4 Free Agents The Pistons Should Consider
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00:00And Omari Sankofa of the Free Press, who covers the Pistons, in today's column has, he focuses
00:09on some free agents that are still available.
00:11He says, four players who fill needs.
00:14And I want Kang to get your opinion on these players and the people as well at 248-539-9797.
00:21The first name is Malik Beasley, shooting guard from Milwaukee Bucks.
00:2528 years old, averaged 11.3 points last season, shot 41.3% from three, and averaged just under
00:3430 minutes a game.
00:37How do you feel about Malik Beasley, 6'4"?
00:39I like Malik Beasley for this team.
00:41Like they said, he's a shooter.
00:43That's what you bring him in to do.
00:46You just need to provide Cade and this team with some consistent shooting from the outside.
00:51You can never have enough shooting.
00:55Does that mean Tim Hardaway Jr. doesn't play as much as we think?
00:57Sure.
00:58Whoever the best shooter is, play that guy.
01:00I just want a better rotation, a more consistent rotation.
01:04And I think Beasley would provide that.
01:07Is this a player that you would give a long-term deal to?
01:13No.
01:14One and done?
01:16One two-year deal, but I think right now we're in those, obviously we're in the very early
01:20stages of Trajan Langdon's career here, hopefully a long career here in the front office.
01:26But yeah, this is just part of developing the rest of the roster.
01:29And I think Beasley, he's a known shooter in the league, and that's why he's been brought
01:34around to do.
01:35I mean, I think that's what the Pistons need, of course.
01:38Sticking with shooting guards, the other shooting guard he mentions is Gary Trent Jr. from Toronto,
01:436'5", averaged just under 14 points a game last year.
01:4939.3 from three-point land, and played 28 minutes a game.
01:54Maybe defense is, he's not the best defender, but as Sankofa says, he's long been among
02:00the NBA's top players at producing steals.
02:03I like Trent Jr. more than Beasley.
02:05So I mean, I don't want both of them, so if you made me choose between the two, I'd go
02:08after Gary Trent Jr.
02:09I mean, the guy has the ability to score in this league.
02:11He dipped this past year because his minutes and playing time went down, but I believe
02:15he scored a 50-point game during his career.
02:18He can shoot the three-point shot.
02:21He can be aggressive as a guard.
02:23I like Sasser, but he's young, obviously.
02:26I think you bring in Gary Trent Jr., that's another veteran guy that can, you know, shoot
02:30the ball.
02:31I like him more than Beasley.
02:33This third player is a guard, but he's a point guard, not a shooting guard, 6'1", Tyus Jones
02:37from the Washington Wizards.
02:38He's 28 years old, averaged 12 points a game last year, 7.3 assists.
02:44Overall shot 48.9% from the field, 41.4 from three-point land.
02:50Do the Pistons really need a point guard?
02:52Well, that's the thing.
02:53I mean, Tyus Jones is definitely developed into a nice role player in this league for
02:58whatever team he ends up on.
03:00I don't know if the Pistons need a third point guard like that, who's just, I mean, because
03:03I'm counting on Sasser to develop still, and Kate Cunningham, although he's your point
03:07forward, essentially.
03:08And then you also have Jaden Ivey as well, right?
03:11So I think you start, Kate, at essentially the point guard position, Tyus Jones would
03:16be second or third, but I don't want to stunt Sasser's growth.
03:20So that's why I would probably prefer to stay away from Tyus Jones, but he's a decent player.
03:25And lastly, he's a forward, Torian Prince from the Lakers, 6'6".
03:28He's 30 years old, averaged 9 points a game last year, and shot 39.6% from three-point
03:35range, 27 minutes a game, but he's 30.
03:39I'm not big on Prince.
03:41I think you have a sore Thompson that you're trying to develop into that three and D type
03:46guy.
03:47He obviously has the length and athleticism and the effort to play defense.
03:52He wants to.
03:53You saw that, for the most part, you saw the effort from him night in and night out.
03:58Now he's got to start developing some offensive game and that range that Prince obviously
04:02can shoot the three better than him, but this is almost, I'm not trying to be like the Tigers
04:06here, but I don't want to block the young guys, but I want to add veterans to help the
04:09young guys.
04:11Yeah.
04:12And you've got a coach who's good at working with younger players and see what they can
04:15do there.
04:16So out of these players, you like Trent, Gary Trent, Jr. the best.
04:20Well, we'll see what the Pistons decide to do, because then it gets to the whole thing.
04:24Do you sign free agents or do you use that cap space you have to take on bigger contracts
04:29so that you can get draft picks in return, or are you going to sign these free agents
04:33with the thought that maybe you can flip them at the trade deadline and do the same thing?
04:38No, a guy like Prince you might sign just to be there and to mentor a sore and things.
04:43And if an injury happens, whatever, you can fill them in, but he's not a high priority
04:47free agent for me.
04:48And these guys aren't going to cost a ton.
04:50Like I said, the guys left over right now, they either played their cards wrong or they're
04:55just trying to get on a team so they can play for their next contract.
05:01But I mean, to be honest with you, the Pistons roster is so bad, most guys would help, right?
05:08Most guys would help this team, even if they're on the downsides of their career.
05:11Yeah, that's how bad this team has been, but hopefully they're digging out of it here.
05:15They've hit rock bottom.
05:16I don't know if they've hit rock bottom or not.
05:18God, I hope they've hit rock bottom.
05:19I think they have.
05:20I mean, when you lose 28 in a row and you win 14 games in a season, strikes me as that's
05:24hitting rock bottom.
05:25Unfortunately, they didn't get a whole lot of luck when it comes to the lottery, the
05:30draft lottery.
05:31In the last couple of years, they haven't had that luck, which they really desperately
05:35needed last year, and they didn't get any luck this year either because I don't think
05:41anybody's really expecting tons from the draft picks this year to really show up, that they're
05:47more draft and stash and develop kind of guys, but we'll see.
05:51We'll see how that works out.
05:52248-539-9797 is the telephone number you want to talk about.