last two seasons.

Agreed, Lopez was the main guy I wanted back of the UFAs. The Lions have a lot of holes to fill and are pretty much depending on the draft to fill a lot of them. Gone are Decker, Anzalone, Montgomery, Robertson, Lopez, not to mention that Branch is gone and Kerby who knows, LaPorta who knows, they have no edge opposite of Hutch either with AQM still a free agent. They've upgraded at center but haven't replaced any of the above mentioned names and don't really have anybody internally to fill those roles, lots of question marks all throughout the roster. This is where Holmes not drafting as well in the last two drafts is starting to hurt them, especially taking those swings in the middle rounds on guys like Manu, Vaki and Teslaa.

The Jalaen Phillips and Jordan Davis contracts are terrible regardless of cap inflation. 4 years $120m for Phillips is absolutely insane, I almost couldn't believe that when I saw it. I haven't even touched on the Pearce contract being nearly $30m/yr for a guy with a career high of 47 catches although he is a good player.

I'm torn on Decker being released. On one hand, he was poor last season and had that shoulder injury that never seemed to go away so there's a good chance at 33 that he was never going to be what he was prior to last season again and I think Lions management probably recognized that and asked if he'd take a paycut but, on the other hand, there's a big hole at tackle that now has to be filled immediately pigeonholing the Lions into drafting tackle early (I don't see anybody in free agency that is starter material) so they're in a bind now. Either way, it's sad to see a lot of the old guard leaving and a lot of the new guard injured. I'm really not sure which direction this franchise is going in now whereas they were clearly on an upward trajectory the prior 3 seasons so.... I guess we'll see what Holmes does because he has his work cut out for him big time to get this team back to contender status.

Gibbs is an elite talent and, thus far, durable just entering his prime. I don't care what position he plays, you sign those guys.

There's no way he's extending Branch without knowing if he'll ever come back from that injury (look at Tracy Walker as a recent Lions example). I'd honestly be surprised if Branch ever returns to his previous form and who knows about Kerby for that matter. All of a sudden safety went from a major strength to a major need. LaPorta same thing as well with his back issue that could very well be a chronic thing. I can't see him getting an extension right now. I bet they extend Gibbs soon, I think the writing is on the wall with that one.

I hate to see Montgomery go but I get it from a business standpoint. He's a 29 year old running back with a lot of tread on the tires and he seemed unhappy. To get a 4th+developmental center+7th is really nice work by Holmes and certainly more than I thought Monty would garner on the market but I loved Monty so it sucks from that standpoint. Same thing with Glasgow but that was much more of a no brainer. I'll be interested to see if the Lions restructure some contracts now, looking at you Goff, to clear more cap space because there are quite a few needs and a lot more question marks going into this season than there has been in a long time.

Who can take the NBA regular season seriously anymore when teams rarely play full rosters. It's ridiculous

Buddha is our resident curmudgeon; he'll find any way to downplay the Pistons and also find any excuse to **** on the Bulls so that's fun at least.

Does it matter? Just enjoy watching a very good team play

The Pistons are really freaking good, that's it that's all. Ok, one more thing. Is the drop off from Duren to Reed that drastic that the Pistons HAVE TO pay Duren $40m/yr. I just think that's a lot of money to allocate to a position that can be filled relatively easy considering how good Cade is. Duren is better than Reed of course but $30m+/yr better? Ehh, I don't think so. Just some food for thought when it comes to offseason decisions. Of course I know Duren is getting paid regardless of what NYLion says so...

I don't know, they look pretty legit to me because it looks like they learned to play defense and with all those shooters all over the floor and them finally being healthy that's a dangerous team. I think Kneppel is a real gamechanger for them, very smart player and can score from anywhere. They're probably the one team I don't want to face in the 1st round.

And it'll be worth it after the wife beater kept going at Duren. Stew does some dumb unprovoked things too often but I completely back him tonight, that was awesome and a great game overall. That's the way the NBA should be, the Pistons are bringing the hate back.

Well, they outplayed them most of that series but the Pistons folded down the stretch a few of those games that changed the outcome. The Pistons match up well with them. Conversely, I don't think they match up well with Cleveland because Cleveland packs the paint which takes away their biggest strength so I'm hoping that the Cavs jump into that 2/3 spot.

Not me, I've always been a fan of his. Hopefully we see news of his new contract this weekend and hope it's for multiple years.

Boy were you wrong, how about 38!!!

You definitely err on the pessimistic side but when you're going into a playoff run with old Tobias Harris as your #2 option that's a huge problem. Hell, even prime Tobias wasn't a #2 option on a contender so there's reason for pessimism. I actually think Jenkins can be a viable backup PG because he knows how to play the position unlike Ivey for instance, it's the starting lineup that's the bigger issue. There's something about Detroit GMs where they have a fetish for team culture and locker room harmony which they think can lead a team to a championship but you need the horses to withstand the rigors of a playoff run and the Pistons quite simply don't. Tbh, if they play Charlotte for example in the 1st round they could very well lose that game. The Hornets don't play much defense generally but they have at least 3 offensive options better than the Pistons #2 and I'd argue that Bridges is better than Harris.

Good win against a team but, again, you can see the absolute grind it is for the Pistons in the clutch because they have Cade who isn't really a regular take over guy (like Murray for example) and nobody else who can get you a bucket reliably. This is going to be big problem in the playoffs.