'21-'22 Roster Construction

[Demographic Shift]

The problem with that is we used to just say "wait til lebron leaves the East or retires" because the East was a tire fire. It really was up for grabs once he left for LA.

Now you have Durant/Kyrie/Harden (old, prime), Butler/Bam (prime, young), Embiid/Simmons (young, prime), Giannis (young, prime), Kemba Walker, Tatum, Brown, Smart (old, prime, young, potential).

Raps generally don't have the best player on the court against ANY of these teams and have to beat them team/depth to team.

Its not going to take as much as you intimate...The East is still pretty weak sauce top to bottom compared to the West.
And in the Junior loop where there are more crappy and mediocre teams to beat up on.

Butler/Bam are 4 games above 500.
Boston with Brown and Tatum and Kemba are but 3 games above 500
Embiid and Simmons haven't made it out of the second round. Maybe this year.
Giannas and the Bucks have been a force till the playoffs where their offence stagnates.
The Nets are going to be around though. Harden and Durant and Irving are going to be the team to beat for a couple years at least... and just like GSW evaporated so will the Nets.

The Raps are reloading and will join the likes of Atlanta and Charlotte and the Knicks to challenge agains as the division turns over.

[G__Deane]

Its not going to take as much as you intimate...The East is still pretty weak sauce top to bottom compared to the West.
And in the Junior loop where there are more crappy and mediocre teams to beat up on.

Butler/Bam are 4 games above 500.
Boston with Brown and Tatum and Kemba are but 3 games above 500
Embiid and Simmons haven't made it out of the second round. Maybe this year.
Giannas and the Bucks have been a force till the playoffs where their offence stagnates.
The Nets are going to be around though. Harden and Durant and Irving are going to be the team to beat for a couple years at least... and just like GSW evaporated so will the Nets.

The Raps are reloading and will join the likes of Atlanta and Charlotte and the Knicks to challenge agains as the division turns over.

OK but that's a lot of teams there to hope continue to stagnate or else fall off while the Raps miraculously launch again. And a lot of fans are quick to point out COVID and this weird year as an excuse for the Raptors but don't allow it for a team like the Celtics or Heat lol

PS
3-4 games above .500 looks like rare air from where we're sitting.
And the Bucks and Sixers haven't had terrific success in the playoff .... just like the Raptors until one glorious season

[Demographic Shift]

OK but that's a lot of teams there to hope continue to stagnate or else fall off while the Raps miraculously launch again. And a lot of fans are quick to point out COVID and this weird year as an excuse for the Raptors but don't allow it for a team like the Celtics or Heat lol

PS
3-4 games above .500 looks like rare air from where we're sitting.
And the Bucks and Sixers haven't had terrific success in the playoff .... just like the Raptors until one glorious season

Yes.. a lot of things have to go your way to win it all. Maybe this is the year for one of the Hinkies or Bucks...
Or not.

and 3 or 5 games above 500 teams are not exactly daunting .. right ?

right now its a 3 team league in the east....
this one year step back for a talent infusion is good managment...

[Primer]

If we had a decent center all year we are probably the 4 seed right now. I'm not worried about anyone in the East but the Nets and they're a fragile bunch that get injured regularly, and Nurse is a playoff wizard that can take the best players out of their game. People forget our playoff foibles were all under Casey, who has confirmed what we all knew with Detroit, that he is not a very good head coach and totally out of his depth once the playoffs start.

[G__Deane]

If we had a decent center all year we are probably the 4 seed right now. I'm not worried about anyone in the East but the Nets and they're a fragile bunch that get injured regularly, and Nurse is a playoff wizard that can take the best players out of their game. People forget out playoff foibles were all under Casey, who has confirmed what we all knew with Detroit, that he is not a very good head coach and totally out of his depth once the playoffs start.

Detroit 20-46 (.303) last season
19-47 so far this year (.288)

I think the jury is still way out on Casey being a good (regular season) coach or if Lowry and DeRozan dragged him up to their own ceiling or some combination.

[Demographic Shift]

Detroit 20-46 (.303) last season
19-47 so far this year (.288)

I think the jury is still way out on Casey being a good (regular season) coach or if Lowry and DeRozan dragged him up to their own ceiling or some combination.

Two radically different teams from 2019-20 to 2020-21 seasons.
Last years Pistons had an unmotivated Drummond and a playing out the string Griffin.
This year the pistons are rookies almost top to bottom.
They are like big awkward puppies banging into things and losing late because they don't know yet how to close out games. ..
BUT
Casey has those guys play hard every night and he will set the same expectation he set here that they will try to win every game they line up for. Casey lives the Herm Edwards philosophy .. you play to win the game. He sets the expectation. .
At this draft they are probably going to be selecting in the top 3 and they will get another really good player.
Maybe not next year... but the Pistons and Coach Casey will be a "team on the rise" in NBA jargon shortly.

[Primer]

Two radically different teams from 2019-20 to 2020-21 seasons.
Last years Pistons had an unmotivated Drummond and a playing out the string Griffin.
This year the pistons are rookies almost top to bottom.
They are like big awkward puppies banging into things and losing late because they don't know yet how to close out games. ..
BUT
Casey has those guys play hard every night and he will set the same expectation he set here that they will try to win every game they line up for. Casey lives the Herm Edwards philosophy .. you play to win the game. He sets the expectation. .
At this draft they are probably going to be selecting in the top 3 and they will get another really good player.
Maybe not next year... but the Pistons and Coach Casey will be a "team on the rise" in NBA jargon shortly.

I'm pretty sure Casey will be replaced before Detroit turns the corner.

[Demographic Shift]

I'm pretty sure Casey will be replaced before Detroit turns the corner.

Why ?

[Primer]

Why ?

3 seasons into his 5 year deal and the Pistons have gotten worse every year. No coach survives losing that many games. If they don't have a huge turnaround next season he'll get fired.

[magoon]

The problem with that is we used to just say "wait til lebron leaves the East or retires" because the East was a tire fire. It really was up for grabs once he left for LA.

Now you have Durant/Kyrie/Harden (old, prime), Butler/Bam (prime, young), Embiid/Simmons (young, prime), Giannis (young, prime), Kemba Walker, Tatum, Brown, Smart (old, prime, young, potential).

Raps generally don't have the best player on the court against ANY of these teams and have to beat them team/depth to team.

Other than the Bucks and the Nets - and I won't believe the Nets can win a chip until they do, because Durant is the only one on that team I have faith in to die trying - the Raptors are a match for any of these teams easily. Philly has repeatedly failed to prove themselves and need a third star desperately to take scoring load off Embiid. The Celtics have a bunch of good players and no identity, which is why they're collapsing. Miami wagered strongly that their supporting cast wasn't just a one-year fluke and it's looking like while they might not be a fluke, they also aren't all the way there yet.

The Bucks are the team that worries me most, because we have not seen this team in the playoffs with Jrue Holiday and PJ Tucker. They've upgraded at every position that isn't Giannis or Khris since 2019, and I don't think their offense is necessarily solvable any more - although that might be a coaching issue.

[Demographic Shift]

3 seasons into his 5 year deal and the Pistons have gotten worse every year. No coach survives losing that many games. If they don't have a huge turnaround next season he'll get fired.

You might consider that the decline into crappiness by the Pistons is not the coach. Its the front office.
Faced with Andre Drummond and his albatross deal and Blake Griffin with his were taking up close to 55% of the Pistons cap space they had to go.
Two "all star" level talents who werent even close to being all stars.
Front office guessed right as since they moved they haven't lit it up ...

So out goes the old guard and in comes the new kids. .. Casey has done it before with Toronto and the same guys who hired him are still in the front office as they rebuild the Bad Boys...Casey is a veteran coach and he is the same tier as a Budenholzer or a Quinn Snyder or even Mike Malone who also have a history of almost getting to a finals
.
There is always the thought that a brand new certified coaching genius like Fred Hoiberg or Ryan Saunders or David Fizdale or Kenny Atkinson or even a Luke Walton will change the teams fortunes but they flame out more often than not. Same idea for a change just because he couldn't get it done.. Like Nate B for Nate McMillan this year. Hasn't been smooth year for Nate and I hope he gets a second chance and for the guy they booted.. McMillan has the Hawks into the playoffs and a bit of a dark horse to get out of the first round. ..

Casey could get one of Mobley or Green or Cunningham or Suggs.

Its in the distance.. but if you listen closely... you can hear footsteps.. The Pistons are making their way back from the lowest tier of the league.

[Primer]

You might consider that the decline into crappiness by the Pistons is not the coach. Its the front office.
Faced with Andre Drummond and his albatross deal and Blake Griffin with his were taking up close to 55% of the Pistons cap space they had to go.
Two "all star" level talents who werent even close to being all stars.
Front office guessed right as since they moved they haven't lit it up ...

So out goes the old guard and in comes the new kids. .. Casey has done it before with Toronto and the same guys who hired him are still in the front office as they rebuild the Bad Boys...Casey is a veteran coach and he is the same tier as a Budenholzer or a Quinn Snyder or even Mike Malone who also have a history of almost getting to a finals
.
There is always the thought that a brand new certified coaching genius like Fred Hoiberg or Ryan Saunders or David Fizdale or Kenny Atkinson or even a Luke Walton will change the teams fortunes but they flame out more often than not. Same idea for a change just because he couldn't get it done.. Like Nate B for Nate McMillan this year. Hasn't been smooth year for Nate and I hope he gets a second chance and for the guy they booted.. McMillan has the Hawks into the playoffs and a bit of a dark horse to get out of the first round. ..

Casey could get one of Mobley or Green or Cunningham or Suggs.

Its in the distance.. but if you listen closely... you can hear footsteps.. The Pistons are making their way back from the lowest tier of the league.

I get it, you like Casey and think he's a good coach. That doesn't change the fact that a coach is the easiest thing to change when a team is losing and a perfect scapegoat to placate the fan base. His seat is already very hot and another bad season he will be fired for sure. I wouldn't be shocked if he gets canned this offseason either. It's a no win situation for Casey also so me may be glad to get fired, he still has 2 years on his deal left and he can go coach at a better organization. Maybe go back to being the top assistant on a team and run the defense which was his strong suit.

[The Claw Reborn]

Posting here too...

Here is my retool proposal....

Trade Siakam for KAT
Trade Van Vleet/ Boucher and 2 SRPs for Brogdon and Sabonis

Sign GTJ for 15 million
Sign JJ Redick for the MLE

select Kai Jones/ or Giddey/ or Kispert/ or Wagner (whoever is the Best Player available)

retain Yuta, Birch, Bembry and Watson

Sabonis
KAT
OG
GTJ
Brogdon

Flynn
JJ Redick
Birch
Yuta
Bembry
Watson
2021 FRP project

Nothing has change

[golden]

I get it, you like Casey and think he's a good coach. That doesn't change the fact that a coach is the easiest thing to change when a team is losing and a perfect scapegoat to placate the fan base. His seat is already very hot and another bad season he will be fired for sure. I wouldn't be shocked if he gets canned this offseason either. It's a no win situation for Casey also so me may be glad to get fired, he still has 2 years on his deal left and he can go coach at a better organization. Maybe go back to being the top assistant on a team and run the defense which was his strong suit.

But Pistons don't want to win, though. They want to shed salary, lose lots of games and rebuild with exciting young talent. Casey has the easiest coaching job in the NBA, outside of OKC. Zero expectation to win for the rest of his lucrative contract.

[Primer]

But Pistons don't want to win, though. They want to shed salary, lose lots of games and rebuild with exciting young talent. Casey has the easiest coaching job in the NBA, outside of OKC. Zero expectation to win for the rest of his lucrative contract.

I will be absolutely shocked if they have another bad season next year and Casey doesn't get fired. No coach gets 4 years in a row of losing basketball being one of the worst teams in the NBA without getting fired. He had zero expectations to win this year but when they brought him in he was supposed to get them over the hump to contention not turn them into a dumpster fire. They pivoted to tanking because it was the only option with how terrible they were performing.