Whenever I’ve brough up the need to find a balance of talent vs fit on this subreddit I was always met with, ‘you always draft bpa, trade for fit later’, and ‘look at what happened drafting Kennard over DMitch’.
My answer has always been that the Kennard draft isn’t comparable because we didn’t have a Cade level promising young star on the rooster. The situation we currently have imo is largely in part to acquiring too many players with overlapping skills.
Our two best shooters are both over the age of 32, how can you rely on them to stay healthy? We failed to really build around Cade and it’s biting us in the ass. We are so bad that the young players are starting to look really demotivated. I’m seriously concerned that this is gonna hurt the young core development.
People on this subreddit kept saying that 3&D wings are a dime a dozen, but when I look at FA, any half decent wings would cost an arm and leg to bring out here.
We are most likely in a position where we will have to trade some of the young guys for fitting pieces, but since we haven’t done a good job showcasing their skills, we probably won’t get what they’re worth. I’m worried about us trading Ivey for peanuts and him becoming an all star level player somewhere else.
I think this rebuild has so far been about finding a core group of players, deciding which ones to keep and which ones to dish away to bring in pieces that fit better.
Who are those guys primarily? Cade, Duren, and Thompson by my eye. It would be great if Ivey could end up being the front-court partner but I’m not sure if he’ll ever get there. Pistons have pretty much been drafting BPA and when the ping pong balls don’t fall in your favor, you’re not always gonna get the best fitting group.