Ron Holland and Daniss Jenkins DOMINATE Summer League | Duncan Robinson Better Than Malik Beasley?

Ron Holland and Daniss Jenkins DOMINATE Summer League | Duncan Robinson Better Than Malik Beasley?

Ron Holland and Dannon Jenkins have been incredibly impressive through two summer league games. We’ll break down their play in today’s episode, Locked on Pistons podcast. Let’s go. You are Locked on Pistons, your daily Detroit Pistons podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What’s the deal? Welcome back to another episode of the Locked On Pistons podcast. As per usual, I am your host, Cook. I’ve been covering the Detroit Pistons over the last four years. I’ve been credential media member over the last 3 years. I appreciate all of you guys making locked on Pistons your first listen of every single day. We’re free and available on all your podcast platforms. All you everydayers out there, I appreciate all of the support. Head to the YouTube channel if you haven’t already. Hit that subscribe button. We’re on our way to 12,000 subscribers. Also, leave us a fivestar review. That’s another great way to support the podcast. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus sps when your first $5 bet wins. Later on the podcast, we’ll discuss, is Duncan Robinson actually better than Malik Beasley? And also, what does a Cade Cunningham leap look like after the type of season he had last year? We’ll break it all down. Today’s episode, Locked on Pistons podcast. But let’s go ahead and get into their recent summer league thoughts. The Pistons just wrapped up their second summer league game as of last night. I’m recording this the morning after. They really handled the Houston Rockets. Real quick, non-piston thoughts. Reed Shepard did not look good at all. Like he a high draft pick for Houston. I know he’s expected to do a lot over there. He did not look he looked bad. He he he he looked pretty bad. So I I had to get that out there because he was getting torched by the guy we’re about to talk about, Dannis Jenkins. I know people thought we were going to maybe start off with Ron Holland, that we were going to talk about Bobby Clitman, maybe Chaz Laneir. These guys are, I feel like, more on the, you know, the immediate thoughts of Pistons fans because obviously Ron was a high pick. Bobby was a pick last year. Chaz was their only pick this year. Dennis is an undrafted guy, a two-way guy. So, I feel like a lot of people thought that we’d be talking about them. But through two games, Ron was incredibly impressive in the first game. He did some things in the second game that were still impressive. And Ron is obviously the best player on this team. He’s an actual impactful NBA player obviously, but the most impressive guy through two games in the summer league has been by far Dennis Jenkins to me. He has looked exceptional in this game. He shot seven of 10 from the field. He had 23 points in just 10 shots, guys. Six of six from the free throw line, three of four from deep, six assists, two steals, one block, six assists to just one turnover. Through two games, he looks like a legit NBA player. And I asked the question on Twitter. Is he playing well enough to where you should be considering him as the backup point guard? And I I probably should have tweaked how I worded that because I you he’s not going to be no matter how he plays the backup point guard for this team. They’re going to give those minutes to Jane Ivy and Caris Liver. Why I meant to say is he going to be the only other true point guard on the roster? Like are they going to give him a roster spot to where he’s the only other true point guard? Because Ivy isn’t a true point guard. Caris isn’t a true point guard. Those guys are just players that can handle uh some point guard responsibilities and they’re going to split it. But is he going to be basically the other the only other point guard on the roster? And if he continues to play like this through summer league, I feel like you got to give him a roster spot. And I feel like he could be. He’s looked we can go both ends of the floor. Defensively, he absolutely tormented Reed Shepard who’s supposed to be a high quality NBA player, a high draft pick. Absolutely tormented him on the defensive end of the floor. Played great on that end. Then offensively, his control of the game. If you’re watching summer league the last few days or since it started in Vegas, the ball pressure has been crazy. I feel like they let them play prison ball in summer league. It’s one of the reasons why I hate it. But they let you they let guys play prison ball and just harass you. And he’s doesn’t feel he’s not feeling it at all. He’s handling it really well. not turn the ball over, getting the team into offense, getting good offensive flow, good offensive flow going, whether it’s his own scoring ability or creating offense for others. He’s just looked exceptionally calm. He looks very calm. He looks under control, composed, and looks like an NBA player out there. He doesn’t look like a guy who, if you, if you took, again, I said this last podcast, if you took the names off the jerseys, you didn’t know who who who anyone was, you would sit here and say, “Oh, that’s an NBA player. He’s he’s moving like an NBA player. He’s composing himself like an NBA player. Looks under control. That’s that’s the NBA guy in that team. And he’s done that now for two straight games. His shot his shot making ability has been incredibly impressive to me through two summer league games as well. His drive to the basket. He’s been incredibly creative with some of his drives and finishes at the rim. Showing off some, we call it filt, showing off some finger roll, fake pass, high finger roll layups. like it’s been it’s been incredibly impressive watching him play and I think that he is earning himself a roster spot on this team and look we’ll see what happens throughout the season. We’ll see what happens in preseason in training camp but I mean he’s looking like a for sure NBA player in the summer league. Doesn’t mean he’s going to be great at the NBA. Doesn’t mean he’s actually going to be a rotation player at the NBA level. But what you want to see from guys in the summer league is prove and look like an NBA player. Look like you don’t belong there. and he does not look like he belongs in the summer league. He He has been fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Has size to him too at the point guard position. He’s not small. He has size. He’s strong. He’s athletic. He had a crazy block at the defensive end when he just soared up and sent I think it was Reed Scepter shot straight into the front row. He’s I I’ve really liked him. I I’ve probably had the most out of anyone I’ve had of the players that have played for summer league, the Piston Summer League. I’ve had the most fun watching Dan Jenkins play. He’s been exceptional. Um, let’s move on to Ron Holland. He shot five of 12 in this game. He was kind of he kind of took a back back seat in this game. I’m sure the coaching staff probably told him, “Okay, let’s play make a little bit this game. Let the other guys take control. We know what you can do. Let’s try to do some of the other things.” So, we he didn’t really do much. He wasn’t asked to do a lot as much in this game, but he did take six threes. He hit some Heel looking threes out there. if his shot is legit. That’s the only takeaway I have from this game with Ron is if his shot actually is improved and it’s summer league, so we’re not gonna get too hype, but the shot does look more, you know, comfortable. The energy from his legs to his ar his upper body, we’ve talked about this on the podcast last episode. It looks much better. He looks way more confident in it. If that actually is there, that opens up so many possibilities for the Pistons when it comes to lineup versatility. So, I just hope that this shot is actually there and he actually has improved. It translates to the NBA. But Ron is Ron. He He’s clearly the best player on the team. He’s gives it his all every time he’s on the floor. I’m surprised he played another game. Maybe he plays another one. Who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. But um yeah, I mean, not much to take away with Ron outside of his shot. If that shot translates and he remains this confident and actually goes into the NBA regular season, that would be great for him. Um Chaz, he looked a lot more comfortable in this game. Um, he shot four of 11 from deep, five of 14 from the floor. That’s not great. But he looked, you remember last episode I said he should be getting up 10 plus threes. There was way too much room given to him. And he was turning down open looks. If you’re that good of a shooter, you got to let it fly. And that’s what he did in this game. He shot four of 11 from deep. He was taking a lot more a lot more threes where the the defense wasn’t hugged up on him. If they gave him any space, he was letting it go. And that’s what you want to see from a guy who was supposed to be a sharp shooting specialist. He had some more movement threes. They ran a little bit more actions for him. And again, he just looked a lot more confident in this game. Didn’t look, you know, I’m sure the first game had a lot of nerves and some goosebumps and, you know, some butterflies, whatever. This game, he definitely looked a lot more comfortable. Still, I think he can play better. You still would like to play a little bit better here. He missed some really good looks from deep. Missed some really good looks inside the arc as well, but he he looked more comfortable. I guess that’s all you can take from now. Hopefully he ends summer league on a hot streak and starts to make a little bit more of his shots, but he did look more comfortable in this game. And then Bobby Clipman, it’s the same takeaway I’ve had the last the every single time we talk about Bobby, it’s the same takeaway for me. He shot three of eight from the floor, had seven points, nine rebounds, no assists, three turnovers. Look, I want, again, I I’ve already said this. I want Bobby to be good, but he struggles like the next game they play. This is what I want you guys to watch every single time. These are the these are the three situations I want you to watch Bobby in. Because I said this in the last podcast, for someone who can pass the ball and process like he does at his height, he should be usable. But if he’s not if he’s not taking advantage of advantages created, there’s no way in which he can actually utilize those skills. A rough example I’m going to create. I know people are going to lose their minds I bring this up, but like Killian Hayes was a really great playmaker, had really good feel for the game. It’s why I had believed in him. But at the end of the day, he wasn’t able to get to the basket. He wasn’t able to create advantages. He wasn’t able to keep advantages going. So you rar you didn’t get to reap the benefits of his feel of his playmaking because he couldn’t create advantages to be used in that way. So these are the three areas I want you guys to watch Bobby in the next few games. When he’s attacking closeouts he’s still not able to get to the rim and force rotations because I don’t know why but he’s he loses the advantages when guys get up in the air on his on a pump fake. He’s not able to keep that advantage and then use his playmaking. The other area I want you guys to watch is when they swing the ball from one end of the floor to the other. he gets the ball in a rotating defense and he’ll tack a guy rotating out and he’s not he’s he’s just he just hasn’t been able so far in summer league to keep that advantage so then he can force the rotation and kick it out. And then the third area I want you guys to watch him in is when he’s setting screens. He’s not really making any contact on screens. Now, this is an area he could use his playmaking and and processing in is if he sets harder screens and then forces the defense, his defender to have to react to the ball handler, then he can get the ball in tight spaces, rolling to the rim, maybe in the short roll in a threeon four situation. And now he’s in a position where you can actually utilize his ability to make the right read and make the right pass and accurate all that stuff. But he also just doesn’t set hard screens. Most of the time he’s kind of slipping screens. He’s not even really making contact. So, those are the three areas I need to see Bobby actually, you know, showcase because like I said in the last episode, if he’s not going to be able to do any of those things, he can be a good playmaker. He can be a good processor, but they’re just going to be skills that you can’t utilize because he’s not putting himself in positions to where they actually can be used. Unless he’s going to be able to attack closeouts, he you’re not going to be putting him in ball screen actions. He’s not going to be asked to run pick and rolls. What you want a guy at the forward position to be able to do is attack closeouts when the ball is swung from one end of the floor to the other that if the defense is reacting, you’re able to then attack a gap and make the read out of it. And if you’re a four, set some screens to where you can be utilized in the short roll. And he hasn’t he just hasn’t been able to do any of those. That’s why he ended the game with zero assists. And that’s another reason why he hasn’t been able to put up any kind of really efficient scoring outputs, even going back to the G- League, because he’s just he just hasn’t been able to find a way in which to leverage his playmaking and processing though. That’s what he has to improve on. He has to find a way to do it and he just hasn’t been able to do it through two summer leagues still. So, look, he makes some passes that are really good. I love it. The processing is there. Those are the type of players I love. But I have been burnt. I I when you get burnt, you realize and you evaluate, okay, why was I wrong in this prospect? It’s the same thing here. Bobby has to find a way to le actually leverage the skills he has to be used. Otherwise, the skills that will never be used and he just won’t be able to be played in the NBA. So, that’s where I’m at with Bobby is the same thing through two summer league games. So, let me know comment section down below how you guys feel about the summer league. Any takeaways that I did not say that you guys do have. Um, how do you guys feel about Chaz, Danis, Ron, Bobby? Let me know again comment section down below or over on Twitter, Cooko. Coming up, Duncan Robinson was signed to replace Malik Beasley. Malik Beasley had an extraordinary season this past year. With that said, is Duncan Robinson actually better than Malik Beasley? 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Code locked on NBA to get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for the rest of your life at hungaroo.com/lockedonba. So, I want to thank you guys again. Make locked on pistons your first listen of every single day. We’re free available on all your podcast platforms. If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at LockedOnpistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to this on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. Again, later on, we’ll talk about what does a Cade Cunningham leap even look like? I was talking about this with a few friends and it had me asking the question myself, like what does it even look like? So, I thought about it, broke it down. We’ll talk about it a little bit later. Um, but let’s talk about Duncan Robinson, who is replacing fan favorite Malik Beasley. Now, Trejan Langden did have quite a few comments over the last few days at summer league about Malik Beasley. Um, it doesn’t from his comments, it doesn’t sound like Malik’s coming back. It doesn’t sound like they’re holding out to give him a one-year vet. At least that’s not what it sounds like from Traan. Traan sounds like, you know, it was disappointing. We were hoping to have him back, but we need to have high character guys in the locker room both on and off the floor. We appreciate what Malik did for us this past year. He was tremendous, but we had to move on. We had to pivot. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. That the the way in which he was talking about does not sound like someone was like, “Oh, well, you know, we’ll wait for the investigation. If it all clears up, we’ll bring him back.” It sounds like, “No, we just we’ve moved on and and it’s disappointing, but we pivoted and it is what it is.” So, we’ll see what happens. I I don’t think the investigation for Malik is going to be done for a very long time. Like, Terry Ozir’s investigation took months on months and months and months. So, I think Malik’s going to be waiting quite a bit. And that’s just assuming if things do go out in his favor. If things don’t go in his favor, I I think we might have watched the last season of Malik Bee’s career, which is disappointing, especially when you consider how well he played this past year and he was up for a payday. I feel bad for him a little bit, but is what it is. However, the guy they signed or signed and traded for to replace him is Duncan Robinson. And there’s no sugar coating it. Last year, Malik Beasley was a better player than Duncan Robinson. Last year he had a better season than Duncan Robinson. Malik Beasley, I think, should have won six man of the year. He finished second. I feel like he probably should have won it. He hit 300 plus threes. He had one of the best shooting seasons we have ever seen. That’s not an exaggeration. Only six or seven players have hit 300 threes. There’s only a few players ever to shoot uh 41% from deep on nine attempts a game. It’s not It hasn’t been done very many times at all. Some of the only names on that list, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Anthony Edwards. It’s not been done Anthony Edwards this past year. He was slightly ahead of Malik in total threes made, but Malik had without a doubt a historic shooting season this past year. There’s no taking that away from him. He was fantastic. The question I have, actually, Anthony and Edwards did not shoot 40%. He shot 39%. So, it’s even a shorter list than I previously thought. Um, the question is, is Duncan Robinson going to be able to replace Malik Beasley? And my answer actually is yes and and then some. I think Duncan Robinson probably is a better player than Malik Beasley and that’s what we’re going to hit on here. Did Malik have a better season this past year? Yes. But before this past year, I think the general consensus for years was Duncan Robinson is a better player than Malik Beasley. Malik didn’t have the greatest year in Milwaukee. There’s a reason why he signed with Detroit for a one-year $6 million contract. Before then, he played a few years in Minnesota. He’s always been a fine player, but he’s never he had a season in 2020 uh 2021 that was cut short to injury, but he’s he’s always Malik was never just a bad player, but he was a fine player. Duncan Robinson was has been for years playing legit minutes for contenders in the Miami Heat. For contenders, he wasn’t playing for bad teams, putting up points. Duncan Robinson for years was playing his role for a team that’s made it to the NBA finals twice, and he was a key contributor to both those teams. He’s never really had a down year shooting from deep either. If Basketball Reference would would stop freezing. Basketball Reference got shout out here. Gotta got to fix your your your database, man. Like the the the website can’t be this slow and constantly freezing on me, man. Like it it makes it much harder to trust your guys’ stats and go to it for the podcast if I’m constantly having to wait for it to unfreeze. Maybe it’s my PC. Actually, you know what? Maybe it’s me. Who knows? Anyways, um Duncan Robinson over the last four years 39% 39% had a down year in 2022 32% then before 37% from deep 40% from deep 44% from deep all of this on heavy heavy volume. And the other thing that I like about Duncan that makes him I think a better option than Malik Beasley one he’s bigger than Malik. Now, it doesn’t that hasn’t I would say actually played out in reality to help out more defensively. Duncan is also bad defensively. Um, but theoretically having more size, having more length should make him better the defensively than than Malik was, which you know with JB, maybe JB can get the most out of Duncan Robinson defensively. Kind of like how he got the most out of THJ, the most out of Malik, the most out of Tobias this past year. So maybe he’s able to do that. You can you there’s more you can do with someone of Duncan size. So that’s the hope defensively, but then offensively he’s able to get shots off that maybe Malik just wasn’t able to get off because of his size. And the other thing that I think is really underrated about Duncan Robinson, I talked with locked on Heat host Wes about this. Duncan is an underrated passer. Duncan is a is a very smart player and a and an underrated playmaker. Now, when I say an underrated playmaker, he’s not out there running pick and rolls, driving, making crosscourt skip pass reads, like you he’s not running your offense, but he is coming off DHO’s and reading if the guy if if the guy handing off the screen his defender or handing off the ball on the screening action, if his defender comes up, he’s making the bounce pass, he’s making the lob pass, he’s able to keep the ball moving, he’s he he’s able to make the the the the easy quick reads. If he gets to the basket and the help defender comes, he’s able to throw lobs. He had a really good partnership with Bam Adabio. Duran is not quite the NBA player that or not not quite the offensive player obviously that Bam is, but he does do similar things in which you know operating from the DHO, operating from the high post area, diving to the rim, that kind of thing. He’s not going to do as much self creation as Bam did, but you should be able to get some of the same actions and get some of the same results that Duncan had with Bam with Duncan and Duran. And I think Dur Duncan is a much better playmaker than Malik. I think he makes better reads. I think he he takes smarter shots. I think he takes better shots. And I think that with Duncan, the next part of this is if you run him off the three-point line, he’s able to make the right play when he’s ran off the three-point line. If you look at Duncan’s two-point percentage over the last few years, he shot 65% at the rim this past year, by the way. Now, if you look at his two-point percentage over the last few years, 55% 57% 55% 56% 62% 65%. Now, it’s not on heavy volume because he’s not taking a lot of twos, but this shows and if you watch some of the film, obviously Duncan is able to when he’s ran off the three-point line or if guys are playing heavy on the DHO, he’s able to loop around, keep the dribble alive, get to the basket, and finish at the rim. He’s able to He He’s a much better, by the way, and I guess this is where it really plays out more or so, he’s a much better offball mover, and that’s really where he creates a lot of his two-point buckets. He’s a he he keeps it moving a lot off ball to where he’s back door cutting. If a guy top locks him, he’s able to back door cut, get himself a layup. He’ll he’ll run split screen actions. Knows when to cut off of that. He’s And even if you deny the DHO and he can’t get the back door, he just keeps it moving. He’ll run to the other side of the floor, run another screening action. He just keeps moving, keeps moving, keeps moving. And that creates a lot of open buckets for him. Especially when you are playing with a playmaking big like Duran. I think Duran will like playing with Duncan more than Malik because of that reason. Malik was more so I’m coming off this DHO. I’m shooting this three. If he denies me, I’m trying to get around him so I can still get this three off. Maybe I push off, fade back a little bit, you can hit me and I’m hitting this three. Duncan, on the other hand, if if you top block me, I will I’ll give him a little juke and I will cut back door and if I have a passing bid that can take advantage of it, I’m slipping. I I’m getting that pass. If I’m coming off a DHO and Darren’s defender plays high, I can throw this bounce pass to him or I can throw this lob to him. I can make things happen. Playmaking bigs like playing with players who keep moving. Players who stop moving once you’re initially denied put bigs in terrible positions because now they have to try to create offense because you won’t move. Now again, with all this said, Malik did have a great year this past year. I’m not minimizing that at all. But one, was he going to be able to replicate that type of historic season? probably not. And outside of this past year, Duncan has just has been the better player throughout his career. He’s a better movement he’s been a better movement shooter. He’s been a better player off the ball. He’s been a better finisher at the rim. He’s been a smarter player. He has more size. He’s been a better playmaker in every area outside this past year where Malik had, again, I’m really trying to mention this a ton because I’m not trying to minimize how Malik played this past year. It was it was outstanding. But everything in totality with how long Duncan’s done it, I think Duncan may end up providing more for the Pistons than Malik because of all the things I mentioned. And I I truly think Duran’s going to love playing with Duncan a little bit more than he did with Malik because of how often Duncan moves and how many more openings for assists and back door cuts he’s going to create for Duran because of his movement and ability to if he gets top locked, he can cut back door and he finishes well at the room when he gets there. So, I like the Duncan signing. He’s by far I think he’s the best addition of the offseason. I like him a lot more than I liked the Caris signing. Um, I’m interested to see how Duncan plays. I I truly think his movement is going to be well well welcomed by the Detroit Pistons. I do think that Duncan Robson is a better player than Malik and Malik had a just had a better season this past year than him, but I think overall Duncan is still the better player. Let me know comment section down below or over on Twitter. Is Duncan a better player than Malik Beasley? Will he be more impactful for the Pistons than Malik Beasley? Let me know. Comment section down below or over on Twitter. Coming up, what does a Cade Cunningham leap even look like this year? He took a leap this past year, made AllNBA third team. What does it even look like for him to take another leap? We’ll break that down coming up. Summer sports are in full swing. Whether you’re all about baseball under the lights, which I’ve been getting into the Tigers lately. What was up with that 15 run game the other night? I think it’s because I started watching. I start watching all of a sudden I see see football scores. I’m like, what’s going on? uh or golf on the green or highstakes soccer action. FanDuel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You’re already following the action. Why not make it a little more thrilling? 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If you haven’t already, head to the YouTube channel at Locked OnPistons. Hit that subscribe button or leave us a fivestar review on whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. That’s another great way to support the podcast. All right, so I appreciate all of you guys, by the way. All the Everydayers, we’re very close to 12,000 subscribers. We’re building. We’re building. We’re building. I appreciate all of you guys, man. Um, you guys know the description down below. Substack, Twitch, Playback, all that stuff. Check it out down below. Um, but but I was talking with some friends the other day and they’re Pistons fans and they were like, “Oh yeah, I can’t wait for this season with Cade, man. He’s going to take another jump. Can’t wait to see how great he’s going to be this year.” And I was like, “Well, Kade was pretty great this past year.” Like, yeah, he I’m not saying he’s at his peak. He can get better, but what is it that what are you expecting out of him? And they all had different answers. They were one was like obviously, oh, I’d love to see him win MVP or, you know, let’s see him let’s see the team success get better. Let’s see a playoff series win. But then I but I asked even further. I was like, okay, well, with Cade individually, what would qualify as a leap? Because this past year, these were Cage numbers this past year. And I honestly feel like people I mean, I’ll speak for myself even I know Cage numbers. Like I someone put up a blind reveal the other day. I was like, “Oh, yeah, that’s Kade.” But then even when you go to his basketball reference and you look at his numbers, you’re like, “Damn, he put up he did put up those numbers.” Like, it’s not that it’s like surprising, but it’s still kind of like, uh, damn, he did that. He did that. So, K this past year, 26.1 points, 9.1 assists, 6.1 rebounds. He shot 47% from the field. That was a careerhigh. Shot 35.6% from deep. That was a careerhigh on a career-high attempt at 6.0. He shot 51.5% on twos. That was a careerhigh. He got to the free throw line 5.3 times. That was a careerhigh. 84.6 uh 80 84.6% from the free throw line. That’s not a careerhigh, but you know, we’re we’re you can still get up a little higher. Um but my overall point is he already had career highs across the board. He finished seventh in MVP voting. He was a NBA third team member. So what what qualifies as a big leap? Does he have to score 30 points a game? as much I you guys know I’m the one of the biggest fans of Kad’s game. I’ve believed in Kade since the beginning. I think he’s gonna be great. I think he already is great. I think he’s gonna be amazing. But do I think Cade’s a a 30 point per game scorer? I I don’t think that’s who Kade is. I like I don’t Maybe he does. If he comes on average 30 points and that would just be fantastic, but I don’t know if that’s what Kade is. Like I don’t Again, maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think that’s in Kade’s future to be a 30 point per game scorer. I could see him be a 27 again. Like maybe he goes up another point. He averages 27 a game, but I don’t view that as what is next in his development. Like I don’t think he’s going to become that. So again, what count constitutes as a leap? And my friends, they started throwing out numbers like 30 points a game, like 10 assists a game, like eight rebounds, like they started throwing out box score numbers. And I don’t at the end of the day, I don’t believe that’s what should constitute as a leap from Cade. I don’t think it’s the box score numbers. I don’t think he has to average 28 points a game this year. K could average this year 26 points a game, nine assist, seven rebounds, and I still think he could have a leap of a season, even though even though that’s an exact identical stat line to what he did this past year. I think he could still take a leap this year. And how does he do that? First place, efficiency. If he just becomes a more efficient player, that’s how he takes a leap. He still struggles shooting at the rim. 57% at the rim this past year. Not great. It is a It was actually It wasn’t even a career best. His career best was as a rookie. 58%. But he’s been around the exact same area his whole career. 58 54 56 57. If he can become a better finisher at the rim, that will skyrocket him. He will be a much more efficient basketball player. and he doesn’t have to score more points. If he’s able to get the same amount of points on less shot attempts, that overall helps your offense. If he can become more consistent on his three-point shot, that will launch him into another another stratosphere. If he can shoot six threes again like he did this past year, but instead of 35% 35.6%, he shoots 38% from deep. Maybe maybe that and again maybe him becoming more efficient on higher volume is how he can get to being a 30 point per game score. But that’s not that him getting to 30 point benchmark is not where I think is a leap from Kade. A leap from Kade is oh now I’m a good finisher at the rim. Oh now I’m a really good three-point shooter to where I’m not just an average three-point shooter. Which is basically what he was this past year. He was around average. Um 51st percentile nine corner threes, 52nd percentile on all threes. So, he wasn’t and no no way was he bad. He’s about an average three-point shooter when you take into and maybe maybe slightly above average maybe when you take into account some of the pull-up looks he was taking, but obviously in the playoffs you saw that the three-point shot really betrayed him. So, I’d feel comfortable saying he’s probably around an average three-point shooter right now. If he can become an above average three-point shooter, that’s a leap for me. I think that that right there is a is a just finishing at the rim and improving his three-point shot and just becoming more efficient. Even if it just results in him taking less shots and getting to 26 points per game, that that still would be a leap to me. If he goes from 56 true shooting percentage to 58 59 true shooting percentage, that constitutes as a leap to me. If he cuts his turnovers down, his turnovers go from 4.4 a game, he’s getting below three, that would be a huge leap. If he can go from 4.4 to just 3.0, that would be a leap for me. I don’t need to see him average 29, 10, and nine. Like, that’s that would be great. Like, I’m not saying he shouldn’t aim for something like that. I’m not saying that stuff wouldn’t be amazing, but that’s not where I’m looking at for K to improve. I don’t need to see the box score numbers take another leap. I need to see the details improve. I want to see the details. I want to see the rim finishing improve, the three-point shot become more consistent. After the all-star break, he shot around 40% and then he dips down at the end of the year. beginning of the year he struggles and then midway November December he starts to go up then January comes back down he’s just up and down as a pull-up three-point shooter become more consistent be consistently throughout the year a 36% three-point shooter a 37% three-point shooter and then the other thing defensively if he can and I think this comes with both of some of what I just brought up it becomes if he becomes more efficient and doesn’t have to take as many shots to get to his 26 points per game The hope is he’s not wearing himself down throughout the season and throughout a game taking 20 plus 25 point shot 25 plus shots. He doesn’t have to take that many. So now he has more energy on the defensive end. And two, if he has more help as a creator on the offensive end, which again that probably would not allow him to get the 30 points per game, but it would end up resulting in a better player for him. I think um defensively if he’s able to give the type of defensive effort, I thought he was fine defensively this past year. I don’t think he was bad at all, but in the playoffs, he took it to another level. In the playoffs, he was a really good defender, especially as a weak side rim protector. He was fantastic into the playoffs. You saw how much effort, you saw how much he cared on that end of the floor. He was giving it every single possession. Now, in the playoffs, obviously, players ratcheted up is that’s just, you know, it is what it is. That’s the reality of the situation. In the regular season, people take some plays off and it is what it is. You I hate to say it, but it happens. in the playoffs, you’re gonna obviously see better effort, better like that’s going to happen. But maybe you don’t have to have playoff worthy defense from him throughout regular season. I would love that. I think that’s how he launches himself into legit top five of top five in the NBA discussions because he’s the only player that can have this type of offensive impact and then also at his size be a great defender. If he was able to do that and Traan’s talked about him getting in better condition to do that, I think that’s how he launches himself in the top five discussions. I don’t think he launches himself in the top five discussions by trying to be a 32 point per game scorer. I think he tries to become one of the best two-way guys in the league. Consistent two-way guys. I think he can do it. If he’s able to give more effort defensively, that’s the leap. Doesn’t have to be two steals a game, a block a game. It doesn’t actually have to be in the box score. Just simply more effort to where you’re impacting the team’s defense consistent like he was in the playoffs. And the playoffs, by the way, it did result in the box score. 1.8 steals, 1.3 blocks. three, what is that? Uh 3.1 stocks a game. Like you can give that effort defensively throughout a season. That’s how K takes the next leap into superstardom. Don’t need to see 32 points a game. Does don’t need to see all the box score stuff. Those areas, if he improves in those areas, even if it just keeps him around, 26 and a half points, nine assists, seven rebounds, he will be an allNBA second team, first team member. He will launch himself in the top five discussions and he’ll be the franchise player that he already is but a better franchise player and the franchise player we all think he can eventually even become. So that’s how I think Kade that’s what I think a Cade leap looks like. Let me know what you guys think. Comment section down below or over on Twitter. What does a Cade Cunningham leap look like to you guys? Looking forward to hearing from you guys about that. But that’s all I’ve got for you guys today. A little bit of a longer episode today. Wasn’t expecting it to get that long, but is what it is. I appreciate all of you guys’ support, all the everydayers, all the first listeners. Appreciate all of you guys. Hit that subscribe button to YouTube channel. Leave us a fivestar review, whatever podcast platform you’re listening to us on. And until next time, I’ll see you guys later. Stay safe out there, everybody. We’ll see you guys next summer league game. And until next time, peace out, everybody.

Detroit Pistons’ summer league sensations stun fans. Is a roster shakeup on the horizon?

Host Ku Khahil breaks down the Pistons’ impressive summer league performances, highlighting Ron Holland’s standout play and Daniss Jenkins’ unexpected impact. The discussion covers Duncan Robinson’s signing, comparing his potential contributions to Malik Beasley’s, and how this move reshapes Detroit’s offensive strategy. Key topics include Cade Cunningham’s development trajectory, expectations for his two-way play, and how these factors might affect the Pistons’ standing in the Eastern Conference.

Don’t miss this in-depth analysis of the Detroit Pistons’ path to success. Will Cunningham elevate his game to elite status? Can Robinson provide the shooting spark Detroit needs?

SUBSTACK: kukhahil.substack.com

PLAYBACK: playback.tv/watchpistons

TWITCH: twitch.tv/kukhahil7

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