Episode Transcript
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(00:07):
Welcome to the Everything Pistons Podcast,where we only talk about the Detroit Pistons.
I'm LANSCAPROSI follow me on Twitter atLanscaprosi. Before I turn it over
to my co host, you guysneed to subscribe to the Everything Pistons Podcast
trop rating, leave a review,and more importantly, tell a Pistons fan.
Now here's my co host. I'mman Hey, I'm Andrew Clements,
(00:31):
creator of the Everything Pistons Instagram page. You can follow me there on Instagram
and Facebook at Everything Pistons Podcast,on Twitter at e Pistons Pod, and
always email the show directly at EPistons Pod at gmail dot com. And
if you want to find out whatBen Wallace is doing post career, you're
(00:51):
gonna have to check back on thelast episode and we're gonna kind of divulge
the story of how and how thatcame to fruition and maybe I got a
feeling only other podcasters will really understandwhat we went for you to get Ben
Wallace on oh Man. I thinkanybody in the media, whether it is
(01:18):
when if you're low on the totalpoll like we are when it comes to
the podcasting game, or you're likea you're a reporter or you're a journalist,
or you've done you know, TVsegments, or you know you're doing
like a talk show or you're doinga morning talk show on the radio,
you will know what we went throughand you will appreciate this story. One
absolute nightmare situation. So I mean, I guess we should we should get
(01:42):
into it. I mean you calledme and kind of said, hey,
would you be down to interview BenWallace? Silly question, obviously. Okay,
so even before that moment, letme just explain to the people how
this whole thing got started. Soif you've been listening to this podcast or
if you follow me on Twitter,you will know that I'm a barber.
(02:05):
I've been a barber for ten years. One of my friends sat in my
chair and he was like, hey, man, did you know that Ben
Wallace was in Kalamazoo over the weekend? And I told him no, I
did not. What was he doingin Kalamazoo work with Green Door to Stillery.
They're gonna make his own liquor.And I said, oh, dude,
that's pretty cool. But I mean, what was he doing in Kalamazoo
and basically just doing a taste testing, getting to know the guys, getting
a walk through of the whole thing. But then he's like, you know
(02:28):
what, I'm gonna hit her upand I'm just gonna ask her if there's
any way you know she could getBen Wallace on your podcast. I'll say,
all right, cool man, justlet her know that the Instagram page
has about twelve thousand followers on itand it's constantly growing. You know,
we're active on Twitter. We youknow, we don't want we don't have
a huge following on Twitter, butwe do interact with a lot of people,
especially in the Pistons community. Sohe leaves. Now it's Wednesday.
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I just get done working out.I'm at home, man, I just
cooked my usual post workout breakfast.He called and I have just egg in
my mouth. He's like, hey, man, I just want to let
you know I talked, you know, I talked to my friend and she
said there's a way she could getBen Wallace on your podcast. I was
like, oh, dude, whenyou know, and I was hoping he
didn't say that day. I'm notgonna be ready. There's no way I'd
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be able to prepare for a BenWallace interview in just a couple of hours.
There's no way that's gonna happen.And he's like, yeah, i'd
probably be like a couple of weeks, like six weeks, maybe two months
from now, and I'm like,oh, okay, cool. A couple
hours later, we were talking aboutthis before we recorded. Yeah, shortly
before five or five pm Eastern Standardtime. Yeah, I get a call
from an unknown number. I justlet it go to voicemail, and ten
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seconds later after that goes to voicemail, I get like eight text messages from
my friend. He's like, bro, pick up the phone. This is
my friend. You need to callher back. Opportunity is literally knocking exactly.
So then he calls me. He'slike bro, He's like, man,
what are you doing right now?Like, man, I'm just playing
Fortnite on my daughter. Switch what'sup? And he's like, you need
to call her back and then setthis up. So I called her.
(04:00):
I talked to her for a fewminutes. She's like, hey, look,
I've checked out the Instagram page.You have a lot of followers on
there. I checked out the podcastyou guys got. You guys got a
good sound, like this is somethingwe could work with. Would you want
to interview Ben Wallace to night?And of course I said yes, you
know who would say yes? Sothen you know, I call you?
And what was going through your headwhen I called you? Now, Ben
Wallace? So, I mean Iobviously thought it was a really cool opportunity,
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much like you, no way,it's gonna be tonight. You call
me back and then tell me thatit's gonna be tonight. And then is
when it really started to kick off. Okay, if we're going to interview
him tonight, you know, wetentatively thought, remember this is right before
five five o'clock Eastern, we thoughtmaybe eight, eight thirty nine, you
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know, he would be on.So for an hour we sat on the
phone and brainstormed questions and wrote themdown and what we wanted to talk to
Ben Wallace about and what we wantedto know, and uh, we basically
came up with our list of whatwas it like thirty five random questions in
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really no order, in between twoseparate emails, and send them over with
a with a few other podcasts.And we said a little prayer and said
I said, all right, Lance, you know, let let me know
what what happens. And then fifteenminutes later, you call me and we're
on you know, we're on theclock. You say we got them,
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and I don't know, maybe I'lllet you pick up from here. After
getting them talking to her, Icall you and I'm like, hey,
man, we gotta I just gottasend her over the Instagram. I'm gonna
send her over another interview. Andthen you and I just got we just
started working on the questions and itwas in like we got close to about
thirty questions in twenty minutes, likethat is. And then you know,
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I was like, okay, I'mgonna email these over and I remember you
were like, man, well doyou want to send every question over there?
I'm like, look, the thing, they may not accept every question,
so we might as well just throwas many as we can add them,
you know, in case they getrid of a few questions, like
get rid of the crazy questions sowe can keep the less crazy questions.
And then yeah, I mean therewere a couple that were cut out.
We won't will respect it and stillnot reveal what they were. But Fistons
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fans, there were a couple ofquestions we had in there that we're a
no go. Yeah, and youknow what I mean, like we knew
it, but they those were Trojanhorse questions, Like, yeah, we
knew they were questions. We knewwe wouldn't be able to get away with
them, so minds will throw themin there because we know if they get
rid of them, that means they'reletting the less crazy, They're letting the
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other crazy questions through. That seemedless crazy. But anyways, getting an
hour, we probably talked on thephone probably like three or four times,
just kind of thrown out more questions. And I was telling, you know,
as I'm getting feedback from Ben Wallace'sPR team about like hey, you
can't ask this. You can askthis, but we need this to go
first, I'm relaying all the informationto Andrew and then they asked me,
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well, time do you guys wantto record? I'm like, well,
does eight thirty work? And Ididn't hear anything, so I am and
by this time it's it's seven third, Yeah, right man. No,
by this time, it's like it'sseven fifteen. I'm about to jump in
the shower and then I get anothertext like I'm seriously standing in my bathroom
just with my boxers on getting readyto take a shower and then I get
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a text, Hey, we're gonnaneed to do this at seven forty five,
and I'm like, oh, okay, well, I mean, let
me just take the fastest shower I'veever taken in my entire life, and
I'll be ready. And then I'mtexting you and you're like, man,
we can't get another fifteen minutes.I'm like, bro, it's pen Wallace,
yeah, waiting on us. We'rewell, we were, we were
in so the the whole thing wesay, hey, let's top on a
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little early. How we do interviewsis we we literally script them right,
so we have our questions and thenwe say, okay, I'll ask this
one, lance you ask that one. This will lead into that, and
then we always have a little textbar on between me and you open so
we can talk privately about Hey,don't say anything after this. I have
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a I have a follow up question. So we hop on to get all
that, you know, the questionsin order. Who's gonna say what?
And we're not on zoom for forfive minutes before I say that, hey,
you know, you say Ben wantsto do it right now, and
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I go, can we not getten fifteen minutes to get everything in order,
and you go, nope, he'sconnecting Yea and Lance. You know,
and I've told some stories. I'vebeen around NBA players pretty much my
whole life. I don't get nervousaround NBA players anymore since I was,
you know, a we lad akid. My throat was closing doing my
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reading on the podcast, and notbecause we booked Ben Wallace. Yes,
that that was a huge accomplishment anda testament to all the hard work we've
put into this podcast. But thatcould have been the worst podcast ever.
And this is the part where wherewhen I was leading in, I was
saying, maybe only podcasters, mediatelevision people, anybody that's got to do
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anything live really knows. We hadto do that completely unprepared. Nobody knew
which questions we were asking. Youknow, between me and you, the
questions weren't in any sort of order. We had to dig through two difference
two separate emails for questions, putthem together in a way that makes sense
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for a storyline. And you know, going through Ben Wallace's early career to
Pistons days to post career. Wehad to throw that together live with Ben
Wallace on the podcast there was nothere was absolutely zero room for error.
Like we've stumbled the over each othermore times on podcast, asked when it's
(10:00):
just me and you. Then wedid with Ben Wallace, and that was
I don't want to say, youknow, sheer luck, but I mean
there was divine God's will. Youknow that that podcast could have went so
wrong, but it was. It'shonestly one of the most proud moments of
our early podcasting career. We'll dude, it's a highlight in my personal life.
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But just being able to talk tosomeone that you grew up watching and
being able to ask him questions,that's like, that's really what I want
to do that and I will say, I mean, you can, I
admit it, you know I was. I was super nervous doing that that
read in, But after maybe tenminutes, we just gotten a flow and
we really got Ben Wallace to kindof open up and like I said this
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to some of my family members,hearing Ben Wallace belly laugh and chuckle at
some of the things I said,or some of the jokes we made,
or me feeling comfortable enough to takea shot at Ben Wallace putting Draymond Green
on his top five defenders because Draymond'san undersized defender and him laugh at that,
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you know, being that comfortable withan NBA Hall of Famer. I
mean, it was just awesome.And if you haven't listened to the podcast
yet the interview, you're gonna learnsome stuff about Ben Wallace that that you
probably didn't know, you know,and you'll get to see a different side
of Ben Wallace rather than just whatall Pistons fans know of him on the
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court. Yeah, what was yourfavorite part of the podcast. Oh,
my favorite part of the podcast Ithink probably the funniest part is when I
asked him about Rashid in the technicalsand I said, you know, did
Rashid really earn all those technicals talkingcrazy out there or or did he just
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kind of develop a reputation? AndBen Wallace and all the infinite wisdom goes,
well, if you got a reputation, that's you. Yeah, and
you know that that was funny,but uh, you know, honestly,
besides that, I would have tosay getting to share the story with him
as an adult and tell him whatit meant to me being dragged around Indianapolis
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by Ben Wallace so he could showChauncey the three in my hair or whoever
he was with rip, Like ifBen saw me out and about the hotel
that we stayed at with the teamwas connected to a mall. If he
saw me in the mall, hewould call me over and show his people
the big old shape three and lightningbolts in the in the back of my
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head. Getting to share that storywith him was really special to me.
Yeah, he's a real cool dude, I would say, Yes, probably
my favorite part since you asked umhis h just the you know, being
able to talk to him about likehim being undrafted. You know, I
loved asking the questions about risk becauseI feel like, yeah, that's something
a lot of people did not knowabout him. And then you know,
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just being able to talk to himabout like why he didn't make that switch
from basketball to football once he wentundrafted, and just for him saying like,
well, you know, I havetoo much respect for the game.
That was such a real and honestanswer, and I just thought that was
When I look back on it,there's like nothing I didn't get to ask.
Yeah, the only thing honestly thatI wish I could go back and
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talk to him about would be andthis was, you know, because we
didn't have enough time. If wehad time to properly set up, I
truly think I really would have thoughtabout talking about this, But when we
had four Pistons selected into the AllStar Game, I would have loved to
talk to Ben about that and whatthat experience was like playing on that floor
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with his guys. But hey,you know, we threw it together the
best we could. I thought.Though. Maybe the most interesting part of
the interview was when he was talkingabout the growth of Tayshaun Prince as the
players really led them into being achampionship team. I thought that was just
so cool to kind of acknowledge probablyone of the more underrated players of that
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OH four team. He really shouldhave been an All Star with the other
four didn't happen, which was unfortunate, but you know, a tension Prince
was such a huge part of thatteam, and he really does other than
the block, it goes unnoticed,you know. And yeah, just for
the fact that Ben Wallace kind ofput him in on that stage and put
him on a pedestal, that wasreally cool. And I hope Pistons fans
that are listening to this go backand listen to the Pistons interview. You
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will learn a lot about that guykind of you know what, and was
already saying you'll be able to learna lot about you know what he's doing
in his post playing taste. Itwas just overall a great interview and a
lot of fun. We're both reallygrateful for the opportunity. Absolutely all right,
we're gonna move on with this podcast. In our next segment is Headlines.
With Headlines, we bring you newsstories, updates on the team,
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a quote or two. We'll sharethoughts if we have any, and then
we will move James Edward the thirdsaid, the Gray Ones. My sources
tell me you'll never see the GrayOnes again. The Gray Ones are done,
okay. The Pistons have been wearingthe chrome alternate jersey since twenty fifteen.
Seems like it's been much longer.I really thought it was closer to
(15:11):
the going to work era, andthey have multiple versions of these chrome jerseys.
The inspiration for the Detroit chrome jerseyscame out as a way to honor
our collect our collector cars from thepast, like those rare cars, those
cool cars, Motor City yep,and the Gray has never stuck with the
Pistons fans. So I'm gonna askyou, do you think the chrome jerseys
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are ugly because all the teams wearingthat jersey were bad? Or do you
think they're just an ugly jersey?I mean they're kind of just there for
me. I didn't really care forthem that much. I didn't have Like
when I think back to what's mymost hated Pistons jersey, and in recent
era, it would be those MotorCity ones with the two racing stripes down
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down the middle, and then aclose second would be the Do you remember
the sleeved jerseys? I do?Yeah, those were garbage too, you
know, so um the Grays were. It was something different and I don't
really have a feeling about either way. Here's a thought, though, weren't
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those gray jerseys tied to tied toa a floor? I don't remember that,
I remember. I forget what theycalled it, the you know,
the City Edition jerseys, but theCity Edition floor? Yeah, I think
it might. Yeah, But Ialways anytime I see like those chords that
paired with the jerseys, I don'tknow if it's like the actual team releasing
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it or it's just some like agraphic designer putting their two cents on what
the floor would should look like.So I don't really know. I do
remember there being like kind of like, yeah, yeah, the Pistons had
an alternate floor. I just can'tremember if it was for those jerseys or
not, But if it was,I'll just sum it up. If it's
not, it doesn't matter, Butif it was, I wonder what's going
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to happen with the with the alternatefloor if that's going away as well.
And I'm sure someone's basement probably right, Yeah, I would love it.
Yeah, yeah, Pistons. Ifyou're not doing anything with it, I'll
take it. But um, youknow, I was just gonna say,
I'm sure there'll be a Pistons fanout there that can cook us up and
let us know when this airs.Oh you don't think the chrome jerseys were
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considered more ugly by fans because theteam was losing, because I don't think
they would be viewed that badly ifthe teams were winning when they were wearing
them. Well, I mean winningwinning tears everything, right, yeah it
does. All your woes are notthat bad if you're if your team still
winning, So I mean I guess. Like I said, I didn't love
them, didn't hate them. Theywere just they were kind of there.
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Yeah, I didn't hate them either. I don't really think they're they're ugly,
you know, I think they're superterrible. I think the thunderbowlt jerseys
or the Lightning Bowl ones, whateverthey were, those ones were probably by
far the ugliest, just because theylook like someone made them in two K
or NBA Live. Yeah, andthanks for putting that up on the everything
this is account Sharon, that makingit seem like that's my opinion too.
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I think if I think people wouldhave a different opinion on those Lightning Bolt
jerseys maybe if they weren't so baggy. But yes, that that was the
era. That was the era okayof the oversized suits. You know,
go back one about the two thousandand four Lebron James suit and Carmelo Anthony's
suit, like that was that wasthe stuff back then. Man, I
know, But I hate those jerseysbecause they were baggy. Those were I
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hate those ers because they were baggy. I really do. I think they
would look a lot better if theywere a little bit tighter, you know,
But I do think Yeah, butI mean I also think they're just
like a jersey that's very generic froma video game. But I really do
believe that the Great jerseys are considereduglier than they really are just because the
teams were so bad that were wearingthem. There was nothing. There was
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like no real Marquee player. Imean, we had Andre Trummond, we
had Reggie Jackson, played Griffin Warma few times, but there was really
no Marquee player Marquee team. Theydidn't really do anything in the jerseys.
And I don't know, I'm gonnaask you this, do you think they're
a symbol for that era? Doyou think that the reason these Great jerseys
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are going out because they remind Pistonsfans of such a bad era of basketball.
I just I think they're going outto make way for new I honestly
think it's that. I just Idon't honestly know why they're discontinuing them.
But my you know, best guestswould be in the In the next years,
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there's probably gonna be some newer jerseystaken that place. Yeah, I
mean, I think they will.I think they're going to keep the red
jerseys, those um City edition onesthey came out with they're probably gonna alter
them because I think those were justfor the seventy fifth season. But those
are sweet jerseys. I would notmind them wearing those all eighty two games.
I have no problem with those jerseyswhatsoever. They're real clean and look.
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But I think teams do get ridof certain jerseys because they are,
like one, maybe they're outdated,but also too that they're just a very
negative reminder of a bad era ofbasketball. And I think from twenty fifteen
till about now those jerseys are assymbol for how bad basketball really was.
Well I mean not only that,but remember we've we've already had confirmation that
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the teal's coming back in some shapeor form. We Yeah, but it's
only gonna be for a few years. It's only gonna be for a few
games. It's not going to bean alternate like it's not going to be
like the Motor City edition jerseys orreally I'm trying to you know, even
like put it into like even moreof a more alternate jersey. But yeah,
we're not going to see them alot. They have like certain games
and selected dates for when they're gonnawear those. But yeah, I mean
(20:48):
the Teal jerseys though they resonate withpeople man but again they had a marquee
player wearing them. They had GrantHill wearing them. The great jerseys they
really didn't have much, but Lukean Ard war Bruce Brown did too.
He might be so. The Pistonsreportedly want to sign Marvin Bagley the Third
to a three year deal. Thiscomes from James Edwards on Twitter. I
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think we're all surprised by Marvin Bagley'sperformance after he landed in Detroit. He
made me my own words like hedefinitely did. I did not believe Marvin
Bagley would coming to Detroit an averagefifteen and seven. I didn't think we
would see him stick to the post. I truly thought he would float out
to the perimeter and jack up threes. In my opinion, he is a
unique player that I believe will playa large, a significant role in Detroit
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after he signs that contract. Butwhat are you willing to pay for Marvin
Bagley the Third this offseason? Tento twelve a year? Ten to twelve
a year, That's what I wasthinking too, Ten to twelve million a
year. Yeah, I definitely thinkhe deserves it, Like I was sitting
here thinking, you know, it'sreally funny that if you really think about
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it, Sacramento had it the firsttime, right, Marvin Bagley should have
been traded for Jeremy Grant, likelike Pistons would have stepped took a little
bit of a step back on thattrade, but not not much. But
then they go ahead and trade himfor Trey Lyles and who's your who's your
McCall it, and and you know, we we come out as as swindlers
(22:22):
in the deal. So you know, his production and what the Pistons got
him for and what he can do. I really hope they get this three
year deal done, and I reallyhope Marvin Bagley has found a new home
in the NBA. Look, Idon't expect Marvin Bagley to be superstar.
What we've seen necessarily every game fromhim, you know, the half a
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season he's been in Detroit. Youknow, will there be bumps in the
road in Marvin Bagley's game, absolutely? You know. But I think the
Pistons, if they didn't just findtheir their long term starter at center,
they at least found their long termbackup at center. I think the initial
trade for Marvin Bagley came last season, but I think they wanted to.
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I think the Kings wanted Sadeke bayand return, and then it turned into
Jeremy Grant at least that's what therumors were. But Detroy Ganner for Trey
Lyles Josh Jackson, dude, it'sincredible. Yeah, yeah, I think
a second round pick as well.But either way, like that, the
trade for Marvin Bagley, the onethat the Troy Weaver made, is so
much better than the rumored ones thatwere out there. But are you surprised
at the projected cap number of sevento eight million per year for Marvin Bagley
(23:32):
because we're both in contend to twelveYeah, I mean seven to eight.
I don't remember what he was makingon the on the Kings or even no,
but I mean it would make senseto where he's at in his career,
Like, hey, you know,you came in pretty strong for half
a year. Maybe you backload hiscontract where he's making the bulk of his
(23:56):
money in the last year and ahalf and do it that way and hope
his production matches up, and thenthat sets up a maker break year in
year three for for Marvin Bagley,and if it goes well, the Pistons
look like still you know, iftalking, if you sign him to seven
eight to eight million, the Pistonslook like geniuses, right because they're getting
(24:19):
all this production from a guy that'sthat's making maybe eight and a half mill
at the at the tail end ofhis his deal. I hope they were
able to get it done for sevento eight million. That is a it's
a steel for an offensive big.He's not very good defensively, like he
has really bad instincts. Like he'sbad. Yeah, I mean, I
mean he's bad blocks, no,but at the rim he's not. I
(24:45):
mean he's definitely a shot blocker.I mean he's not a shot blocker.
I say that, you know withyou're saying he can get a couple of
blocks here, right, He's gonnaget you a couple blocks here and there.
He's not gonna get yammed on moretimes than he's not. As what
I'm trying to say, you know, I'm actually gonna pull up is what
he averaged in blocks, because Ijust want you to hear the number.
So this year for the Pistons,in eighteen games and including eight starts,
(25:08):
guess what his blocks per game were? One point four all right. Yeah,
I'm just letting you know that.I mean, that's what what do
you say, ten twelve games?Eighteen games? Eighteen? Yeah, I
mean that's eighteen games. All right, let's give him a season. Okay,
but let me just pull up hisgame logs for the season and I
want to I'll tell you how manygames he had. Okay, this is
(25:33):
how many games he had with theblock. He had sixteen games with one
to two blocks in at this pastseason. That includes the Kings. Yeah.
See, like I said, itgets you one here and there.
He's a bad defender. We canagree to disagree. I'm just gonna go
and let you know. He's nota good defender. He's bad. You
know what. Let's get in thisbefore I even talk anymore. What do
(25:55):
you think his role will be nextseason with the Pistons. I mean exactly
more of the same place. Imean, I don't think he'll be a
starter next season, but it's it'spossible, right, So I think he'll
he'll most likely continue to come offthe bench next season, but just kind
of be that that lob guy andand that guy that I've said it on
(26:19):
a few podcasts. Now, Ilike to compare my my big men to
garbage men, you know, gettinggetting all their points, the rebounds,
their stats, uh, in thetrenches, doing the dirty work off the
off the glass. So I thinkif I had to put put a number
on it, I think he canbe like a ten and eight guy.
(26:41):
I think we're gonna see still likegood production where he's averaging like, you
know, close to twelve to fourteena game. I think he also comes
off the bench. I think therewill be he'll get a handful of starts
next year for just because you know, injuries do happen. You know,
there could be a matchup that's morefavorable with him in the starting line enough
versus someone else. I don't thinkthey're bringing him in to be a full
(27:03):
time starter. Like I said,he's not good enough defensively to be a
full time starter. With the Pistonsplus him and Isaiah Stewart, in the
lack of outside shooting both of thembring, it really doesn't make much sense
to have them both in the lineup. So I think Isaiah Isaiah Stewart starts,
and it depends on what the Pistonsdo with Kelly Olanick this offseason.
(27:26):
But Marvin Bagley I think has everyshot at being the first big man off
the bench. Whether he's replacing IsaiahStewart, yeah, Jeremy Grant, or
maybe it's a rookie that the Pistonsget that starts at the four. But
either way, he's gonna be oneof, if not the first big off
the bench, will be one ofthe first bigs off the bench. One.
Yeah, and you really can't haveboth of them, right, you
(27:48):
know you're not gonna start or reallyplay Marvin Bagley over Kelly Olinok, but
Marvin Bagley's too good to just sitamizeyour as your third string, sound right,
So one of those guys has gotto go. And I think Marvin
is pretty much all but gone.I'd be I'd be pretty surprised if he
or I said, Marvin, I'msorry, Kelly Olnik is all but gone,
(28:11):
I'd be surprised to see him onthe roster come next year. Well,
I think it also depends on twoLike, let's just say the Pistons
fall in the draft and they endup going with the Guard. Whether it's
Jade and Sharpe, Jade and Ivysomebody else, they're probably gonna keep Jeremy
Grant, And I don't mind thebig man duo of Kelly Olanick and Marvin
Bagley coming off the bench because yougot a good inside threat with Marvin Bagley.
(28:34):
You know, he's pretty left handeddominant, but he can go over
either shoulder, he has something.He has good footwork down low, he
can occasionally pick and pop. He'sa lob threat, like we've already mentioned.
But then you've got Kelly Olanik,who is an outside who is an
outside shooter. He's a threat fromthe outside, so it makes sense.
So I really I do think KellyOlinick is going to be on the move
as well. I think he's avery valuable piece to a contending team.
(28:57):
But again, if the Pistons draftto guard, there's no real reason to
let Kelly olan It go because Ithink he adds another dimension offensively, which
you're not getting from Marvin Bagley orIsaiah Stewart. And if we all expect
the Pistons to compete, whether it'sfor a playoff or a play in game
or whatever, next year, you'regonna need Kelly Olani playing a significant role
(29:17):
for you. But that doesn't justbecause you have Kelly olan K on the
team doesn't ender Marvin Bagley's role withthis team, So you know there's a
reason they want Marvin Bagley assigned forthree years. They definitely think of him
as a future piece to this team. Are you tired of the Saddeke Bay
trade talks among Pistons fans? BeforeI even ask you, and before you
(29:41):
answer, let me just apologize forcontributing to these conversations. I posted a
poll earlier in the week, wouldyou trade killing Hay Sadiq Bay in two
first round picks for z Ian williamsim I was surprised by the results.
Eighty eight votes, huge number forus on the Everything Pistons podcast, seventy
four send it people that voted saidno, twenty eight percent, twenty six
(30:03):
percent said yes. And I'm surprisedat how many people. How many fans
would pass on Zion Williamson's teams draftyes, because teams draft players vote hoping
that they turn into his eye onWilliamson, That's a fact you cannot deny
it. Teams hope when they draftplayers they turn into his Zie and Williamson.
I know he has some injury concerns, but you have to gamble when
(30:26):
it comes to guys like him.Do you think the Lakers are pissed that
they gambled on Anthony Davis and hisinjury concerns and have won one championship.
It's like Ben Wallace said on thepodcast, better one in the hand than
two in the bush. So Idon't think teams, if you win the
championship, they even if the guydoesn't get to play, even if he's
injured. After that, they don'treally care as much because they got the
(30:48):
ultimate prize. But are you tiredof the Sidik Bay trade talk among the
Pistons fans? Andrew? Yeah.And if you want Zion Williamson on this
team, you're crazy. I mean, I just don't like, I get
it, and I understand the sentimentbehind wanting a guy with the upside of
(31:11):
the Zion Williamson, you're right ifit goes right and he becomes anything like
how with dominant we saw him incollege, in high school and you know
his second ye what what what earlysigns we've seen of him in the NBA
that that is entirely possible. Butyou also got to look at the at
(31:33):
the floor. I mean, it'snot a it's not a joke that Sadique
Bay almost averages in many points pergame as Zion Williams has games played in
the NBA, Like, yeah,the upside is is super high, but
that downside is is super low.It's almost like he's a old Blake Griffin
(31:53):
in a young Blake Griffin body.No, come on, I mean not
saying I mean, I'm not sayinghe's He's obviously not there yet. Zion's
not there yet being in this earlyin his career. But I mean,
look, it's it's not promising tome. And what you would have to
give up in Zion Williams to getZion the Sadique Gillian Hayes and probably a
(32:17):
couple of draft picks like look,I'm good on that, and probably Jeremy
Grant too, Like, no,that's way too much to give up for
a guy that hasn't played forty fivegames in the league. Well, he's
played eighty five total and three year, Well I was thinking this year,
yeah at all. Yeah, hedidn't play this year at all. But
first year rookie year, he playedtwenty four games, average twenty two and
(32:40):
six with two assists. Second year, he was named an All Star at
the age of twenty. He playedsixty one games, where he averaged twenty
seven point seven rebounds, four assistsper game, with almost a steal and
almost a black per game, shootingsixty one percent from the field sixty two
percent from two. Yeah, Imean like he's he In my opinion,
(33:00):
he's an incredible talent. He's ahigh risk, high reward guy. And
I think fans are just crazy fornot we not I wouldn't even say ja
Zion Williamson, but if you couldget a Zion Williamson level talent, you
gotta make that trade. But whatwhy though? Because Zion relies so heavily
(33:22):
on his athleticism. What happens ifthat's taken away from him? Because he
pops in Achilles tomorrow? But Imean, dude, you still but I
mean you're talking about an NBA superstarhere, like a guy that has that.
Yeah, but you're also talking abouta guy that spent more time injured
in the league than he hasn't anda guy that can't get on the floor.
Look, availability is the best abilityout Oh yeah, of course,
(33:45):
of course game last season, ButI'm just saying, you take that gamble
if it's offered to you. Especiallywhen it's a young guy. I mean,
he's only twenty one years old.He's a very young player that has
had, you know it, hasalready shown flash of being one of the
best players in the league, whetherthat's as a top five, top ten,
top fifteen, whatever. You haveto take that into consideration and say,
(34:07):
like, look, for all weknow, Killy and Hayes is at
his you know, this is whatthis is what we're gonna get from him
for the rest of his career.Same with Sidy Bay. For all we
know, this is who these guysare. And if there's not that much
more room for them to grow,you want to try to offset them.
Why people think that there still isroom for them to grow. Why people
(34:28):
still look at them as like,oh, there might be more to their
game. For all I know,Sidy Bays reached his ceiling as a player.
You know, I know a lotof people don't want to hear that.
But he's a three and D guy, you know what I'm saying,
Like I would I think in aperfect world he becomes an All Star.
We don't live in a perfect world, so you would want to take a
chance on the All star on thesuperstar level talent player doesn't have to be
(34:49):
Zion. It just has to bea guy like Zion. That's kind of
what I mean. I mean,Zion's a three D guy too, right,
Oh man, he's not. He'sa SuperStar's a franchise player. I'm
talking to re donuts eight for breakfast. Oh God. So let me ask
you. Do you think Pistons fansare overvaluing Sadiq Bay because this team lacks
(35:10):
talent. No, I don't thinkso. From I mean, we just
talked about Pistons fans fans wanting totrade him. I mean, I think
especially at the at the beginning ofthe year, Pistons fans are very what
have you done for me lately?And by lately they mean like within the
(35:31):
last forty two hours you know,what did you or or forty eight hours?
What have you done for me lately? You know, early in the
year it was Sadiq's abus, tradehim, trade him, he get what
we can for him the back weneed a bag of chips. And at
the end now we're talking about tradingSadique for Zion Williamson. You know,
not just simply Sadique, but Sadiquebeing one of the main factors in that
(35:54):
trade. So I don't think he'svery overvalue. Oh I do. I
think by Pistons fans, I thinkthey do overvalue Sadiq Bay. Like like
I'm saying, seventy four percent saidno. I mean, I get it.
It did say the name Zion Williamson. But I feel like if you
were to put damn near anybody's namethat is on a Zion Williamson level,
(36:17):
fans would still say no. That, in my opinion, is overvaluing Sadiq
Bay. For all, we know, this guy is only going to be
a fifteen points I shouldn't say onlya fifteen point score, but Sadiq Bays
he I mean he's a third orfourth option on a good team like that,
that's the reality. I don't thinkhe's a number two. I do
(36:38):
think that fans overvalue Sadiq Bay justbecause they think there's a lot more to
his game than what he's shown.When on the other end, you have
a guy like Zion Williamson who hasproved I mean he's twenty seven and seven.
You know, his second year inthe league, for sixty one games,
he was named an All Star.Like that is really good production from
a guy in his second year inthe NBA and fans are just saying,
(37:00):
no, we don't want that guyon our team for whatever reason. But
again, I do believe that fanswould say no to any Sedique Bay trade
that would be thrown on the table. And that is why I think fans
over are overvalue in him. Idon't know, man, I was sitting
(37:20):
here trying to think who I wouldtrade Saedique for, and I just because
you're stuck in the mindset of himbeing like, man, he's really he's
really good. Like this guy hehad a fifty one. He had a
fifty point game. You know thisis huge, Like who else is gonna
give us a fifty point game?But again, Sadique Bay, now that
we know he can do that,he was also in position as being one
(37:42):
of the only guys on the teamthat can do that. It's not a
very talented basketball roster in Detroit,the only one twenty three games. So
Saedique Bay is going to look betterbecause there is less talent on the team.
And I don't know, like Ithink, if there is a trade
backers for an NBA superstar, youhave to take it. I don't like
it. I still, I mean, I'm listening to you, I hear
(38:05):
you. We're gonna have to agreeto disagree. But and which is fine.
I just especially especially that's fine.I don't care about your mind,
but especially for the Zion Williamson thing. I do not want him for what
we would have to give up inhis injury concerns. It would be different
(38:27):
if we were talking about this andZion was four or five years in the
league, and he started out andyou know everything, let's keep everything the
same. But now he's had acouple of seasons where you know, he
played fifty two games and you know, maybe tweaked an ankle and missed a
week or two here, and thennext season he played seventy three game or
(38:47):
sixty eight game. You know,he at least had a few seasons of
being close to playing a full season. But you're trading in iron man in
Sadique Bay, an unknown guy inKillian Hayes, and a known guy you
know what you're getting from from JeremyGrant. Plus I mean the packages that
(39:09):
I saw included at least one totwo a pick or two. So you're
given all that up for for ZionWilliamson, who can't seem to stay on
the court. And you know,have we learned not from one of the
most trash guys in Detroit Piston's recenthistory, Blake Griffin. Like, we
(39:32):
got an an athletic guy that losthis athleticism, that did the best he
could to bring his game into whathe could produce and change his game.
I mean, we saw Blake Griffinhit the most threes he's ever hit in
his career in a Detroit Pistons uniform. Like it looked like he completely revitalized
(39:53):
his career. One slip of anankle, one popping of an achility achilles,
one knee blown down, and ZionWilliamson is not coming back to the
same look. I know it's horribleto say, it's horrible to think about,
and I pray to God that itnever happens to that young man because
he is an electric basketball player towatch. But the fact remains, the
(40:17):
guy simply relies on his athleticism.Jumping out of the gym and being able
to jump higher, outrebound and justbe leaps and bounds over his competition has
excelled him into the NBA. I'mnot saying Dion doesn't have talent. He
(40:39):
obviously has talent to be in theNBA, But when your game completely revolves
around explosiveness, I mean, lookat Derek Rose. Derrick Rows still a
good player and a very valuable playerto have in the NBA, but that's
not youngest player to ever win Rookieof the Year Derek Rose anymore. That's
(41:02):
not carrying his team in the playoffs, torching the Pistons in its Chicago Bulls
uniform, Derek Rose. So ZionWilliamson has played fifty four more games in
his first three years than Joel Embiid. If there was a trade on the
table for Joel Embiid in his firsttwo years, you would have been happy
(41:22):
to have taken that trade because heturned into what he is. That's kind
of the gamble that you're taking withZion, Like he could be at that
elite level with the Joel Embiads eventhough they started off. You know,
with injuries, he could be playingtwenty three games a year for the next
three years. I mean, I'mgonna bet on him being able to play
(41:43):
fifty plus sixty plus games. Thenin the next few years, I think
he'll come back stronger than ever andyou're gonna see a great season from Zion
Williamson. Like he was even talkingabout playing Game seven if they had made
it to it. That was likehis plan was to come back in game
seven of them. Yeah, andBen Simmons was going to come back game
four. Don't care what but Idon't, don't say Williamson, don't but
don't say it to me. Showme you could. Yeah, of course,
(42:05):
Oh I was gonna come back gameseven. Did he say it before
game you know, before they wereout. It's supposed to be a surprise,
that's what he said. Yeah.No, I I just I completely
disagree with Pistons fans. I thinkif a guy like Zion Williamson or Zion
Williamson is on the table, youone hundred percent trade Sadiq Bay ten out
of ten times for the chance tohave Zion Williamson on your team. And
what he can bring to a basketballlike Kim and Kade running the floor together
(42:29):
would be incredible. That would justbe amazing. Oh yeah, I mean,
of course, and and imagine Imean if there was any way you
could keep Killy and Hayes, howmuch Zion Williamson would be uh, you
know, help Killy and Hayes's gameand as good as a passer we've seen,
Killian would just absolutely flourish with aguy that you literally can't throw the
ball high enough, right, youknow, you throw it to the rafters
(42:52):
and he's gonna go, go gadgetarm that arm up there and he's gonna
grab it, you know. Soit would be a lot of fun,
and it would put you know,a lot of fans and seats, and
it would take at prices would surelygo up for for Pistons games. But
I'm just not I'm not willing totake that chance. You know, Sadiq
is in his year two, breakingrecords left and right, Like, we
(43:15):
don't know what what he can become. I'm a big fan of Killian Hayes,
but that's I mean, that's obviouslyan afterthought. I'm not that much
of a homer that I would say, no, you know, you don't
throw Killian into that. But JeremyGrant plus picks too much. Well,
it's just Sadique Bay Killian hades intwo first round picks, not Jeremy Grant.
Okay, so I did I actuallydid see some I actually retweeted a
(43:38):
guy that that said Jeremy Grant,Oh yeah, I hate Pistons Twitter,
you know, So that's that's thekind of I remember that. Yeah,
yeah, I remember that. I'mjust talking about the poll that I posted.
But I've I've shared my thoughts.Yeah, I think we've exhausted that.
Yeah, I just disagree with Pistons. What are you taking? You
absolutely take the gamble for a ZionWillion. Is Isaiah Stewart the most underrated
(44:02):
player on the Pistons? This hasbeen going around a lot this week on
Pistons Twitter. It certainly feels thatway because he's more of a defensive player
and winning. If you're not winningawards as a defensive player, your game
pretty much goes unnoticed. So I'mgonna ask you, is Zions is Zion
Stewart? Is Isaiah's Stewart the mostunderrated player on the Pistons. See,
(44:23):
we already got our Zion man.I'm gonna say yeah, I'm gonna say
no, And I'm gonna give itto probably one of the most polarizing guys
and a guy that I've just mentioneda few times, and I'm gonna say
that's Killian Hayes is the most underratedPiston And the reason being is because Isaiah
(44:46):
Stewart gets his love. When heeven really takes a three, Pistons fans
get excited. You know, whenKelly and Hayes takes a three, a
lot of Pistons fans are growning.You know, it doesn't matter if Isaiah
Stewart missed or make We're talking abouthow good it looked. You know,
Isaiah Stewart also has a lot ofyou know, because of his size and
(45:08):
height and position he plays. IsaiahStewart has a lot of electric plays right.
He's gonna get the blocks, he'sgonna get the dunks, He's gonna
get talked about because of the wayhe plays, in the ferociousness he plays
with. But it seems like KillianHayes is one guy that even on a
(45:29):
good night, he's gonna get hateand a lot of what Killian Hayes's game
is and the the parts of hisgame don't show up on the stat sheet
like the IQ in the Hustle.Not saying Isaiah doesn't hustle, but the
making the right reads, and Killiantowards the middle and end of the year
(45:51):
really started making the right reads ofwhen he should take it for himself and
when he should pass it off andand making that kick out and i Q
doesn't always show up in box course. So if I'm going the most underrated,
you know Killian and definitely has somesome fanatics out there that he Killian
(46:12):
can't do anything wrong, But he'sgot a lot more haters out there that
Killian Hayes can't do anything right.I guess to answer my own question,
I don't feel like Isaiah Stewart's themost underrated. It does feel like that
at times, but I don't thinkhe's the most underrated player on the Pistons.
Kind of like what you were alludingto. He has a lot of
love from fans like that, dude, people love Isaiah Stuart. He can
(46:35):
do no wrong on the Pistons.Like even when he was fighting Lebron James,
we all love. That's That's whatI was about to say. He
literally solidified being a Detroit legend goingafter Lebron James like that. Like that
is if you had to sit downand write an essay on what is Detroit
mentality, you just write an essayabout Isaiah Stewart attacking Lebron James. Like,
(47:00):
look, dog, we don't carewho you are you're Lebron James King
of the NBA won all these titles, killed Detroit for you. We don't
care, we don't We're still comingfor you, you know. And so
he did. He definitely solidified hisname among the top Detroit players that night.
I will say there are there isa group of Detroit Pistons fans that
(47:22):
do not recognize what Isaiah Steward brings. And I've seen it posted on Twitter.
I've seen it on Reddit, I'veseen it on Facebook where if he's
not putting up, they're like,oh, I mean he's only averaging like
eight and eight, you know,his defense, Like he's not even averaging
that many blocks for game for youknow, supposedly a great defender. The
thing is, man, all yougotta do is watch Isaiah Stewart. We
(47:42):
saw a Trey Young, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving try to
take switches because they thought they weregonna get a mismatch. They were Luka
don Sick. When I was atthe eight, he was hunting, Yeah,
I said, Katie, But LukaDonick, he was hunting Isaiah's Stewart.
They all hunt Isaiah Stewart thinking thatit's going to be a matchup in
their favor. What does he doputs the clamps on him. He's an
(48:04):
incredible defender, even when he's guardingguards, He's switchable through positions one through
five. We even posted his stata few podcasts ago where, for example,
if you know he's playing against thebig man, we'll just use Rudy
Gobert. If Rudy Gobert averages fiftysix percent from the field, I don't
know what the numbers are. Isaiah'sstewart within six feet holds opponents to ten
(48:25):
percent less percentage points from the fieldthan they had actually averaged. That is
how good of a defender he is. And there's just a small minority of
Detroit Pistons fans that underrate him.But I want to say I think the
most underrated Pistons currently is Roddy McGruder. And you know, he's a true
professional. You know the way hehandled the failed trade, and that didn't
(48:46):
go unnoticed with me. I wouldhave not blamed him for being upset or
being pissed off with the Pistons,you know, and it probably would probably
even felt awkward for him coming backto the team after he had been traded,
but he'd hand day and then heshowed up when his number was called,
and he had some good games forthe Pistons, Like he played his
butt off in Detroit. I wantto say he's the most underrated Pistons on
(49:09):
the team. Like what he did. What he did for the Detroit Pistons
was truly like a professional way becausehe had every right to be upset at
them for trying to trade bringing himback. But you think Kilianaids is the
most underrated I think Ronnie McGruder.We can agree a disagree. We can
get into the final topic, whichis a lot of fun. It comes
(49:30):
from Woodward Sports. Pistons shout outto Detroit Kool aid for coming up with
these questions. He asked, wouldyou give back Kate Cunningham to get one
of these picks? Right? DonovanMitchell, Devin Booker or Tyrese Haliburn.
So I'm gonna turn it over toyou first. Would you trade Kate Cunningham?
Of course, he trade Killionaids.Would you trade Kate Cunningham to get
(49:52):
one of those three players? Right? Two out of three of these players
is absolutely blasphemous on this list,I just because you don't trade Kate Cunningham
for for one of to me twoof those players, and those two players
(50:13):
being Donovan Mitchell or Tyrese Haliburn,ain't no way I am going to take
either one of those on the Pistonsover Kade Cunningham. I'll take Donovan Mitchell
on the Pistons with Kate Cunningham.I think that might be dope. And
that's something I think we might mightbe exploring a little bit this offseason.
(50:35):
The one name though, I hadn'tmentioned, and this is where it gets.
It gets sticky for me, LanceDevin Booker, for for Kate Cunningham
to get that pick, right,that's the one that I go hold up,
you know, let me let mekind of think about this now,
because so much of what Kate Cunninghamis. If Kate Cunningham can become a
(51:01):
Devin Booker, we're really really ingood shape. So I kind of look
at at d book like you lookat at Zion Williamson, like that's that
superstar that you know, got awayfrom from Detroit. Tyrese Haliburton, Nah,
kick him to the curb, youknow, Donovan Mitchell, Yeah,
it'd be cool, but what doeshe really bring to Detroit that he's not
(51:22):
bringing to Utah in terms of gettingplayoff wins? Right, Like, if
he would have came to Detroit,he would have been matched up with like
the Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond era. You know, Rudy Gobert. I
think you know, we can allsay here and say is is better than
than Andre Drummond and the Jazz's guardsare are better than h what we had
(51:45):
at the time. So I don'treally see Donovan Mitchell coming in and being
the same savior to the franchise thatthat Kade is. But man, that
Devin Booker one head. I don'twant to say I'd do it, but
it's hard for me to say ifI could go back to not say Devin
(52:08):
Booker on Draft night, See,I'm not trading Kate Cunningham for any of
them. I love Donovan Mitchell,I love Devin Booker. I am a
fan of Tyrese Halibert as well.It's hard for me to say that too,
because like, I really am ahuge fan of Donovan Mitchell. I
love Donovan Mitchell's game. He everedtwenty six five and four with almost two
steals per game this past season,like he's an incredible Yeah. And then
(52:31):
Devin Booker, like the way hehas along with Chris Paul and DeAndre a
and and mcl bridges, those four, the way they have turned the Phoenix
Suns around and turned them into acontender, that's huge, you know.
But yeah, I'm still and Icompletely respect that. And I can say
sit here and say, yeah,you're right, But Devin Booker was was
(52:53):
doing bad things before Chris Paul gotto Phoenix, right was. But like,
and don't get me wrong, I'mnot calling you know, I think
the most blasphemous right now is theis the Tyrese Haliburton, you know,
and then uh and then Donovan andthen I don't think comparing uh Cade and
(53:15):
and uh, who's my third one? I'm just blanking on Donovan Mitchell.
No, no, no, no, sons, Devin Booker. I don't
think comparing Devin Booker and Kade isis as blasphemous as the other two.
So I'm right there with you.Man. It would be really hard for
me to give up Kade, butit's really hard for me to not go
(53:37):
with with not entertain Yeah, youjust gotta I mean you just Donovan Mitchell
are, like, I think they'reboth the same age at twenty five.
Um, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I really wouldn't have.
Like, I mean, if somehowthis did happen where they gave up
Kaide to like, you know,be able to correct history, I don't
(54:00):
think I would be that upset aboutit. But I don't. The only
thing that would be the only reasonI'm saying no is because I do think
Kaye could be a top ten player, not saying Devin Booker or Donovan Mitchell
having at one point ben a topten player in the NBA. You know,
Devin Booker probably the best shooting guardin the NBA, can't really you
know, him and Donovan Mittell rightup there. But anyways, I think
(54:20):
Kate Cunningham and his potential, it'slike, you know, he's gonna be
a top ten player. I've evensaid a top five player in the league.
That's why I'm not trading him andto correct one of those picks.
But also if you go back andyou get one of those picks, right,
what does the future of this teamlook like in today's you know,
in today's NBA, Like, Imean, yeah, cool, we got
Devin Booker, But does that meanwe don't get Troy Weaver. Does that
(54:40):
mean we don't get Dwayne Casey?Does that mean we're stuck with stan Van
Gundhi. There's so many other factorsthat play into getting one of those picks,
right, that just changes what we'retalking about on this podcast, and
like what we're watching, it's theold everything in my past made me everything
I am today, just in NBAand team terms, like all the suffering
(55:05):
we did through the years of thetwin tours of Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond
and all the twenty year or twentyyear twenty win seasons and all that has
now led to having potentially one ofthe best players in the NBA coming up.
I mean, like having Devin Booker, does that mean we not Does
(55:27):
that mean the Pistons don't draft HenryEllison? Does that mean they pass on
Luke? Do Who do they getin Luke? And Arts? Do they
I don't know, Like it's it'sthere's so many things that just popped through
my head. But yeah, Iwould not trade k Cunningham to correct one
of those picks. I'm riding withKade all day until the end of time,
Katee is my guy, even thoughthat's it is hard for me to
say because I love Devin Booker andDonovan Mitchell so much. Those guys are
(55:51):
there, I say a plate towatch those two play. They are great
basketball players and you know, UtahPhoenix fans should be real excited to have
those guys in their team for along time. But I think that's where
we're gonna end the podcast. Thankyou guys for listening. I'm Lanscaprosi.
Follow me on Twitter at Lanscaprosi Andrewwhere can they follow you? Instagram,
Everything Pistons Podcast, Twitter, EPistons Pod. You can check us out
(56:15):
on Facebook, and you can alwaysemail the show directly at E Pistons Pod
at gmail dot com. And don'tforget to subscribe to this podcast, drop
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