Costa and Jansen discuss whether the Pistons should be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.
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00:00John, Pistons have a decision to make a week from tomorrow.
00:04Are they buyers?
00:05Are they sellers?
00:06Do they stand pat?
00:08Pistons have surprised people this year, fighting up to a sixth seed at one point.
00:11They're in the thick of the playoffs in terms of like seeding.
00:16What do you think they're going to do here?
00:19I think this is a great opportunity for, I mean, honestly, they can't really go wrong.
00:22They have positioned themselves in such a great way.
00:25If they say, you know what, hey, we're going, we had a plan coming into the season.
00:29And even though we've played better and I'm making this up, I don't know that this was
00:37their plan, but hey, we want to get these guys.
00:40We're going to get Beasley on a one-year deal.
00:41We're going to get these guys that if we can play well enough to be a fringe playoff team,
00:47you know, the 10 spot of the play in tournament, or we're just, hey, we're going to be just
00:53outside.
00:54We can sell these guys off.
00:56We could take on other contracts.
00:58We could continue to position ourselves for next year or two years down the road.
01:03I mean, things change and they're in a position where they could actually be top six and not
01:11in the play in tournament, but actually have a playoff position.
01:16And now all of a sudden, I don't know that they go out and they don't have that all in
01:22move that all in mentality, because even though they'd be a playoff team, I don't think they're
01:26a NBA championship or even conference finals team, but they could use this opportunity
01:32to not only improve themselves this year, but improve themselves for the next couple
01:37of years.
01:38If they're able to acquire someone that's not going to break the bank, they're still
01:42going to have plenty of money to spend in the off season.
01:44Yeah.
01:45Just so we're all clear on where the Pistons are at.
01:47Currently the eighth seed right now, but this is much better than we anticipated.
01:51I thought the belief was you could flip Beasley and Hardaway and even Tobias, depending on
01:56how well he had played, this was just kind of a signed to be traded kind of deal.
02:02Malik Beasley has been super open.
02:03He had the quotes about talking to Trajan Langdon and understanding it's a business.
02:08If a contender swoops in with an offer too good, they're going to trade him, but I'd
02:12like to keep Malik Beasley.
02:14Like that's how much I think things have changed.
02:16He is one of the best three point shooters in the NBA.
02:18I think he is one of those people who helps Cade develop into a star by spacing the floor.
02:25Malik Beasley is sixth in the NBA in three pointers made per game.
02:30And of the guys who make more than him, only one makes them at a higher clip.
02:34Like he's a 40% three point shooter.
02:37He has helped Cade space the floor.
02:39It's an investment in Cade as much as it is in winning right now.
02:43I'd absolutely like to keep him, like to bolt him down.
02:45I'd like to extend him.
02:47You can't do it in season, but I'd like to have, I agree, but you can have all those
02:50conversations now and it feels like those conversations are going.
02:53It sounds like those conversations are going on because Malik Beasley was quoted as me
02:57and Trajan been talking a lot.
02:59All right.
03:00Okay.
03:01That's great.
03:02And here's what I love about it is one, it sounds like he likes it here.
03:06He has, he's found a team and whether it's teammates, it's a coaching staff that he feels
03:11comfortable with.
03:13He's obviously having success and it sounds like he would like to stay, but you've got
03:17to be completely honest with guys.
03:21It's a rare occasion that it happens in professional sports.
03:25And if Trajan Langdon is starting his time as general manager with conversations with
03:31players and with agents of, we like you here, we know what you've been able to do.
03:36We know what you bring and then follow that with, it's a business.
03:41And this is what Malik Beasley had said.
03:43He also told me referring to Trajan Langdon, it's a business.
03:47If a championship team comes with a crazy deal, the business is the business.
03:51And when you bring up the stats that you just brought up, he is going to be sought after
03:58for a team that needs a three point shooter that is reliable in a championship run.
04:06And if they're willing to come with a crazy deal, then the easy answer is you take the
04:14crazy deal because you're not a championship team this year, unless, I mean, I don't even
04:20know what type of crazy world that we're living in where we could say, I know it's sports,
04:25but in a seven game series or in a playoff run, I just don't see it as a possibility.
04:30The Pistons are most likely going to be eliminated in the first true round of the NBA playoffs,
04:34assuming they avoid the play in or get through the play in, they're likely to be eliminated
04:38in the very first round.
04:39What if we get the first postseason victory in what, a decade?
04:44Yes, that'd be awesome.
04:46Especially if they hold at the deadline, buy, sell, or hold.
04:49If they hold, yeah, I think it's in play.
04:51The buy conversation is fascinating because it's not a conversation I think people were
04:54ready for.
04:55And John, they're not going to trade for a true superstar next decade.
04:59I just don't see that.
05:01Some of this is their first round pick is still tied up and technically owed to Minnesota.
05:05You want to give that up this year because it means you're winning and two, then, then
05:09you don't have this kind of hanging over your head.
05:11So the deals they'd have to make would have to be smaller deals, but they could still
05:15buy.
05:16I've seen people say, why not CJ McCollum get a true number two ball handler for Kate?
05:20He's expensive, but it's a two year commitment.
05:23New Orleans might just want to get out from under that deal and Detroit can absorb it.
05:28And I think even with Ivy back next year, those three could form a decent backcourt
05:34where you always have one or two ball handlers on the floor at a time.
05:37There are by moves.
05:38That's kind of the camp I'm in.
05:39I'm sick of the selling.
05:40I want to see them either hold or slight by to fight for the six and more than fight for
05:46the six fight to improve, fight to provide a foundation.
05:51You're hitting Kate with a max.
05:52He's on the ascent.
05:54It's time to start putting really good basketball players around him, not jettisoning them out.
05:59If someone offers you, I don't know what's a godfather offer.
06:02If someone's offered me a late first for Beasley, I'm not exactly dying to do that.
06:06It's not a crazy deal.
06:07It's keeping them unless someone's off for me like a lottery first and no one's doing
06:11that.
06:12So I'm keeping Malik Beasley and every sport has its, you know, uniqueness.
06:16And when you're talking about the fact that you can't extend the Beasley before the season's
06:22over.
06:23So when the season is over, you're quote unquote going to be in a bidding war with everybody
06:29else that might want his services.
06:32On the flip side, you can have a lot of those conversations right now.
06:35You might not be able to ink a deal, but you can have some of those conversations.
06:38You just don't want to have an asset that at the end of the year, somebody just offers
06:43more he walks and then you're left with nothing.