2019-20 Detroit Pistons

**401don** · June-20-19, 04:53 PM

I know everyone is excited about tonight's draft.

Before you think the Pistons can't get a really good player with the no. 15 pick, keep in mind the Raptors don't have a single player on their roster who was a lottery pick. The highest pick on their roster? Kawhi Leonard - no. 15. Most valuable player on an NBA roster is the general manager.

**Lowell** · June-20-19, 08:25 PM

Sekou Doumbouya PF, FRANCE
Height: 6-9, Weight: 209
The Pistons probably didn't think he'd be available here, and neither did I. Doumbouya has a top-10 skill set, and he is 18 with so much potential. He's a great talent defensively but also growing into it as an offensive player.

**DetroitSoldier** · June-20-19, 09:02 PM

I think this kid has tremendous potential. But he is so extremely young. I would have much rather had the experience of Kevin Porter if Gores is dead set on winning now with Griffin/Drummond/Jackson. But i wont rate this as a bad pick.

**DetroitSoldier** · June-20-19, 09:58 PM

Ok now I am upset. They had the chance to get Porter Jr again at number 30 thanks to the Snell trade. Then they give it to Cleveland for cash and future second rounders [[speculation). I am very confused.

**EGrant** · June-21-19, 06:13 AM

I really like the Sekou pick. At 15, you most likely aren't going to draft a guy that will change the franchise immediately.

Not sure I understand what they did with the 30th pick/second rounders though.

**401don** · June-21-19, 06:34 AM

I like the Sekou pick. The dummies will say he's Darko 2.0 just because he's foreign born. Gores has to defend the Griffin situation but they're never going to win with him and those "other 2" so they are better to look for upside in the future. I agree about the the other move. Maybe they thought Porter Jr. wouldn't be available and didn't think there was anything else they liked.

**Smirnoff** · June-21-19, 07:36 AM

Youngest [[18) in the draft, I see it as another long term "project".....

Stefanski: "Puts the ball on the floor pretty well, good athlete, I think his shot is getting better and he played against men in a good league over there".

Yep, all the traits of a superstar & what an NBA championship team is seeking, sure glad he didn't play against women in a good or bad league.....WTF?

**Lowell** · June-21-19, 08:52 AM

He might be 18 but he has a couple of years as a pro [Limoges, France] under his belt. Living that life with its rigors and already earning money etc vs. campus life means he doesn't have to go through those adjustments.

**EGrant** · June-21-19, 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Yep, all the traits of a superstar & what an NBA championship team is seeking, sure glad he didn't play against women in a good or bad league.....WTF?

He means "men" in the sense that he was playing against grown men in France playing professional basketball, not high school games and defense-free AAU tournaments like people his age in America.

The Pistons have Casey, who was key in developing guys like Siakam and VanVleet, and the asst. coach who aided Giannis' development in Milwaukee [[Sean Sweeney).

**Hypestyles** · June-21-19, 11:52 AM

so who is a free agent by the end of next season, on the Pistons?

**EGrant** · June-21-19, 02:52 PM

Drummond [[but he'll probably opt-in at $28 mil)
Reggie Jackson [[$18 mil)
Langston Galloway [[$7.3 mil)
Thon [[$3.5 mil)
Josh freaking Smith's stretch provision [[$5.3 mil)

So they'll have $34.1 million coming off the books, and the salary cap should be around $8 million higher.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · June-21-19, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by Smirnoff

Youngest [[18) in the draft, I see it as another long term "project".....

Stefanski: "Puts the ball on the floor pretty well, good athlete, I think his shot is getting better and he played against men in a good league over there".

Yep, all the traits of a superstar & what an NBA championship team is seeking, sure glad he didn't play against women in a good or bad league.....WTF?

Stefanski is hoping Doumbouya becomes Pascal Siakam, 2.0. I would have took the " Human Pogo Stick" which is Brandon Clarke, from Gonzaga, he's NBA ready, and was there for the taking. Sekou is a project, at best. Detroit obviously is not in win now mode. The euro player, probably stays overseas for a year or two, and they didn't address losing Ish Smith, unless they sign a F.A.

**Smirnoff** · June-25-19, 06:53 AM

For all those "project" & "hope" believer's - lets not forget another 18-yr old draft "project":

Darko Milicic was selected by the Detroit Pistons as the second overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft ahead of players such as Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh & Dwyane Wade.

FYI: Darko never received significant playing time during his 2 ¹⁄₂ seasons & traded to the Orlando Magic in 2006.

**Smirnoff** · June-25-19, 07:33 AM

Seems rather odd that other teams totally passed on Doumbouya until he fell into the Pistons’ lap at 15th?

Forgot, per Stefanski, "he played against men".....

**sirrealone** · June-25-19, 08:18 AM

Darko was also given zero playing time by Larry Brown, who had no interest at all in developing him.

Skills and work ethic aside, when a guy is drafted #2 with all the hype that he came with and then relegated to the end of the bench and becomes an immediate afterthought, that's going to mess with your head. Especially a kid that young. I'm not saying that if he'd been treated differently that things would have worked out better, but Larry Brown did him absolutely no favors. I don't think that Darko would have ever lived up to his draft position regardless, but I think with a coach that would have spent time developing him, he could have been more than he was.

I loved Larry Brown and that he brought this team a championship, but at the same time, I hope that Casey realizes that when you get a developmental guy, you have to spend time actually developing him if you expect him to contribute.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · June-25-19, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by sirrealone

Darko was also given zero playing time by Larry Brown, who had no interest at all in developing him.

Skills and work ethic aside, when a guy is drafted #2 with all the hype that he came with and then relegated to the end of the bench and becomes an immediate afterthought, that's going to mess with your head. Especially a kid that young. I'm not saying that if he'd been treated differently that things would have worked out better, but Larry Brown did him absolutely no favors. I don't think that Darko would have ever lived up to his draft position regardless, but I think with a coach that would have spent time developing him, he could have been more than he was.

I loved Larry Brown and that he brought this team a championship, but at the same time, I hope that Casey realizes that when you get a developmental guy, you have to spend time actually developing him if you expect him to contribute.

Great points. And the reasoning why they didn't draft Carmelo Anthony was they had and were developing Tayshaun Prince, who was obviously a great defender, but Melo was a big-time scorer. Larry Brown while guiding them to the title, had his eyes set on becoming the Knicks HC, which eventually came to fruition a year later.

**EGrant** · June-25-19, 12:09 PM

Are we still comparing every foreign player who we didn't see play in college to Darko? I mean Giannis just won MVP, Rudy Gobert just won Defensive player of the Year and Siakam just won Most Improved Player. Comparing non-Americans to Darko is lazy.

**Smirnoff** · June-25-19, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by sirrealone

Darko was also given zero playing time by Larry Brown, who had no interest at all in developing him.

Exactly correct!

Just like "all" coaches in the NBA, they have to win "Now", not 2-3 development years later....where the median length of tenure is just 2-years.

Common Sense: When I hire somebody at work, I do not want a 2-3 year project to develop, I need to deliver yesterday!

**Smirnoff** · June-25-19, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by EGrant

Are we still comparing every foreign player who we didn't see play in college to Darko? I mean Giannis just won MVP, Rudy Gobert just won Defensive player of the Year and Siakam just won Most Improved Player. Comparing non-Americans to Darko is lazy.

Comparing Darko to those dudes is also lazy, very.....

**Cincinnati_Kid** · June-26-19, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by EGrant

Are we still comparing every foreign player who we didn't see play in college to Darko? I mean Giannis just won MVP, Rudy Gobert just won Defensive player of the Year and Siakam just won Most Improved Player. Comparing non-Americans to Darko is lazy.

And the recently retired, Dirk Nowitzki, was probably the greatest foreign born player ever, along with Hakeem Olajuwon.

**401don** · June-26-19, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

And the recently retired, Dirk Nowitzki, was probably the greatest foreign born player ever, along with Hakeem Olajuwon.

Don't forget Steve Nash!

**softailrider** · June-26-19, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by sirrealone

Darko was also given zero playing time by Larry Brown, who had no interest at all in developing him.

Skills and work ethic aside, when a guy is drafted #2 with all the hype that he came with and then relegated to the end of the bench and becomes an immediate afterthought, that's going to mess with your head. Especially a kid that young. I'm not saying that if he'd been treated differently that things would have worked out better, but Larry Brown did him absolutely no favors. I don't think that Darko would have ever lived up to his draft position regardless, but I think with a coach that would have spent time developing him, he could have been more than he was.

I loved Larry Brown and that he brought this team a championship, but at the same time, I hope that Casey realizes that when you get a developmental guy, you have to spend time actually developing him if you expect him to contribute.

As I have said before it’s too bad that too much of Joe Dumars legacy is tied to that Darko deal. Larry Brown sure didn’t do Darko any favors, I guess he just didn’t like him from the get-go. Brown did not develop him correctly, but the Pistons got a title, so all was well that ended well.

**EGrant** · July-01-19, 07:49 AM

Pistons signed Derrick Rose to a 2-year, $15 million deal. It's the kind of high risk, high potential move you have to make under the current salary constraints. Hopefully he can play a full season, because the Pistons absolutely bottomed out when Ish Smith was injured.

**401don** · July-01-19, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by EGrant

Pistons signed Derrick Rose to a 2-year, $15 million deal. It's the kind of high risk, high potential move you have to make under the current salary constraints. Hopefully he can play a full season, because the Pistons absolutely bottomed out when Ish Smith was injured.

Past his prime.
Injury prone.
He certainly checks all the boxes to be a Piston.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · July-01-19, 12:50 PM

Pistons are underwhelming... Probably the only move they make, until after the season starts. SVG handcuffed this team, something serious. Big free agency day yesterday, and the Pistons had to sit on the sidelines, because of their lack of flexibility.