Cost and Jansen discuss the Pistons' impressive turnaround, their current position in the Eastern Conference standings, and possible moves at the trade deadline.
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00:00Well, and, and how about the Pistons? Yep. You know, and it's just with where they were
00:05last year, 14 wins and how important that game was yesterday to get them back above
00:12500. And they're, they're one game back of being in, not, not to play in tournament,
00:19but the top six in the Eastern conference, which is a huge deal. You avoid all that.
00:24And if it, if you get the six right now, you'd play the Knicks who they've beaten a couple
00:26of times. It's a lot harder in the top end of the NBA. Right. We don't see a lot of upsets,
00:33but the Pistons are in my mind ahead of schedule here. Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's no question
00:3714 wins last year. Now they're at 25 and 24 and it looks like they're a solid, a solid
00:43shot to make at a minimum, the plan. Yeah. And by all accounts, we said, Hey, what do
00:47we want to see this year? A form an identity, a Cade take the next step. He's an all-star
00:52and he drops 40 points on Friday night, MVP chance at little Caesar's arena. Then he had
00:5715 assists yesterday in a Pistons win. Things are looking up. They want a couple in a row
01:01on this homestand. They're going to play again tonight. Go to pistons.com to get in on the
01:05action. If you want to watch him play the Hawks in person, it's a great time to check
01:09in with the Pistons head coach, JB Bickerstaff. The plan is to check in with him this morning.
01:14Talk about leadership. I mean, he's been a big part of this too. He has been, and we
01:18saw what it meant last year to have a coach that didn't really want to be there because
01:23okay. Trajan Langdon, that's where it starts is getting guys like a Malik Beasley to come
01:30in here and play the way that he's played. Now, obviously decisions have to be made by
01:34Thursday as to whether, you know, if they get the, you know, franchise altering or,
01:39or just great deal for Malik Beasley, then sure. They'll, they'll make it. It's business
01:44is business. Tim Hardaway jr. The way that he has played and added to this, to this roster,
01:49the way that they have been able to space the floor and allow Cade to be the all-star
01:56that he's become. Yeah. I think it goes hand in hand. I think Cade needed to be pushed.
02:00Coach comes in. He wants to be coached, wants to be pushed and you have to create an environment
02:04for him to be successful too. I was concerned the first couple of years, clearly with his
02:09injuries and his turnovers, but also you don't want a guy to get indoctrinated into losing.
02:14You don't want losing to just become acceptable. And I think they've shifted the culture.
02:20I think they're playing more tenacious on defense. I think Cade's operating with more
02:24space in the offensive end of the floor, right? The half court where he's got Beasley and
02:28Hardaway and Tobias, and there's a real honest attempt to give him a little separation to
02:32create. And once he gets it, I mean, you've seen the light go on. He's finishing at the
02:35rim. He's throwing no look passes in the corner. He's doing everything we could have asked
02:40of him this season, like step out into the bright lights. It's certified. Now the guy's
02:45an all-star and he's playing like he's been playing like it.
02:48Yeah. And I mean, to see it recognized across the NBA obviously feels good. Now the question
02:54is who's the next all-star? Is he on this roster? How are they going to continue to
03:01put a team out there that not only is competitive, but can win games when it matters most, whether
03:07it's at the end of the year or it's April, May, that time is where you really want to
03:12have a team that can put something together. What do you think they do on Thursday?
03:17I honestly, I don't think they do anything. I don't think they're, they're not going to
03:21be the pass through that most people thought at the beginning of the season, they would
03:25be that they're going to take on salary. They're going to be the dumping ground for the NBA
03:31because they are, they're a team right now that they're going to be in the playoffs.
03:35And I, I would hate to see them just throw it all away. How about a Sasser and Stewart
03:42for Giannis? I mean, why not? Remember the whole Hunter and mills thing back in the day
03:47with the Pistons when Pistons were at the deadline, they would always, fans would always
03:50try to get rid of a Lindsey Hunter and Terry mills to get something great. Give up a little
03:55and get a lot kind of like Jamar and Westland with Hennon hooker. Oh God. Yeah. Text offending
04:01the Davis. Oh, of course he did. Of course he did. We're working on JB. We want to get
04:08him to do next segment. That's all right. We can, we can work with him. What I would
04:13anticipate is, is not any fireworks grown Thursday. They don't have their first, even
04:19if they want it to be like, Hey, we're gung ho, we can do this. They don't have their
04:23first run pick. It's tied up in a previous trade. Could they still do something with
04:27some seconds? Could they offload some expiring contracts and take on a player? Yeah, they
04:33could. I I'd like to see them explore the secondary ball handler market. Someone who
04:39can take a little pressure off of K they missed that since Jade and Ivy got hurt and K K gets
04:45doubled and he'll rise above it, but can you help them out a little bit in that way too?
04:48So he's not shouldering the load. I actually think a big part of it, they'll be buyers.
04:51Slight, slight, slight. Like they're showing up and they've got, you know, what's in their
04:57pocket. You know, they're, they're not putting this on credit. They're going to buy with
05:00what they've got. Yeah. Well, they got plenty of cap space. They can absorb a big contract
05:05that someone else wants to get out from under. Right. And, and still, I mean, they can absorb
05:09more than one. Yeah. So that's, that's where they're at. And I mean, is that, is that somebody
05:14that can come in and actually contribute? Yeah. I don't want them to, to sell. You know,
05:21I understand the Beasley thing is going to be tantalizing. He's one of the best three-point
05:25shooters in the game. Every contender is going to look at that and go, yep. He fits for us.
05:30He fits every single team in the NBA. Malik Beasley does. But he also really fits with
05:35Cade Cunningham. And I think a huge reason why Cade's an all-star is players like Malik
05:39Beasley. And I give Malik a lot of credit for, for Cade's step forward. What I want
05:42to do is keep them together. Beasley's on an expiring deal. You can't negotiate right
05:48now in season with him, but I'd love to see them make an effort to carve out a role for
05:52him on a multi-year deal when this season's over and keep him here so that they don't
05:56slide out of the seven to the eight to the nine. And they're flirting with just barely
06:01making the play. And I'd love to see them actually get in this thing. And I think Beasley
06:06is a huge reason they would. Yeah. And, and obviously money's going to talk at the end
06:11of the year. Does he want to come back? They're going to be able to have some of those discussions.
06:14They can't do anything, you know, and sign anything, but they can have some of those
06:18discussions. And it sounded like from what he was talking about last week, like he is
06:21certainly open to it. He likes being here. He likes the team. He likes JB. And so is
06:27there, is there a way to not sell him at the deadline? If you don't get what you ultimately
06:33think is, is, you know, a good enough value and still be able to extend them.
06:40Yeah. I think Trajan Langdon is even quoted this year as saying they're ahead of schedule.
06:43I think he may have had one plan going in, right? These expiring deals thinking, yeah,
06:48we'll probably be on a, you know, maybe a play in spot and would just be too good a
06:52deals to pass up. Now they got a real shot to, to get in and, and even make a little
06:56bit of noise, not when the title or anything, but make a little bit of noise. And I think
06:59it does create a situation where he can be picky and he doesn't have to just sell for
07:04what people are offering. You can say, you know what, we're going to keep these guys
07:06and try to win with them.