Has Langdon Shown Enough To Make You Hopeful?
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00:00but I did want to get into the Pistons.
00:05And I don't want to say this too loudly, but maybe I should.
00:10I like what they're doing.
00:12I do.
00:13I, you know, taking a chance on a young GM
00:15like Trajan Langdon is, it's taking a chance.
00:20The owner, as much as he's maligned here
00:25and deservedly so in a lot of respects,
00:27gotta give him credit, man.
00:29He ate Monty's contract.
00:31So yep, give me more.
00:34Yep.
00:35He ate that contract.
00:3760 something million dollars.
00:38He ate it.
00:40And then they went out and they hired a competent coach
00:43who's known for working with younger players
00:45and J.B. Bickerstaff.
00:47That's big.
00:48Who's done the turnaround.
00:49Yeah.
00:50You know, not all the way to the max or anything,
00:51but he's taken a very, a 20 something win team
00:55and doubled it.
00:56Yeah.
00:56And made him a playoff contender.
00:58Three years in a row, they were better than 500.
01:01And, you know, things didn't work out.
01:03Did he not get along with the star player?
01:05Is that why they moved on?
01:06Whatever.
01:06I don't care.
01:07But the fact he's got that in his DNA
01:10that he's done this, okay, good.
01:12Like that.
01:13You know, they had the draft
01:14and, you know, what are you gonna do with the draft?
01:17I kind of went, eh.
01:19What do we, what?
01:20Supposed to be one of the weakest drafts ever too.
01:22So, okay, they didn't get some college shoes
01:25that could shoot lights out right away,
01:26but don't know if that translates to the NBA.
01:29I don't, they took a chance on an athletic guy.
01:31Sure, okay, fine, whatever.
01:33Doesn't really move the needle either way.
01:36But free agency comes along with the trade season.
01:40Taking on, you know, other teams' bad contracts
01:42or whatever you're trying to do
01:43and get some draft capital in return
01:45and, you know, you end up getting Tim Hardaway Jr.
01:50Still playing this league.
01:52You go out and you get Malik Beasley the other day
01:55for nothing.
01:57It's a one-year contract for like 6 1⁄2 million bucks
01:59or whatever it is.
02:00Okay, that's pretty great.
02:02For a guy who shoots over 40% from the three-point line,
02:05that's great.
02:07And they went out and get Tobias Harris,
02:09which people may not be thrilled with,
02:12but Tobias can still play.
02:14He's still playing this league
02:15and it's just bringing more veterans into this team.
02:18All the while, you still have a really young core
02:21that I think this is,
02:24I think it's probably wise if they not make moves right now
02:27to trade away Jalen Dern or Jaden Ivey
02:29because you don't know what you have.
02:31Maybe what you had is really good,
02:33but the coaching wasn't right for these guys.
02:36Maybe this guy's the right coach
02:37to get the most out of these players.
02:38At least find out.
02:40Give it some time here.
02:42And I'm hopeful that they stick around on this team
02:44at least through half the season
02:46before next year's trade deadline
02:48and try to figure that out
02:50because if you can get more out of those players
02:52and a lot more,
02:54then this turnaround can happen quicker.
02:57But they've added other players
02:58and then finally they did sign or re-sign Fontacchio.
03:03And, Ken, you start to put together some lineups,
03:05just put it on paper,
03:08and this team looks a lot more competent
03:12than last year's did.
03:14This team looks like it's a team that,
03:15okay, they're not gonna make the playoffs right away,
03:19but it's gonna be a team that's gonna win more games.
03:22Now, you said that the Vegas over under total
03:24is 28 and a half?
03:25Yeah, that's what Costa said.
03:27And they won 14 games this past season.
03:29So the Vegas total is saying they're gonna double it up.
03:34I would probably err on caution and say under,
03:37but certainly it's gonna be moving in the right direction.
03:41But I do like it when you're building around Cade Cunningham
03:44which is the other thing,
03:44they're gonna give him the big extension
03:46to have him sign that,
03:47and clearly they're married to Cade Cunningham.
03:51I think that's smart because I think Cade Cunningham
03:53is one of the really bright rising stars in the league.
03:56He's improved every year.
03:58But like every other sport here, we want it now.
04:02I kind of feel like Piston fans are gonna be more patient
04:05because it's a whole regime change.
04:07Here comes a new GM, new coach,
04:10and moving forward this way.
04:12As much as some people wanted to paint the narrative
04:15early on, this is not gonna go well
04:17because he still has, you know,
04:19Arntellum is part of his group of advisors
04:23and worried about who Arntellum's son is representing
04:26and they're gonna steer in that direction.
04:27Well, they didn't go there.
04:28They didn't do that.
04:29So let's move from that narrative
04:31and I kind of like, I guess the early stages here,
04:34I like what I'm seeing.
04:36I too will be in Vegas while the Pistons are
04:39in the summer league and we'll see if I can get over there
04:41to watch a game.
04:44But I'm excited about the prospects for this team.
04:46I'm looking forward to watching them.
04:48I was so looking forward to two years ago
04:53when they drafted Ivy and drafted Duren
04:56and wanted to see how they played with Cade Cunningham
04:58and it didn't happen because of the injuries early on.
05:01And I was so looking forward to it last year.
05:06And we just didn't see it because it seemed like,
05:10you know, maybe this is,
05:11now that it's a full year removed from it,
05:14maybe Monty Williams and Jaden Ivy didn't see eye to eye.
05:18Well, something was clearly up
05:19because he was playing Killian Hayes over him.
05:21And it's weird that,
05:23I understand kind of you want to see what you have
05:25in a guy that young in Killian Hayes,
05:28but when he was let go by the Pistons finally,
05:31no one went after Killian Hayes.
05:33Like the rest of the league's like,
05:35we don't even need him in our facility
05:36to know this guy can't play.
05:37I was worried when Team France left him off their team
05:40before the season.
05:41Like if you're an NBA player,
05:42it's almost an automatic for you to represent your country
05:46if you're not from the US, you know?
05:48Those guys, it's 300 guys in the league or whatever.
05:50And also speaking to the depth of how these European teams.
05:52That's true too.
05:53There's a lot of French players.
05:54They're a lot better now than they were before,
05:56without a doubt.
05:57But this year, yeah,
05:58it's different than signing Monta Morris or Joe Harris.
06:01You thought those guys were shooters,
06:03but they were injured when they got here.
06:04I have no idea what Troy Weaver was looking at
06:07or talking to who he's talking to.
06:09They never played barely at all.
06:11And there weren't big signings anyways.
06:12Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., professional shooters,
06:16Tobias Harris.
06:16I'm not the biggest fan of the contract they gave him.
06:18At least it's only two years
06:19and I think he's on the downside of his career,
06:21but he's a veteran player that can still score the basket.
06:24And they need guys that are around K
06:26to pose some kind of threat, you know?
06:30So yeah, on paper,
06:31this team definitely looks better than last year.
06:33I would still take the under in 28 games,
06:34but they better win something in the 20s, that's for sure.
06:37Oh, absolutely.
06:38And they need to learn how to be competitive
06:39and close out some games,
06:40which they didn't do very much last year.
06:42And maybe get some draft luck.
06:44That'd be nice.
06:46That would be nice.
06:46Because they're going to be in the lottery again.
06:48But it's a development of players.
06:49And here's the thing.
06:50Stay, everyone stay healthy, build some chemistry.
06:53Let's see what K can do
06:54with some professional players around him.
06:56Rich is in Shelby Township.
06:58Welcome to the night.
06:58Hey Rich.