00:12good morning it's Tuesday two grand slam 25 minutes away Jim Costa
00:16John Jansen Heather Park Gov and Greg behind the glass
00:20twiddling our thumbs waiting for another playoff basketball game for the Pistons
00:25I expect them to bounce back at home on Wednesday
00:27but as we sit between games we are left with Jalen Duren's performance from game one to stew over
00:36my question is this are we sure he's a max player well they weren't at the beginning of the season
00:43right and then he went out and had an all-star season right it's going to get some most improved
00:48player votes but just because you're an all-star doesn't mean you're a max player no and I want
00:54to pop open the hood he is not an elite rim defender he does not shoot the ball like other
01:00elite centers do right his post-up game is limited at this point in his career he catches oops and
01:09he
01:09rebounds he does both at a high level but does that make you a max player if other teams can
01:15simply pack the paint and take you out of the game the way they did in game one are you
01:20a max player
01:23it's complex yep and I say that because it's if you get if you max him out what are you
01:34doing
01:37with an are you willing to go out there and sign another max so you'd have three obviously Cade's
01:44one of them you would have Jalen Duren but to make Cade more effective you need another shooter are you
01:52willing to go out and max another guy to bring and make Cade better and if you have that you
01:58have
01:59that threat behind the arc does it then unlock more of Jalen Duren it would yes because you'd have
02:06to respect the jump shooting the corner threes the the pick and pops so I would be okay with it
02:15as long as you're willing to go out there and spend more money but they're going to end up running
02:19up
02:19against the cap here that's it's not going to be as simple it depends on how much you want to
02:23pay
02:24in terms of luxury tax right so are we saying Duren is your number three I would think so right
02:34and they just don't have a number two right now correct can you have three maxes and still keep
02:40players like a sir Thompson who by the way is part of this thing as well okay see does they've
02:46got
02:46three max guys um and I just had that list right in front of me where is that uh sorry
02:53I
02:54apologize you're good oh it's it's on this one uh Shea Gildersand Alexander Jayla Williams and
03:00Chet Holmgren so it there are teams that are willing to do it and I don't think anybody's going to
03:07sit
03:08there and say um oh well Tom Gores isn't willing to spend money we've already seen he's willing to
03:13spend money not to nerd out you can go over aprons and and soft caps to keep your own
03:20it's a lot harder to add external players in and they don't have that current no they would have
03:27to be it would probably require trades more than free agency to do so it requires some surgery right
03:34with the salary cap sheet look at the same time you're not letting Duren walk it's gonna be a
03:39restricted free agent you match any salary you'd keep him you'd work out a deal I just wonder if the
03:45playoffs are going to be this litmus test because clearly they weren't sold coming into the year and
03:49the playoffs are where you're going to be judged I mean there have been teams in today's three point
03:53barrage era where centers get run off the floor they just get run off the floor and can't play in
03:59certain lineups I mean look Wemby's the best center if not it's Jokic right both shoot if you ask me
04:10who
04:10are some of the other bright young centers in the league Evan Mobley shot blocker at least the threat of
04:18a
04:18jump shot right Chet Holmgren who you just mentioned is going to get paid big money
04:22shot blocker better rim protector than than Jalen Duren is and can step out and shoot a little bit
04:28I'm not saying Duren's skill set is irrelevant or unimportant it's just a question of how valuable
04:33is it right well and and I guess it just depends on what is it that you'll be matching
04:40you know if he gets a contract offer for somebody else what are you matching at that point
04:44and then what can you go out and still spend how about these texts first batch and I was worried
04:51people are going to get mad at me like you can't say this he's been such a good player oh
04:54people do
04:55not feel like he's a max player this text says he's thicker Andre Drummond
05:02I mean how do you argue that Andre Drummond without the shoulder hair
05:09if the year was 1985 yes Duren is a max player but in the modern NBA he's simply not his
05:16defense is
05:17wishy-washy he has no offensive game outside the paint he can't pass he can't handle the ball he's
05:22an old-school center which I think is fairly replaceable at the moment no I'm not giving him
05:27north of 40 million dollars a season I never thought JD was anywhere near a max level player now the
05:34playoff game a couple games ago a couple days ago certainly didn't help his case no um and so I
05:41guess there's a couple questions if you let him walk and you don't match a contractor you don't max
05:47him out well you trade him at that point because he's restricted for you right you trade him who are
05:51you getting in return it have to be part of a deal where you're getting you know a fairly significant
05:58running mate for Cade Cunningham right and so I mean it's it they're kind of in this position where
06:02are they locked into doing this they might be but it's a world where he's the trade ship
06:08he's 20 the other question is he's 22 can always get better how much better right can he develop
06:14a shot you know can he develop a 17 foot jumper let alone step behind the arc JD is going
06:23to want
06:23a max level contract and if that's the case I'm looking at a side trade to get at least something
06:27back for him because I know on no planet am I giving him that big of a contract another text
06:33the worst position you can be as an NBA franchise is having a fringe max player max players should
06:38be like borderline hall of famers if you have to debate it's a no the problem is you also have
06:43to
06:43pay him because if you don't someone else will right there's the complicated part you're kind of
06:49locked into making a I don't want to say a bad decision but one that's not advantageous to your cap
06:55I love that text I think calling him a fringe max player and pointing out the fact that's the
07:00worst thing that you can yep actually do I like okay you guys willing to go backwards a little bit
07:04here whatever the outcome is if you don't max them out see because they probably will right yeah I mean
07:12it depends on you're looking at a trade this summer that's what you'd want to do if you weren't going
07:17to keep them right right what are you getting in return that team that team is maxing them out
07:22probably right yes they'd have to be comfortable doing that yeah and are you to get better and not
07:28take a step back are you including somebody else in that trade so you can get somebody better in
07:33return yeah I mean not not knowing what you're getting in return makes this a very you know touchy
07:41thing that I'm not asking people to call in and do the entire offseason when we're only one game
07:46into the playoffs and I expect this team to advance through this round of the playoffs but it's a
07:50question about during because he was a story in game one they took him out of the game he had
07:54four
07:54shots he didn't have a double digit points or rebounds and the question is the playoffs are a
08:00different animal if teams can pack the paint and you don't offer anything else and you're not an elite
08:04rim protector on the other end that's not a max profile that's not a player who you profile as a
08:09dude
08:09who you make the second highest paid player on your team if our question has been for a while now
08:14who is
08:14your robin and he has a playoff series like this or a postseason like this he's not your robin and
08:20now
08:20you got to figure it out I'm not asking everybody to have all the solutions today but is your read
08:25that he's a max player or is your read that he's not is there can you go out in free
08:30agency or trades
08:31and get a three-point assassin that you don't have to max out that you can be a compliment to
08:39the all
08:40the compliments that we talked about open the paint up for Jalen Duren and make things easier on Kate
08:44and you still got b-ball Paul and you got beef stew who defends the rim and shoots the three
08:47like
08:49you know what I'm saying yeah yeah but I mean how do you manage that how do you where do
08:53you go for
08:54it let's get to Joe in St. Clair Shores Joe good morning hey good morning guys you got me a
09:00little
09:00fired up this morning I'm not gonna lie I I just uh you know all season long we talk about
09:06the growth
09:06that Jalen Duren's made this and that how when Cade was out this guy was out here carrying our team
09:1235 points 12 rebounds and nobody was dogging on him one bad game in the playoffs everybody's ready to
09:19drown him in the water I just this guy is a 75 free throw shooter it's not that he can't
09:25pick a pop
09:26we don't ask him to pick and pop and if we're gonna blame anybody I understand Asar Thompson is one
09:31of the
09:32best defenders in the league but he clogs the paint for Jalen Duren as well he needs to be able
09:38to shoot
09:39he needs to be able to space the floor and create more opportunity it's not just Jalen Duren that's
09:46the problem no but the trade-off with Asar is I get elite defense all NBA defense Duren clogs the
09:52floor
09:53and doesn't give me elite defense understandably it's not as elite as you'd like it to be
10:02but he again he's still what 23 years old 22 I think 22 exactly this guy is this guy is
10:11going to
10:11continue to grow I think we need to put more on his plate we don't we've never asked him to
10:18pick and
10:19pop and I think he can be that player we just don't ever ask Joe I think I think they
10:24may ask
10:25him to do it then because look if this is how it's going to be in the playoffs whether it's
10:28this round
10:29or the next round yeah that gets you exposed if you can't I I absolutely agree with that and I'm
10:37not
10:37I'm just saying unfortunately all season long we've been saying we got to pay this guy we got to pay
10:43this
10:43guy we got to pay this guy and then all of a sudden I turn on the radio this morning
10:46there's a hundred
10:47people saying whoa this guy sucks we need to get rid of him hold on a couple things no one's
10:52saying
10:52he sucks but I think the playoffs are when you make that evaluation like in Trajan Langdon's case
10:56he didn't max out Duren he wanted him to earn it and I can't believe you don't earn it in
11:02the regular
11:02season you are going to have to earn it in seven game series against other pick and pop bigs other
11:07elite rim protectors the best of the best and if your style hurts your team that that's Trajan's taking
11:14notes right and no one's saying he sucks but is he limited that's and that's the question 248-539-9797
11:23we got plenty of response coming in on this I'm not saying this to be inflammatory I'm simply asking
11:28the question is he a max player it's 97-1
11:32you
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