Pistons Preseason Presser

[ballsohard]

Balls O'Hard:
Good morning everyone and welcome to the Pistons pressers. There's a lot to go over so let's get started. I wanted to first and foremost thank Mitchell Robinson for his time here. During his single season in Detroit, he lifted us to a playoff birth and was awarded his second all league team award nomination. Mitchell provided leadership to our young core to learn what it takes to be successful in this league and we wish him well. Mitchell was sent in a flurry of offseason deals we decided on in a bit of a change of direction from last season. Last season, we wanted to make the playoffs and get the players that experience, and remove ourselves from some asset accumulation. We went back into asset accumulation this year and made deals to bring in Gerry Folse and Darius Garland.

Balls O'Hard:
As many of you know, we offered Gerry the RFA offer that was eventually accepted by the Bucks, and have always really enjoyed his skillset. We picture him in the same vein as a Draymond Green. He should be able to guard any position and not be a liability on offense. We also see his true position being the 4 spot, as opposed ot the 3 he's been playing the majority of his career. We think putting him closer to the basket at this time will make him a candidate for MIP. However, this offseason, he came to the gym motivated to be able to drop the 3 ball and he looks to have great potential with it. On the other hand we brought in the #1 overall pick Darius Garland as a true PG to pair with last year's #1 overall Emoni Bates. We're elated to eventually pair them together, but they're both extremely raw, so I'm not sure how much we will see of either of them this offseason. With Garland, we see a guy who can help us move Cade Cunningham around to play mostly at the 2, to utilize his scoring ability and playmaking ability at the 2 eventually.

Balls O'Hard:
This season, we primarily see Cade playing the point guard position and leading our teams offensive attack. Last season we were a very solid defensive team, but were putrid on offense. I have higher hopes on the offensive side of the ball, but do losing Mitchell will drop us down a bit on defense. We have Kai Jones coming in to take over for Mitch. Kai has shown tremendous potential over his few years with us as a rebounder and a defender. His job won't be to fill Mitch's shoes but to play his game. He should be more efficient than last year. We of course brought back Zach Keller, who is an extremely solid player that fills a lot of the holes we have. We also are excited to bring in Thomas Daniels who should start the year at the 2 spot, which allows us a 3 and D type wing.


Balls O'Hard:
I'll post our proposed starting 5 below and take some questions from here

C: Kai Jones
PF: Gerry Folse
SF: Zach Keller
SG: Thomas Daniels
PG: Cade Cunningham

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pistons have a few stars in their second contracts in Folse, Cunningham, and Keller along with the raw, high ceiling rookies you mentioned in Bates and Garland. While tiering talent was a trademark of your 76ers days, a lot of GMs have caught on and forced teams that stack to eventually unload everyone if they want to contend. Do you think your current core will eventually be worth cashing in Bates and Garland, or are you more more interested in finding more dudes that would match a Bates/Garland timeline?

[ballsohard]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pistons have a few stars in their second contracts in Folse, Cunningham, and Keller along with the raw, high ceiling rookies you mentioned in Bates and Garland. While tiering talent was a trademark of your 76ers days, a lot of GMs have caught on and forced teams that stack to eventually unload everyone if they want to contend. Do you think your current core will eventually be worth cashing in Bates and Garland, or are you more more interested in finding more dudes that would match a Bates/Garland timeline?

I think time is on our side with those decisions. I remember having a conversation with the Bulls GM years and years ago with the 76ers teams about building sustained success with those 76ers teams, and he went on to perfect it. I do believe those 76ers teams were built to last ages and win, but i also understood the new GM wanting to make something his own. That's what we're looking to do in Detroit, build sustained winning and make a swing when the time is right without giving up on the fundamental pieces. Time and talent will tell if the core worth swinging for is Cade and Folse, or Bates and Garland. The key is to let the data and winning do the talking from my perspective.

[Eazy P]

What is your goal this for your team after moving on from Robinson?

[ballsohard]

What is your goal this for your team after moving on from Robinson?

I think trying to extend out playoff streak is a good and challenging goal for us right now. I can't imagine us making much noise in the playoffs, but I've seen less talented teams make runs.