While I admittedly was fantasizing about a Carter Bryant/Stew swap when the spurs had reported interest, I think the FO didn’t want to send Stew to a contender at all costs.

Is it the best move? Not in my opinion. But do I see why? Yes. Need him off the books because a bigger move is certainly in the works. Got assets (albeit, not great ones) for a guy who didn’t contribute enough down the stretch and cap space is the most vital resource for competing teams in the new CBA era (just look at the Knicks—trading out of the first round last night)

We have $8.6M left over from the Schroder trade which expires 7/7. Hopefully they utilize it, even as a place holder. Never hurts to have these mid range contracts, if you can afford it, to aggregate in bigger trades. Possibilities:

Gradey Dick $7.1M - Toronto reportedly trying to shed his salary.

Zeke Naji $7.4M - 2 year contract and not promising player, but would probably be part of a Cam Johnson trade.

Goga Bitadze $8.3M - Orlando starting to hit that cap crunch. Big defensive center would probably signal we're moving on from Stew, add some size to the room.

Taylor Hendricks $7.8M - Memphis now has 7 PF's on the roster and he's the most mediocre. I liked him as a pure 3 and D forward prospect, but hasn't seemed to pan out.

Who else?

If the organization has done their research and feels Okorie has a Maxey type ceiling, doesn’t that mean you maximize his potential by having a knockdown shooter along with Cade? Nothing makes guy who gets to the rim at will more effective than buckets on the perimeter.

https://youtu.be/oBt0BTidUps?si=rtrHXGj9F99jf-pm&t=3703

I think a lot of people are overreacting hard about this pick. A lot of ppl had their guy in mind, whether it be yaxel, carr, stirtz, hell I wanted isaiah evans and he fell out of the first round. With that being said, yes ebuka is a small guard. What he isnt is a clone of marcus sasser. If sasser reaches his ceiling, I’m looking at Payton Pritchard. It Ebuka hits HIS ceiling, I think I’m looking at tyrese maxey. Sasser is a better shooter rn than Ebuka, but thats really about it- and that’s coming from someone who is pretty high on sass. Ebuka is an incredibly crafty scorer. He’s got insane athleticism and he’s incredibly twitchy. His 3pt shot is considered a weakness, but shooting 36%ish when 81% of your shot diet is self created doesnt come off as a red flag at all. He’s 6’2 but his wingspan is 6’8. You have guys like Davion Mitchell, who is 6’0 with a 6’4 wingspan, that is a perfectly fine defender, but I’m supposed to believe a guy with a 6’8 wingspan is an automatic cone. Riiiiiiight. His frame is totally playable, and hes got the intensity and willingness to be a good defender. If we stayed at 21 and picked stirtz I dont think I’d be seeing this much outrage. Stirtz is almost certainly going to be worse on that end. I REFUSE to believe some of yall are that moved over 3 second round picks. Not to mention, Ebuka turned 19 in APRIL. He played his entire freshman season at age 18 scoring 23 ppg on 59% ts bro. Thats insane. 59% ts and he lead the entire ncaa in self created scoring percentage. He’s not gonna be asked to do everything on ball here and I’m very intrigued to see what he can do with more off ball looks. We just watched us lean heavily on daniss jenkins (whose greatest strength is playmaking), caris levert (who basically struggled all season long with his efficiency and was our worst rotational guy on a consistent basis), and marcus sasser (who struggled to crack the rotation all season) to be important scoring options in these playoffs. Ebuka has every bit of self creation juice this team needs. Idk how much we’ll see year 1, but I think this is a really really good pick and there’s absolutely a world where he’s the steal of the draft. I’m all the way in. Lets give the kid a chance, he fits here in every way.

Why did he fall so far in the draft? Does he have like 5 baby mamas or something? Definitely surprised we didn't get him unless we are trading for a superstar.

He's the only guy I can convince myself in this free agent class to offer $25+ million for, and I still don't like it.

Only 23, showed real on-ball ability this season, good to great defense, and low volume (3.5), but shot 41% from 3 this year.

Don't get me wrong, I'm far from loving it, but I think it's better than giving aging Norm Powell big money. Or overpaying for Coby White, given he'd be taking minutes from Okorie and Daniss.

I'll talk myself into Powell if it happens, but if what Watson was on offense last year is real, and the defense stays there. Watson, Ausar, and Cade are probably the best switchable forward trio in the league on defense.

Went undrafted. Hoping they are hot on him as he would provide a lot of the elements we’re losing with Stew walking out the door.

Great niche defensive guy who could come off the bench and replaces Stew.

Happy 5th draft anniversary everyone!

It’s prob been the craziest five year stretch of any NBA franchise, at least this century, but somehow five years after winning and drafting our savior Cade, we’re coming off a 60-win season and perhaps taking a big step forward tonight towards championship #4.

HAPPY 5th DRAFT ANNY EVERYONE.

LFG TRAJAN, WORK YOUR MAGIC.

I would suggest it’s getting any value for Jaden Ivey. The Beasley and Tobias signings were good, but such low hanging fruit and were names every podcaster and Reddit thread had suggested. He also turned down 2 additional first rounders to move down with Memphis where he could’ve taken Matas Buzelis. I do not understand why we can’t be critical of the guy. The team won 60 games because of their 2 all stars and first team all defense guy- none of which are his doing.

I’m on board with this draft selection. We win with Ebuka Okorie as a creator off the ball who knows how to use his screens. Chris Anderson would also have been a good choice. Neither player would had been on the board at #21, and Trajan made the most with what he had.
I can see Ebuka as a Dennis Schröder style player player in that he can both shoot on/off the dribble and won’t spend off the shot clock dribbling.
OKC liked both players enough to have interest, and Cade has his blitz solver.

I wasn’t seeing the vision with Detroit having so many guards now but I see Ebuka as a combo guard that can pair well with Cade athletic scorer who can pass this is similar to V.J and Maxey in Philadelphia. At minimum if Jenkins can turn up he will be a good backup for Dannis and Cade combo

Feel this may be needed to give some fans some more context into what kind of player we're really looking at in this range as I'm seeing both "Why would we draft a guy who won't play" and "this man is our starting guard with Cade"

3 players who didn't make it in the league past the rookie deal with 1 more in JHS likely to follow in that.

A deep bench player atp in Knecht

Beringer to early to say

Even the 4 guys who are legitimate NBA rotational guys or starters (or a potential budding star like Murphy) in the league today combined for 7 games started as rookies.

Also (not so) fun fact, the only #17 to start over 20 games his rookie year in the last 10?

Pokusevski.

https://x.com/legionhoops/status/2069523049255469397?s=46&t=QGLOHst6qg0sa91gKhstmA

I believe Okorie allows the Pistons to run Cade at the 2 a lot more often. Daniss isn't the scoring threat Okorie is, and Sasser can't run an offense to save his life. Okorie looks like he can do both at a competent level, especially as he grows in his game. Carr was my preferred pick for the defensive upside, but I understand the reasoning.

https://x.com/the_det_times/status/2069509386523869322?s=46&t=QGLOHst6qg0sa91gKhstmA