Joining the Hardwood Knocks podcast to talk Pistons’ offseason
By Duncan Smith
I had the pleasure of joining Dan Favale and Andrew Bailey on the Hardwood Knocks podcast to talk about the Detroit Pistons’ interesting offseason.
The national media has been hard on the Detroit Pistons this summer. ESPN gave them a D grade and forecast them with 35 wins in the coming season. Bleacher Report awarded the Pistons “Worst Front Office” for their decisions this summer.
More from PistonPowered
- Which Detroit Pistons could save Team USA in the Olympics?
- Detroit Pistons could have major roster churn after 2023-24 season
- The best Detroit Pistons to wear each uniform number
- Full Detroit Pistons NBA 2K24 ratings
- Detroit Pistons: Who will sign the remaining NBA free agents?
I rate the Pistons’ offseason somewhat higher, so what better way to hash out the differences in opinion than to go on the podcast of two Bleacher Report writers, Dan Favale and Andrew Bailey?
Thursday morning I had the opportunity to do just that and joined Dan and Andrew on their Hardwood Knocks podcast. We went in-depth on the decisions made by the Pistons’ front office, including the admittedly questionable and difficult to defend decision to hard-cap themselves 12 hours into free agency for the services of Langston Galloway.
Beyond that, there was a lot to like about what the Pistons did this summer, including upgrading their shooting, adding depth and veteran leadership, all while being able to stay entirely out of the luxury tax in the short term and acquiring Avery Bradley through trade (allowing them to not have to pay what could have been a stiff price for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope).
Next: Why Andre Drummond's surgery should give fans hope
By the end, I’m not sure I convinced Dan and Andrew that the Pistons had a great offseason, and they certainly didn’t convince me that it was awful, but it was a great conversation with a couple of sharp basketball minds looking to add to their knowledge of the Detroit Pistons.