Effectively, Evan Fournier, inform us what you actually really feel.
In a latest interview with EurohoopsThe previous French-born guard didn’t hesitate to speak about his transient stint with the Detroit Pistons.
After the 2023-24 season, Fournier performed for the French nationwide group on the Summer season Olympics, serving to his nation win a silver medal. Trying again on that have, Fournier felt like he was a pissed off participant throughout his time with the Pistons.
“Going from Detroit to the Olympics gave me life. I need to proceed like that,” he mentioned.
Final season, the Pistons acquired Fournier from the Knicks in a multi-player commerce on the NBA commerce deadline that despatched Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks away from Detroit. Fournier went from a group that hardly made the playoffs to a Pistons group that completed 14-68, the worst report in franchise historical past.
Attributable to this traditionally unhealthy season, wherein they set the report for consecutive losses in a single season, the Pistons and former basic supervisor Troy Weaver parted methods. Shortly thereafter, the group fired Monty Williams as head coach after only one season.
The strikes observe Pistons proprietor Tom Gores’ resolution to rent former Pelicans government Trajan Langdon as president of basketball operations.
One of many important criticisms of Weaver’s tenure was the roster, which led to the group failing to win greater than 23 video games per season throughout his tenure. Fournier added to this criticism in later remarks about his time in Detroit, explaining that he didn’t benefit from the recreation of basketball throughout his closing two seasons within the NBA and highlighting the “darkish sides” of the league.
“I feel one of many darkest features of the NBA is when groups lose on objective to get excessive draft picks… that’s tanking,” Fournier mentioned. “My final couple months in Detroit, the group was nice, nevertheless it was a younger group that wasn’t essentially making an attempt to win. Whenever you’re my age, it’s laborious to undergo that. I knew that wasn’t what I needed for my profession.”
Fournier mentioned that for that very same cause, he turned down a suggestion from the Washington Wizards, which Weaver joined as a senior adviser after leaving Detroit.
Since 2019, the Pistons have been within the NBA lottery, selecting within the prime 5 every of the final 4 seasons. In 2021, they chose Cade Cunningham with the primary general choose. Within the subsequent three drafts, they chose Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland II, all with the fifth general choose.
