Motor City Cruise

Vince Ellis

Area basketball fans missed watching Detroit native Jaden Hardy develop into a likely first-round draft pick.

When his older brother Amauri, who was a high school standout in Detroit suburbs, signed with UNLV in April 2017, the family moved to Las Vegas, where Hardy became a top-five high school prospect at Coronado (Nev.) High School.

Area fans have a chance to see Jaden Hardy, 19, and his brother Tuesday night because both chose to spend their first professional basketball seasons with the NBA G-League Ignite, the developmental league’s learning environment for young prospects. &nbsp;

The Motor City Cruise will play host to the Ignite at Wayne State Arena. The game will be air on Bally Sports Detroit at 7 p.m.

“I'm really looking forward to that because it's been a long time since I played the game in Detroit,” Jaden Hardy told Pistons.com recently. “Just being able to come back as a professional and playing in Detroit, my hometown, it’s going to be great.”

“Family will be there, friends I grew up with, so just being able to be in that type of environment again, it's going to be fun.”

The game is one of the marquee contests for the Cruise’s G-League inaugural season. As part of the Black History Month celebration, the Cruise will wear new uniforms, which were introduced last week on Bally Sports. The uniforms were conceptualized by local fashion designer Ken Walker.

The Cruise has had a successful first season, standing atop league standings for most of the season that began in November. Second-year point guard Saben Lee was recently named the G-League’s player of the week.

The G-League Ignite is in its second year of competition and boasts a roster of four players – including 6-foot-4 shooting guard Jaden Hardy - on The Athletic’s top 100 prospects for the upcoming NBA Draft. The Ignite’s main purpose is to give elite prospects another option besides college basketball or going overseas.

“This offers an opportunity for players after high school,” Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. "Players might not want to go to college or be a good fit for college. “That's OK because the Ignite gives them that platform of being able to play, work on their craft and also get compensated for it at the same time, right here in their home country.”

For most prospects, one season must elapse after high school graduation to be eligible for the NBA Draft. Traditionally, that meant spending at least one year in college or overseas before fulfilling a lifelong dream.

It was announced in April 2020 that high school standouts would be given another option, the Ignite. Select prospects could play with veterans in exhibition games against other G-League teams and national teams from other countries. The prospects would be paid; eventual third pick in the 2021 draft Jalen Green quickly signed for $500,000. High draft picks Green and Jonathan Kuminga played during the first season.

Jaden Hardy said he spoke to both while weighing the G-League vs. college.

“It was just to see how their experiences were and they told me they really enjoyed it,” said Hardy, who will compete in the Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend later this week. “They felt like it was a good fit for me.

“They said that if I just did what I just continue to do, just keep working then everything will work out for the best.”

Jaden Hardy has the added benefit of playing with his older brother, who transferred to Oregon for his final year of eligibility. Amauri Hardy, who wasn’t drafted in 2021, contemplated going overseas to begin his professional career, but decided to join the Ignite with his brother.

“It was a good opportunity for me when I came out of college,” Amauri Hardy said. “I felt like I could really develop here and work on my craft at a professional level. Then the opportunity to play with my brother is pretty much a unique situation, being able to play with him.

“Even for my first year, I feel like it would just be a step in the right direction.”

And he speaks for both players when it comes to the Detroit area where he led North Farmington to the MHSAA Class A state title game as a junior in 2016.

“I haven't played back in Detroit since high school so being able to see familiar faces in the crowd will be cool,” Amauri Hardy said. “I know the game is going to be played at Wayne State, so that's going to be cool. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of my family who haven't even been able to see me play in person since I've been in high school.

“I feel like people are going to come out and show love and support – especially seeing (Jaden) left to go to Vegas to play basketball. This might be people's first time seeing him in Detroit in a game setting and not on TV. It's going to be a good experience.”

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The G-League Ignite brings elite talent – which includes Detroit native Jaden Hardy – into game against Motor City Cruise

Keith Langlois

We’re a week from the draft and that has Pistons Twitter abuzz for this week’s edition.

Michael Shallvey (@shallvey): With the Pistons current involvement in USA Basketball, all I’m hearing is how they can recruit top talent to Detroit. Isn’t there an exactly equal chance Pistons can get recruited away from Detroit?

Langlois: There were 17 on the Select Team and 12 on the Olympic team, so 29 total. There are 30 NBA teams and the Pistons had three of the 29 in Las Vegas. By my math, that gave them 10.3 percent of all players under the USA Basketball umbrella when the average for an NBA franchise should have been about 3 percent. So not “exactly equal.” The Pistons were much better represented in Las Vegas than the average NBA franchises, so for what it’s worth I would expect them to be OK with the dynamics of whatever recruitment might have gone on in the few days in the desert.

Langlois: Good question. Cunningham wore No. 2 at Oklahoma State. Chuck Daly has a banner in the Little Caesars Arena rafters with the No. 2 on it to represent the two NBA championships the Pistons won on his watch, so it’s not a typically retired uniform number. If Cunningham’s the pick, we’ll all find out what number he’ll wear when they hold his introductory press conference, I would anticipate.

@franklucarelli/IG: In your opinion, are the Pistons drafting Cade Cunningham for sure?

Langlois: I wouldn’t go as far as “for sure,” but if I was pressured for an answer today that’s my guess. Since the pictures (and videos) are out there of him attending the Tigers game Monday night with Dwane Casey and Saddiq Bey, we know he was in Detroit and presumably not as a tourist. I would expect the Pistons already have or will in the near future host at least another player or two – and within five minutes of writing that, ESPN.com reported the Pistons have other workouts scheduled for Jalen Green and Jalen Suggs and would attempt to line another up with Evan Mobley – so we can’t make too much of Cunningham’s visit but it’s at least an indication that he’s firmly on the radar. I remain of the opinion I held the night of June 22 when the Pistons won the lottery – the likeliest outcome is that the Pistons keep the top pick and use it to take Cunningham. I don’t know that it rises to the level of high probability but it’s likelier than any other option, including trading the pick or keeping it to select any other single player.

Cam (@CBolin21): Should we trade Jerami Grant for a first-rounder for this year or next?

Langlois: If you change the “or” to an “and,” I still guess no. There is no sense the Pistons intend to be in the running for a top-four pick again in 2022 and Grant is the player above all others that stabilizes their offense to make them functional at that end. His ability to function as the No. 1 scoring option allows young players like Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes to settle in to more defined roles that aren’t overwhelming for them at this stage of their careers and there’s value in that going beyond what Grant’s stats suggest. I also continue to believe that there’s a measure of trust between Grant and Pistons general manager Troy Weaver that would make it more than a little unlikely he’d be traded so soon into his Pistons tenure. Weaver wouldn’t turn down a deal that would advance the interests of the franchise, but part of those interests includes having a general manager that players around the league know can be counted on to do right by players. So, back to your question. All first-rounders aren’t created equal, so if it’s a first-rounder this year when the draft order is already determined it would have to be a high first-rounder to even pique Weaver’s interest. I think that’s unlikely to come, though. The teams that would be most interested in adding Grant probably aren’t picking high enough in the first round to make for a likely trade partner.

@kyle_tasty/IG: If the Pistons draft Cade Cunningham, how do you envision him and Killian Hayes meshing together?

Langlois: If Cunningham is the No. 1 pick, that’s going to be a question Troy Weaver and Dwane Casey get asked on draft night. I’ll be interested to hear how they respond, but I don’t think they’ll be anything other than excited about the possibilities of pairing two high-level playmakers with outstanding size. I don’t view Cunningham as a point guard in the sense that I don’t see him bringing the ball downcourt or guarding opposition points, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a primary playmaker who can be a terrific complement to Hayes as a young point guard who could benefit from not having to carry the burden of initiating offense on every possession. And I think the fact that Hayes is an advanced defender for his age and Cunningham’s defensive IQ is considered a strength should also make their pairing mutually beneficial.

Cdiamonds6467 (@cdiamonds6467): If the Pistons keep all three second-round picks, do you see an outcome where he could potentially look at a player like Michigan’s Isaiah Livers as a potential pick?

Langlois: Sure, that’s possible. One hurdle, though, is the roster crunch the Pistons are facing and how that influences the execution of the three second-round picks the Pistons hold at 37, 42 and 52. If I had to guess, I’d say 37 is spent on a player who signs a two-way contract, 42 is traded for future second-round picks and 52 is used on an international player who continues playing abroad for a season or two. But maybe 37 is used in trade and 42 is an international stash player and 52 is used to take a flyer on a player who maybe warrants a two-way deal or maybe comes to training camp needing to earn a spot. Or all three could be bundled in an attempt to move up. Or maybe somebody wants 37 and 42 and offers something intriguing. I don’t know how interested Livers would be in playing internationally, so maybe that diminishes his chances of being drafted by a team in a spot like the Pistons are in. (Yes, I would bet the Pistons will know which players are open to being drafted and playing internationally before executing the pick if that’s what they have in mind for that player.)

Paul (Phoenix): Going on the assumption Detroit keeps the No. 1 pick and drafts Cade Cunningham, what kind of cap space would the Pistons have if they release Rodney McGruder, Jahlil Okafor, Dennis Smith Jr. and get out of Cory Joseph’s contract? Would they have enough to get a power forward to back up Jerami Grant? Sekou Doumbouya needs extended playing time and could get it in the G League, so power forward and small forward backups could be the weakness. Tyler Cook would be the third center and the European, who I believe is 6-foot-8, could be the backup small forward. So the biggest need would be backup power forward. Thoughts?

Langlois: Of the four veterans you mention jettisoning for cap purposes, McGruder has a non-guaranteed contract; Smith would be a restricted free agent if the Pistons extend a $7.7 million qualifying offer (unlikely) and a restricted free agent if they don’t extend a QO (likely); Okafor is under contract for the veteran’s minimum; and Joseph has $2.4 million guaranteed and another $10.2 million non-guaranteed on top of that, making it seem likely the Pistons will pay the guaranteed portion and waive Joseph. They’ll also have a cap hold of more than $10 million for the No. 1 draft pick, assuming they keep the pick. Because of that cap hold, I think it’s likely the Pistons are going to wind up operating as a team above the salary cap, which means their best tools to acquire free agents will be the mid-level and biannual exceptions. I think they have two clear needs in free agency (or trade) – a veteran point guard and a big man, preferably one who can serve as a stretch four/small-ball five. Whether the Pistons prioritize one over the other or consider them co-equal needs and wind up giving more of their free-agent money to whichever player they can attract is an open question. I think both Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart could wind up seeing time at the four. Stewart could do so fairly easily and it would be a way to get him more minutes. Bey could serve as the starter at small forward, have his minutes staggered with Jerami Grant and wind up splitting his time between the two positions. That would open up more minutes for Josh Jackson or Hamidou Diallo at small forward and more minutes at shooting guard for Frank Jackson or Killian Hayes if the free-agent point guard plus Saben Lee both command minutes at point guard. There are a lot of moving parts, a lot of possibilities, in large measure because Troy Weaver has built a roster of players with good length and size at their position to give them the versatility to move up or down a position.

Baby Curry (@BabyFaceCurry30): Can the Pistons trade the first pick for the Warriors’ seventh pick in the draft?

Langlois: The Warriors should probably ask for Jerami Grant to be thrown in, too, don’t you think?

Darrell (Detroit): I’m all for seeing the Pistons improve greatly next season, however, I’m less interested in the Pistons obtaining free agents to make these improvements and more interested in seeing what the existing young players can become. We can safely assume that the No. 1 pick along with Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey, Jerami Grant, Mason Plumlee and Isaiah Stewart will see plenty of playing time. We can add Hamidou Diallo, assuming he re-signs. But we need to see meaningful minutes for Sekou Doumbouya, Josh Jackson, Frank Jackson, Deividas Sirvydis and Saben Lee. If not, I fear most will not make the team after next season only to go to some other team and flourish. I’d be willing to sacrifice wins and a low playoff seed to ensure the Pistons find minutes for these players. I think the Pistons should try converting Frank Jackson back to point guard during Summer League since there is a logjam at wing. I’m all for continuing the retool by building in-house first, then look to free agency if these players can’t deliver after having received a fair opportunity to prove themselves. Building in-house is cheaper and maintains chemistry.

Langlois: You name seven players who are locks to get ample playing time and then five more who should also get meaningful minutes. Twelve players? It’s pretty tough to accommodate all of that. Injuries have a way of winnowing a rotation down to a manageable number most of the time, though. I don’t expect the Pistons to be especially busy in free agency next month simply because they won’t have a ton of cap space – essentially, I think they’ll be operating as a team over the cap – and also not many roster spots. But I think they’ll go into free agency hoping to land two players who can challenge for rotation spots. Certainly, building in-house is close to a necessity for any teams with aims at competing for a title. Even the Miami Heat teams that won two titles in the last decade after signing free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh were really only able to do that because of the emergence of Dwyane Wade as the free agent who helped pull in James and Bosh. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a champion that didn’t pull significantly from external sources, too, either free agency or trade. Pistons fans understand that well. Jack McCloskey became known as Trader Jack for his deals and supplemented his great Pistons drafts (Hall of Famers Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and  Dennis Rodman, plus John Salley) with trades for Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie Johnson, James Edwards, Rick Mahorn, Adrian Dantley and, finally, Mark Aguirre. The Goin’ to Work Pistons drafted Tayshaun Prince but acquired every other significant contributor via trade. Part of rebuilding is using the cap space it’s possible to accrue from a reset to selectively target talent upgrades. Next summer, the Pistons project to have significant cap space and I suspect they’ll be looking to add more than just players who can compete for a rotation spot at that point.

Ken (Dharamsala, India): What is there about NBA fans that frustrates or bemuses you the most? My problem with fans is that they don’t watch what the four guys off the ball are doing both offensively and defensively. In so doing, they miss much of an intriguing game.

Langlois: It definitely falls under the “bemused” category, but it’s how strongly convicted fans become of opinions they form based on a sliver of knowledge available to them. The draft is a most vivid example. Fans bang the drums for certain players that they have probably seen mostly on YouTube video. I assume they know, on an intellectual level, that the professionals who scout talent for a living and devote scores of hours to analyzing and investigating the backgrounds of several dozen players for months every year are in far better position to accurately assess their ability to translate success from one level of basketball to the NBA. But they sure get emotionally attached to players irrationally and angry that their judgments aren’t shared by the team they follow.

Hevvy (Harper Woods, Mich.): I don’t get all the Josh Jackson trade talk. He got better this year and I think he will continue to get better. I think he will be better than Hamidou Diallo. If we trade him, we will regret it. Remember Khris Middleon, Spencer Dinwiddie. Don’t do it, please.

Langlois: When you look at rosters and speculate which players are most likely to be traded, you tend to rule out the ones who have little trade value or more value to their current team that they’d figure to have in the marketplace. The Pistons have a lot of players – last year’s rookies come to mind – who surely would stir up trade interest but are too early in their careers for their trade value to make it an appropriate time for the Pistons to pursue that avenue. For a specific example, I think if the Pistons were intent on trading Saddiq Bey right now, they’d generate a lot of interest. But the value he brings to the Pistons figures to become much greater over the next few seasons, making it very unlikely any team would offer enough to make it a worthwhile risk for the Pistons at this time. Josh Jackson is perhaps the most obvious Pistons player in that sweet spot – a likelihood of holding value for other teams, but only one year of team control left for the Pistons – that makes him a trade candidate. Other teams do similar calculations. It’s not likely other general managers are picking up the phone to inquire about the availability of Isaiah Stewart or Killian Hayes at this point. But they see Jackson – one year left on his contract at a very manageable figure, a player ready to step in and contribute and defend at a high level with some scoring punch to boot – and those with a need for what he can offer are likely to consider him a player within reach. For the teams that need a versatile wing with two-way ability that won’t cost an arm and a leg to obtain and don’t fill their need in free agency, Jackson is someone who’ll generate some buzz. I don’t think the Pistons are necessarily eager to move him, but the emergence of other players – Bey and Hamidou Diallo, most prominently – has put the Pistons in a different spot than they were when Troy Weaver spotted Jackson as an undervalued asset on the market last fall.

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Pistons Mailbag - July 21, 2021

What the Pistons choose to do with the No. 1 pick and whether or not it ends with Cade Cunningham donning a Pistons cap on draft night is the dominant theme of this week’s edition of Pistons Mailbag.

Ian (Westland, Mich.): I trust that Troy Weaver will make the right choice but I think the right choice has to include the Pistons coming away with either Cade Cunningham or Jalen Green.

Langlois: You’re doubling the list of acceptable outcomes according to my informal Twitter survey of Pistons fans. I’d be willing to wager a dollar that you’ll be happy on July 30.

Zachary (Detroit): Cade Cunningham should CLEARLY be the No. 1 pick for the Pistons, but how high is Troy Weaver on Cade? Also, does Weaver know the fans of Detroit want Cade as our pick?

Langlois: A fan base that wants its general manager to make picks based on its consensus opinion is destined to be a disappointed group. How about you let the guy who picked two NBA All-Rookie choices at 16 and 19 in his first try at this do his job on July 29? Pretty sure you’ll be pleased with the outcome. As for how high Weaver is on Cunningham, I would expect we’ll only learn the answer to that if the Pistons, indeed, draft Cunningham at No. 1.

Matthew LaFave (@MatthewLaFave): Any idea when Cade Cunningham’s draft workout will be?

Langlois: Nope. But it’s pretty normal for players in the running for the No. 1 pick to hold their workout(s) – players of that caliber usually have a very limited number of teams they’ll agree to accommodate – in the last week or so before the draft. And to call it a “workout” might be a stretch. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cunningham never steps on the court at the Pistons Performance Center other than to tour the facilities. He’ll probably meet with Dwane Casey and Troy Weaver and their staffs, perhaps even with Pistons business executives or ownership, but a workout is unlikely. They know what he can do. The biggest thing with Cunningham, Jalen Green and whomever else the Pistons are seriously considering is to make sure the basis for a healthy working relationship exists. It’s for peace of mind on both ends: for the Pistons that they’re wisely expending their most valuable asset – the No. 1 pick in a draft considered perhaps the strongest in a decade is an extraordinary asset – and for the prospective newest Piston that he’s coming to an organization that will look out for his best interests and help him develop into the best possible version of himself.

Langlois: With the caveat that I remain skeptical a package of 37, 42 and 52 will get the Pistons back into the first round, the bottom of the first round is filled with teams that might be incentivized to remove the cap hold linked to the first-round guarantee by trading out. The last six picks in the round belong to the Clippers, Nuggets, Nets, 76ers, Suns and Jazz. If they’re looking to get out and scanning the list of teams with multiple second-round picks this season to offer in return – on the large assumption that second-round picks this season is what one of those teams would be prioritizing – then the Pistons are an obvious trade partner. I don’t doubt that Troy Weaver would be interested in packaging those picks to move up for the right player, but Weaver also is cognizant of (a) a Pistons roster crunch, (b) a roster already tilting heavily toward young players that gets even younger if two of the few roster openings go to two more first-round picks and (c) a lack of future second-round picks in the assets drawer. So, yeah, I think if a player Weaver has as a top-10 or -12 talent is still there in the mid-20s he might well act on intelligence he’s accumulated regarding the possibility to move back into the first round. But I think the likelier outcome is the Pistons trade out of one or two or those picks for future second-rounders or use one or two of them to draft an international stash candidate.

@luke.s.012/IG: Is there anything that suggests the Pistons will trade down?

Langlois: Nothing beyond speculation. Speculation over trading the No. 1 pick exceeds actual trades that involve the No. 1 pick by roughly a million to one historically. I fully expect the Pistons to keep the pick. But, hey, you never know. If somebody is crazy in love with a player and makes a crazy offer to see said player wearing his team’s uniform, anything is possible.

@mikevp10/IG: Any word on what the Rockets have offered to move up a spot in the draft?

Langlois: There’s no indication they’ve offered anything at this point. If there’s a deal to be made – and, again, those types of deals don’t happen very often – it probably won’t happen until within a 48-hour window prior to the July 29 draft.

Peter (Jackson, Mich.): There has not been any news on the ankle injury Isaiah Stewart suffered in practice with the Select Team. Could you give Pistons fans an update? How serious was it? Will he be able to play in Summer League? Will he be ready for training camp?

Langlois: Pretty sure no news is good news on this front. All indications are it was a minor issue. I’m not sure how the Pistons plan to deploy their rookies in Summer League, but Stewart and Saddiq Bey both had such prominent roles with the Pistons in 2020-21 that they’re probably first in line to cede playing time to players with less certain futures. The Pistons know what they have with those two. It will depend on how they fill out the roster to some degree, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Stewart and Bey don’t wind up atop the minutes leaderboard for the Summer League Pistons.

@sportswithfatima/IG: What do you think about Sekou Doumbouya’s future with the Pistons?

Langlois: Any outcome remains possible. Doumbouya was thought to be a raw prospect when the Pistons drafted him and dealing with a global pandemic that hamstrung the way the NBA typically does business for more than a year didn’t help push his development forward. Losing the G League opportunity when what Doumbouya needed more than anything was real, live, five-on-five basketball was costly for him. He’s one of only two players that Pistons general manager Troy Weaver didn’t acquire, which might not mean much but at least clouds his value to the team with an important decision approaching on whether or not to pick up his fourth-year option at a fairly significant number, $5.5 million. We don’t know for sure yet that Doumbouya will be part of the Summer League Pistons, but I would expect him to be and it will be a good first step for him to show greater consistency and effectiveness in that environment.

John Bambo (@AldrinBambo): It seems we have way too many prospects at the perimeter position. Which of them do you think has really impressed Troy Weaver?

Langlois: Well, Weaver acquired pretty much all of them. Everybody who finished the season on the roster other than 2019 draft picks Sekou Doumbouya and Deividas Sirvydis were Weaver acquisitions and only Sirvydis of them is a perimeter player. I don’t know that the Pistons really have “too many” prospects, only that almost all of the players at those positions are of a similar age and remain largely unfinished products. Weaver traded for Hamidou Diallo ahead of his restricted free agency, so it’s logical to assume he made the trade with the intention of keeping him. There’s surely enough room for Killian Hayes and Saben Lee at point guard with Diallo and Frank Jackson, another restricted free agent, in the backcourt given Diallo’s defensively versatility. Sirvydis has another guaranteed year on his contract and I doubt he’s going anywhere. He’ll be a fixture of the Motor City Cruise lineup, I would expect, and a big season there could help Sirvydis solidify a future with the Pistons. Josh Jackson’s defensive versatility and size make him different enough from all the others to separate him from the field. You’d like more 3-point shooting from the group, but other than that they check a lot of boxes.

Oliver (Tartu, Estonia): Any information about the construction of the Motor City Cruise roster? Is Rob Murphy part of the Pistons draft process? Some of the players working out for the Pistons these days are actually candidates for the Cruise roster. Can you name any specific player?

Langlois: The Cruise roster will be put together in increments. I’m sure there are G League veterans that Rob Murphy, Troy Weaver and his staff have identified as potential pieces for the Cruise roster, but those players will have options to weigh – international offers for more money with the trade-off being a more challenging path to the NBA should an opportunity arise. On draft night – actually, before that in many cases – teams contact players who’ve gone undrafted to talk about Summer League rosters and a few of those players are prioritized with some in line for Exhibit 10 contracts that are essentially training camp invitations with some money involved and the possibility of greater opportunity. Murphy has known Weaver for a few decades and I’m sure his opinion is valued, but I think he’s got enough on his plate as president and general manager of the Cruise, where he’s launching a franchise as head of both basketball and business operations. That said, he’s coming directly from college basketball and I’m sure his network of contacts will be of value in the information-gathering process for Weaver and his team.

Kevin (Totowa, N.J.): If a drafted player doesn’t like the terms of the contract he’s being offered, what can be done to sort out a deal?

Langlois: When’s the last time you heard about a rookie holdout in the NBA? Glenn Robinson in 1994 is the answer. Since then, the NBA instituted a rookie salary scale for first-round picks where each of the 30 draft slots is assigned a value that descends from 1 to 30. Teams can offer anywhere between 80 and 120 percent of that value and it’s become standard practice to offer the full 120 percent. There’s no such scale for second-round picks but players who aren’t picked in the first round have precious little leverage. They’re almost always signing for the league minimum with the only variance the length of the contract and the number of guaranteed years. Their best chance to make the sort of money that matters is to sign early and get to work. Once they establish themselves as NBA players, they’re in a better position to negotiate when it’s time to sign a second contract.

Thomas (New York City): If we assume that Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green reach their ceilings and that Killian Hayes and the other young Pistons do, too (a pleasant thought!), is there an argument that Green would be the better pick? That potential for crunch-time scoring with superior athleticism seems so attractive and teams need that kind of player to win in the playoffs.

Langlois: I don’t know that it would be wise to try to factor in the projected development arcs of everybody on the roster when considering how to execute a decision as critical as the No. 1 pick. The most important thing to weigh for Troy Weaver is which player from this draft class is likely to become the best player. Part of that is deciding the ceilings of each prospect but hand in hand with that is the likelihood of reaching that ceiling. I think the clear reason that Cade Cunningham is pretty much everybody’s No. 1 prospect is they’re all pretty sure that Cunningham is a good bet to hit his mark, so even if some believe Green has a higher ceiling they’re still going with Cunningham as the top prospect based on his more certain outcome. Weaver has to weigh those factors as part of his calculation. Worrying about fit and how a prospect might fit with a fully realized Killian Hayes? That runs the risk of poisoning the pool of knowledge and making a bad decision.

Mason Gerstenschlager (@MasonGerstensc2): I saw an interesting trade proposal with Houston where the Pistons trade No. 1 for Houston’s No. 2 plus Houston’s first-round pick next year along with a 2023 top-five protected second-round pick.

Langlois: Interesting, indeed. What’s the difference in value between the first and second picks? The answer is the delta between what the guy with the No. 1 pick thinks about the difference in value between the top two players on his board vs. what the guy with the No. 2 picks sees as the difference. If Troy Weaver thinks it’s basically a coin flip but Rockets GM Rafael Stone sees one player as markedly better than everyone else, then the Pistons could leverage that difference into a bounty. If the gap isn’t very wide, then Stone is only going to go so far to move up one spot. If Weaver thinks there’s a big difference between his top player and whoever is second for him, then there’s probably no realistic trade offer that he’d accept. All of that is basically unknowable for us unless the two general managers publicly declare their scouting reports.

Rick (Adamstown, Md.): How would you compare Cade Cunningham as a player to Magic Johnson in college?

Langlois: I wouldn’t put that burden on him. Magic Johnson is the greatest passer in the history of basketball and, for my money, the greatest player. If we’re going to compare Cunningham to a player from the pre-2000 days, I stick with Grant Hill. Hill was an outstanding playmaker, as Cunningham appears to be, but I don’t see either possessing the otherworldly vision Magic possessed.

@klupton2403/IG: What do you think the chances are that the Pistons make the playoffs next year?

Langlois: Going from 20 wins (the equivalent of a 23-win season over an 82-game schedule) to the playoffs would be a dramatic leap. I wouldn’t put it out of the question, especially with the NBA sticking with the play-in tournament. Every team’s young players should benefit from having a normal summer development program they were robbed of last year, but the Pistons simply have more young players who stand to benefit than almost every other team. And they’re the only team adding the No. 1 pick in an outstanding draft. The Pistons point differential last season of minus-4.5 was smaller than five other teams and better by nearly or more than half that of four teams – Orlando (9.3), Cleveland (8.5), Houston (7.9) and Oklahoma City (10.6). The Pistons were competitive in a lot of games and lost more than their share of close ones, befitting a team with such inexperience and little familiarity with each other. It stands to reason they’ll win a few more of those types of games next season with a more talented, more experienced, more stable roster. They’ll still be relatively inexperienced and likely still have the ball in the hands of very young players – Killian Hayes and potentially the No. 1 overall pick – at the end of games, so they’re still probably going to take their share of lumps in close games for a while. But, yeah, they’ll be better in 2021-22. The problem with saying they’ll make the playoffs is identifying the team(s) they’ll have to jump to do so. All of those teams expect to be better next season, too, and they’ll all have a chance to do so.

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Pistons Mailbag - July 14, 2021

Rob Murphy easily remembers when he first met Troy Weaver.

It was the spring of 2003 when Weaver was an assistant at Syracuse under Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim. Led by freshman star Carmelo Anthony, the Orangemen were marching toward the school’s first NCAA title.

Murphy, whose coaching career began in the Detroit Public School League, had just completed his first season as an assistant at Kent State.

Weaver, who was the lead recruiter in landing Anthony, picked Murphy’s brain about Detroit high school prospects. But the discussion went beyond basketball.

“When we talked, we just talked about life, sometimes basketball, but more about life, more about family, more about what we were doing for the community,” Murphy told Pistons.com recently.

The two became friends and when the Detroit Pistons, led by Weaver, were searching for someone to lead the new G-League franchise that begins play next fall, Murphy’s name quickly moved to the forefront.

Murphy, 48, was named president and general manager of the Motor City Cruise in March. In overseeing basketball and business operations, he is believed to be the only person to combine both roles in the G League. He left Eastern Michigan after 10 seasons, coaching the Eagles to 166 victories, the second most in program history.

He is responsible for more than the Cruise roster, which will play in the under-construction arena on the Wayne State campus.

He is overseeing the hiring of basketball and business operations staff. He is using the creativity learned in managing a cash-strapped mid-major collegiate program to guide marketing and sales efforts of the new franchise. He will use his vast Detroit connections to create partnerships and manage the relationship with Wayne State, who will share the arena for its men’s and women’s basketball teams.

“I'm excited that the opportunity comes in my hometown of Detroit,” Murphy said. “Growing up here during the Bad Boy era and understanding the rich tradition of the Pistons organization means a lot to me. I'm very thankful and appreciative of (vice chairman) Arn Tellem and (general manager) Troy Weaver for their belief in me to come in and help lay a solid foundation for the Motor City Cruise.

“I'm just looking forward to getting started.”

Detroit coaching legend Perry Watson first noticed Murphy when he was starring for Detroit Mumford as a prep standout in the backcourt alongside teammate Oronde Taliaferro, who is now a Pistons scout.

Watson is quick to point out the Murphy was not a threat to his powerful Detroit Southwestern squads in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But he followed his career and was glad to hire Murphy, who was coaching in the Detroit Public School league, to work camps when Watson was later the head coach at Detroit Mercy. He quickly became one of Murphy’s mentors.

“Rob always impressed me as a guy that was motivated, wanted to learn,” Watson said. “We've talked every time he's made a move, and I cherish that because young guys should reach out to people that have been there and done that.”

After graduating from Central (Ohio) State, Murphy was hired as associate head coach at Detroit Central from 1996-99 with Central winning the Class A title in 1998. He was hired as head coach at Detroit Crockett where the school won the Class B state title in 2001.

“That was probably the biggest grind in coaching,” Murphy said. “We didn't have any facilities. For those four years at Crockett, I would use different recreational centers and use other gyms, through my relationships, just to have practice. It was one of my most gratifying coaching moments, being able to build that program from scratch and have some success.”

He left to join the Kent State staff as an assistant where he met Weaver, who was instrumental in Murphy’s next step. Before leaving Syracuse to take a scouting position with the Utah Jazz, he called Murphy to gauge his interest in Syracuse, one of the programs he followed as a youth. A few days later, Murphy joined the Syracuse staff based largely on Weaver’s recommendation.

“You're talking about a 72-hour span,” Murphy said. “I went from not even thinking about a high-level job. I'm working at Kent State and then 72 hours later I was working at Syracuse University.

After a successful tenure at Syracuse, Murphy was hired to coach Eastern Michigan in 2011.

But at the collegiate level, it is more than basketball. It is especially true at a place like Eastern, which lacks the resources of schools like Syracuse or Michigan.

“When you work at a mid-major program that's under-resourced, you have to raise money through the donors, you talk to the sponsors and help raise money for the entire athletic program,” Murphy said. “I had a lot of business interactions at Eastern.”

He is proud of his foundation, which he started while coaching at Eastern. The entire experience will be helpful for the Cruise.

The G League franchise was announced last summer when the Pistons purchased the Phoenix Suns affiliate. Pistons owner Tom Gores decided to engage the fan base to pick a name and after many suggestions were submitted, Cruise was chosen.

“Our new G League team will create an affordable entertainment option in Detroit and also play an important role in our player development goals,” Gores said.

The move ends the Pistons’ affiliation with the Grand Rapids G League franchise, but it allows for player development to occur a short distance from the Henry Ford-Pistons Performance Center, which fulfils a franchise goal. Pistons center Tyler Cook, who turned a couple of two-way deals into a standard contract, credits his stint in the G League bubble earlier this for gaining notice.

“My improvement was pretty drastic in terms of my numbers and my production and my overall feel for the game itself,” Cook said. “Having that opportunity to go out there and improve my game and work on things that I've been working on all this season was huge for me.”

But basketball is only one half of Murphy’s responsibilities. Conversation quickly turns to his ideas for generating G League interest in the competitive Detroit sports market.

“You engage the community and get create interest from the younger groups, the younger kids,” Murphy said. “You talk to youth during basketball clinics, making sure you have education days.”

At the PPC, he splits time with business operations and basketball staff. He has an office located a few steps from Pistons chief business officer Mike Zavodsky’s. The PPC is sparsely populated as workplace COVID restrictions are just now starting to ease, but he is quick to chat up the business side personnel on hand to get the lay of the land. He has hit the ground running as roughly $500,000 in sponsorships and partnerships were generated during the first 30 days of his tenure.

But those initial chats with Weaver is where it started.

“We talked about having great symmetry with the Pistons,” Weaver said. “We'll be connected in every way we are fortunate enough to get a Detroiter. I think he will be a tremendous asset for our organization and the community going forward. He's a welcome addition and I can't wait to get him going. We're excited about him joining the Pistons family.”

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Why Detroit native Rob Murphy was hired to lead the G League’s Motor City Cruise

The Core Four, the draft, free agency, the futures of Cory Joseph and Dennis Smith Jr. – it’s all under one roof in this week’s edition of Pistons Mailbag.

Mack_donald3/IG: Do we get another top-tier scorer in free agency with the Core Four looking good?

Langlois: They’re not going to have as much to spend as they did last fall, but they could conceivably put together as much as they agreed to commit to Jerami Grant. Can Troy Weaver possibly find the 2021 equivalent to Grant in free agency? If he feels that guy is out there, then I would expect they’d prefer to commit all of their free-agent dollars on one very good free agent rather than spreading it around to three or four players this time. In a perfect world, that player would be an above-average and high-volume 3-point shooter. But you can’t invent what isn’t available. Scorers, particularly scorers who influence scouting reports as 3-point shooters, will be in high demand. The Pistons found one at a bargain last off-season, though, in Frank Jackson. Maybe they’ll go into the off-season feeling their player development program – given the history of young players generally improving as 3-point shooters – will be enough to sufficiently remedy their 3-point deficiency and decide to invest first in the best available talent upgrade.

Langlois: He traded Kennard and four future seconds to the Clippers for the 19th pick used to take Saddiq Bey. In the Bruce Brown trade to Brooklyn, the Pistons received Toronto’s 2021 second-round pick – and that trade looks a lot different today than it did in November. If Weaver was betting Toronto’s season wasn’t going to end in a playoff berth, he hit the jackpot. That pick as of this morning is now 37th, the area of the draft where nearly every season there’s at least one player who goes on to significantly outperform his draft slot. The top 10 of the second round is usually pretty fertile territory. The Pistons got Saben Lee at 38 in November. In 2019, players still available at 37 included Daniel Gafford, Eric Paschall, Jaylen Nowell, Isaiah Roby, Talen Horton-Tucker, Terrance Mann and Jalen McDaniels. In 2018, Gary Trent Jr., Jarred Vanderbilt, Bruce Brown, Hamidou Diallo, De’Anthony Melton and Svi Mykhailiuk all went 37th or later. If you’re asking what it would take to trade into the first round in the 10 to 20 range, I don’t know that it’s very realistic for this season. Frank Jackson can’t be traded as a pending restricted free agent. I think Josh Jackson would have some trade value in a vacuum, but the draft wouldn’t be a likely time for it to happen. Last year was an anomaly in many respects. The trade moratorium got lifted two days before the draft, which came two days before free agency. And it was an even more unique set of circumstances for the Pistons, who had a new general manager who hadn’t been able to make any moves for his first five months on the job and had a clear idea of the type of roster he wanted. The inclusion of four second-rounders in the Clippers deal made that a most unusual trade. But future second-round picks hold a little more weight than giving up three defined second-round picks all in one draft because there’s not much a team can do with them at that point. Future second-rounders are great to have on hand to throw into deals to close them, but part of their appeal is always the chance you’ll stumble into an unexpectedly good pick – the way the Pistons have with Toronto’s pick this season. On draft night, the Charlotte and Los Angeles Lakers picks the Pistons have will be defined – they’re currently 42nd and 51st. The 42nd  pick is still in the range where a solid player or two is found every draft, but 51st by itself would hold very little value. So throwing those picks on top of a young player isn’t going to yield a pick in the 10 to 20 range, almost certainly.

Philip (Auburn Hills, Mich.): From my understanding, whether we sign Dennis Smith Jr. or not, his restricted free agent minimum signing goes against our cap for next season. With that in mind and the small amount of cap space we’ll have to sign players, doesn’t it make sense to sign Smith to a two-year contract?

Langlois: That’s not quite how it works. Dennis Smith Jr. has a cap hold of $7.7 million that’s based on his draft slot and the rookie contract that accompanied it as the No. 9 pick in 2017. If the Pistons extend a qualifying offer, that stays on their books when free agency starts and Smith becomes a restricted free agent. But if they decide not to extend the qualifying offer, then Smith becomes an unrestricted free agent and the Pistons lose Bird rights. It’s possible the Pistons want Smith back at a lesser number. Of course, letting him hit unrestricted free agency means they’d have no advantage over any other team at that point. But there’s a way to make it work if the Pistons decide they want Smith back but at a lesser number – extend the qualifying offer but quickly come to terms with him on a contract at a lower number. Once that deal is signed, then the new number would replace the qualifying offer on the cap sheet. So, for instance, say they signed him for two years with a first-year salary of $4 million. The $4 million would replace the $7.7 million on the cap sheet.

Christopher.hrbal/IG: What are the chances that Cory Joseph is kept next season?

Langlois: It is assumed that the Pistons will choose not to pick up the fully guaranteed portion of Cory Joseph’s contract ($12.6 million), instead paying the guaranteed portion ($2.4 million) to make him an unrestricted free agent. If that were the case, then Joseph would be free to seek the best opportunity. He’s talked about how much he loves playing for Dwane Casey and Detroit is about as close to his Toronto home as you can get without actually playing for the Raptors. Casey, I’m sure, would love to have him back. The Pistons, obviously, are invested in Killian Hayes and Saben Lee for the future, but they are almost certain to be on the hunt for a veteran point guard in free agency. It might come down to what happens on draft night. If the Pistons were to draft Jalen Suggs, for instance, that point guard room might look a little too crowded for Joseph, who at 29 isn’t ready to accept an end-of-bench mentorship role. He’ll want a situation where, at minimum, he’ll be the de facto backup point guard. If he sees that possibility with the Pistons, even with Hayes and Lee in the picture, then I think there’s a chance he’s back.

Lou (Indio, Calif.): Do you think we can target John Collins in free agency?

Langlois: One reason Collins and the Atlanta Hawks didn’t come to terms on a long-term deal before the season started was that Collins reportedly wanted a maximum contract. Will he get that from another team? It only takes one to see him as worth that number. For the 2020-21 season, a maximum contract for a player of Collins’ tenure starts with a first-year salary of more than $27 million. The Pistons would be well short of that in the best-case scenario. (They could conceivably have about $20 million in cap space.) There won’t be a ton of teams that can offer Collins that without clearing space somehow. It might be that a sign and trade is the most likely way Collins changes teams this off-season. Whether the Pistons would be among his suitors is anyone’s guess. The draft comes first and that could shape free agency for the Pistons this season in a way it wasn’t going to last fall when Troy Weaver was essentially starting with a blank slate. The Pistons see Jerami Grant as primarily a power forward. I know we’re in an era of largely position-less basketball and Grant could easily slide to small forward, but it might seem odd to invest heavily in power forwards two straight years in free agency and have the two highest-paid players on the team – by a wide, wide margin over the third-highest – play primarily at power forward. Collins can give you minutes at center, but Mason Plumlee and Isaiah Stewart are still there. If the Pistons were to concentrate their resources on a single free agent this off-season, my guess is that it would be for a perimeter scorer and specifically a 3-point shooter who fits with Killian Hayes. But, again, the draft comes first. If the Pistons get a top-five pick, how they spend it will be a factor in how they attack free agency.

Xrwashpun/IG: Who’s a better fit: Jalen Green or Evan Mobley?

Langlois: Who’s going to be the better, more valuable player in 2024? That’s your answer. Fit isn’t much of a concern – zero or close enough to it – for the Pistons roster at this stage. I don’t see any concerns of duplication with any of the top draft prospects if the Pistons were to be so fortunate as to land a top-three pick in the June 22 lottery. The Pistons have a lot of candidates at shooting guard – Josh Jackson, Hamidou Diallo, Frank Jackson – but none that would prevent them from drafting Green if Troy Weaver sees a star in the making. They have Isaiah Stewart, Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee at center and power forward but none of that would preclude them drafting Mobley if Weaver sees a difference maker. Who has the best chance of being widely recognized as a top-25 player by the time his rookie contract is up? That’s your answer.

Andrew_c_8/IG: Best alongside Killian Hayes: Cade Cunningham or Jalen Green? Jalen Green or Jalen Suggs?

Langlois: Jalen Rose would’ve been interesting, too! The answer is similar to the answer above: The one Troy Weaver believes has the brightest NBA future will be the one who fits best next to Killian Hayes. Hayes has looked comfortable in the past two games when a backcourt numbers crunch led to Hayes playing off the ball alongside Saben Lee for good chunks of the games. Hayes himself says he likes going back and forth between backcourt spots. So a Hayes-Suggs backcourt where they can take turns running the point and exploiting defensive matchups to their advantage would be intriguing. Cunningham is more in the Grant Hill mode of a playmaking wing, so that would be a very easy fit, as well. If it’s Green, it would mean more of Hayes as the point guard, but there’s no issue with that if Green hits his mark as a premier scorer. If Weaver thinks all three of those players are destined for big things, I’m sure he’d be happy to pick third in that scenario.

Charles (Redford Twp., Mich.): Game after game, Killian Hayes’ turnovers are equaling his assists. Saben Lee outplays Hayes, yet Hayes gets more minutes and starts. Do you think this is sending the wrong message to the new crop of second-round draft picks the Pistons will be selecting?

Langlois: One of the reasons Dwane Casey second-guessed himself for starting Hayes coming out of the gates this season was the difference in the challenge between going against starting point guards and backups. He came off the bench for eight games when he returned from his hip injury in early April. So start with that. Starting and going against the likes of Russell Westbrook, Kyle Lowry, Kemba Walker, Trae Young, Jrue Holiday, et al, has to be overwhelming for a 19-year-old coming from the German pro league. Hayes experienced the same issue with turnovers in Germany in the first half of last season, too, then adjusted and the problem dissipated. You’re overstating it by saying his turnovers equal his assists. It happened four times in the seven games he played to start the season before the injury, but four times in 17 games since he’s been back. He’s averaging 5.3 assists and 3.3 turnovers a game and, yes, his average of 6.4 turnovers per 100 possessions is too many and the highest on the roster (Josh Jackson is next at 4.6). But he’s a rookie point guard – a rookie point guard breaking into the NBA under the most challenging circumstances given the COVID-19 pandemic and the timing of the draft relative to the start of training camp – finding his way. As for future second-round picks and messages being received, the fact Saben Lee has played more than 700 minutes as a second-rounder on a two-way contract should give them all the reason they need for optimism that Dwane Casey will give them a fair shake. And if that doesn’t do it, he could remind them that he seemed to do right by second-rounder Norm Powell and undrafted Fred VanVleet in Toronto.

Mike (Windsor, Ontario): Is it possible Saben Lee is not retained next season?

Langlois: I’d say that’s a 99 percent probability. The Pistons love him – love, love, love Saben Lee. Dwane Casey says Lee is the rookie with the most natural leadership qualities. He’s athletic, strong, tough and has adapted well to becoming a playmaker. He’s a reasonably reliable perimeter shot away from becoming the permanent backup with the possibility of more as he matures and gains experience.

Ken (Dharamsala, India): The Pistons have three second-round picks in the upcoming draft. That’s a little bit of capital, but what can they realistically do with them?

Langlois: Touched on it a little in my response to Seckin above, but the Toronto pick now is especially attractive. Given Troy Weaver’s ability to spot underappreciated talent, my guess is that becomes something worth getting excited about in July. Based on Saben Lee’s experience, I’d guess that pick is destined to be one of the two-way contracts next season. Another realistic possibility is that becomes a player the Pistons decide to draft and stash. The pick they get from Charlotte as part of the Derrick Rose trade with the Knicks is on the cusp of where the dropoff between “reasonable chance to stick” and “taking a shot on someone with an identifiable NBA skill” usually comes. I think the safest bet is that there will not be three second-round 2021 draft picks on the Pistons roster come opening night next October. It’s possible the Pistons use one on a two-way player, one on a stash player and trade one for a future second.

Kinn (Manila, Philippines): Due to the pandemic and fewer fans watching at the games means less profit for the teams. Does this affect the salary of players? Is there an expected reduction of the salary cap coming soon?

Langlois: The NBA and the Players Association came to a reported agreement in November about how to handle the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of the collective bargaining agreement. The salary cap for the 2020-21 season stayed at its 2019-20 levels instead of taking the anticipated jump of around 5 percent. The cap will increase by no less than 3 percent but no more than 10 percent in subsequent seasons remaining under the current CBA. They made some adjustments to the escrow withholdings from player salaries, as well. But, no, there is no anticipated reduction coming in the cap – only a likely slower growth rate until the full impact of the pandemic is behind us.

Ian (Westland, Mich.): After looking at the stats of the great point guards, it appears to me that many make their biggest gains and achieve star-caliber status in their fourth year. We should at least give Killian Hayes four years to show what he’s got and develop because he does have the passing and defending game down already. He could also become one of the game’s elite passers. Yes, there are things he needs to work on, including limiting turnovers, his efficiency, the right hand and attacking the basket. But I’m excited to see his growth.

Langlois: Your point is well taken. Rookies who come to the NBA as 19-year-olds should not be prematurely judged. The Pistons will judge Hayes by how steadily and rapidly he shows progress. I don’t think anyone who watched him in December and sees him today would deny that he’s taken some big strides despite the severe hardship of having three months of his rookie season wiped out by a hip injury that kept him off the court for most of that time as he rehabilitated and worked on strength and conditioning. Hayes has an intriguing toolkit with his size, vision and passing creativity. The fact he’s been a high 80s/low 90s foul shooter in Europe says he’s got all the shooting touch required to become an above-average to elite shooter. Repetitions are the thing he needs now. That he was able to return from the hip injury this season and show improvement so soon after such a long absence is extremely encouraging. It’s going to give him and everyone around him peace of mind heading to a very important off-season. Remember, he didn’t have any supervised program last summer because of the pandemic. This summer, he’ll have an entire organization – the medical staff, the nutritionists, the strength and conditioning side, the development coaches – alongside him. I think we’re going to see a big jump next season. By year four, he’ll still be a 22-year-old and still improving. But I don’t think we’ll have to wait that long for Hayes to show he’s a bona fide NBA point guard.

Kirk (Fairborn, Ohio): Our three future rookie stars shot 4 of 23 in the game with Charlotte last week. The statement was made that it was the third game in four nights and they looked like it. Two or three years ago, these young pups were playing four games a day or even eight to 10 games in a weekend. With respect to this brand-new world of physicality, I’m honestly interested in why one game a day even with travel is so wearing?

Langlois: Apples and oranges. Or more like apples and aardvarks. AAU games do not equate to NBA games. And especially not for elite players – the kind who tend to wind up in the NBA – who are excused for taking off every other defensive possession if they choose because they’re so essential to the offensive end. And AAU tournaments offer a level playing field. If one team is playing its second game of the day, so is the opponent. When the Pistons hosted Charlotte last week, the Hornets had been off the night before – in Detroit, waiting to play – while the Pistons were playing Orlando. The numbers don’t lie. Teams playing on back to backs against teams with a rest advantage don’t do well. And veteran coaches will tell you that young players – the ones you’d expect to have the energy to withstand that physical assault – fare worse than veterans in back to backs. Veterans, they’ll tell you, understand how to play effectively when their tank is running low. And it’s not just the physical toll but the mental exertion, as well. Absorbing all of the game plans and the opposition scouting reports to know the tendencies of players you’ve not seen before or seen rarely is another hurdle.

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Pistons Mailbag - May 12, 2021

Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, the Motor City Cruise, the lottery, the 2021 draft, free agency – we hit on a little bit of everything in the latest edition of Pistons Mailbag.

Lou (Indio, Calif.): Do you think we can live with the point guard of our future shooting 33 percent overall and 25 percent from three? I don’t see the potential yet.

Langlois: He’s taken 148 shots in 21 games. As sample sizes go, that’s pretty tiny. And the circumstances under which he’s played this season – no Summer League, thrust into the starting lineup a few weeks after finding out which team had drafted him, taking the jump from Germany to the NBA, playing in a foreign country – were more than a little daunting. Through all of that, I see the potential pretty clearly. He’s got great size, vision and zip on his passes and that’s a heck of a starter kit for a point guard. He’s got terrific hands and is already a good defender, rare for a rookie. The adjustment to the size, speed and length of NBA defenders speeds the game up just enough to skew the shooting numbers now. If by this time next season they haven’t taken a jump, we’ll talk.

@andrew.pek/IG: Would the Pistons avoid drafting Jalen Suggs because of Hayes’ development?

Langlois: There are a few ways of interpreting your question. Do you mean because Hayes has shown good development since returning from injury they wouldn’t want to draft another player who projects as a point guard? Or do you mean the Pistons would avoid drafting another point guard on the belief that it would hinder Hayes’ future development? Bottom line, in either case, I believe that there’s only one thing that would keep the Pistons from drafting Jalen Suggs: If Troy Weaver doesn’t think he’s the best player available at wherever the Pistons wind up picking. I’ve said this in different ways to different questions, but I don’t believe the current Pistons roster construction is going to have any impact on Weaver’s draft execution. If you buy the hype that there are five players in this draft who would have been the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft and if the Pistons are fortunate enough to wind up with a top-five pick – and the only guarantee of that is to have the NBA’s worst record, which appears firmly in Houston’s grasp with only a half-dozen games remaining – then this is Weaver’s chance to get a high-impact player. And when those types of players are available, you don’t fret for one second about roster fit. And, by the way, I think Suggs and Hayes would be perfectly compatible if it comes to that. They’ve both got great size, so unlike the Cleveland backcourt, for instance, where they’ve paired Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, you wouldn’t have to worry about being exploited defensively because of a backcourt size deficiency. Suggs and Hayes could play together for however many minutes a game they wanted them to overlap.

Langlois: Dwane Casey has rhapsodized about the impact of having the G League affiliate, the Cruise, sharing the same practice facility and having them play home games a brisk walk away from the Pistons Performance Center – and Little Caesars Arena, for that matter. They’ll all be within about 2 miles of each other in the heart of Detroit. Casey often cites the way young players in his Toronto tenure would practice with the Raptors in the morning, play a game with the Raptors 905 G League team in Toronto that night and be back at practice with the Raptors the next day. Sekou Doumbouya, Deividas Sirvydis and Saben Lee, for sure, would have been on a similar regimen this season if things hadn’t been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Cruise had been playing in Detroit this season. It’s likely all three will get some time with the Cruise next season – perhaps even if they’re in the playing rotation for the Pistons. Casey says they used players such as Pascal Siakam, Norm Powell and Fred VanVleet that way for the Raptors even after they’d worked their way into the NBA rotation. Troy Weaver had the same experience in Oklahoma City where the G League Blue team played in an arena, part of the city’s convention center, literally across the street from the Thunder’s arena.

@damehates2k/IG: Saddiq Bey or Beef Stew?

Langlois: Hmmm. Both. It’s not a decision the Pistons have to make, so … both.

BLM (@TreadUponStars5): I know this isn’t a question, but the Pistons better take Cade Cunningham with the first pick – no excuses.

Langlois: If you can arrange it so they get the first pick, that would be optimal. Look, if the Pistons get the No. 1 pick, Pistons fans should rest easy that the decision will be in Troy Weaver’s hands. He seemed to do OK with the draft last November.

@zalman_127/IG: Who do you think we should take in the draft?

Langlois: There seems broad consensus that Cade Cunningham is the No. 1 pick, though I suspect there are a few general managers who haven’t quite made that determination yet. Final boards aren’t put together until 24-48 hours before the draft by most front offices because that’s not something you do until all the information is at hand and there is still a lot of information to be gleaned even if there aren’t any more actual games to be played by the top prospects. But the Pistons, even if they were to finish with one of the three worst records, will have no more than a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 pick. If the Pistons stay where they are as of this morning – in the No. 2 spot – by far their single greatest likely outcome is to pick fifth. There would be a 27.8 percent chance of landing the fifth pick and that’s almost as twice as likely as any other single outcome. In order, their chances of landing each of the top six picks – they could pick no lower than sixth if they were to go into the June 22 lottery in the No. 2 position – would be 14.0, 13.4, 12.7, 12.0, 27.8 and 20.0. So there’s a one in five chance that four teams could leapfrog the Pistons and push them to sixth – so a better chance four teams jump the Pistons than there is a shot that the Pistons land the top pick. Wherever they land on that spectrum, they’re going to take the player Troy Weaver thinks has the brightest NBA future. And, once more, I don’t think Weaver is going to spend much time worrying about roster fit with whomever he decides to draft.

Abu (San Antonio): The Pistons were eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend. What do they need to address in the draft to ensure they make the playoffs next season?

Langlois: The draft will be one piece of an improved product. I’d say the No. 1 piece will be a summer of development for the entire roster, which should be considerable when you look at the fact that they have 11 players 24 or under and four 20 or under. I mean, the six 22 or under – and it was seven until Frank Jackson turned 23 on Tuesday – that’s a college team. And you would fully expect a college team returning seven key players to take a significant year-over-year leap. Then comes the draft. And what they need to do to address maximizing help in the draft is to guarantee a positive outcome in the June 22 lottery. Not much they can do about that in a game of chance. But a top-five pick in a draft considered very top heavy would surely improve the talent base. Then there’s trades and free agency. Given Troy Weaver’s track record, it’s fair to guess there will be activity on that front. I don’t know that all of those things can “ensure” they make the playoffs next season because, well, teams that take playoff spots this season aren’t giving them up easily. But I think the odds are better that with 11 days to go next season – the spot we’re in now this season – the Pistons are more likely to be fighting for a play-in berth than looking at lottery odds.

Ottapide (@ottapide): How much cap space do the Pistons have this summer?

Langlois: There are a lot of moving parts, but the Pistons can get to about $20 million in cap space. There won’t be a ton of roster spots open, assuming it’s a priority to retain restricted free agents Frank Jackson and Hamidou Diallo, so it’s possible the Pistons use all or the bulk of that money on one player this time around if Troy Weaver and Dwane Casey feel as strongly about someone as Weaver felt about Jerami Grant last off-season.

Darrell (Detroit): Were the Pistons to land a top-three pick to start alongside Killian Hayes and use their roughly $20 million in cap space to sign 3-point shooters Doug McDermott and either Bobby Portis or Kelly Olynyk to back up Saddiq Bey and Jerami Grant, and retain Cory Joseph at a much smaller salary, they could make a lot of noise in the Eastern Conference. That’s a lot of ifs, but none of those scenarios are long shots. There wouldn’t be much of a drop-off with a second unit of Joseph, Josh Jackson, McDermott, Portis/Olynyk and Stewart or Plumlee. If the team managed to creatively retain Frank Jackson and Hamidou Diallo, they’d be 12 to 15 deep not including the three second-round picks.

Langlois: I think Frank Jackson has put himself squarely in position to be a fixture of the second unit next season. It’s not inconceivable he presses to start – he played a team-high 35 minutes while coming off the bench in Monday’s game – but why mess with success? I’d say the odds are that both Jackson and Diallo, coming off a career-high 35 points in Tuesday’s narrow loss to Charlotte, are back. The Pistons didn’t trade for Diallo to let him walk, not given the history between Weaver and Diallo from Oklahoma City. They didn’t invest much in Jackson, picking up him after Oklahoma City waived him and giving him only a two-way contract, but he’s emerged as a consistent bench scorer and a 40 percent 3-point shooter who’s athleticism also makes him a threat off the dribble. Dwane Casey has been an enthusiastic supporter all season and has made him a permanent part of the rotation for two months once the NBA lifted restrictions on the use of two-way players. Jackson has been just as enthusiastic in his embrace of his opportunity here and, presumably, is inclined to keep it going here.

Seckin (@SeckinKIRCl17): If I understand Troy Weaver’s talent criteria correctly, I think he takes a close look at Kai Jones. He fits the profile, in my opinion. What do you think in terms of fit? If the Pistons fall out of the top five, he is my favorite prospect.

Langlois: If there’s a consistent top five for the 2021 NBA draft – Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga – there is zero consensus about who comprises the next five. There are probably no fewer than a dozen candidates to be the sixth pick. Sure, Kai Jones fits into that tier. And Weaver is on record as saying he loves big men. So Jones, a native of the Bahamas who landed at a New England prep school and was the No. 50 consensus recruit in the class of 2019 before spending two years at Texas, naturally would be on the radar if the Pistons get pushed to sixth in the lottery. And, perhaps, even if they land in the top five. There is no guarantee – perhaps not even a likelihood – that Weaver sees the top five as the consensus sees it.

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Pistons Mailbag - May 5, 2021

Rob Murphy was coming of age in Detroit when the Bad Boys reigned over the NBA and were beloved in the city. As he began his coaching career in the same Detroit Public School League where he played as a student at Mumford High, the aspirational goal to be involved at basketball’s highest level, the NBA, never really left him.

Through stints as a championship coach at Detroit Crockett High, assistant gigs at Kent State and under Jim Boeheim at Syracuse – a steppingstone he shares with Pistons general manager Troy Weaver, whom Murphy considers not only a friend but a mentor – and for the last 10 years as head coach at Eastern Michigan, it remained a latent quest for Murphy, immersed in the university and broader Ypsilanti communities while becoming the second winningest coach of all time at EMU.

But opportunity and aspiration met for the 47-year-old this week when Murphy took a trailblazing job as the president and general manager of the Motor City Cruise, the G League affiliate of the Pistons that begins play later this year in a new arena on Wayne State University’s campus.

“I’ve always wanted to work at the highest level of basketball all my life,” Murphy said Wednesday as his hiring was announced. “Once Troy got the job last year, I immediately had some thoughts about maybe this could be an opportunity – I could work in the NBA for my hometown team I grew up around.”

As president and general manager, Murphy will be responsible for all phases of Cruise operation where he’ll be able to marry his instincts for spotting and developing basketball players with the skills he picked up as a mid-major head coach, where part of the job is to cultivate relationships with donors and sponsors to help fund the program and the larger athletic department.

Murphy said he’ll lean on Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem, chief business officer Mike Zavodsky and executive vice president of operations Josh Bartelstein for help on the business side and work with Weaver, assistant GM David Mincberg and coach Dwane Casey on the basketball side over the next several months before the Cruise begin their maiden season.

“I have to get in there and really have those conversations,” he said. “I’ll let those guys lead and figure out which way we’ll go in building out the team. I believe I’m a great talent evaluator, but I’ll let those guys lead. On the business side, in these infant stages I want to jump in and learn and get some direction and then sort of lead the way from there.”

In searching for underappreciated talent that might one day be developed into NBA-caliber players, there probably won’t be much separation between the evaluations of Weaver and Murphy. Murphy was named his team’s best defensive player as a senior at Wilberforce (Ohio) and he values the same traits in players that Weaver has worked to add to the Pistons, turning over the entire roster since his June hire save for second-year forward Sekou Doumbouya.

“Toughness, mentally and physically,” Murphy said in describing the profile of a player who would appeal to Weaver. “Playing extremely hard. Having a high basketball IQ is important in really understanding the game. He wants to recruit guys that are willing to work and being great teammates and great in the community. That’s what he stands for and that’s what we’ll continue to look for.”

The Henry Ford Pistons Performance Center in Detroit’s New Center area was built with the idea of housing a G League team in mind, so the Pistons and Cruise will share a roof there and Cruise home games will be a short car ride – or walk – away at Wayne State. Murphy’s college roots will serve him well as he unearths partnership opportunities and creates career paths for Wayne State students with the Cruise.

Murphy launched the Rob Murphy Foundation while coaching at Eastern Michigan, which created community-based programs including The Reading Challenge and Gift of Sharing for underserved youth in Ypsilanti and Detroit. Those experiences will serve him well while working for an organization that under owner Tom Gores has made community service an abiding principle.

“It’s a huge step. I’ve been in a leadership position at Eastern Michigan, but to be able to become a president and general manager of a G League team is unbelievable,” Murphy said. “For Tom Gores, Arn Tellem and Troy Weaver to have a belief in me, I’m forever thankful. I’m thankful and grateful and ready to knock it out of the park.”

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Hometown kid Rob Murphy ready to ‘knock it out of the park’ as Motor City Cruise president & GM

Pistons.com

DETROIT – The Motor City Cruise announced today that Rob Murphy has been named President and General Manager for the Detroit Pistons NBA G League affiliate.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.  The former collegiate head coach will oversee basketball operations for the team while using his deep connections within the Detroit community and administrative acumen to grow and oversee business operations for the franchise.

“Rob Murphy is the perfect person to lead the Motor City Cruise and we are pleased to welcome him to the Pistons organization,” said Arn Tellem, Vice Chairman for the Detroit Pistons.  “His basketball knowledge is well documented and given that he was born and raised in Detroit, Rob’s relationships throughout the city and region will help drive business and growth opportunities for the future.”

Murphy, 47, joins the Pistons after spending the past 10 seasons as men’s head basketball coach at Eastern Michigan University.  Murphy accumulated 166 wins at EMU and is the second all-time winningest coach in the program’s history.  He led the Eagles to three 20-win seasons and three postseason appearances while building one of the most stifling defenses in college basketball during his tenure.  Eastern Michigan won its first Mid-American Conference West Division Championship during Murphy’s first season (2011-12) and he was named MAC Coach of the Year and NABC District 14 Coach of the Year.  Other highlights of his EMU coaching career included winning the Jamaican Classic Championship, the EMU Tip-Off Classic and defeating Big Ten foes, Michigan and Purdue.  Murphy graduated 36 of 38 (95%) student-athletes while at EMU, the best academic showing in the program’s history, and philanthropically, he’s initiated a number of community programs through the Rob Murphy Foundation (The Reading Challenge, Gift of Sharing) tailored for under-served youth in the Ypsilanti and Detroit communities.

Murphy began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Kent State University and then spent seven years as an assistant coach under Jim Boeheim at Syracuse University (2004-11).  The Orangemen recorded a 180-67 record during his time at the school and made the postseason each year with five NCAA appearances and two NIT berths.

Pistons General Manager Troy Weaver noted that similar basketball philosophies will create great synergy and understanding as they work to build the Pistons and Cruise franchises in unison.

“Rob brings tremendous knowledge, creativity and leadership to our executive team,” said Weaver.  “He’ll work collaboratively with both the basketball and business sides of the Pistons organization to ensure we have systems in place that maximize the development potential of the Cruise franchise.”

A graduate of Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, Murphy was a two-year starter on the basketball team and the team’s defensive player of the year as a senior.  Following graduation, he returned to Detroit to begin his coaching career at Detroit Central H.S. as the associate head coach in 1996-98.  Central won the state Class A championship in 1997-98 after finishing runner-up in 1996-97.  Murphy then moved to become the head boy’s basketball coach at Crockett H.S. where they won three consecutive Class B District titles (2000-2002) and captured the state championship in 2000-01.  He was named All-Metro Coach of the Year by the Detroit Free Press in the same season. Murphy’s Crockett teams compiled a 64-27 record over a four-year span.

“It’s an honor for me to join the Pistons organization and lead the newest professional sports franchise in Detroit, the Motor City Cruise,” said Murphy.  “I thank Tom Gores for providing this opportunity and I’m excited to work with Arn, Troy, Dwane Casey, Mike Zavodsky and the rest of the leadership team in building long-term success on and off the court while fostering a culture that will help us achieve our collective goals.”