00:00Doug Harris, Scott Anderson, 97.1, open lines, 2485-3997-97.
00:05Does anybody like Jalen Duren as a basketball player anymore?
00:09And look, you might think he's overpaid.
00:12And I will say one thing in defense of this contract that I think is a part of the calculus
00:18that fans have
00:21that I think they're reading it wrong a little bit.
00:25And I'm fully aware of the shortcomings that were shown in the postseason.
00:29And I've made my thoughts on that, that yes, you're not paying him for what he just did.
00:34You're paying him for what you think he is going to do.
00:36And I have mixed thoughts on what he is going to do next.
00:46But I think part of the flaw in the fans' calculus is that if you have a guy like this
00:52and you don't want him, you prefer a more complete player.
00:59But what you really prefer is what's behind door number two.
01:03Because you get the cap space if you just let his contract expire.
01:07And then you try, you attempt to use that money to go get a better player.
01:15And it's possible.
01:17But you also have no guarantees.
01:19So if you have a player that's good enough to be named third team all NBA in-house that you
01:25can lock up
01:25or take what's behind door number two, the organization decided to lock him up.
01:32And, you know, just because you have the cap space doesn't mean you're going to get a more complete player.
01:40Of course, you target them and you try.
01:43But it really is a gamble.
01:46And sometimes it's a gamble we're taking, to be fair.
01:48But I think organizations tend to say, okay, we've got this guy.
01:53We like this guy.
01:54If we let him go, there's no guarantees we'll get somebody more complete.
01:59Which is, you know, because I don't think the people that run the Pistons are idiots.
02:03It's not like somebody's going to say at a press conference, hey, you signed Jalen Duren.
02:08But he kind of struggled in the postseason.
02:10And those people at the Pistons are going to go, he did?
02:14They know.
02:15But here's my reservation, okay?
02:17And I'm not completely sold on this.
02:19I don't think it's moronic.
02:20But here's what I don't like.
02:23Part of the reason why I'm okay with them paying him moving forward is because he's 22 years old.
02:29And at 22 years old, your game can develop still.
02:32You can add enough.
02:34And I like the fact that they're going to space the floor more this year with better shooters,
02:38which might help Duren along in terms of his offensive capability.
02:44But there's a subtlety here in this contract that I hated.
02:47And that's the weight clause.
02:49I hated that the Pistons put in a weight clause.
02:53And I don't know what he should weigh.
02:54I have no idea what he should weigh.
02:57But part of the reason why I'm okay with paying a 22-year-old is because they know,
03:02the Pistons know how dedicated he is to improving his game.
03:06And yet they still decided to put a weight clause in there.
03:11Like, that scares me a little bit.
03:13And it's because a weight clause is, hey, you have to, we have to motivate you to make weight.
03:23And that, I mean, why else would you put it in there?
03:27No, I'll tell you.
03:28I think it's, I look at it totally differently.
03:30Good.
03:30Help me out.
03:31I look at it as they see a player like Zion Williamson, who is just a force.
03:37He's a beast.
03:38When he's healthy, he's awesome.
03:41But he's hardly ever healthy.
03:43The problem with Zion is he's too damn big.
03:46It's not that he's fat.
03:47He's just too muscular.
03:48He's too big.
03:49He literally blows out of his shoes.
03:52I think what the Pistons were trying to do with that is trying to safeguard against him adding too much
04:01muscle and becoming too big where it's going to be a problem.
04:04You know, when you're 6'10", and you're jumping up in the air, and you're landing on the ground, and
04:08you've added another 20 pounds over the last couple of years because of muscle, that might be an issue.
04:12So I think maybe that's all it is.
04:14We're trying to make sure that we like where you're at right now.
04:18Well, in fact, maybe even if you've got leaner muscles instead of bulky muscle, maybe we'd appreciate that more.
04:24But we're just trying to put this in here to keep everything in check.
04:27So what I'm hoping is that the reason why the Pistons are comfortable doing what they just did is because
04:32they have full-on dedication from the player to be the best that he can be, which means you just
04:37tell them.
04:39Just tell them, hey, you know, because you are fully dedicated, here's the weight we want you at.
04:44You wouldn't have to put a weight clause in there.
04:48Well, if you have a disagreement with the player, the player's like, well, this is what I'm doing.
04:52And they're like, well, this is what I'm doing.
04:52And that bothers me.
04:53That bothers me that they even had to ask for it.
04:55Well, it's one thing.
04:57And that one thing, it's undermining my belief that they totally were on board with him as a player that
05:06wants to develop with no questions asked.
05:10That bothers me.
05:12But anyway.
05:14248-539-9797.
05:16Sam is on 971.
05:17Hello, Sam.
05:19Hey, how are you guys doing?
05:20So, I do, you know, I, of course, I think they overpaid.
05:25I don't think Jalen Duren sucks.
05:28I think he's good during the regular season.
05:30But, you know, the postseason is where, again, he struggles.
05:34But I'm going to hold my reservation for this year to see how they play in the postseason this year.
05:41For the Lions, you know, obviously, can't get Joey Porter.
05:46But with the Chargers having a horrible start, how do you feel about Cam Hart?
05:53You know, because losing record for the Chargers, they might be motivated to get rid of him.
05:58He's a quarterback.
06:02And what do you guys do in the Tigers' bold predictions?
06:05We did it.
06:06We actually did it.
06:07We did it.
06:07We opened it on Wednesday.
06:10Oh, I'll have to go back and listen.
06:12That's okay.
06:13Yeah.
06:14Is it because you want to know about the bullpen prediction I made?
06:18No, about mine.
06:20I don't know if we read yours.
06:21Sorry.
06:22We read a whole bunch.
06:23But, Sam, yeah, we had a bunch of – we read them all on Wednesday.
06:27If you want to go back and listen, it was not early in the show, if I recall correctly.
06:31Ron and McComb is next.
06:32Hi, Ron.
06:33Hey, guys.
06:34I got a couple things here, first of which is, you know, there are a lot of clauses that go
06:39into a contract.
06:40It's not just a wait clause.
06:42He probably can't ride a motorcycle.
06:43He can't stay out on New Year's Eve until 4 a.m.
06:46I mean, there's probably, you know, 50 different things in that contract.
06:49So, focusing on the wait clause, like, you know, they put that one clause in there that was an issue.
06:55To me, that's just general language.
06:57It's probably a lot of contract.
06:59Ron, I will tell you, I hope you're right.
07:01And people are sending and they drop the wait clause.
07:03That's not even the point.
07:04The point is that they asked for it in the first place.
07:07But you very well might be right that this is amongst – but even why?
07:11Why would it become a point of issue that they even – that he had to drop it?
07:15That they had to drop it?
07:17I think that they probably did a final read of the contract and said, you know, is there anything in
07:23here that you really don't like?
07:24Well, I don't like the wait clause.
07:25You know, and that's probably how it evolved.
07:28And I have another point that I don't know.
07:30Nobody's talking about it, and I know it's probably going to be a lightning round, but it is related to
07:33this.
07:34Why is Jaden Ivey a free agent?
07:37I know, listen, he's freedom of speech, blah, blah, blah.
07:41But that guy should be on a roster somewhere, and if all the teams to give him another shot or
07:45give him a shot, it should be the Pistons.
07:47Jaden Ivey was averaging 12-4-4 in 28 minutes a game with the Bulls last year, and he would
07:54be a marked improvement over some of our lower-level guards on our bench.
07:58Well, what would make sense?
08:00They probably know him better than just about any team in the NBA, and if they don't want him, what
08:05does that tell you?
08:07I think it's a CYA move.
08:09That's my opinion.
08:10But, you know, cover your, you know, but I just think that of all teams, to give him another shot,
08:16the guy had a little bit of an emotional meltdown.
08:19You know, he's going through a change in his life, and you know what?
08:22Everybody has a right to their opinions, but at the end of the day, if that was Giannis Antetokounmpo who
08:28said that stuff, he'd be on a roster right now.
08:31Well, I mean, if Jaden Ivey, they believed he was still going to be able to produce, and then it
08:38wasn't going to get in the way.
08:39I mean, he was coming off some serious injuries, too.
08:41I mean, look, I'd love Jaden Ivey.
08:43I wish he were still with the Pistons, but clearly there was some things that created, you know, a wall
08:50between he and the organization and other organizations,
08:54and we'll see if he ends up coming back to the NBA.
08:58I hope he does, you know, maybe he's just misunderstood, and, you know, other players have been misunderstood in the
09:04past, and it's worked out.
09:06We'll see.
09:07But I think the ship has sailed with the Pistons.
09:11Yeah, usually when the whole league doesn't want somebody.
09:15Well, we'll see how long that lasts.
09:17You know, injuries happen, and then people start to look around.
09:20But he was, he had a serious injury, too.
09:23I mean, yes, he did come back from it, but he didn't look like he was anywhere near the player
09:27he was.
09:27Carson Anderson, 97.1.
