The NBA season is in full swing, and trade chatter is beginning to heat up.
Basketball Insiders caught up with former New York Knicks GM Scott Perry to talk about Mikal Bridges, LeBron James’ decline, Victor Wembanyama, Kevin Durant, the surprising Magic, his professional future and much more in an exclusive Q&A.
Key interview topics
- Jimmy Butler’s ideal landing spot
- Why Victor Wembanyama is poised for superstardom
- How much LeBron has left in the tank
- Why Kevin Durant may age better than LeBron
- The pressure of the New York market on Mikal Bridges
- Perry, a longtime NBA exec, on his professional future
- The impressive Orlando Magic
- The progressing Detroit Pistons
Q: Do you think there’s an ideal landing spot for Jimmy Butler?
Scott Perry: As I look at it, when you talk about a player who’s done a lot in this league, who is toward the end of his career versus the beginning of it, you tend to look for those teams that feel they are one impact player away from making a real run at a championship. Now, I don’t know who that may be at this point right now. I know I’ve read teams that could be interested from the Dallases to Golden State. I saw Houston was another team, but they’re a younger group and they’re playing well without a guy like that. So what you have to factor in when you start having these discussions about trading for a player like this: Jimmy is a dominant personality, if you will. He’s been a star player for a number of franchises. So you have to assess what his fit, not only on the basketball court is going to be like, but what will his fit be in that locker room? And so those are the determinations and the conversations that GMs across the league are having as it relates to Jimmy Butler.
Q: Is the CBA making it more difficult for teams like the Suns to add a player like Butler?
Scott Perry: Definitely getting more difficult when you’re talking about these first and second aprons now. So that will come into play. I believe Phoenix is a second apron ball club at this point. So for them to be able to make a trade, they almost have to be able to trade someone dollar for dollar for Jimmy Butler. So that would mean one of their big three, if you will. I don’t anticipate that being Kevin Durant. We’ll put him to the side. But whether that was Devin Booker or Bradley Beal, now again, Miami would have to be interested in something to that level. And I haven’t looked at their salaries and I apologize if they don’t fit dollar for dollar like that. But yeah, that’s something that I could see Phoenix trying to figure out if that worked. But again, you gotta have a willing participant on the other side. I don’t know that Miami would want to do that, especially if we’re talking about Bradley Beal, because Bradley Beal missed a lot of time due to injury. And that is something that you have to consider as well.
Q: Shams Charania and Butler’s agent have gone back and forth about the validity of his reporting. As a GM, what are your thoughts on the reporting around trades?
Scott Perry: You get used to the noise. I spent 23 years as a front office executive in the league and there’s so much talk and noise that leads up to the trade deadline. And what you find after being in the league for a long time, a lot of it amounts to nothing. It never materializes. Now, have there been instances where you’ve heard things out there that become true? Absolutely, that happens, so what you have to do is when you hear it, is you have to vet it out quickly. And some things like my earlier point, you quickly know it makes no sense. We just talked to the group or the team or the agent or whoever. Discovered that it’s not true. Or if it’s something that we hadn’t heard, we asked the question, and dig a little deeper. And then that’s when you get your staff to start making phone calls, trying to find out what is true or not true and follow up. But I can’t tell you how many collective hours were spent on just making sure that you vetted any kind of information that came out, whether it was kind of in the internal circuit with your staff who were talking to other teams that may not have reached the public yet, or those public messages that get put out there or rumors or trade ideas or supposed conversations that you have to follow up on. Because again, you just don’t know what’s real and what’s not. It’s your responsibility to find out.
Q: Are there a few teams you feel are one player away from contending?
Scott Perry: Well, as I look at the teams that are at the top now, I believe OKC is pretty much set with what they have in their roster. Unfortunately, they lost Chet Holmgren due to injury, but they’re still at the top of the Western Conference. I believe they made their moves in the offseason, which I thought were very instrumental to building the depth of this team, getting Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. So I can see them pretty much standing pat, unless they’re just going to make some kind of financial move with a rotational player toward the back end of their roster. Milwaukee is a team that again, is handicapped with their financial situation, but need to probably find someone who could be additive to their rotation to help them maybe challenge the Boston Celtics on the Eastern Conference side, but Boston is pretty much set. I don’t see them making any moves.
The Knicks were projected to be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They’re pretty much handicapped on what they can do now. Financially, they made their big moves this offseason going to get Mikal Bridges via trade and then also Karl Anthony-Towns in a trade. So there’s not a lot of movement they probably could make, but they won’t know fully who they are until Mitchell Robinson gets back. They’re a team that I believe will be very competitive and have a chance in the Eastern Conference as well. The Dallas Mavericks, another team that tasted the NBA Finals last year, trying to figure out how do they get over the hump to win the whole thing? I would look at their team as , potentially someone who would look to make a smaller move. They added Klay Thompson in the offseason which I believe will be helpful to their cause. But I don’t believe they’re in a position to make any additional big moves financially at this point.
And lastly, what sticks out to me too is the Denver Nuggets who didn’t do much of anything in the offseason. They lost a key player in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. They have a three-time MVP who’s playing terrific again this year in Nikola Jokic, but it’s quite clear they need something to be added to the roster this season. But again, Denver is another team that is financially strapped. They’d have to be able to add some kind of smaller piece that could be additive to maybe help the team move further up the ladder in terms of being a real player in the Western Conference. So I believe these next 20 games will be more clear in terms of which teams will make moves and which teams won’t make moves. But these are just some of my early thoughts in terms of teams that are going to be competing for a championship in one shape or form and feel like they need to do a little something or just stand pat based because either they like the team well enough or financially, they’re just not going to be able to do anything.
Q: Are the Bucks a team who could go the other way? Is trading Giannis a possibility?
Scott Perry: I don’t see that at all. Too good of a player, too impactful of a player, not only for that team, but the community. And unless there is a clear sign that Milwaukee has no way of winning, you don’t even entertain that thought. They’re playing a lot better now. And I believe with him being one of the top two or three players in this league, in my opinion, you always have a shot. If they can get one other player who can be additive to their depth, they still will be a tough out in a playoff series, in my opinion. So no, I don’t see Giannis as being anywhere close to being on the move from Milwaukee.
Q: You signed Julius Randle in free agency for the Knicks. How do you feel like he is fitting in with Minnesota?
Scott Perry: I feel like Julius is fitting in pretty well. Now, obviously it takes time when you come into a new situation. He’s coming to a situation where Anthony Edwards is the face of the franchise but this is Anthony’s first year really being the total face of it. Karl Anthony-Towns was there last year who had been drafted by Minnesota as well, multi-time All-Star. But that shifted during the year last season and throughout the playoffs where Anthony was really taking over and now he has that mantle himself.
But Julius going there, he’s a multi-time All-Star as well two-time All-NBA player. It’s just about them figuring out how to play together and what I’ve watched and what I’ve witnessed with this group, Julius coming in the door is really trying to figure out how he could be even more of a distributor. He always had that in his game, but in watching him, he’s been very conscious of doing that. And then the second thing, being much more conscious defensively because Minnesota was an excellent defensive team a year ago. That’s going to be key to them ascending back up the ladder in the Western Conference again. And I know Julius knows he’s got to accept that challenge to be better defensively on a nightly basis and so I see growth in that area from him.
Donte DiVincenzo, who doesn’t get talked a lot about in that trade, he’s yet to gain his footing. He had a career year last year in New York. Once Donte gets truly comfortable and settled, he will provide the excellent three-point shooting that we know he’s capable of. He brings toughness, as does Julius to this roster. I look for Minnesota to be a team that continually rises in the Western Conference. As of late, they have started to win more games and string a few wins together. I fully expect this team, when it’s all said and done, to be a top-four team in the Western Conference. It doesn’t happen overnight, but I’m seeing some real positive signs from this group and from Julius. They have a great coaching staff there. So I believe they’ll figure it out. I like this team.
Q: LeBron’s numbers are falling. Do you notice the decline?
Scott Perry: It’s not an indictment on him. The guy’s 40 years old. He’s still playing on the perimeter, which requires a lot of energy on a nightly basis. He’s playing a real young man’s game. He’s taking care of his body as well as any player that we’ve seen in this generation, for sure. Has he lost a step? Is he not as fast? Of course. I started seeing that a year or two ago. It’s just manifesting itself even more statistically now, so it’s ringing louder for people to see.
But he still can play at a very high level. Now you’re just going to get it in smaller windows of time. He can’t be that guy playing 38 minutes a night anymore and you expect the same results that he produced in his prime. Maybe for half those minutes, you still can get that ‘vintage LeBron’ where he can take over a game and dominates the action on both sides of the floor.
Again, we talk about the support players. Anthony Davis has had a terrific start to the season and playing like a MVP candidate However, the Lakers are going to need Dalton Knecht to continue to grow and grow fast. And I’m very high on him as a young player coming into this league. He has shown some real flashes of being a very good player. They’ve been without Austin Reaves here as of late and he’s a big part of what they do as well. They’re going to need some support in the backline, somebody who is dependable, especially on the defensive side of the floor to back up Anthony Davis or play some minutes Anthony Davis.
JJ Redick is now living and experiencing what Darvin Ham had to the last two years when everyone wanted to point the fingers at Darvin Ham. No, it wasn’t Darvin Ham. It’s the personnel there. They don’t have a lot of guys who are inclined to defend night in and night out. And so LeBron, who earlier in his career had the necessary energy to be really impactful at both ends of the floor, now it’s a lot tougher for him to do that. So, defensively, he’s not as good because he can’t expend the level of energy defensively and still have enough on the offensive end. Anthony Davis is a high level defender and that’s about it in terms of their top rotational players. So that’s what I see with the Lakers right now, and it’ll be interesting to see what they do leading up to the deadline, but they’re going to have to make some sort of move, I believe, if their intentions are truly trying to compete for the Western Conference title, they have to improve on the defensive side of the floor.
Q: How unique of a player is Victor Wembanyama?
Scott Perry: Well, he’s the most unique player I’ve seen in my time. The guy is 7-5, but he’s skilled like a guard who is 6-3 or 6-4 with the way he can play on the perimeter. His ball handling and shooting are high level. He is a tremendous talent and what I’m excited about — and what the basketball world should be excited about — is to watch his improvement and his career trajectory. Month after month, year after year, because you can see it coming. Everyone sees 7-5 and the offensive skills and he’s a tremendous defender.
You might as well put his name on the Defensive Player of the Year trophy for close to the next decade. He’s that impactful defensively. But what doesn’t get talked about enough with him, and what I look for a lot in players, is the internal drive. This young man, for a big guy in particular, he has a drive. He wants to be great and that is huge. So he’s not just saying, okay, I’m just going to show up and accept whatever happens on the court. No, he is driven. He wants to win. He wants to develop his body.
I think he’s one of these rare players that’s going to try to figure out each and every season, how can he learn from what happened the previous year and what do I have to do to take that next step to get better? He will improve on his weaknesses and enhance his strengths. He appears to be wired that way mentally and internally. And so that’s why I think he has a chance to do some things on this basketball court that quite frankly, we haven’t seen from somebody his size.
So, exciting times for him and the San Antonio Spurs. How about the San Antonio Spurs, by the way? They win the lottery three times, First time, there’s a generational center in David Robinson available. The next time they win it, there’s another generational player in Tim Duncan, all-time, great, arguably the best power forward to have played. And now this young man, Victor Wembanyama. I mean, we’ve got to find the rabbit’s foot that is in San Antonio. When they win the lottery, they actually win the lottery!
Q: What are your thoughts on where you want to go professionally?
Scott Perry: I can tell you the year and a half away from the NBA front office has been very productive. I worked with ESPN and it kept me very close to the game, doing a lot of NBA Today and SportsCenter, and I enjoyed that time working with the ESPN network and the people there. It was great to gain a first-hand media perspective. It has really recharged my battery and it gave me the opportunity to study the NBA from a different lens.
I had been working 36 straight years. I coached in college for 13, then went 23 straight years into the NBA. I have a real fresh, good perspective and I strongly believe that I could lead another franchise, or at least consult for them at a high level. I would like to do that moving forward, coming out of this season. Hopefully an opportunity arises where I can do that, where I can impart my many years of knowledge and experience. I’ve experienced the NBA at all levels, from being a part of building a program to winning a championship during my time in Detroit. Also spent a number of years helping guide franchises like Seattle (OKC), Orlando, Sacramento, and New York that were at various stages of development and building winning teams.
I believe that I have a lot to offer an organization that is looking for rich experience. People that have worked with me see me as a real genuine leader of men and women. Hopefully something happens in that vein over the next few months so we’ll see.
Q: What do you make of the Mikal Bridges trade?
Scott Perry: Well, let’s first talk about the player, the player fits. So when they went after him, he was a very good acquisition because he’s a versatile defender. He’s a complementary offensive player. He’s in his correct role with the Knicks, whereas in the last couple of years in Brooklyn he was put in the role as the featured scorer on the team, and that’s not really who he is. And he was college teammates at Villanova with the point guard, Jalen Brunson, so the Knicks could be confident that he was going to fit seamlessly into the locker room. And what you love about him most is his availability, I believe he’s played almost 500 consecutive games. Hasn’t missed a game since becoming a professional. And I love that. That is the number one ability that doesn’t get rewarded or talked about enough in the league today. Guys who answer the bell each and every night. And he’s one of those handful of guys in the league that’s doing that now. So that’s what you love about the acquisition.
Now, the reality of the situation is they gave up a lot to get him, I believe five first round draft picks to get Mikal Bridges, so his name is always going to be attached to how much they gave up to get him because they don’t have many more picks to work with now. They gave up another first round pick in the Randle deal so now all of the picks that have been accumulated there are no longer available for them to put in future trades. This is the group that is going to have to challenge for a title over the next three to four years. And they’re going to have to re-sign Mikal as well. So I believe in terms of where he goes from here, I believe he will continue to settle in more.
The pressure of playing with the Knicks is a little bit different than the pressure of playing with the Brooklyn Nets, quite frankly. That is a real thing. But I believe he has the mentality to weather this early storm, and he’s showing signs of starting to shoot the ball better, which they’re going to need him to do. And they’re going to need him to be that elite defender that he’s capable of being alongside OG Anunoby and Josh Hart. That’s the strength of the defense. Those three guys on the perimeter who are very interchangeable, they switch a lot. So he’s got to just continue to rely on that because the Knicks right now as a team, I believe are 19th or 20th in the league in terms of defensive rating. And that is not reflective of how and who Tom Thibodeau is and how he wants his ball club to play. So to rise up the defensive ranks, those three guys are going to be key in addition to Mitchell Robinson when he returns. Robinson is as good a defensive center as there is in the league.
Q: Looking at Bridge’s free throw percentage and his new shooting form, what do you notice with his stroke now? There isn’t time to change it midseason, is there?
Scott Perry: No. You know a guy is thinking too much if they’re trying to change mechanics mid-season. Look, he had been shooting the ball well before this mechanic change started. So I don’t know if this was the ideal time to change that, especially coming to a pressure situation like New York. And again, it takes players time to get used to the pressure of playing in New York, in particular at home. A lot of times it’s easier for the players in New York to play on the road than it is at home.
Now, Jalen Brunson, totally comfortable playing there. Anunoby has come in, he fits in well, he’s comfortable there. Josh Hart, he’s been there a couple of years, he’s comfortable in that space. That’s the next step for Bridges, just getting real comfortable playing in that venue. I’ve seen him playing on the road, his confidence looks a little different there versus at home.
There’s a lot more around him now, probably than at any point of his career. You go back to him at Phoenix where he was the fourth or fifth guy in the starting group in Phoenix, that same pressure wasn’t there. When a team trades that amount of draft capital for you, I don’t care what anybody says, that is a weight on that player’s mind — at least in the short run. You’re hopeful that over time, that vacillates and moves away and that no longer is part of the thought process. But again, in that fishbowl which is New York, that messaging is always kind of at the forefront. And so we’ll see, but I believe that Mikal Bridges is wired the right way to get it figured out. And I fully expect that the consistency that he has shown at being available every night, that consistency will translate in terms of his shooting numbers improving as the season moves on.
Q: What did you make of the KAT trade at the time, and has your perception of it changed since?
Scott Perry: It’s been pretty much what I’ve expected. What I’ve seen in Karl Anthony-Towns is a very skilled big man, especially on the offensive end of the floor. We know his prowess of being able to stretch the floor, shooting the three-point shot. He is also pretty adept around the rim, capable of playing with his back to the basket, using his left and right hand. Very good passer as a big man, so offensively in terms of how he plays, I anticipated that being a pretty solid fit for the Knicks and that they would be an overall better offensive team, which they’ve shown. On the other side, where they have suffered and we talked about it a little bit earlier, is the defensive side of the ball. Even though KAT rebounds his position well, defense is not his strong suit and that’s been reflected in how the team plays. So now you’re seeing a team that, when the shooting is on and their offense is working well they can beat anybody in the league.
But the New York teams of last year and in the past few years, those were teams that even when you didn’t shoot well, they were able to grind out wins defensively. And that was always kind of representative of the Knicks, so they have to figure out a way — can they get back to that? That’s not Karl’s game or personality, It’s not a criticism of Karl, It’s just what it is. I’ve seen a little bit of a personality change in terms of how this team plays.
But again, you have to pause in terms of having a final grade on the trade until Mitchell Robinson is able to come back. Let’s see if the two of them can play together, like Karl Anthony-Towns played with Rudy Gobert in Minnesota. How will they look on the court together? That will go a long way in terms of just how far this Knicks team can go in my opinion because now you add Mitchell Robinson to play alongside him and you’re going to be much stronger defensively. Mitchell is going to be able to help KAT defensively and Jalen Brunson on the defensive end much better. And so now when anybody gets beat on the perimeter, Mitch will be there to clean up a lot of activity and protect the rim. Right now with the Knicks, you can drive the lane more than you have been able to do over the last few years when you had both Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein. The rim seems open for teams and people have been able to drive the lane and finish at the rim. So that has to get cleaned up. I don’t like to give final grades on trades either way until the season’s over because there is so much that goes into it.
To me, the beauty of it for Karl Anthony-Towns, he’s coming back home to New York. So there’s a comfort level. He doesn’t have to really adjust to living in New York. He knows that environment. He grew up in that area. So that is helpful because a lot of times when players are traded to different places, they’re going to an entirely different environment and they have to adjust to that as well as what they have to adjust to on the court.
Q: You mentioned some of the defensive struggles. Does that keep Tom Thibodeau up at night?
Scott Perry: Well, look, Tom Thibodeau, the guy I know, always wanted to be great defensively. That’s where he cut his chops as a coach. That’s where, if you followed his career, whether it was as an assistant or a head coach, it’s always been defensive oriented. To his credit, he has adjusted to today’s game with the infusion of the three-point shooting and teams aspiring to shoot a great number of those per game. He’s figured out a way to integrate that into his coaching and that has been evident when you watch a Knicks team play, how good they are offensively. They’re one of the better shooting teams in the league and I believe they’re in the top five, they might even be number one in terms of offensive efficiency right now. But again, we are who we are as people and when your core is defense, I’m sure that he’s thinking about that and trying to figure it out.
Tom was an assistant with the Boston Celtics when they won the world championship in 2008 and he was the coach really in charge of the defensive efforts for that team, so he knows how important that’s going to be come playoff time. That if you’re going to win a seven-game series, that you’re not going to be able to shoot your way to win the best of seven. You know that there are going to be a couple of those games where you have to grind it out and really get it done on the defensive end and shut down the opponent, make them shoot a poor percentage to be able to come out victorious in the seven-series. And if you’re going to aspire to win a championship where you have to win 16 games, it’s very rare that you’re going to shoot your way there and not defend your way there. Defense travels and it’s extremely important. And nobody knows that any better than Tom Thibodeau.
Q: Looking at Orlando, another one of your stops, has defense been the calling card to keeping that group competitive?
Scott Perry: Absolutely, and kudos to the Magic. When Paolo first went down, there was a narrative out there that the Magic were in trouble. How are they going to win a game without him? Or they’ll go 2-8 in a ten game span? But no, between the coach, who I think has done a tremendous job there, Jamahl Mosley and those players, they said we can hold down the fort without Paolo, which they more than did. You saw the ascension of Franz Wagner to a true number two there in Orlando who played extremely well in his absence and unfortunately just recently got hurt as well.
I love Jalen Suggs, what he brings to the court — you talk about defense, he’s as good a defensive point guard as we have in the league right now. Extremely competitive. He’s all about winning. He does a lot of the little things that may not show up in the stat sheet, but when you have a guy like that who’s competing every night and leading that locker room in that way, it inspires other guys alongside them to give their very best and play hard and compete on that defensive end, which I know is important to Coach Mosley.
You add Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a two-time NBA champion who started off the year fairly slow from a scoring standpoint, but he also understands what it takes on the defensive end. And so what you’re seeing is that the Magic have more depth, which I preach all the time when you’re talking about trying to compete for a championship. Depth to me is one of the most important things you can have when building a team. A lot is made that you need two to three star players — but if you have only 2-3 star players and no depth, then what would have happened to the Magic in the early part of this season? The Magic would have more than likely fallen off the map when Banchero went down. But they have depth and their younger players are getting a chance to really show that they’ve grown and ready to produce for the team.
Anthony Black has improved. Goga Bitadze, who they picked up last year as a backup, is playing some very valuable minutes for them. Moe Wagner, Franz’s older brother, is terrific for them off the bench, very spirited player. So I like what they’re doing in Orlando and I think this will bode well for them long-term because again, that depth is getting the opportunity to hold the fort down for 10, 20, 30 games this season, because Wagner is going to be out for a little while as well. And then when they get them all back together, hopefully sometime in January or February, now you are talking about a very formidable team. Orlando is going to be a difficult out because they’re going to be confident and they will know they can win with their defense. And the more they improve their ability to shoot the basketball from the perimeter, I like this Magic group to be a team that a lot of other teams in the Eastern Conference won’t really want to face come playoff time.
Q: Can Orlando surprise people this year and compete with the likes of the Celtics?
Scott Perry: I think they can surprise some people. Are they ready to beat the Celtics in a seven game series? I don’t know that they’re quite ready for that. There’s still some growth that has to be done there, even from their top top players, be it Paolo (Banchero) or Franz Wagner in terms of just going through those playoff wars, dealing with the highs and lows and the heartbreaks that comes with that. You’ve got to be able to go through all those experiences before you can really grab hold and say, okay, we’re ready to go ahead and win it.
We watched it with the Boston Celtics in recent years, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, both of those guys made it to the Conference Finals a number of times only to come up short, even made it to the Finals one year — only to come up short. And it’s those experiences that help you grow and really take that next step to be able to say, okay, now we’re ready to win it, we’ve been in this situation before, we know what it takes to get over that hump and so I think the Magic are probably a step or two away from that. But with that being said, if they won a first round playoff series, would I be surprised? Absolutely not. So, again, I like this group because they made the playoffs last year and they pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers who have gotten off to a terrific start this year to the limit in that series. So I expect them to have taken that experience and they’re going to come back and have some confidence in this year’s playoffs. They’ll know what that pressure feels like in playoff basketball this time. So let’s see who they get matched up with when that time comes.
Another real positive thing about this Magic team is that they’re going to be together for some time. I believe with the way they constructed their team — they re-signed Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, and fully expect them to re-sign Paolo (Banchero) there. That’s the core of that team, so you have a great nucleus to build around because all of those young guys are highly competitive and prioritize winning. They have all the right stuff and I like where they’re going.
Q: You have a rich history with the Pistons, helping build the team that won the title in 2004. What are your thoughts on their trajectory, and what players are you impressed by?
Scott Perry: Well, the Pistons, as I analyze them, it really gets down to the development and growth of a handful of guys. Let’s start with Cade Cunningham. Cade Cunningham has shown and proven that he can post some very strong numbers in the NBA in terms of scoring, assisting, rebounding. The most important number he hasn’t shown yet is, can he impact winning? And that’s on his plate now.
Jaden Ivey, tremendous young talent, another high draft pick and as I watch him this year, it appears to me that he’s taking that next step as a player. He’s not quite as turnover prone, his finishing is a lot better, he’s one of the elite athletes that we have in the back court in the league, his shooting has become more consistent and he’s a little better defensively than what he had been a year prior. Jalen Duren, the other big feature in this young core. He’s proved right away coming into the league that he was going to be able to rebound his position at a high level. He has got to learn how to play without fouling as much, but he’s getting a little better in that area. (Ausar) Thompson who unfortunately had to miss the beginning of the year is a super athlete who is an elite defender.
So, I see forward steps in each of them and they recently had a big win in New York where they showed they were able to close that game out, and I thought that game was just as important for Cade, because again, he posted some terrific numbers and the Knicks made a late run, but the Pistons were able to hold on and not fold up, which I’d seen them do a lot late in games. This is now the stage where they have to learn how to close out games.
Let’s give some credit to JB Bickerstaff, who I think has come in there and really infused this young group with some confidence, some accountability, and just a belief in them and what they’re capable of doing. So that is reflective of how they’re playing. Last year was an abysmal year for the franchise. There’s no sugarcoating it or anything around it. They were just the worst team in the NBA last year. But you looked at the young talent and said they shouldn’t be that bad and early in the year, they’ve responded and said no, we’re not that bad, we’ve improved and we have to continue stepping forward.
So that’s what I’m going to continue to watch for them is the growth and their ability to start closing out close games, especially against good teams. Because they have some talent, they have some size and athleticism there and the veteran players, like Tobias Harris, who I worked with in Orlando. Tobias did a great job, a true professional during his time in Orlando. I believe he fits in well in Detroit with those young guys, because he’s a great example in terms of how you want to come to work every day and how you want to show up, not only in games, but in practices. So he’s very good in that way. And they’ve got Tim Hardaway there, who is another veteran who I had experience with in New York, again another great example of how to prepare yourself each and every night. So those are good guys for Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, all those young guys to kind of see what they need to be doing to be real good professionals and I think that’s as important to have good veterans in the locker room. Veteran players’ words and actions are key to the growth and development of young teams. So when you have veteran guys who are quality professionals, like those two guys I just mentioned, that’s going to help build up your team and hopefully for the Pistons that will move them forward.
Q: Obviously you are from Detroit, the Lions are playing phenomenal football right now, what would it mean for the city if both the Pistons and Lions had success this year?
Scott Perry: Well, let me stop you there, Kyle, because let me say this: I still talk to a number of my friends back home in Detroit that I went to high school with. They’re not paying attention to any other teams. Not the Pistons, Tigers or Red Wings. You have to understand that the Lions are 12-1 now, their best record and the first time they have won 12 games in a regular season and I think for the first time since like 1930, they’re on an 11-game win streak and they have true visions of a Super Bowl. I can tell you right now the Lions are temporarily taking some pressure off the Pistons. Detroit fans aren’t watching them as closely right now! It is all about the Lions 24/7 and if the Lions make, let alone win the Super Bowl this year, it won’t matter what the other three teams do for the next five years. So the Lions are carrying a lot of the dreams and hopes of the Detroit community. It is Detroit Lions football all day, every day in the Detroit sports scene right now.
Q: You were there for Kevin Durant’s draft to Seattle in 2007. Did you get to know him during his early stages in the NBA?
Scott Perry: Yeah, I was in the front office that drafted Kevin when Sam Presti was the GM and I was the assistant GM there in Seattle at the time. So yes, I got to know Kevin very well, and we knew very early that this guy was going to be a special player in the NBA. Let’s set aside that he’s 6’11. He never liked you to say he was seven feet. (Smile) Kevin always shortened himself to 6’11 but he looks seven feet to me.
But anyway, his ability to shoot the basketball with such ease and extreme efficiency was evident when you watched him back in high school and then his year at Texas. So he was a tremendous prospect and talent, but when you bring someone into your building, you get a chance to really learn the person, which is extremely important to me. I’ve always placed the most value in that because if you know who the person is and you know how they’re wired, then you can project basically how far a guy can go. I talked a little bit about this earlier in the interview when we talked about Victor Wembanyama and his drive to be great. Well, you knew that with Kevin Durant, and I knew that with Kevin Durant because he expressed it verbally and he expressed it in the way he worked every day. Saying that I’m trying to be the best there is in the NBA.
The time that young man spent as a rookie, away from practice, he was always there to practice and loved suiting up for practice, being ready and for games. But the number of nights he would come back to the gym and just work on his craft was extremely impressive to me and everybody around, so you knew that this guy was going to be something unique and special. It was just going to take time to go through some of the normal bumps, bruises, disappointments, and learning experiences that come with being a rookie. But he was more than willing to take those on because of the belief he had in himself and where he wanted to go.
So am I surprised that he became one of the all-time greats to play in the NBA and arguably as efficient and effective a scorer that we’ve ever seen in the league? No, I’m not surprised because this wasn’t done by accident. This is something that he believed in and he was going to push himself to do that. He looked for input from others and critical input to help him improve. So it was a tremendous time to get to work with Kevin that year, he felt like a younger brother to me. We spent a lot of time together, I had a lot of conversations with him and just felt really good about that year experience and wish I could even have had more years with him, but I ended up making another career move back home to the Pistons. But I have always followed him and what he’s done and really proud of what he has accomplished so far in his career. So again, great memories with him and someone when it’s all said and done, when you talk about the top 10/20 players of all time, Kevin Durant’s name is going to have to be in there somewhere.
Q: Were you hoping to reunite with Durant in 2019 amid rumors of him and Kyrie Irving joining the Knicks?
Scott Perry: That was so long ago and at the end of the day he made a decision to go where he went and had to live with that and I’m wishing him well there. I don’t really look back at that situation like people may think, like ‘Oh, what would have happened if Kevin Durant had come to New York? Blah, blah, blah.’ No, when you’re in this business long enough, you know that players can only play for one team at a time. And at the end of the day, I’ve always encouraged any player that they have to do what that they feel is gonna be best for them and their family at that particular time. So whether it was Kevin’s decision back in 2019 or any other player prior to that or any player after that, that’s their lives and career choices. They have to be happy and accountable with what they decide. So when you have worked in basketball for as long like have, you’re always looking at a number of players and you always have contingency plans as you head into free agency.
Q: Injuries have impacted Durant but can he keep the Suns in contention? How do you think he is playing?
Scott Perry: I think he’s still playing well. As you mentioned, he’s had a number of injuries of late and as you get older, it’s not quite as easy to come back from injury. The body is just a little slower to heal at 36 than it was at 26. That’s the fact of biology. But in terms of watching him play and the way he plays, at seven feet, he’s never going to lose his ability to shoot the basketball and he is different than LeBron, whose game was built off of his strength, athleticism and know-how. LeBron has a very high basketball IQ — and Kevin does as well — but Kevin’s skill at being able to shoot the basketball, to me, allows a player to age even better, because that’s not going anywhere. He doesn’t have to worry, because even when he was a young player, he was so tall and long, it was never about him getting to a spot and really jumping up over somebody. He’s open all the time because he’s tall enough and has a very high release point on his shot.
So from a scoring standpoint, he will be able to deliver for the Suns for a number of years, in my opinion. Now, again, when we talk about the defensive end he’s played a long time and he is a lot smarter as a defender. He can use his length. Now, will he be able to run around and chase guys on the perimeter as effectively? No, probably not and you don’t want him doing that. But, being able to slide him over to play the 4 position or on some nights the 5 position, he’ll be able to handle that fairly well. In the early part of the season with him in the lineup, Phoenix was one of the best teams in the league but without him they’ve been one of the bottom third teams. So that lets you know what impact he still has on winning.
