Tim Hardaway Jr. chose to leave the Detroit Pistons in free agency and join the Denver Nuggets instead. But he still had plenty of positive and insightful things to say about his one year in Detroit during a recent podcast appearance.
Last week, Hardaway joined new teammate Cameron Johnson on The Young Man and the Three podcast and much of the conversation centered around the Pistons’ historic turnaround.
Hardaway acknowledged the importance of last year’s veteran additions (himself, Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris) to the Pistons’ success but he gave the bulk of the praise to the young core and the coaching staff.
The Detroit Pistons' young players led the way
THJ said he was impressed by how the young core took accountability after a historically bad season and improved over the summer, but still needed some veteran leadership to show them how to close games. As a fan, I definitely agree with THJ’s assessment and can remember all too well the dread of seeing the Pistons blow lead after lead in the disastrous 14-win season.
The Pistons last year had a completely different identity, with more physicality and focus on defense, than in previous years. Hardaway credited two individuals in particular for this development: coach JB Bickerstaff and backup center Isaiah Stewart.
He praised Bickerstaff as a hard-nosed coach who always demands the most of his players on the defensive end. And he also emphasized how important Stewart is to that defense-minded culture which is reminiscent of previous Pistons championship teams. Beef Stew can be a polarizing player in the Pistons fanbase due to his offensive limitations but both of the players in this interview had great things to say about his defensive and locker room contributions.
Overall, THJ seemed to appreciate being part of a historic turnaround last year and wished the Pistons well in taking the next step forward. He seems to believe that the improvement of the young core will ultimately determine how far the team goes, and I think the front office’s conservative approach to this offseason shows that they share this belief.
The Pistons had to pivot quickly after the Malik Beasley situation emerged, but were never planning to disrupt their young core in search of a big trade.
The front office can see what THJ saw last season, which is a young team that just needed veteran complements, which the Pistons found in Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert to go along with Tobias Harris next season.