Pistons Pre-Season Press Conference

[Wombataholic]

Good morning and thank you for joining us.

Last season has to be described as an absolute success. We improved our win total by 16 wins, we won our division, Anthony "A better basketball player than Jesus" Davis was finally awarded the MVP trophy after seasons of unrecognized toil.

Oh, and we won the PBSL title too.

We had a fantastic draft, grabbing the point guard of our future with the #6 pick, Stephen Keitt, and a potential sleeper in Douglas Kimbrough at #30. Did I mention that we were picking at #30 because we won the title? Because we did win the title, so we got pick #30.

Free agency didn't quite go as planned, but we did fairly well. Rodney Hood was a fine player for us and we wish him well with the Clippers. We wanted to bring him back, but at around $5 million a year. We were able to bring on Greivis Vasquez to help smooth the transition to Keitt, and we were able to upgrade our center position with Andrew Bynum. Ramon Sessions and Taj Gibson were willing to come back for the league minimum, albeit in reduced roles.

Training camp was rough on us. Anthony Davis stubbed his toe and went from purple/purple to blue/purple. Fear not, for Anthony Davis shall rise from this affliction and save us all by taking our sins upon his big toe. Also, Bojan Bogdanovic got dinged too, but not too badly. It's just a flesh wound.

We're expecting another division title this year. Record-wise, I expect us to take a step back, probably in the range of 55 wins, maybe a 1-seed, depending on how badly the teams in the Southeast beat up on each other.

With that, I'll open the floor to questions.

[JNR]

GWR: How do you anticipate Davis and Bynum getting along?

[Inner_GI]

Are you worried about the bounties team will be placing and AD's frail body? The League is coming for him. How do you protect him?

[Wombataholic]

GWR: How do you anticipate Davis and Bynum getting along?

Andrew Bynum knows his role on the team: Anthony Davis is the first, second, and third option. If you get a rebound, pass the ball to AD. I’d you get a steal, pass the ball to AD. If you don’t have the ball, find a way to get AD the ball.

[Wombataholic]

Are you worried about the bounties team will be placing and AD's frail body? The League is coming for him. How do you protect him?

We are concerned that other teams will attempt to Tonya Harding AD. Taj Gibson is on this team for one reason: Protect AD with his life if necessary.

[garbageman]

Were you at all surprised that Keitt was still available at #6? He looks like a fantastic prospect, even though he wasn't talked about as much as guys like De la Rosa or Jeffrey Bathroom.

[IamQuailman]

Rumors have it that Rubio was offered to you in the offseason and the front office declined. Do you have that much faith in Keitt being an impact player that would make Rubio unnecessary for your team's success?

[WigNosy]

You lost Kyle Singler in the offseason. Does Bojan Bogdanovic need to step up his three-point game even more to make up for Singler's absence?

[trillotto]

If push comes to shove, is the team willing to mortgage some or all of the future to taste the sweet, sweet fruit of a repeat title?