Two days

Need a top 3 pick or we’re f***ed

So obviously this is the worst case outcome (as usually happens to us in the lottery the last decade plus, besides the Cade year), but I think there's some reason to be optimistic.

I feel like there's Tier 1 (Wemby), then Tier 2 (Scoot), then there's a s*** ton of wings in Tier 3. I really don't see Miller being in his own tier or being in Scoot's tier, so basically that means we're guaranteed to be able to draft a wing (or Walker or Hendricks). I really like Cam Whitmore. I think on another team he could struggle if he was asked to have the ball in his hands constantly, but with Cade and Jaden, it will take a huge amount of pressure off of him and give him a chance to shine when he's called upon (kind of shows flashes of Wiggins in some ways).

Sucks not even being able to get Scoot, but there's so much talent in the top 10. There will 100% be some busts because a lot of the top 10 is riding on athleticism, but also definitely some all stars.

Love the fit of Monty. Feel like he'll continue to set the culture like Casey did, but with better x's and o's.

should of gone to the raps tbh

Also this is how my big board is shaping up for us (taking both fit and overall talent into account), assuming Wemby, Scoot, Miller, and Amen are gone:

1) Ausar
2a) Jarace
2b) Whitmore
3) Hendricks

Feel like we need more high iq guys and guys that know how to play defense. Ausar fits that much more than Cam, but the ceiling on Cam is obviously high if he can grow and improve in his decision making and defensive awareness. Ausar also has the lowest floor of all three by a considerable amount too imo, so it's a risk. Jarace is just high floor, decent ceiling (but not as high as Ausar or Whitmore), but he fits extremely well with Duren in the front court.

DETROIT!!!

Love that I’ve been on the Ausar train long before he became the favorite within the last week.

Watch us trade out of the fifth spot tho

And we got him

Ausar looked so damn nice that opening Summer League game

Definitely raw in terms of scoring, but he has a super smooth handle, amazing in transition, passes lasers, great wing defender, and just overall feel and athleticism that can’t be taught.

Very confident he’ll have a better career than Brandon MiLLer and even an outside chance he has a better career than his brother or Scoot.

Ausar 2 months in the city

Hype train about to leave the station this season, get on while you still have a chance! 🎟️

Cade’s quotes and what everyone is saying about Cade are so hype, he’s more mature than me and he’s like 10 years younger, I love this man

Boutta throw down two thoughts before the season starts:

#1 — I’ve been thinking this before pre season even but pre season just confirmed it: Killian is better than Ivey. Ivey has more potential because of the crazy athleticism, but he is SO damn slow mentally. He’s just a speeding bullet out there with no idea what he should be doing, and he stalls and messes up the offense, and he’s also a negative on defense. Killian on the other hand is phenomenal at defense and continues getting better at it. And then he’s always been blazing fast mentally, he just needed to find ways to score. Now he’s shooting better and finding ways to score inside. Glad Monty is realizing it by giving Killian minutes over Ivey. If we trade Killian and keep Ivey I’ll puke.

#2 — Ausar is good. Really f***ing good. Like he has the potential to be what people envisioned Andrew Wiggins to be before he was drafted, mixed with a pg with crazy feel for the game (lamelo? Idk). Sky is truly the limit for him. He also has potential to get better at shooting. He legit may be better than Cade.

Injuries already cooked this season and the lack of shooting/steadiness gonna fry the development some too

Yeah we really needed Bogey to switch with Stew (who I’m afraid to say is not Him because I really don’t believe in his ability to shoot — they’re trying to force it when he’s not naturally able to). Would have softened the blow if Joe Harris wasn’t washed, but based on pre season he looked p washed.

Still love that we get to see Killian in the starting lineup, and at least it could be an ELITE defensive starting lineup with Stew. Watching the transition offense will be super fun. Idk it could work because of that. I feel like over the last decade+ we haven’t had a single thing to hang our hat on, but being ELITE at defense could make up for poor shooting.

Yeah ok I might be taking back my thoughts on Stew — he has become the cornerstone of our culture on defense it appears. Him and Duren on the floor together is magic on defense.

He just needs to be able to become a consistent threat on offense and he’s an obvious starter.

@op

Hard as bricks

I’m glad that we haven’t made any forced roster moves and that we still have a lot of flexibility…but Cade needs help big time.

He needs spacing to be effective. And in general, I’m still not sure I’m sold on him as a true “NUMBER ONE”. He needs to improve every single skill by like 10%, because it’s not possible for him to improve his size and athleticism (which are both lacking for his position).

Feel like if we had someone like KAT (easier said than done, and I’m not trying to trade Ausar or any future draft picks for KAT), it would make Cades life SO much easier on offense. You can tell just how pressed he gets when defenses double team him constantly and he has no one to go to.

Part of the problem is that Ivey is f***ing garbage right now, and possibly a Brandon Knight level bust.

I know fans are mad at Monty for not playing him…but like, why? He f***ing sucks at defense, and he stalls ball movement because he has no feel for the game.

Vast majority of Pistons fans online (especially Reddit) are absolutely insufferable, would not be surprised in the slightest if some of them have sent death threats to Monty and Troy

They have no idea what it means to be patient and how to rebuild a franchise. We’ve actually been super competitive this year compared to last year even if we don’t have the wins to prove it (not to mention Duren and Bogey have been out)

We got a solid foundation

Duren
Thompson
Cunningham
If Stewart can keep this level of shooting, add him too

Honestly, 90% of fans don't know the game and another 9% don't know the business

Wow, we're down SO bad