Pistons’ Twitter Mailbag: Reality, dreams and free-agent risks

It’s that time of the week again, so we are back with another Detroit Pistons’ mailbag courtesy of the readers on Twitter.

In previous mailbags we have covered everything from the Rookie of the Year race to the Draft to free agency.

Today’s questions are a little more hypothetical in nature, dealing with “dream” scenarios and guys who might be risks worth taking in free agency.

But let’s start with a question about reality, specifically why a certain guy hasn’t been picked up by any other teams in the league.

Detroit Pistons mailbag: Reader questions from Twitter

Like most second-round picks KZ Okpala hasn’t gotten much of a chance to show what he can do in the NBA.

I honestly don’t know much about the guy, but I can tell you that there are literally dozens of players who fit into the same category, which is “interesting, good enough for the G-League but still need more work.”

If you are going to be a second-round pick or go undrafted and make the NBA, you generally have to have at least one elite skill that plays in a rotation. If you can shoot like Duncan Robinson, or defend like Herb Jones, teams will overlook other weaknesses.

Okpala doesn’t have an obvious elite skill, so has been lumped in with all of the other 6-foot-9 athletes who can’t shoot, a group that is pretty big.

We’ve seen teams use the G-League more this season because of COVID, so it is somewhat surprising he didn’t get another chance with someone, but there are a lot of guys who fall into the category of “Tweener” in the purgatory between the G-League and the NBA.

He’ll get picked up by someone in Summer League and will have another chance, but teams want forwards who can shoot or defend at a high level, so until he can do one of those things, he could remain on the cusp.

Detroit Pistons mailbag: Reader questions from Twitter

The next two questions deal with dream scenarios for the Detroit Pistons.

Good question. My first instinct would be to take Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is still in his prime and would fit into any lineup seamlessly. How about this for a switchable starting five?

• Cade Cunningham
• Saddiq Bey
• Jerami Grant
• Isaiah Stewart
• Giannis Antetokounmpo

That would be fun and I love Giannis.

The obvious answer is to take Luka Doncic, who is the best under-25 player and is already locked up. He and Cade together in the backcourt would be fun to watch, though they both play a similar style.

But my answer is going to be fellow rookie Evan Mobley. He is already an impact defender, can play and guard multiple positions and is still on a rookie deal. If you are looking to build a foundation for sustainable success, I’d go with Mobley to maximize two rookie deals.

I’m going to go with one that might actually happen instead of just picking the All-NBA team with Cade Cunningham. There are a lot of combinations that could work for the Detroit Pistons, so I’ll give you two.

• Cade Cunningham
• Jaden Ivey
• Saddiq Bey
• Jerami Grant
• Deandre Ayton

OR

• Cade Cunningham
• Miles Bridges
• Saddiq Bey
• Chet Holmgren
• Isaiah Stewart

If the Detroit Pistons had either of those teams in 2023, I would be happy, but there are lots of other potential rosters when you consider the draft and free agency.

Detroit Pistons mailbag: Reader questions from Twitter

Our Canadian friend and staple of early morning international Twitter @rudyjuly2 had a great question about a potential free agent.

Collin Sexton is one of the most interesting free agents this offseason, as he only played 11 games before losing his season to a serious injury.

He’ll be a restricted free agent, so Cleveland can match any offer, but his injury risk might scare them off giving him a long-term deal. It’s possible that he would return to the Cavs on a short-term deal, but Cleveland’s potential reluctance to re-sign him long term could give the Pistons a window.

This is a guy who averaged 24 points per game last season and would seemingly be a nice fit with Cade Cunningham as a scoring guard who can shoot from long range. But there were signs of regression this season and he was taking a back seat to Darius Garland even before the injury.

I guess my answer is: Maybe. If the Pistons could steal him away on a less-than-max deal, he might be worth the risk. But there are some concerns about his injury, his efficiency and whether he was just putting up big numbers on a bad team that didn’t care how many shots he took.

I honestly don’t see shooting guard as a position the Pistons will fill with free agency, as the top guys are unlikely to leave and the Pistons are not in a position to reach for role players who often get overpaid in free agency.

Sure, I’d love to have Zach LaVine or Anfernee Simons or Bradley Beal, but it’s probably not happening. If Detroit falls out of the top-3 of the draft, I think they’ll go with a guard like Jaden Ivey, Johnny Davis or Shaedon Sharpe.

Sexton is interesting but he’ll probably end up signing a one-year deal to rebuild his value and I don’t think it will be with the Detroit Pistons.

Thanks again for all of the great questions! See you again next week.