6/15/2017 - That’s a wrap. The Warriors are champs, the Cavs are left to figure out what went wrong. We have some thoughts As was thought to be inevitable by most, the Golden State Warriors handily dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers to to win their second NBA championship in the last three years. With Kevin Durant fitting in seemingly seamlessly, Stephen Curry almost certainly resigning and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green still in the middle of very favorable contracts the rest of the league is left trying to sort out how to possibly challenge this “juggernaut”, with the Cavs tops on the list in terms of teams who will be searching feverishly. In this edition of DBB on 3 we got some post Finals thoughts. 1. With the Cleveland Cavaliers losing, which seems most likely: A: The Cavs mainly stand pat going into next year. B: The Cavs make at least one major trade. C: Lebron leaves. Michael Snyder: A – Outside of Kevin Love for Paul George (why would Indy do that?), a major trade doesn’t make a Collapse

6/14/2017 - The 2017 NBA Draft is just eight days away and the Detroit Pistons have the No. 12 pick. In case the Pistons trade up, down, or stick at No. 12, the DBB Big Board is the fans’ opinion of who Detroit should select. Remember, this isn’t just voting on players who you think will be available at No. 12, it’s voting on everyone starting at the very top. I will list the top 10 players available based on the Draft Express Top 100 Prospects list. Frank Ntilikina edged out Lauri Markkanen for the No. 9 spot. Ntilikina makes the fifth point guard DBB has selected in the first nine spots of the draft board. After the disastrous year that Reggie Jackson just went through perhaps that is understandable. Still, could this be the first big mistake of the DBB draft board? Here is DBB’s own Steven Hinson with a reaction to the vote. Outside of being tall and young what does he bring to the table? He can't dribble/pass/score. Maybe defense? But that's just projecting.— Steve Hinson (@Shinons8) June Collapse

6/13/2017 - And Detroit wouldn’t be foolish to draft him at number 12. Everybody knows what the Detroit Pistons are getting with the 6-foot-8 small forward and 2017 NCAA Champion Justin Jackson. Don’t expect me to change minds here. Instead, I want to simply put people’s minds at ease. Lots of folks like Jackson, while others really don’t. Perhaps it is because nothing about Jackson jumps off the page. Still, nothing deeply concerns you about Jackson, either. And that counts for something. He is a talented and heady player with obvious offensive skill. He’s already 22 years old, however, and questions about his remaining upside are valid. Is he just another halfway decent shooter off the bench? Can he create his own shot in the NBA? Maybe he’ll only be able to be a catch and shoot guy? For more on Justin Jackson, I’ll gladly let the Draft Express gurus get you up to speed: While Jackson has shown clear skill development, there are still some things he has to address to compete nightly against Collapse

6/10/2017 - Vote now to help build a big board for the Detroit Pistons The 2017 NBA Draft is just 12 days away and the Detroit Pistons have the No. 12 pick. In case the Pistons trade up, down, or stick at No. 12, the DBB Big Board is the fans’ opinion of who Detroit should select. Remember, this isn’t just voting on players who you think will be available at No. 12, it’s voting on everyone starting at the very top. I will list the top 10 players available based on the Draft Express Top 100 Prospects list. Malik Monk bested Jayson Tatum for the No. 5 spot in what was mostly a two-man battle. Monk is seen as a dynamic shooting guard prospect who combines elite athleticism with an effective perimeter game. He also shot as such a high volume that the thinking is there is not a huge chance that perimeter jump shot was a fluke. He also showed enough ball-handling skill to make people think he can be a shot creator and not just a shot maker at the next level. Who do you think should be No. 6 on Collapse

6/8/2017 - Vote now to help select the Pistons Big Board. The 2017 NBA Draft is just 14 days away and the Detroit Pistons have the No. 12 pick. In case the Pistons trade up, down, or stick at No. 12, the DBB Big Board is the fans’ opinion of who Detroit should select. Remember, this isn’t just voting on players who you think will be available at No. 12, it’s voting on everyone starting at the very top. I will list the top 10 players available based on the Draft Express Top 100 Prospects list. Yesterday’s vote was exactly the reason I love doing these big board projects every year. De’Aaron Fox won by two votes ahead of Lonzo Ball. Only super committed, plugged in fans would say screw conventional wisdom and select not one but two players ahead of Ball. Does that mean the hive mind of DBB is correct? Hell no. But at least we’re not afraid to have our own opinions about this batch of prospects. I could be wrong, but I would guess this is where Ball’s drop (get your minds out of the gutter) ends. Collapse

6/6/2017 - The people have spoken, and Team Teal won the right to choose to go first on the rebuttals or allow New Logo team to go first. New Logo has the floor, and throws some pretty serious shade.  So, in a surprise to some and a done deal to others, Team Teal won opening statements. They (Jamie) decided to give the floor to the New Logo team (Mike) for rebuttals. I’m going to leave the opening statements here for clarity’s sake, so scroll down for the first rebuttal (such a good word). Jamie’s will follow. _______ NEW LOGO: Mike Snyder This isn’t a debate, it’s a massacre. Potentially, I could continually run out the shot clock on each possession and still be the unanimous victor. Sports debates, basketball or otherwise, get into trouble when one of the sides is assigned to defend the indefensible and their heart clearly isn’t into it; yelling just to yell is on its last legs of entertainment options. In this case, however, Jamie Delaney actually believes he’s in the right – which Collapse

6/2/2017 - The Pistons have three NBA titles, decades of success and several Hall of Famers. But basketball is different now The Golden State Warriors just demolished the Cleveland Cavaliers in game 1 of the NBA Finals. The combination of Steph Curry and Kevin Durant on offense and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green on defense made mincemeat of LeBron James and the Cavs. The Warriors, simply put, might be the best team ever assembled. Two MVP candidates, a Swiss Army knife defensive player of the year, a two-way glue guy who can be lethal from the perimeter, a sixth man who can run the offense and guard wings. They have it all. This level of dominance begs the question — could any combination of Detroit Pistons greats actually beat these Warriors? Playing by 2017 and needing to adapt to a 2017 style of basketball? It’s not as easy a question to answer as it sounds. What combination of offense and defensive versatility could counteract everything these Warriors throw at you? How many Pistons Collapse

6/1/2017 - The deck seems stacked against the Cavs. But that alone makes this one of the most watchable Finals in a very long time It’s here. Finally. The historically charged rubber match (I’ve heard that term a bunch....not really a fan). Not only does this have significance for both sides, as it should for any NBA Finals, it also seems ripe for helping foment discussions for any number of players’ legacies: is LeBron James finally going to really, really be in discussion for challenging Michael Jordan for the GOAT? Is Kevin Durant’s decision going to be seen as a success, a failure or even if Golden State wins, an open question? Will any of the players not named LeBron or Steph Curry or Durant see fit to want to have a team not in the shadow of the guys I mentioned? I mean, there is a real chance that whether or not the Cavs or Golden State win the Kyrie Irvings, the Klay Thompsons, the Draymond Greens, the Kevin Loves or even the Tristan Thompsons will want to finally find themselves out Collapse

6/1/2017 - And I do mean a little bit of everything. Basketball Insiders’ various selections for Detroit Four Basketball Insiders writers have four different players getting chosen by Detroit with that number 12 pick in their latest mock. The four players are Frank Ntilikina, Terrance Ferguson, Justin Jackson and Steve Hinson’s main man Ike Anigbogu. Writer Joel Brigham writes: This also might be the first week that I’ve had Ike Anigbogu in the lottery. Things just really thin out after the top ten players, and his ceiling is as high as anybody’s. Detroit (or whichever team trades for Detroit’s #12 pick) would be lucky to have him. Detroit actually met with Ike last week in pre-draft workouts. So for awareness sake, here’s a video of Ike blocking just about every shot in sight during his freshmen season — only four minutes long: Can’t get enough of the mocks Fox Sports’ Andrew Lynch came out with a NBA Mock Draft 2.0 on Wednesday. It has the Pistons taking the young Frank Collapse