Did the Detroit Pistons Improve?! | SWISH or BRICK segment

Did the Detroit Pistons Improve?! | SWISH or BRICK segment

We are back. It is wake up Woodward. And as we’ve done every single Wednesday of the show, I think there might we’ve done Woodward Pistons every every single one. Rod might have only missed like one or two of these things, man. Talk about consistency. Uh and uh it’s been some of the best in my opinion. I might be biased here, but some of the best pistons conversation that you’re going to be able to get around. Man, what this the best in the city if you ever The numbers, you know what the numbers back it up too. You know what? So I I I leave that up to Flannel though to to verify and everything, but shout out to Rod Beard because the numbers also state that he is an absolute legend. Yeah. Uh the amount of people that continue to talk about what he’s done for their career, who he’s been for them, just even words in passing, and he just didn’t know. Even Jeff, it was crazy. Like when we started doing the pod, Jeff showed me the uh this message. He was like, “Bro, I sent Rod this like seven years ago.” And he actually responded. Wow. Like he was like, “Bro, I had like 20 followers and he still responded to me.” And I was like, that’s pretty happy because Jeff just wanted to be able to get into the media game. He’s like, so that’s that’s who he’s continued to be. And he’s never going to blast that. Rod’s never going to say, “Yeah, I did this.” He’s never going to do that. So that’s why, you know, early on we did drum rolls and uh how appropriate. Let’s do a drum roll for this one. I got you, bro. Hey, hey, Ry putting me in a tweet just changed my whole life. Rod putting me on the sticky note just changed my trajectory here at Wward Sports. So, big to man, you have absolutely changed my life. If I was on social media, my following would have went crazy. Hey Chad family, help us do one more drum roll on wake up woo for the legend Rod Beard as we get to the Woo Piston segment. Let’s go. Hey yo, shout out and welcome to the legend for old time sake Detroit news Rod Beard. What up though, brother? Take it away with Rod’s thoughts and then we got to hear from JB Vicker staff who is a coach of coaches. Bro, I I’m just going to look at summer league and the way that we talk about stuff that Cooper Flag and Bronny James and PE they just wanted to hype up Bronnie as much as they could and it’s like it’s not there. Don’t try to synthetically create some hype for Bronny. Even if it were, this is his second year and this and this is Cooper Flag’s first. Let’s not make Bronnie his dad. And even just no, this is the NBA and this is what we know. I feel you. But he has improved though. Like we got to He’s improved a little bit. Everybody improves from year one to year two, bro. Not everybody. You mean LeBron’s not a terrible father for getting him drafted? Whoa. He’s a player. He’s He’s a player in the league. He is not the savior of anything. And how appropriate at the end of that game that he’s going for the hero winner and missed. It’s like there we go. There we go. As much as you prop him, as much as people prop him up to be that, he’s just a guy who missed a shot. It’s not even that deep. Y’all y’all playing Bonnie might start this year while you playing. He might start this year. He might start playing. Yeah, he might start playing for the Lakers. Yes. Ryan, get the sticky note. Get the sticky note right now. He might start. Get a sticky note right now. I said it might. I’m just saying. Don’t be surprised. You heard it here first. He might start in the GLeague. What are you saying? He might start for the Los Angeles Lakers that play at Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staple Center. We need to figure out what Miami’s G-League team is. Rod, with all the going on of LeBron, he will not. Shout out to Rodney James, man. That you going to talk about improvement. We’ll say that there’s just some marginal improvement. LeBron go make sure he start, bro. I promise y’all. Starting point guard. Brian. Oh, now LeBron the coach. Okay. Yeah, he’s been the coach. LeBron, he been the coach and J for years. Hey, but we got a couple uh clips here from one JB Bicker staff. Shout out to him. He’s doing everything he can down at summer league. I remember last year when I was down there and just seeing the way that he moved, it was like this is a very active uh coach, man. And this was after we had already gotten the experience, Rod, at his introductory press conference. And then I remember when they introduced, I believe Ron Holland, that was another press conference that you and I were at together. Uh, and and just that was when we were able to get into the media scrum with with JB Bickerstaff. And we both came away like this guy is it. Um, and we wanted to know a little bit of what was the secret sauce behind this thing. And he talked about uh who the Pistons will be in this upcoming season. They are going to continue the BTA Pistons. They are here to stay. But he also talked about the buyin from this team and how what really made it possible for this squad to take that next step. He actually said uh the leadership of one Kade Cunningham helped with the overall buyin uh of the young guys to get to the next level. But let’s hear from that one K uh JB Vickers on Kate Cunningham and then uh we’ll hear the next clip right after. The thing that made my job easier is as good of a basketball player as Kate Cunningham is, he’s a better leader in person. So, like I would relay messages to him about, you know, how we wanted to move every day, how we wanted to be positive. You know, we weren’t putting up with any bitching, complaining, all that stuff. And so, there were times in games where guys would do it and K would grab him and be like, “Yo, coach said we’re not bitching here. So, if you want to [ __ ] you can go somewhere else.” still a young player in the league, but that’s real. You know what I mean? So, like when he does that for me now, my job is easy. A lot easier. Yeah. So, I say what I say and then he carries it out and he lives it. And then what what makes him special is I say this to people like he can be great and not take your breath away as his teammate, right? Like he doesn’t have to eat what’s on your plate to be great. He makes sure that your plate is full even though he’s doing his thing. And it’s unbel it’s unbelievable the way that he can do it. Uh and they give Tjan a ton of credit like adding Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway. Like he brought in some veteran guys that again didn’t take away from our young guys experience but just helped them be better and they grew with them. Hey, and and again, shout out to Grand uh City Media and and to Pistons Talk, our guy Anthony Columbo who posted these uh to Pistons Talk on X. So, I want to make sure we give out the right credit and the proper credit. But he’s sitting there talking about the buyin from this team and how much Kade Cunningham has meant to that being able to hold his guys accountable. What did we hear about Kade Cunningham and the reason why they drafted him here over everything else? They said he’s a connector. He’s a leader. And now we’re seeing that on display. And JB Bickerstaff, we talk about what the narrative was of him and Cleveland and the type of hard-nosed coach he is and how he might rub some players the wrong way. there was a superstar or a star, however you decide to denote it, in Cleveland who didn’t necessarily jive with the message and none of the other players bought in. You heard bench players who was hoping to probably get a shot here in Detroit. You’re not getting that call because you’re talking out your next size at JB Bickerstaff. Instead, here you have a star who’s actually establishing the voice and the word and the way of the coach amongst his players and saying, “Look, bro, this is what I like. if you’re not doing it and if you’re going to complain and cry and all of this about it, you you’re not going to be here. That that to me is is powerful because now you got your star who’s who’s putting it on himself and making sure to hold that team as accountable. That was stuff that we used to see and out of Chanty Bilips and I’m hoping that as K Cunningham continues to mature and grow and as his team gets better that we continue to see him as a leader be more and more like that, step more and more into that. But hey Rod, just wanted your quick thoughts on that as well. K Cunningham, this team buying in and really being the catalyst for their success. I go back to K’s first couple of years, a when he was injured, but b when the team was losing at a historic clip that he didn’t point the finger, he didn’t blame anybody else. He said he had to play better. He had to do more. But the leadership is evolving now where he’s holding people. And he didn’t say somebody else has to be accountable. this is on Isaiah Stewart or or anybody else. He pointed to himself and said, “I’ve got to play better. I got to do better.” And even in this iteration, it’s I’ve got to reduce my turnovers. But it is he’s used to winning and the losing. You could see how much it impacted him in those first couple of years that he just he didn’t say anything bad, but you could tell inside he was just seething and burning that he wanted to win. And this season is the validation of all of that. That you don’t have to go around and say this team sucks. The front office needs to do something. We’ve just got to go get some better players. It wasn’t anything like that. It was more our time is coming. And now that it’s here to some degree, you see that he’s he’s pointing at people, but it’s not a go be better. It is we’re not going to [ __ ] like that. We’re not going to trip out and and and and and just uh go off the rails for what we’re doing. We’ve got to stay together as a team and do this as and bringing in those specific veterans. Um we said it from the very beginning. I like getting Tobias. I like getting Tim Hardway and what they bring to the table here. And the mix is exactly right. And we saw the success of that in the growth of that locker room and on the court with them making the playoffs. all of the the the right moves. And this is Tra T Traden Langden. This is and I will continue to say I don’t care what people say on social media about this. This is Troy Weaver with the construction and getting the right players, the right young guys to be the nucleus of this team. He didn’t he wasn’t here to see it come to full fruition, but he he said Cade is the guy. He could have gone Jaylen Green. He could have gone Evan Moley. He saw Cade as one of those guys who could be that connector. And the rest of that front office did too. um that made this what it is right now. And you know what, Rod, just as you were talking there, you joged something for me here. Remember when J and Duran stepped to the podium and said, “Yeah, I’ve been playing like some soft dish.” And then we we dug around a little bit more and realized it wasn’t just JB Bicker staff who told him this. But we also wound up hearing that his teammates told him this, too. And then what do you hear from JB Bicker staff? Oh, we say what the deal is, and then KA goes and enforces this stuff with his teammates. So, I 100% believe that these players, not just the coaches, these players are taking leadership upon themselves. And it’s not just that you got you have players like Kade that are willing to speak up, but that you have players that are willing to listen, bro, and get better, not catch feelings, and just say, you know what? And JB Breaker talked about the fact that they went through so much losing that he just saw sponges that were ready to win, not people who were coming in with preconceived notions, not people that were coming in with egos. He said that this young nuculus and the vets that arrived, they just wanted to win. But uh let’s see clip number two before we get into our Swisser break because we got some interesting questions today. And this one is on uh JB Brickerstaff talking about the establishment of and the continuing of the BTA Pistons. Be honest with you, you know, Detroit is awesome. uh the guys that I get to work with like the things that they went through last year gave me an opportunity to coach them in a way, you know what I mean, where they were just open to everything, right? Because they didn’t want to go through the struggles that they went through the year before. So, they bought in, they were sponges, you know, the talent was there. They just needed the belief that they could, right? And to find a way to do it different than everybody else. And that’s the thing, like we’re going to beat your ass. Excuse me if I can say we like that. We like it. every single night that you come play, you’re going to be in for a dog fight. And there’s some teams, whether it’s the first quarter or the fourth quarter, they just don’t want to do it enough. And that’s the difference with our guys is like, win or lose, we won the fight. Yep. And from that point, like that gave us a edge. That gave us confidence that we could uh and they embraced it. Like they love that mentality. Bro, bring a tear to my eye, dog. You bring a tear twice. You hear got on this Dan Campbell, too. I don’t care if you got one butt cheek and three toes. I will beat your ass. There you go. I got you. And now and that’s what I’m saying. Like it’s not just about paring it. It’s about finding the way as a coach to to have this as the imprint in the identity of your team, not just the model. We see everybody say this stuff. But the Pistons were really about that, Rod. No. And I agree. And and when you when we talked about free agency and who you go out and get, you want people who continue to embody that. And I think you you the iterations continue. You get a Duncan Robinson who’s gonna um replace some of that. Um and Caris Levert, they’re just kind of quiet assassins. They don’t go out and make a bunch of noise about what they do. They just go do the work. So I think we’re going to see some some sort of continuation of that. But this is also in roster construction. You don’t go get guys who are going to try to overshadow Kade. And it’s really hard to overshadow Kade anyway because he goes about his business. He’s he’s a winner. He has a winning mentality and you get guys that can just step in line and follow behind that. Yo, that’s actually interesting take especially when you talk about roster construction. Uh you you have to get the right pieces that fit especially with your star budding superstar I’m going to say and K Cunningham. And one more thing before we get into Swisser break. Let’s put up that graphic from uh Pistons Jack. Uh and this is actually via hoops hype. It’s uh Ron Holland and Dennis Jenkins as well as Motor City Cruise player Tou Smith and two-way player the Pistons. They all rank in the top 10 performance at summer league per hoops hype global rating metric. Hey, shout out to these guys. And this was before the third game. Ron Holland, he’s not gonna go too anywhere as it relates to these rankings. He’s been one of your best players in all of summer league. And you see him, he sits there as the number two player and Dennis Jenkins, the number four player. He tailed off a little bit more of a pedestrian game or mile game against the Timberwolves, but you see what he did in those first two games and everything that’s gotten people excited. So, want to be able to put that up there. Any uh any words on summer league? Uh I know we got some some questions in Swisser break that pertain to it. Yeah, you absolutely cook with these. We’ll get into that then. Let’s get into Swisser break. It’s not official till you put up that graphic, Mr. MVP. Oh, I got I need it. Let’s go. Fresh pack. Let’s go. Fresh pack, man. Let’s rip the seal off of that, man. Y’all know what swish or brick is. We will present a scenario and then you tell us whether it’s a swish or whether it’s a brick. Kool-Aid. Absolutely. Cook with these. I’m not going to add anything to it. So, let’s get started. Man, my boy My boy Summer Kobe aka Ron Holland outside shooting is improved. He should start over a Sar Thompson Swiss or brick. I have seen this narrative throughout summer league. I I think summer league is getting the Pistons fans again. Or is it not? Because Isaiah Thomas even stated that two-way Assar Thompson is going it would be an absolute or two-way Ron Holland would be an absolute problem. People are seeing improvements in the summer league from the three-point shooting. But what say ye if the three-point shooting is improved? Brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick brick. I have nothing against Ron Holland. Nothing whatsoever. It’s just do people forget how much he improved as Sar Thompson over the second half of the season? Do people forget that he started last season with blood clots and was rehabbing through it all off seasonason. This year he’s going to get a full one. He’s going to be a monster this year. I I I’m big I don’t know if it’s a bold prediction. Assar Thompson first team all defense and averages at least 13 to 14 points a game. Maybe seven rebounds. I like that actually. I like that a lot. Put it on a sticky note. Yeah. What up though? JB Smooth. Did you want to go to Justin and Haley first or How you guys doing over there? Justin. No, I’m doing good. I think that they’re This is a little too quick to the gun. I think that we got to see it in the preseason. You got to see it in the regular season. You got to see that level of consistency stay with his shooting. And then I think there’s a debate, but I still think that uh Assar is a way better defender than Ron Holland at this point. And that is so valuable next to K Cunningham. Yeah. Because so that he can reduce the defensive usage rate of Kade. That was one of the things that they stated and Rod, we covered this a couple years ago. That was the purpose of of Assar Thompson to reduce the usage defensively of Kade. What up Dan Haley? Yeah, Assar is a better defender. Um, like I said a couple weeks ago, he needs to get a shot, but still better than I don’t even know who who was the other. Still better than him. Well, better than anybody. Yeah. You know what? I I think I agree with you guys. It’s probably a little too soon for this, but you know what? [ __ ] it. I’m I’mma go for it. Give Give me Ron to start now. It’s either sink or swim. You might like this When they 411 says start Holland over Tobias Harris. Yes. Is that your burner? That’s your burner. JB Holland and and and Assar in a starting lineup together though. I don’t know how I feel about that right now. Yeah. Just not just yet. One of them got to learn how to shoot. I How many times I told you Kool-Aid? What are I looked around the room. All of us are doing this. Yeah. I absolutely love I love Ryan Holland. I love what he’s doing right now. Like I said, he is the summer league Kobe. That shot does look improved, but he’s just not ready yet. Assar Thompson brings way too much defensively to the table. Although, I do feel like Ryan Holland’s learning curve offensively, it’ll be a little bit quicker than Assaars because Assaars, there are some things mechanically that you still got to fix. But overall, I I I Assar is still the starter on this team. He’s done way too much good. Um, but Ryan Holland should see an uptick in usage, though. I I do agree with that. Maybe get him up to 20 minutes a game. See what he working with. You know, I like that. I like that. Steu and Ron coming off the bench together. Shout shout out to Spin Spinny Spencer. He said, “Look, if you gonna fight people, you need Stu and Holland off the bench together at the center.” And I was going to say, I do, you remember this, we’ve been saying this. I I wanted Isaiah Stewart to be the Tasmanian Devil off on defense, lower the minutes, and just increase the the the overall efficiency and usage of an Isaiah Stewart. And look what it did this last year. It’s worked finally. We Ryan, we’ve cried this from this platform for two and a half years. I think the same thing happens with Ron Holland, bro. I think Rod’s frozen. Ah, shut up. I was just trying to take advantage of the fact that he was he was happy with everything that I was stating. So, I was just going to go with it, man. Thank you for ruining my dream, KG. I’m sorry, man. But, let’s get to the next question and we’ll try and get the legend on uh uh before we uh before we wrap up that question. No, absolutely. I I love this uh you know, I’m going to skip the line. I love this next question, man. Which trio is the swish and which trio is the brick? Jaden Ivy, Duncan Robinson, and Caris Levert, or Malik Beasley, Dennis Shruder, and Tim Hardaway Jr.? Which group is the Swiss and which group is the brick? If you listen to Trean Langden, he states they got better and he believes they got bigger with the additions. That is Landon. He says if the team is going to be better overall ultimately he believes that process is going to be decided by what the young players do to improve but he does believe with the additions they brought in one of the things they wanted to do was to get bigger. They did not want to get smaller with those wings or stay the same. Which is why I think Malik Monk found himself kind of on the outside of what the Pistons plans was moving forward. But I see you thinking over there flannel. I see you. What say you? Uh Jaden Duncan and uh Caris Levert are the switch to me. And and I’m not just saying it because it’s what we have. You surprised me. Really? Yeah. I thought I really thought you would go the other way. I thought you were gonna go the other way. No. I mean, I’m intrigued by people. People People think I hate Jaden Ivy. I just I just think a portion of his stands are literal psychopaths. But that’s a that’s a beside the point. I do think Jayen Ivy is the best overall player of the six. And when it comes to Duncan Robinson, I think he’ll be an approximation of Malik Beasley, what he was in the regular season, and he’ll be better than the in the playoffs. And Caris Levert, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. We know what he could potentially do leading the bench unit as an onball scorer and and facilitating. He’s better at catch and shoot threes than you think. At least at times during his career. Give me the trio going into this. Yes, I agree with you 100% on that. Hey, what’s your feeling about this one? I was going to agree with that as well. Let’s go. I think Caris Levert has a lot of potential and then I also think Duncan Robinson is going to be a great complimentary player for Ivy and then also Cunningham. What up dog JB? Uh give me group A with this one. Uh Caris, Duncan and Ivy. I mean you already know what um Duncan and Levert can do on the court. Ivy is just that one factor that you’re kind of questioning, but obviously this off seasonason is going to prove whether or not he is ready and built for this upcoming season. And I think he has something to prove and wants to show that especially this upcoming year. Hey KG, read the question one more time so R can hear it before you give your answer and then we’ll uh go to the legend. All right. Which trio is the Swiss and which trio is the brick? Jaden Ivy, Duncan Robinson, and Caris Levert or Malik Beasley, Dennis Shruder, and Tim Hardway. Hold your answer until after KG. No, I it in my killer Mike voice. This is a sweep. Absolutely. It is. It I think it could we still got to see it like we actually saw what Malik Beasley, Dennis Shruder, and Tim Hardaway Jr. was able to do, but I think the potential of Caris Levert and Duncan Robinson. No, really. Right. For real. All right. Well, anyway. Anyway, no, but I really do feel like they have the potential to be better, man. I think you you upgraded your bench by adding a Duncan Robinson and a Caris Levert. And I get it with Carris Levert. You know, he’s not the scorer he once was. He’s dealt with some injuries, but he’s still a a very very prolific player. He can go out there, he can get you a bucket consistently. He knows how to drive the lane. He’s not horrible on defense. And Duncan Robinson, alltime heat leading three-point shooter. He’s going to fit in just fine. He may not give you exactly what Malik Beasley gave you, but you’re not losing much by adding Duncan Robinson instead of that. I’ve I’ve said he is the white Malik Beasley. So, look, the faces are getting more positive until then. Where are my postit notes? Is it really that crazy? Is it really that crazy though? Beasley. He is the white brother. They the same player. How are they different, Rod? They are the same exact player except one’s been in one place for his whole career. Dun swag level. The swag level on Duncan Robinson is like a four. Malik was like a 12. Are they different? Malik was in debt. That’s why many shimmys Dr. Robinson selling. Huh? How many shimmy mills is Dr. Robinson selling? It don’t matter, bro. For one, he’s a Michigan man, so we not going to do that, bro. He is a hometown that we not going to do that. And secondly, he had all that swag because he owed the people a lot of money. Wait, wait, wait. He out here taking favors and not paying them back. Where was the Michigan man energy for Jordan Pool the other day? No, but Jordan Pool is a different story. All right. George Pool, he hasn’t been the same since Draymond knocked his ass out. He likes his powers in that punch. Still defending that nonsense. I’m just being real. I’m just being real. Draymond gets away with everything. He’s It’s He’s a Hall of Famer. Godamn it. That’s why he get away with everything. [ __ ] Thank you, Sinny. Appreciate what Jordan Pool brought to that team. He did. But what did he do after that? Now he’s a Sorry, Rod. We got off. We We got in Washington. Ain’t no Ain’t no order in that pool in Washington. But go ahead, Ryan. My bad. What’s your ass? What say you, Rod? Swiss or based on what? You know what? We’re going with the Michigan guys on this because just just off the strength, but Duncan Robinson is is he’s the white Malik Beasley. Yes, they’re Spider-Man memes pointing at each other. Duncan Robinson and Malik Beasley. Tell me how they different. They the same archetype, same play style. Like, tell me how they different. Duncan Robinson. Duncan Robinson is like 66, right? 67. Yeah. Okay. I mean, I I do think Duncan Robinson might break Malik’s three-point record this year if he’s used in a similar way if they find him. Yeah. All right, Ryan. All right. You You go. I’m just not I’mma use different words. I’mma use different words and I’m not going to end up on somebody’s post-it note at the at the end. Get the post-it notes, dog. Yeah. No, I’m I’m going say that’s the switch. I I think there will be just the play creation that LeVert is going to bring and the ability for Duncan. Um there’s a world where he could start. There is a world. I I don’t necessarily like it. But if you say you want that three-point shooting next to Kade and next to that starting lineup, I wouldn’t be mad at it. But and Rod, just to piggyback on that point, isn’t that why Tim Hardway Jr. got some run last year? I didn’t. When you looked at how things were shaping up, at some point sometimes I thought, well, he’s just a stop gap. And then as players got healthy, as trades happened, it continued to be Tim Hardaway Jr. as a starter. I wouldn’t be surprised. I wouldn’t be shocked, let me say that, if Duncan Robinson found himself in the starting lineup. I I wouldn’t. Well, Tim Hardaway started because uh Jay Ivy was injured for for quite a bit of it. But with him back, I can see where you would say uh Duncan should start in some cases. But Assar, if you want that defensive presence, I think you got to have Assar in that starting lineup, too. But there is I can’t see Duncan starting over Tobias. I don’t think that’s going to happen. No, especially not in the last year of 26 mil. You want that contract to look as valuable as possible either on your roster or at that trade deadline. I see JB Smooth over there smiling a little bit, but we got another one over there. Ryan, you ain’t got to fight me, bro. You agree with me on Jaylen Duran. You agree with me on this, man. You always try to put up an argument like we not in sync though. Like I I don’t appreciate that, bro. But to on to the next question though. The Pistons have to The Pistons have to find space at least 10 minutes per game for Dennis Jenkins this season. Swiss or Brick? I put this one on there for my I put this one on there for my guy KG. Your boy I wrote this question. This became a point of contention or at least a conversation on a previous show. Dennis Jenkins showing out in summer league. Dennis Jenkins showed out in the G-League last year, two-way player, the Pistons. There’s some people who believe since the Pistons didn’t do a whole lot to address backup point guard, that Dannis Jenkins deserves a shot based off of what they’ve seen so far. Flannel Sam Brick. Couldn’t be more of a brick. With all due respect, and it’s not because I don’t like Dannis Jenkins and what he’s brought to the summer league G-League. I think he’s a great story. He could get some minutes, but have to find 10 minutes for him? Absolutely not. This isn’t a Makea-Wish program. And I’m not I’m not saying I’m not saying that that that that’s Dannis Jenkins. I’m just saying when you’re an undrafted player, when you have to scratch and and crawl through the G- League, through the summer league and whatnot, you might just be the out the odd man out. That’s all I’m saying. So, so he might get some minutes, but do they have to? Absolutely not. Yeah, I think he’s going to be at a disadvantage. We we talked about this speed and the measurables at the NBA level. I think that those are very very supremely underrated and and underestimated. You see guys go to the GLeague and have crazy success and you see him get to the NBA and it’s a completely different game. But uh intern Haley, that dude Justin, how you guys feeling about this one? Dennis Jenkins, he’s been a top five player in summer league. He tore up the G-League. There’s some fans out there who believe he deserves a shot. He deserves a little bit more time. What are you guys saying? The Pistons got to find 10 minutes a game for him next year. I don’t know about 10 minutes a game. I know that he’ll rotationally get into games because of the lack of bodies that go on between an NBA season through rest and through injuries. So, I don’t think it’s out of the realm to say that he’s going to get some minutes at some point in the year, but I I wouldn’t go so far to say that he’s going to be getting 10 minutes a game. Which make kid is the switch in the break? Dennis Jenkins or Bronny James? Bronny greater than Dennis. No, that’s a fact. Thank you. Oh goodness. What up, T Haley? I’m looking at stats right now. Jenkins scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half. Looking at his game against the Houston Rockets, scored 25 points and six assists. I don’t know. 10 minutes though, it’s a bit much. This is a questionable question that I don’t know if I can give you an answer to. So, no switch or no brick. It’s a turnover. That’s a wedgie. Yeah, right. What up though, JB Smooth? I I like the turnover um description as well too. Giving them 10 minutes. Like, come on. You asking for a lot here. I feel like flannel. This isn’t a make a wish kid. This isn’t dark. We’re not doing this. I’m sorry, man. That might have been a little disrespectful. What I meant was you’re not owed NBA minutes for being great in the summer league and in the G- League. It’s a tale as old as time, but if he gets those minutes in the way that in the way that Justin said that he could through rest and just needing a minute eater out there, fine. Wouldn’t put it past saw briefly last year. Yeah. And last year with the GLeague, cuz it’s not I don’t think it’s just based solely on some of the performance with the G- League, he did make a first team all rookie team for them and some other uh teams as well. And he he put up 21.2 two points, 33.3 from behind the arc, three and a half rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.8 steals in 36 minutes. He had a heck of a a heck of a season with the G-League, man. So, he’s not he’s not a in my opinion when you say just point blank that Bronniey’s better. You got to prove that to me first. Like, just straight up. We talk about everything Dennis has done. I have to push back a little bit on the Makea-Wish aspect. He is a product that when he has had the ball in his hands, it hasn’t been a lot in the NBA. He’s done what he’s had to do. Finding 10 minutes a game for him. I think that might be a little aggressive, but a player who I believe can take the next step in his career, go from maybe a two-way player to being an end of rotation guy. I do believe Dannon Jenkins has that in his arsenal. And he’s proven that. All he’s done at at each level he’s been at is ball the freak out. That’s a fact. That’s all he’s done. Whether it’s at Houston uh not Houston, whether it’s uh jeez, man, goodness, I forget where he played in college. All he’s done is bald out. GLeague now. St. John’s, St. John’s, uh, everywhere. That’s all he’s done. So, that that’s where I’m at with Dannis Jenkins, man. If, uh, if he gets the time, I think he’s going to do more the same. Not necessarily ball out, but what you need from a point guard, what you need from facilitation, I think Dennis Jenkins can, uh, can do something. But, uh, how you feeling about it? No, I I do agree. Um, shout out to, you know, the Motor City Crews last year for having me. Every time that I saw Dannis Jenkins, he got better and better and better each time that I saw him. And listen, I famously said that there should be a conversation. I’m I feel indifferent. Just honestly, um if JB Bickerstaff feels that it’s right, then I would go with it. I wouldn’t question it. Um but in limited NBA sample size that we’ve seen, Danish Jenkins, um Kool-Aid brought this up and shout out to you. Um his speed at the NBA level, we don’t think it’s the same speed that he has in the GLeague. And also his consistency offensively is something that you worry about. So 10 minutes a game, that’s a stretch. Cuz I think I would much rather Chaz Laneir get those minutes. Um just because he has a skill set that can benefit the Pistons right away. Like that three-point shooting that he displayed, I would much rather give those minutes to him. And Dennis will get some run. He’ll get some burn. Um but he is 6’4, man. He got some size. Got some defensive chops, but he’s not a a defender. I forgot who said this in the chat the other day, but I want to see him in the Marcus Sasser role uh kind of this year. Um, you know, not necessarily, you know, maybe as many minutes as Marcus Sasser played, but, you know, Marcus Sasser came in and was an energy player, was a spark plug for the Pistons. I want to see Dennis Jenkins in that role. Um, but going forward, carving out 10 minutes, that’s a bit much. I I got to take brick on Rod Beard, what say ye? That was the first time I heard Marcus Sasser’s name in this whole conversation. Is he still on the roster? Cuz we’re trying to find minutes for Dannis Jenkins. Seriously. No, but there there’s just it’s a conversation, Rod, because Marcus Sasser for as great as he is, you know, the three ball is on point. Um, he is a liability on defense and, you know, just he he’s not a naturalb born playmaker and that’s what I kind of get worried about. I think Dennis is more natural a more natural playmaker than Marcus Sasser at this point. He’s more of a combo guard. That instinctual facilitator. I agree with that. No 10 minutes. Nah. Nah. Can’t do it. I feel you. I feel you. Who Who’s a who’s a more natural uh playmaker? Carris Levert or Dannis Jenkins. That’s the role that Caris is going to bring in that second unit to some degree uh with that. But if you want to a couple minutes here or there, I don’t know how deep this rotation is going to go. And you’re talking 10 or 11 if you want to include Dannis Jenkins in any kind of significant role there. Hey, do we got time for one more? I believe we do. Man, I do like this one as well. Um as Oh, okay. Hey, we skipped that one. Uh, you should be concerned about Bobby Clintman’s summer league performance. Swish or summer league edition of it all. And there are people who are legitimately concerned. I was scouring the interwebs for a guy that might be at the end of the rotation. He has a 4-year guaranteed contract as a second round pick. And what that tells you is they’re in for the long haul to see what his potential might be through development. So, I don’t believe that there’s any levels of concern that should be levied at Bobby Clintman’s summer league performance, especially given he’s playing with summer league players. I’ll throw it over to Final Sam, though. How you feeling about that, Brick? And and don’t get me wrong, Bobby Clipman has not been impressive, at least to me. However, Bobby Clipman’s not going to move the needle one way or another when it comes to this team. If he fails, he was a second round pick. If he succeeds, you won a lottery ticket to some extent. Whether he’s Danny Green, whe a Danny Green archetype or a Manobi archetype, I’m not saying he’s going to be one of those guys. What I’m saying is a second round pick is a lottery ticket. That’s all it is. So, Bobby Clintman, whether he succeeds or fails, won’t make that much of a difference to the Pistons team. Yeah. Hey, what up though? Intern Haley and that dude Justin. Bobby Clintman. You guys on him? Any concern for his sum uh performance? He’s been pretty pedestrian. When you look back to last year, and I was there to cover his first one, he was a baller. Especially in the games that Ron Holland wasn’t in this year, much more pedestrian. And the things that people were hoping to see that could potentially mesh with this Pistons team, we haven’t even quite seen that. Yeah, I think that everyone kind of got a little ahead of themselves with Bobby Clipman when they thought that he was going to find a way to cut into minutes this year on the NBA roster. I would love to see it, but I just think he hasn’t shown the level that even Jenkins has shown during this summer league, which think which to me tells me that it’s going to be even harder for him to crack the rotation than even Dannis Jenkins. But I think that Ron Holland’s usage and his ability to take over these games has definitely affected Bobby Clipman in the fact that he’s not as comfortable uh next to someone who’s as ball dominant as uh Ron Holland has been. What up, Anton Ali? With so many players that have so much potential and are really like showing up and showing out, trying to prove their spots, it kind of makes you question like, is Clipman falling under and is he a necessary piece to our puzzle that we should be focusing on versus other prospects? Yeah. with the 4-year guaranteed contract, they’re going to have to pay some attention to him or they’re going to have to give him the Simone Fentio treatment. Uh because I mean, it’s it it is what it is. You don’t want a guy that’s just taking a roster spot unless you believe he’s either going to help you today or help you with your long-term window. And if not, then those guys have to be valuable to you at least as it relates to creating the cap flexibility you need. K Cunningham is a $40 million a year player now. Yes, sir. Jay N Ivy and Jaylen Durren, their contracts are going up next year if you retain them. That’s just how this thing is going. And if you want Marcus Hasser back, he he’s going to be more expensive than he uh than he’s been. So, it’s some interesting things ahead for them. It’s going to be crazy to see how they resolve this stuff because we’re talking about a second round pick, but they gave him that guaranteed second round contract, which for four years, which is a little bit different than what you normally see in NBA. But that’s a that’s a good point by you, uh, Inter Haley. What up though, JB Smooth? Uh, Bobby needs some work. He needs some work. Uh, not going to lie about that. I don’t want to give up on him just yet. So, it’s a brick for me for right now, but he is going to have to work himself into getting into this Pistons rotation and lineup if he does make that leap. So, it’s a brick for right now. You sound a little sad over there because I know that this was your one of your outside chances of replacing Tobias Harris. Yeah, anything to replace Tobias Harris. So, um, Bobby, I’m going to need you to get back in the gym. I need you to I need you to be It’s over, JB. Let it go. This one’s over the clip. I think that one’s over, bro. Let it go. Let it go, man. No, you you really did want to see Bobby, you know, have a better uh showing, but especially compared to what we saw that first year. Um, yeah, I don’t It’s going to be tough, man. Especially with the additions that they’ve made and Duncan probably going to the bench as well. It’s going to be hard for him to craft out minutes. Although there is a lot of things I do like about his skill set and in some ways I did feel like he could be the fontio replacement but um it’s just going to be hard to crack minutes on this rotation and um we need to see more consistency. That’s the only thing with Bobby Clement at this point. I do love his skill set and that was a good pull by I totally forgot that they went ahead and paid him up front. So yeah, that that they have they have some interest in him but he has to go out there and prove it. Yep. What say Rod Beard? The money isn’t an issue. NBA is monopoly money at this point. I mean, you got $70 million contracts. Second round money just doesn’t move the needle at all. But if we’re talking about Bobby Clintman, something is going wrong in the the the regular part of the rotation and what the trajectory of this team is. That is what what Flannel Sam said, that is a lottery ticket. If it pans out, it pans out. If not, uh you’ve got other stuff that you can worry about. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. But hey, hey, what up? Spin dog in the building on the heavies and talk about it. What up? Hey Rock, good to see you, man. Shout for the knowledge. Shout out the boys on. Woo. But um next time I see Tobias Harris getting some coffee. I’m going to have him come over here and talk to you. JB well last year like you spent and JB would lose it. He would lose it. JB would lose it, bro. And anytime I see someone on Twitter, which isn’t a real place, I saw someone say, “I don’t think Bobby Clipman’s ready to be backup power forward this year.” No [ __ ] I thought he was going to do that. Good to see you, Rob. Shout out Spinny, man. Spinny is in complete Zeno boy off the massage chair. Hey, but Rod Beer, as always, man, these these have been awesome. Uh, I love doing the content with you. I know that uh bringing it to this platform as well, it’s been uh it’s been epic, man. And it it each iteration has just gotten much more and more fun for me, man. And uh be able to have the guys at KG, I know we had Bro on earlier on in in the in the year, uh JB Smooth, Flannel, Sam, and the rest. It’s been fun, brother. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No, absolutely. It’s been fun. And and and I support you in everything that you’re doing. And I remember when we were just a small little podcast and just trying to figure things out, but your growth, everybody else’s growth, and this has been part of my Wednesday morning. So, I I appreciate you guys for all that you’ve done in making a space for me to be able to help you and to be able to express things and really just to be there for the the listeners and the fans, too. Hey, any any other last words, Rod Beard, before we move on? Uh, in the most Atlanta thing ever, my phone overheated in the sun because apparently I I work on the sun now. It’s 90° already and it’s it’s not even 10:00 in the morning. That’s crazy. Sun and heat to Magic City, Rob, right? Down there with getting the wings, man. Pamp. There we go. Right. To my guy the fifth, man. Love you always, man. Appreciate you and uh continue to crush everything. No, I appreciate it, guys. Have a good show. Thank you. Thanks, R. All right.

Rod Beard (Detroit News) and Brandon @DetroitKoolAid Dent (Woodward Sports Network) join WAKE UP WOODWARD to discuss the Detroit Pistons at the NBA Trade Deadline. Like , Subscribe and leave your comment below!

Via Wake Up Woodward featuring Matt Broder (credentialed WSN Lions+Tigers Reporter), Brandon @DetroitKoolAid Dent (credentialed WSN Pistons reporter), KG on sounds, JB in the TD booth and Flannel Sam

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Woodward Sports Pistons beat reporter Brandon @detroitkoolaid1585 Dent and Detroit News assistant sports editor Rod Beard.

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