Podcast: Detroit Pistons Serve as Biggest Sellers During Busy NBA Trade Deadline

Podcast: Detroit Pistons Serve as Biggest Sellers During Busy NBA Trade Deadline

Good evening everybody and welcome to another exciting night of NBA basketball with the first pick the Detroit Pistons select Kade Cunningham from Oklahoma State University Chandler get oh what a bl by Max seal my goodness the Pistons are digging in they got the dep they got the big man they got the better

Basketball team no doubt about it there’s Jaden playing the passing Lane skies and jams Dynamite and the crowd loves it B need a three and they have just another three seconds to do it here’s johy Phillips here it is he’s got it he’s got it johy BS the flame overtime amazing what Detroit [Applause] basketball Pistons fans welcome back to another edition of the Palace of Pistons podcast brought to you by believe it is officially passed the NBA trade deadline has come and gone myself eron Johnson is joined by my good friend Jasper aalona to discuss a very very loud busy and

Interesting deadline for your Detroit Pistons Jasper we have just so much to talk about a lot of moves made we’ll talk about the impact that these moves have on the roster for the rest of this season and then the implic moving forward in the years to come for

Detroit how are we feeling after what was a busy last couple of days surrounding Detroit I’m not sure what you mean Aaron did something happen with the Pistons uh yeah it’s it’s been an eventful one I I believe um since you know if we’re counting back even before

The deadline Pistons have moved on from six players they brought six new players in uh that’s not even including the two players that were waved today as well by Detroit uh on top of the ones that have left the roster so definitely been an eventful trade deadline look Tom goris

Promised changes uh we certainly got them uh maybe not some of the changes that Pistons fans were hoping for in terms of the front office but changes nonetheless yeah yeah definitely a lot of changes made and I think it’s interesting because it feels like some have essentially no impact and others

Feel significant but I guess that’s what happens when you’re a team that has six wins and has to start making moves to try to salvage your jobs and your season and your future ahead but there is a lot not six not six seven you can’t forget

Let and let’s let’s we should start off by saying last night’s or two nights ago uh in from when this podcast will be released uh probably the Pistons not probably definitely the Pistons best win of the Season certainly their best game of the season uh that was a lot of fun I

I will say so I got to give him credit it’s without a doubt without a doubt their best win yeah yeah no question I wish we could talk about it more because I’d love to talk about the way jayen Ivy played uh the way that this team looked

With proper spacing on the court uh there was a lot of good things that happened and and the Pistons earned a tough win out on the rooad out west against a good Sacramento team who they blew the lead to similarly to when they played earlier this year at Little

Caesar Arena but then the Pistons this time were actually able to turn things back around retake the lead and put Sacramento away unfortunately I think that’s where we’re going to table the discussion on that game just because there’s so much to get into and before

We get into that want to talk about a few things first first off if you haven’t yet we need you to go subscribe to palis pistons.com our Weekly Newsletter and non Weekly Newsletter that comes out we’re dropping stuff on a weekly basis when trades come out when

Opinions are written about we’ve got a lot coming to you via our newsletter so we really need you to go over and subscribe get that stuff directly to your inbox your email inbox head over to Palace of pistons.com And subscribe wherever you’re listening to the show

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On all the action bet online where the game starts okay trade deadline time it’s over it’s come and gone the Pistons made plenty of moves as we have alluded to I guess you can kind of look back to last month when they acquired Danilo galinari and Mike muscala for Isaiah livers and

Marvin Bagley as the first trade I don’t think we necessarily need to talk about that today as we’ve kind of shared our opinions on that already but let’s get to the stuff that’s happened in the last 48 hours for Detroit the first move being a trade out of nowhere with the

Utah Jazz the Pistons acquired forward Simone fonio an Italian who we hear as a couple Italians on the podcast all three of us if Mike we very very proud of Simone fono he is now a Detroit Piston the Piston sent over Kevin Knox a second round pick and the draft rights to

Unfortunately another Italian Gabriella proa who was a 2021 second round pick by the Detroit Pistons I guess let’s just break this down move by move there’s definitely some overarching things that we need to talk about uh once we go through all of these trades but let’s start with this

Fon teio trade I mean I think this was a a really solid move for the Pistons just in short to start things off 28 years old plays either forward spot shoots the ball very well is you know maybe not going to be known for his defense but

Certainly holds his own on that side of the court it’s going to be a pretty seamless transition bringing in fono and I don’t think this was necessarily A short-term move Jasper he’s a a restricted free agent entering this offseason seems like a guy that Pistons purchased traded to acquire for with the

Idea of bringing him in and locking him down long term yeah there’s no question in my mind they wouldn’t have made this move if they didn’t think that Simone fono was a guy that they could bring back during this off season uh as a restricted free agent I think he’ll be

Available for a pretty reasonable price and um you know that’s that’s something that they will have the ability to decide on regardless of whether he gets signed to an offer sheet or not um like you said I I mean really good three-point shooter this year for the

Jazz he’s been a a and this is why I think it’s kind of out of nowhere is that he has been a very useful part of a team that looks to be making a playoff push once again so a little surprising from the Jazz perspective but for the

Pistons I think this was an excellent move um they set themselves up really well to to get a solid three-point shooter decent Defender not a young guy he is 28 but young enough uh I I like this move in a vacuum and also in terms of just what it means for the piston

Moving forward as they try and get out from under what has just been the worst roster in the NBA one of the worst rosters in NBA history this year um you know whether it’s Talent which I don’t think it is so much as much as it is

Roster construction and like you said we do need to talk about each one of these moves individually but they there there is also a lot of context Behind these moves as well even if they don’t seem like Earth shattering moves that really you know change a lot of things for the

Pistons I think the fono move is is a perfect example it is something that while you know he’s definitely going to slot into Detroit’s rotation also shows a shift in what GM Troy Weaver is doing with this roster um and basically an admission of of failure for this last

Off season in the season before that you could even argue yeah look I I think the first first thing you have to start at with this trade is is the price point that the Pistons got from Techo 4 I mean it it reminds me of the trade that they

Made with Utah just a few seasons ago or the beginning of last season to get buan bogdanovich I mean they gave up Kelly o lck who at the time was injured and hadn’t helped the team in the previous season so he didn’t really know what his

Role was going to be and they gave up who was the other guard that they gave up it was someone oh s Lee come on now right so someone that didn’t even stay on their roster Kelly o len by the way who did fetch a first round pick during

This trade deadline while Boon banovic did not yeah was funny figure that out um but the price was so minimal right I think the biggest thing you gave away was this second round pick unfortunately as as much as we like to kind of joke about it Gabriel Pita was probably never

Coming over and probably still won’t ever come over to the NBA uh it just kind of Falls in Troy Weaver’s history of not really doing anything with any of his second round picks whether he’s drafting guys to stash away with no intention of bringing them over or

Drafting guys that are uh friends of of of his that he knows AKA Luca Garza um but the price was the price was right for fonio and he’s going to help this team I think it’s very clear that he’s going to help this team especially after

The moves that followed this trade so I I like Fon Teo I’m curious to see what that number is going to look like when they try to extend him this off season again he’s 28 so it’s he’s not young this is only a second season in the NBA

I will say I watched a fair amount of Jazz games last year and again this year I don’t know why they were a league pass team last year for me and I just really enjoyed watching them L Markin was a really nice draw and fonio is a much

Better player this year I think there’s a a new Comfort level uh playing at the NBA level right now compared to last season and the the efficiency numbers are there the way he fits in like it’s he is kind of that classic European type player shoots the ball well isn’t super

Athletic but he fights and competes on defense and I think that’s going to surprise some people as well so I I’m a big proponent big fan of the fanto trade Jasper anything else on that trade before we move on to the next one yeah I’m gonna double down on what you just

Said there about him improving despite not really being what you’d think of as a young player he was really bad defensively last year and I think this year he has absolutely stepped up his game on that end he looks way more comfortable he looks like a real NBA

Role player he’s the kind of guy that like I don’t know what the numbers going to be but I would probably be comfortable you know giving him a Marvin Bagley type contract uh during this off season um shoot we don’t really know how the rotation is going to going to turn

Out but there is a chance that he is a starter uh especially while Isaiah Stewart is out of the lineup for at least another week probably it’s not inconceivable that two of the guys that troit traded for today are in that starting lineup and at least one of them

Is most likely going to stay as well so totally agree with you on on fono I think it was a really good pickup numbers got to be right um but he has improved and I think he still has a little bit more room for growth as well

When you integrate him into the Piston system yeah we’re going to talk about the lineups and the rotation later on in the show I’m I’m very interested to see where that conversation goes because uh we have been talking to our followers on Twitter or X whatever you want to call

It and definitely a wide variance of uh discussion on that topic so interested to see your thoughts on that later on in the show let’s move on to the next move that the Pistons made they made this deal on Wednesday as well when they traded Monte Morris to the Minnesota

Timberwolves for sh Jake Milton Troy Brown Jr and a 2030 second round pick owned by the Wolves uh this is not a significant move for Detroit in any stretch of the imagination uh Brown and Milton are both expiring contracts meaning that they will be unrestricted free agents this

Off season it is money that is going to be off of the Pistons books as they head into free agency I think the biggest piece in the deal for Detroit is the 2030 second rounder as funny as that is considering that that eventual pick right now is probably sitting in Biology

Class at some Middle School across the globe somewhere um but Monte moris only played six games for the Pistons was out for you know the first 40s something games with a right quad injury his tenure was F was failed with some cryptic tweets there was uh a point in

Time earlier this year when he was supposed to come back or ramping things up and then it just kind of went quiet on that front and then the cryptic tweets came about from him about being back and whatnot he’s gone after six games it was a big deal when the Pistons

Got him because he’s a flint uh Michigan natives it was a a HomeTown reunion of sorts and there was a lot of talk about how excited he was to be back but that reunion doesn’t really last all that long as moros who was once thought to be a key acquisition for Detroit last

Offseason coming in and being a potential Big Time backup guard for this team now shipped out for expiring contracts and a second round pick just six drafts away yeah I I will say I believe actually both Troy Brown Jr and uh Shake Milton do have team options for

Next year so while they could be gone I don’t think it’s inconceivable that one or even perhaps both of them uh plays their way into having that option picked up for next season um um yeah this one was definitely not a significant move let’s be honest it’s not like Monte

Morris has had a big impact on this team um Melton will probably go into the backourt along with um Marcus Sasser coming off the bench which is a bit of a weird second unit uh Troy Brown Jr it’s harder to see where he exactly fits into the

Rotation but he is a solid three-point shooter uh I don’t think that it’s inconceivable he plays his way somewhere into this starting lineup or or even the Pistons longer term plans at least as like you know an 11th guy off the bench something like that role 2020 203 first

Uh second rounder uh I mean I don’t know do you have your eye on any really really talented sixth graders Aaron I really don’t have much to say about something like that that’s the kind of pick that it feels like it just gets offloaded for cash at some point or

Aggregated as part of some other deal um in a year or two this was a pretty minimal deal and unfortunately that’s probably all they could have expected for Monte Morris if they did want something in return so I don’t really have any strong feelings about this this acquisition either way other than the

Pistons backup guard situation is going to get really interesting um and one of those things we always talk about with Monty Williams about staggering minutes with Kate Cunningham and Jaden Ivy now does seem even more potentially um important than ever uh in his unwillingness to do so yeah just to

Clarify uh both Brown and Milton’s contracts are non- guaranteed for next year so I guess they could technically be back I guess I just was just imagining that they would not pick up those those contracts and that they go into unrestricted free agency I guess they could come back after that maybe uh

But I’d imagine Detroit will want to go into free agency with as clear of a cap sheet as possible considering we’re hearing there’s big moves on the horizon but looking at the next deal for Detroit I think you have to again temper your expectations as they traded a heavily protected second round

Pick to the Philadelphia 7 Sixers for Daniel house and a 2024 second rounder so the Pistons get New York’s 2024 second round pick in this deal they did wave Daniel house uh shortly after acquiring him in this deal and so it’s a pretty much just getting a

A second round pick for taking on Daniel house into a trade exception that the Pistons had and then they subsequently waved him because they had at one point 19 guys on the roster uh heading into or heading out of the deadline so they had to wave him and he is reportedly going

To be uh be recruited by multiple contending teams as the buyout Market begins um but any real thoughts on this trade I guess it’s it’s good the Pistons used that tpe to get an extra pick but really not all that important in the grand scheme of things yeah another one

I mean even I I think a 2024 second round pick is something I might be a little bit more excited about if again like you said at the top of the show Troy raver had shown any inclination or ability to acquire useful NBA players there I mean we’re four years in he has

Not acquired a single usable um second round pick so far uh it which which is almost shocking considering how the NBA goes these days uh house honestly I’m a little surprised that you know he he wasn’t a factor for Detroit he is a player that I think I’d rather have on

My team than say Malachi Flynn or Ryan orch you know Malachi Flynn or or James wisman or I think you could even make the argument for Troy Brown Jr but it’s a minimal thing either way he might have said hey I don’t want to go to Detroit

Please buy me out you need to buy out somebody anyway um yeah I I think it’s going to be very interesting uh to see what happens uh with Detroit moving forward but this is not one of those moves that that really moves the needle either way good on Troy Weaver for for

Basically picking up a free second round pick Oh Aaron as as much as uh I was going to say as much as I think some of our listeners I started talking prefer to have you on mute too I I would like to hear what you have to say you know

What I was working sources on the phone and uh muted myself because I was reading and typing and uh didn’t want to start just talking to myself out loud but I am back now and I what what I’ll say on this is it’s good to get

Something for free it’s good to get an asset for free and that’s what uh the Pistons do here moving into the biggest trade of the day for Detroit and honestly was it the biggest trade of the deadline today across the league but because dejon Murray wasn’t moved Zack

LaVine wasn’t moved and there was no other major major trades that I can really think of but this is the big move at least for the Pistons and the New York Knicks what was originally announced as Quinton Grimes going to the Pistons along with a pair of second

Round picks for Alec B bks ended up spiraling into a much bigger deal and here are the full details the Pistons acquired Quenton Grimes Evan fornier Malachi Flynn Ryan Archie diako and two second round picks from New York for buan bogdanovich and Alec Burks my opinion on this trade

Immediately swayed upon the expansion of it I was thrilled with the turn for Alec Burks when it was originally reported as a Grimes in two seconds for Burks deal then more reports started trickling out that the Pistons and Knicks were still talking about bogdanovich and that a

Trade could still be made and within the next 15 to 20 minutes bogdanovich was included in the deal and everyone was like okay what are the Pistons getting back for bogdanovich and it was pretty much just matching salary uh the Pistons did not get the 2024 first round pick of theirs

That’s currently owned by the New York Knicks why that matters a lot of people are like why would the Pistons need to get that first round pick back they’re going to have a pick this year anyway it’s a protected first round pick through leave 2028 meaning the Pistons

Cannot trade a first round pick until after the draft lottery each year until or through 202 eight pardon me so it was important to get that back for flexibility to move let’s say the pons wanted to move their 2025 first round pick this summer in a deal they can’t do

That right now because that pick is currently owned by the New York Knicks until it conveys into a first round pick that year or once it falls off those protections it turns into a couple second round picks so that’s the entire breakdown but the Hope was that the

Pistons were going to get that back I actually made a Tik Tok on Palace Pistons follow us there on Tik Tok as well about a week week or so ago putting essentially this trade together it was what I proposed was grinton Grimes Evan fornier Ryan Archie diako and Detroit’s

First- round pick that New York owns for bam banovich and Alec burs and was pretty close and I would have much preferred that trade for Detroit rather than these two second round picks that I believe were reported to be 2028 and 2029 second round picks that are owned

And are that are New Yorks themselves they’re not any other teams they’re they’re the Knicks 20 and 29 second round picks so probably not going to be very valuable with where New York is heading a ton of cap space this summer to make another big move bringing a

Superstar to a team that’s already nine very good deep right now uh this trade for me and on the Pistons side I just can’t fathom not being able to get a first round pick out of bogdanovich and burs Quinton Grimes is a good player I’m very excited about Quinton Grimes 23

Years old 65 three and D type guy is going to come in and certainly play minutes for Detroit but how do you not get a first round pick when this team has reportedly turned down trade offers in the past of two first round picks for buan bogdanovich you add Alec Burks to that

And you can’t get a first I I just it’s it’s it’s difficult for me to grasp I mean you you you did the Knicks a huge favor in this deal it feels like I mean yes he got Grimes back but other than that what do you have to show for it

They’ve already ra waved Ryan Arie diako Evan fornier is probably not gonna see the court because he’s just kind of fallen off in terms of his value in the NBA level and neither is Maliki Flynn so I just don’t I don’t really get it I was okay with moving on from Burks and

Bonovich but you had to get something for it and I just feel like the Pistons got Pennies on the dollars and and there’s something funny about this too because it’s the Knicks 2028 and 2029 second rounders which if the Detroit pick does not convey as a first rounder means that basically the

Knicks are going to get those second rounders back from Detroit via Detroit and just swap second round pick so th those second rounders in a lot of ways don’t even matter like they’re a total wash um which I I do think is funny this is where we have to really start getting

Into I think more the nitty-gritty of everything surrounding this trade diad line and why the Pistons are here and exactly you know why this trade does look the way it does um I’m I’m I’m happy to get back Grimes I anticipate that he’s probably going to be in the

Starting lineup he’s he’s a very good Defender very quick feet tries very hard on that end um you know he shot 40% from three on his catch shoot threes last year he’s at 37% this year he definitely seems like a guy that fits in next to Cade Ivy Isaiah Stewart and uh Jaylen

Duren especially if you’re committing to that two big lineup like I think it makes sense to have a guy like Grimes out there who can take care of the opposing team’s best perimeter player on a lot of nights um and you put can put you know Kate Cunningham on you know

Their maybe their second you know their their biggest guy on the perimeter um at the same time while hiding him a little bit defensively I think that works the thing here is exactly what you said why are they not getting anything back for buam bogdanovic um and Alec

Burks really other than Quinton Grimes a guy who has fallen out of the rotation for the most part he’s playing 20 minutes a game but you know Tom Tibido definitely soured on him this year for the Knicks um this certainly in my opinion makes the Knicks a lot better I

Know people are gonna say oh well they’re gonna you know teams are gonna hunt bonovich and Burks in the playoffs perhaps so but those guys can really fill up the the basket and it’s not like they’re you know the the cornerstones of the franchise here they have other guys

That they can go to they have really good Rim protectors in hartenstein and you know Mitchell Robinson um the Knicks are going to be AOK okay this this is a good deal for for New York for Detroit what it comes down to is the continued asset mismanagement of Troy Weaver and

His inability to find the best value possible uh because he just simply put overvalues his own players we saw it with Jeremy Grant where he wanted multiple first round picks back for Jeremy Grant didn’t get him we now have seen it with bogdanovich whether a team offered multiple first round picks or

Not is irrelevant um he was he expected multiple second round picks back and he didn’t get it uh Alec Burks I mean what did Alec Burks really get you in in this deal did he get you the two second round picks and then you basically just traded bogdanovich for for Grimes and and

Ciller like you said they did the Knicks a huge favor here as well because Burks is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year and bogdanovich while he is slated to make $20 million next year his contract is only guar guaranteed for 2 million so if the Knicks don’t like

What’s going on they can just move on from both of those guys no problem and now they are another team that in free agency can compete with Detroit a little bit for role players um so I think like here this is just a a total Troy Weaver

Disaster class and we can talk about how the team is now set up better than they were and I don’t think that there’s any question about that from from either of us a lot of these moves are just setting up exactly what we were begging for from before this season during last season

Can I inter real quickly right there please you said it this team is better constructed to move forward now and my response to that is who put them in this position in the first place who made these moves in the first place that put Detroit in such such a

Disadvantageous spot it’s it’s the guy that’s been making all the moves today and yesterday yep Troy Weaver yep that’s the hardest thing for me to grasp is Troy Weaver’s kind of I think over the last few days had to to admit some mistakes admit some failures in his

Process over the years Joe Parris Morris kilan Hayes but there’s still multiple failures on the roster James wisman I I I I like Isaiah Stewart and he he can be a good NBA player but for what he is being asked to be and how he’s being utilized in Detroit that project has

Been a failure and it’s just like we’re all trying to find the guy who did this the guy’s still here making the moves and I just don’t get it because yeah like Troy set the price of two first for bogdanovich even if that is a super high asking price

You couldn’t get one and a good young player to also put while also giving Alec Burks alongside him Alec Burks who’s averaged I think like 20 points in the last month and is shooting 40 50% from the three-point line you couldn’t get a a first and and a decent young

Player like Grimes is a good young player yes but we also have to be real he wasn’t in the in really in the rotation for New York he was was getting 10 12 15 minutes a night maybe had lost his starting spot from earlier in the season the three-point shooting has

Regressed a little bit in terms of efficiency and maybe that’s just because of the role he’s been in and it it’s just you know I talked to when I interviewed Spencer DW a years ago he talked a lot about how the role that a player plays affects their shooting

Percentages and when you’re playing in blowouts and you’re playing in these garbage minutes your shooting numbers look worse and maybe that’s something that’s happening to to Quinton Grimes but it’s like you didn’t trade burkson bogdanovich for this super super highly valued young player you got a decent young player but like you

Didn’t you didn’t get a a a great young piece he’s gonna help but I just I don’t understand how this happens how do you misallocate your assets so much and and this is also one of those things where it’s like even when Troy Weaver makes

What in in a vacuum might look like a decent move for the Pistons it’s always better for the other team in the end right like New York came out of this trade better than Detroit did period even if you do think Detroit improved and and that’s not what

Evaluating trades is all about just like how does it look on paper who won on paper we know that there’s more that goes into that like how does how does a player fit what does a team need sometimes you got to overpay because it actually makes you better to lose the

More talented player since the less talented player fits into what you are asking of them and what you need on your roster more we are both perfectly aware of that but yes this is this whole trade deadline to me has been a repudiation of Troy Weaver’s process a repudiation of

Everything that he has been building these last four years he had to admit failure because he did fail and I think you just saw and this is where we should talk about two of the other guys that Detroit weighed in Joe Harris and Killian Hayes today those are failures as well Monte

Morris Joe Harris those were Detroit’s two big big offseason acquisitions they are now gone for nothing for basically nothing like you got two guys from Minnesota and a 202 2030 I can’t even say it it’s that far away second round pick for Monte Morris because basically

It’s a it’s a cap thing like you’re just freeing up more cap space more most likely for next year same thing goes for Hayes like there’s just not enough space on the roster for him no nobody even wanted him for like a late second round pick you couldn’t find another garbage

Lottery team that’d be like you know what maybe we can make something out of him no nobody wanted him Joe Harris you just ate that for like a second round pick which let’s be honest like what what are you going to do with that second round pick this is the entire

Issue with what Troy Weaver has done yes I think we can now start talking about the lineups I think the lineups make a lot more sense I think that now you’re at a place where you can actually start evaluating your young talents in in Cade Ivy Duren assar and yes to a lesser

Extent still Isaiah Stewart and even Quinton Grimes but you wasted 50 games to get there you wasted 50 games of this season Fielding the worst roster one of the worst rosters in the history of the league they are most likely not going to set I think the alltime loss record I I

Think that they have probably avoided that with their moves at the deadline as well as galinari and muscala but what they have done up until this point is completely completely fail to actual get actually get an evaluation period for those young guys they have failed to surround them

With the type of players that they need in order to succeed and what you’ve done is you’ve wasted more than half of the most important season in your evaluation process especially for Kate Cunningham who as we have said is extension eligible this off seon you have wasted

Their time you have embarrassed the city of Detroit you’ve embarrassed this fan base it’s it is almost impossible to like talk about this trade deadline positively without also bringing up just how abysmal it is that this trade deadline had to happen in the way it did that you had to bring in six

New players and and lose six players from your roster like that’s how badly they F more than a third of the roster is gone in the last what two and a half weeks more than a third of it I just think that right there just tells you

Everything you need to know about how this rebuild has gone are they on a better path yes but the fact that they got to this point wow what an indictment of this front office it’s like they’re trying to dig themselves out of the Grave that they are had dug for

Themselves laid themselves to rest and covered themselves up in Aaron one of my favorite P Favorite Simpsons lines end of episode where they’re digging a hole trying to get out of it Chief wigam goes dig up stupid that’s what this this team feels like dig up stupid it it’s it’s a

Mess it’s a mess and I and I think this is a good opportunity to kind of move into some of the the more overarching conversations after the deadline first first things first you already kind of mentioned it with Monte moris gone the Pistons also waved Joe Harris those two were the pretty much

Only two moves outside of drafting assard Thompson and Marcus Sasser of the Pistons off season last year goes to show you that was just an absolute disaster of an off season we were told both of those guys would be key Veterans for this team they were not

And the results were as anticipated by those here just an abject disaster that the Pistons did what they did last year with the Nets essentially doing a favor for Brooklyn uh making taking themselves out of the cam Johnson sweeps it’s not that I even wanted them to go after cam

Johnson but but using their cap space to do a favor for another team to retain cam Johnson and and six months later whatever it is you have to wave him because he can’t give you minutes he played last night against Portland for what six to8 minutes he hadn’t played

Since January 15th before that um just an AB absolute disaster that I think cannot get overlooked and that’s kind of what I’m talking about when I say this is a team trying to dig themselves out of a grave that they dug that they dug and placed themselves in um that’s the

Biggest problem and then I think if you go back even further Troy Weaver had to take another admittance of failure by waving Killian Hayes the first pick he made for this team in the draft the draft that he traded multiple picks and players to get extra picks in and his

First pick was Killian haaste his first move as the general manager outside of trading Bruce Brown which was a terrible decision as well and he drafted Killian Hayes as a Killian Hayes uh fan at the time or someone that was saying to draft

Him I have to admit as I always do I was proing Killian Hayes but I’m not the one making millions of of dollars as an NBA general manager but he took Killian Hayes over Tyrese halberton Tyrese Maxi Desmond Bane plenty of players in that 2021 class that have been good great or

Serviceable and Killian Hayes is four years into his career was unable to fetch Detroit even a second round pick at the deadline oh and by the way Kil hay started against the Sacramento Kings yeah started last night started on started against the Sacramento Kings he’s waved less than 24 hours later how

Many times in NBA history has that ever happened I don’t want to speak for a player but I think it was a little on the nose when Jaden Ivy as soon as the killy and Hayes news came out took to Instagram and posted a photo and the

Photo was of him and Kate Cunningham with a Bible verse and I don’t have the Bible Bible verse pulled up but it it was about about in a way waiting for something to come to you and you will you know eventually get what is yours or

Something along those lines as a man of Faith that’s probably bad that I don’t know the verse that’s on me but um I think that was a little on the nose some people are certainly reading into it and saying that that was a shot at Killian Hayes uh there were the Pistons players

Were quick to respond to the post as well Kade Cunningham commented Jaylen durren Isaiah Stewart did as well last I had seen so I don’t know just thought I’d bring that up because it was certainly a topic making it making its rounds across the Pistons community on X

But let’s talk about lineups now I think this is the last real interesting thing to talk about uh we will we won’t get to see these players against the Blazers obviously Thursday night um you might see someone like fonio on Saturday I I don’t know if you’ll get the guys from

New York or Minnesota in by them but let’s talk about after these guys get in what this rotation looks like for Monty Williams and the Detroit Pistons now I have my thoughts I will start with what I anticipate the Pistons will go with and then I’ll turn it over to you

For your opinion here’s what I think the Pistons will do I think Kade and Ivy Kade and jayen Ivy will be in the back court together and then following them Jaylen dur at Center and I think at the three and four spot they’re gonna go

Fono and Stewart that’s what I if I had to guess if I had to make a selection if I had to make a pick that’s what I’d imagine the Pistons would do I’ll let you say what you think it should be give your reasoning give your explanation and

Then I’ll say what what I think it should be if if there’s any disagreements I I mean I I touched on it a little bit at the beginning of this podcast um I think it’s gonna be Grimes I just think he’s a superior Defender you have two two bigs in Stuart and

Duren you know fono is and he has improved on the defensive end he’s not a great defender by any means and he’s certainly not a great perimeter Defender at this point he does provide you a little bit more in terms of like interior uh I just think Grimes activity

His foot speed quickness um I just think that and also not to to mention that like he is a very good uh catch and shoot three-point shooter um I I also think that it opens up more in terms of like bench minutes that make sense I I

Think putting fonio who can create a little bit more for himself than Quinton Grimes can on the bench makes a little bit more sense as well because you know then you’re not going super small um with with Sasser and Shake uh next to Grimes assar and

Mike McCalla like I just think it makes a little bit more sense to have that continuation of two larger guys on your bench two larger guys in in your lineup and you know mix and match as you will as much as I also though would love to

See more assar Thompson at the four minutes I just think that those lineups like make a little bit more sense for me I wouldn’t be shocked to see fono in the starting lineup but I also just think like for what you gave up for him versus

What you gave up for Grimes I think that kind of says a decent amount about like where both those guys stand in your future at least in the eyes of front office I think there might be a little bit of issues um you know Grimes is only

65 but like Kate is bigger and jayen Ivy is not tiny himself either so I think there’s still enough size defensively in that starting lineup um to to go with Grimes there uh if I had to guess I think that’s how it’s going to work out

Um and by the way this is a total aside but a lot of people I saw saying oh why didn’t they they wave James wisman they only have two other bigs on the roster uh at least guys that they are willing to play at Center because we

Know they won’t do it with Isaiah Stewart so you know if something happens to W of mascala or Duran I think wisman there is you know only as a total break in case of emergency option whereas the Pistons are pretty set at the guard guard position right now so just wanted

To mention that as well for anybody that might be wondering or thoughts on that which I’ll make a point on dur here uh they don’t they did not wave Duren and I get what you’re saying but at the same time wisan sorry you said dur sorry

Sorry wisan yes sorry I I they didn’t wave wisan and yet I look at the Sacramento game on Wednesday night and I look at the Pistons having 11 healthy players 11 active guys they go 10 Deep the only guy that doesn’t play is James

Wisan and that to me says a lot you have 11 guys you’re playing Danilo G Ari who from what I’m understanding you know by the time this episode drops tomorrow morning we may have more news on it but He’s listed as not with the team on the

Injury report he’s out for the Portland game on Thursday night it sounds like he’s on his way out whether it’s via buyout he was in trade talks uh with the Lakers earlier but if I had to guess it sounds like he’s on his way out might

Have more news on that by the time this episode drops might be official whatever but he’s not listed with the team so you’d have to imagine that there’s something going on there which means they’re running what eight guys tonight yeah I don’t know how they’re gonna feel an active roster they’re bringing up

Jared Rhoden and Stanley Amud it sounds like from the Motor City cruise but it’s going to be a messy game it does sound like Kate’s gonna play he’s probable we’ll see obviously that game’s going to already happen by the time you’re listening to this so you guys will know

Before uh as you hear this but wi been Kenny even get in when you have 10 11 active guys and one of those guys is about to be off the team two of those guys three of those guys hillian Harris and G galinari but just another failure that Troy

Weaver has has made and well he hasn’t eaten this one yet I guess we’ll see if he does this offseason when WIS men enters restricted free agency but going back to my lineup this is what I would do I would start Cunningham and iy together in the back for obviously by

The way quick plug Jasper wrote an incredible breakdown on Kate cunning and Jaden Ivy if they fit together if they can play together if that’s the back court of the future for the Pistons long term on Palace of pistons.com Highly highly highly encourage you if you have

Some time to go check that out it’s a really really good piece the numbers are incredible in it Jasper is a very talented writer so please go read that but I have Cunningham and Ivy in the back Fork together and then I’m starting assar Thompson and Simone fonia if it

Were me I think the fit is a little it’s a little question with with Thompson and Duran on the court together but I think you at least have to try it I think with so with with where you’re at in the season SAR Thompson has to be given more

Responsibility you know we Monty Williams talked about assar Thompson being a snub from The Rising Stars game the at all-star weekend and immediately I thought of we’re all trying to find the guy who did this it’s the guy that’s saying that he was a snub my S thomp his

Minutes has have decreased over time in Detroit he has to be on the court more one way to do that is to just force him into the starting lineup at least to start you know if you want to get uh Quinton Grimes in there at some point

Though there will be time by the end of the season I think the Pistons could use assar Thompson size using him as a point of attack Defender uh obviously the shooting is a concern the spacing is a concern but if you put fonio out there assar can still cut to the basket play

In the the dunker spot a little bit with dur running pick and rolls I I think you have to at least give it a chance um I guess you can start Grimes over assar as well I have to imagine they’re going to go back to Stewart at some point when

He’s healthy I don’t know if it’ll be right away it’s not what I would do very adamantly against starting Stewart and Duran together Stewart’s best minutes have come at to five this season it’s looked good for Detroit but Jasper you pointed out in your piece playing Cunningham Ivy Stewart and Duren the

Numbers haven’t looked bad either in very very limited minutes so I think the Pistons will go back to it but what I would do to start especially with with Stuart still out and I’m anticipating he will be out uh even once those guys are at least initially getting here after

All the trades are have gone through and the physicals are passed I I would start him Ivy uh assar fonio Duren Sasser coming off Off the Bench which I think this is an interesting point if galinari is moved off of the team this would technically open up a roster spot for

Detroit do we see them go out and get another guard because I look at their guards now and they might need to actually go get one it’s Cunningham Ivy and then their last ball Handler’s Marcus Sasser uh they might need to go get another guard that worse com to

Worse break glass in case of emergency can be a point guard for a little bit so that’s another subtopic have more news on that if the Pistons do officially do something with galinari and are in the buyout market for someone or or sign someone to some 10 10 days or you know

Something like that bring a guy up from a two-way contract maybe Jared Rhoden makes sense as a guard but getting back to the point there Sasser in the second unit with Grimes and then after that you have Mike muscala you have Isaiah Stewart in my rotation and then the last

Guy I guess is do you do you prefer Shake Milton do you prefer Troy round junor it’s I guess doesn’t really matter I mean I don’t think either guy is is really making a a Major Impact for this team so you can go with whichever you think is

Is the best fit you probably want uh you know a guy that can defend and shoot a little bit I don’t know if either are necessarily G to be great at that but you you’d imagine Troy Brown Jr could could give give you some of it with his

Size so we’ll we’ll see there but that’s how I would kind of lay out the rotation uh it’s not great but we’ll see it’s New pieces that the Pistons are going to have to integrate they’re trying to play what six new guys and a couple of those

Guys I can’t imagine are going to be in the rotation probably one of brown or Milton aren’t going to be in the rotation and then it doesn’t sound like Malachi Flynn well I guess I can’t say it doesn’t sound I can’t imagine Malachi Flynn being in the rotation so maybe

Actually you don’t need to go get another ball handler because I forgot about Flynn I guess Flynn could be your your break glass in case of emergency guard but I can’t can’t imagine he will be uh in in Detroit’s rotation to to start out but that’s that’s my rotation

After the trade deadline for the Pistons yeah I here’s look and there’s still issues with this with whatever combination you throw out there right but and I will say this at least it is an NBA roster it is not a good NBA roster but it is an NBA roster uh with

Actual NBA players on it which I don’t think you could say um for the majority of this season like there were multiple players getting significant playing time one of them getting playing time over Jaden Ivy of all people um that likely are not going to be in the NBA next year

Or if they are they are going to be as the 14th 15th man uh coming off the bench so from that perspective regardless of however you put it together it is going to be better it is going to be better than it was earlier around this season and I think we we

Have to acknowledge that at the very least I think my issues with your lineup is like I I don’t really see the ball handling for the second unit if you bring Grimes in as your shooting guard next to Sasser I think that those guys are a little redundant they’re they’re

Both players that you know like to get their catch and shoots uh Sasser is more of a pull-up guy though than than Quinton Grimes is so maybe a little less overlap but like I just see them as being very similar there Shake is not a

Guy that I am is a point guard nor that would I trust to handle the the ball fulltime but I could see him having kind of like uh Alec Burks it last year more kind of role where they played him a little bit at point guard it wasn’t good

But like you could at least throw him out there to handle the ball a little bit sort of split playmaking duties with Sasser although neither guy can really make plays for other people all that well so like like there there’s going to be issues no matter how you put it

Together um I I just think with like fono in the starting lineup I just think it’s like not enough quickness especially from your bigs in your forward I also will say I don’t think this would be a real issue if Monty Williams would stagger get more with the

Times and just stagger Kate Cunningham and Jaden Ivy something that we’ve talked about for a while now I don’t know how many NBA coaches are still doing full on fiveman rotations starters he does so you have to think about your rotations in that way that’s how approach this

Unfortunately like like as an analyst you have to assume that he’s still going to be running these all bench lineups out there so I think you like you said like yeah if if he would Stager those minutes you could change up that starting lineup a little bit more

Effectively you go okay you know we’ll keep we’ll we’ll take Ivy off first kadron then let Ivy go with the second unit next to Sasser uh in Grimes like that that could work you know go a little bit smaller with your second unit have everybody out there be able to

Shoot that makes sense to me I just don’t trust that Monty Williams will do it so I think when like I’m thinking of these lineups I have to go with the assumption that he is going to play five five backups at one time for at least 10

Minutes out of every game which is terrifying but it’s the reality of how he coaches uh if galinari is on the move and it does sound like he he he will be it will be interesting to see if there’s any buyouts you know any other buyouts

In terms of point guards I don’t really know who would be there to be honest with you but maybe you bring somebody else in off the street uh I have no interest in letting Malachi Flynn get run I I’ve seen enough I’ve watched enough of him with Toronto um I I have

No interest in that he he can’t do it so officially selfishly I I’d be all for bringing Spencer Den when he back it’s not gonna happen I don’t think he wants to come back here and it probably doesn’t make necessarily a ton of sense for the Pistons considering where

They’re at in the standings but I wouldn’t be against it personally um and you know I I think it does you know I think you just kind of have to expect with gar being with the team in Sacramento playing in Sacramento they’re on the road they’re on a plane together

He’s not dealt at the deadline but he’s in trade rumors and now he’s not with the team you kind of have to look at the writing on the wall there so the it does sound like the Pistons will have an open roster spot if what we are expecting happens

Happens what do they do with it that’s going to be uh an interesting topic I mean at this point they might just be looking at guys in the g- league and trying to find someone one there that can come up and play a few 10 days and

See if they impress enough to earn a roster spot and they might cycle through that two three four times until they find someone but I think there is some talent in the g- league I’m a big proponent of the g- league so if the Pistons do it right and go that way

That’s fine I just don’t know if they will because they haven’t utilized the G League all year really so I just don’t I don’t know what to expect in that regard but I mean it doesn’t really matter uh you know what they do with that last

Spot this guy’s probably not in the rot all that that much moving forward most likely but I will say also like the reason I do expect the the lineup to more shake out the way I said is like why why trade Monte Morris if you’re not

Going to like play one of shake Milton or um or or Troy Brown Jr right like trading him for a 2030 second round pick as that being like the the main focus of your return package doesn’t make sense like just hold on to him then like don’t don’t get anything

And at least give your lineups you know your backup uh lineups like a point guard so my guess is it is going to be Sasser and Melton and I think also that makes sense why you would trade for shake Milton because Monte Morris and Marcus sass are

Both very dimin of guys defensively that is an issue for you like even if they both try hard there’s just the realities of size in the NBA Shake Milton 6 foot five little bit bigger so I think he’s a guy that defensively slotted next to Sasser you say let’s maybe give Sasser a

Little bit more of like ball handling duties as he has shown the propensity to really get the Pistons bench going with his scoring like even if he’s not a great playmaker if he’s hot a rising tide lifts all boats so I think that you can justify at least trying those two guys together

Um and maybe you know maybe you shake it up a little bit as the season goes on you see which rotations work better yeah maybe fio starts on the bench maybe he ends up starting like there are a lot of pieces still to figure out for for the

Pistons um so I would though I will say at minimum one of fono or Grimes is going to be starting I expect it to be Grimes I don’t expect the SAR Thompson uh to start for the remainder of this season until of course they get to like

The very end of it when they’re just sitting guys and that’s actually you mentioned my piece one of the things I didn’t talk about my piece is how assar Thompson’s numbers look next to those combinations of Stuart Duran Cade and Ivy those numbers are ugly like really

Ugly and I just don’t think that at this point in his development it really works like you can see something in the numbers with combinations of Stuart Duran ivy Cade like all of them have some positives to them that’s really not so much the case with assar but you know

Who assar Thompson does play really well with Mike mascala and I think that for exactly the reason you laid out having him next to Duren is iffy I think that’s why you got to keep it on the bench you have to have Mike muscala out there next

To him offensively so that you actually have like a shooting threat um on the court next to him you you can’t have him and another non-shooter I just think at this point in his development it doesn’t work and they’re going to lose those minutes regardless well we will see what happens

With Detroit’s rotation the first chance we’ll have if everyone is through all of the trade process and passes all of the physicals that are required which in Detroit’s history it’s not always a guarantee that these trades and these physicals go through we’ve seen a few trades are sended uh in years’s past so

I still want mon hunis I still want mun I believe don’t we all we’ll see BU yeah we could see as early as Saturday what Detroit’s rotation looks like if not we’ll have to wait till shortly after that as the Pistons are on a five-game western conference road trip that’s everything

We wanted to cover with the trade deadline we went through every move talked about what the rotation may look like all of the different roster moves that Pistons have made and what ended up being a very very busy deadline after we were told it’s probably going to be more

Of a quiet one for Detroit funny how things change uh we were told bogdanovich probably not g to get moved Burks could get moved and bogdanovich did end up getting moved indeed as did some other big changes come for Detroit Jasper as we wrap up the show is there

Anything else that you wanted to hit on yeah first off we we lost our Bets with Mike Ang gelano on the over under from a couple weeks ago we both said Le less than two two two and a half trades they went way over on that one um I also will

Say like look at the end of it my final thoughts are that the Pistons roster looks a lot better now in my opinion than it did just two days ago it makes a lot more sense um you have now the ability to unlock your players your young players more offensively you’ve

Improved your defense there’s no question of that by getting Burks and bogdanovich off of the roster um so Detroit’s roster does look better but the fact that it looks so much better with frankly Simone fonio and Quinton Grimes like two players I like but Far Cry from

Stars I think that that right there shows exactly why you still cannot trust this front office even if these moves are good for the rest of this year even if they’re decent moving forward the fact that they had to be made and the fact that they were made right now and

The fact that just role players you anticipate changing your team so so greatly for the positive I think that that right there is just like I said a total indictment on Troy Weaver a total indictment on how this entire rebuild has gone um and it does not make me feel

More safe I’m not going into the rest of the season offseason saying oh now the Pistons are in a great place oh now trust Troy again no not at all I think that it’s a necessary pivot but one that should have been made a long time ago

One that shouldn’t even have to have been made at all to be honest so some positives in terms of where they are but I still think the overall situation still has to give you a lot of concern so that’s that’s where I’m at after this tread deadline yeah we will

Certainly have more thoughts across the board on uh throughout our entire Community again make sure to subscribe to our newsletter Palace of pistons.com really really need your support there and we’re sending out great content on a weekly basis to the newsletter you can follow us all across social media as

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Always that is going to do it for this week’s edition of a pal of the Palace of Pistons podcast a busy week for the Pistons as they enter the stride of a western conf confence road trip we thank you so much for listening again go over and check out our partners bet online

Lot of good betting opportunities over there if you’re interested in that space and as always thank you to our host believe this has been another edition of The Palace podcast thanks so much for listening we will’ll see you guys next Week as a materal witness

On this week’s edition of the Palace of Pistons Podcast, Aaron Johnson and Jasper Apollonia are back to discuss all of the latest moves made by the Detroit Pistons during the NBA Trade Deadline. Listen in as the guys cover every trade and roster move made by Troy Weaver and the Pistons organization. They talk about the key players Detroit added including Simone Fontecchio and Quentin Grimes as well as the key players dealt away at the deadline such as Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. They also analyze what Detroit’s starting lineup and rotation may look like following all of the moves that took place over the last 48 hours.

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