Brad Holmes’ Trade Deadline Question, Red Wings’ Bad Optics, and the WNBA’s Detroit Appeal
Oct 1, 2026
Detroit’s Lions get a trade-deadline question centered on Brad Holmes and whether he should be more aggressive. The Red Wings draw a harsh preseason critique, and the WNBA playoffs spark a case for why Detroit’s future team could land in a better moment for the league.
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Joey Porter Jr. gets traded, spoiler alert, not to the Lions
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I'm Dustin Fiocco with Detroit Sports Nation. It is time for your daily rundown on this Thursday
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And I do want to start off talking about our Lions. Many Lions fans wanted to see Joey Porter Jr. come to Detroit
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Well, he does get traded just from Pittsburgh to Dallas, not Pittsburgh to the Lions
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And for me, that opens up a question when it comes to Brad Holmes
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Normally, I am very opinionated, but when it comes to Brad Holmes here, I'm not necessarily
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sure what my opinion is. This is where I need you to chime in
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But is Brad Holmes doing enough as the general manager of this team
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Is he doing enough? Because I'm not telling you it was the right decision or wrong decision to pass up on Porter
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Also not telling you it was the right or wrong decision to pass up on guys like Max Crosby
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What I'm pointing out is there's been a lot of situations where fans have pointed to Brad
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Holmes and said, you need to make an in-season move to make this team better
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And that's just never been Brad Holmes' calling card. Outside of maybe Zedarius from a couple of years ago, he's never really made trade deadline
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moves or mid-season moves to make this team better. his bread and butter has always been making this team better in the draft
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And maybe outside of Tesla from a couple years ago, his last few drafts have not been good
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His big marquee moments in the draft have come early on in his tenure
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Getting guys like Jameer Gibbs with a first round pick you draft a running back that high he better be elite Well guess what Jameer Gibbs is just that Getting Sam Laporta many people said he wasn even the best tight end in the draft He proved to be an anchor to this Lions
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offense. And even guys like Jamison Williams and Jack Campbell, who have been really big factors on
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this team. He did great in the early drafts, but since then, his drafts haven't really been home
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runs. He's made some contact on a few swings, but he's had a lot of swing and misses also
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That's as of recently. So my question is, Joey Porter Jr., another guy that the Lions could have brought in midseason
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definitely need help in the secondary. My question isn't, is it the right decision for us to not make that move on him
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My question is, is Brad Holmes doing enough as the general manager
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Would you like to see him make more moves midseason, coming up at the trade deadline
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Or are you content with the job he's done so far? I'm just saying it's a question mark
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I'm not throwing it out there that he's done a bad job, but maybe he could be doing a little
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bit more. Brad Holmes, though, he is a general manager, I can definitely promise you, has done more
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for his Detroit team than the Red Wings' former general manager and Steve Iserman did
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And talking about those Red Wings, Red Wings start their season tomorrow and I continue
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my stance on it. This team is operating as a joke and it's unacceptable
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Hopefully they redeem themselves with what they do on the ice, but this entire off season has been a total mess
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From the struggle of getting a general manager, from the struggle of getting a captain that wants to be here
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to the Simon Edmondson struggles too. Edmondson he ain going to be skating in Detroit next week or this week even He skating in Sweden That whole ordeal We got the articles about the controversy and the struggle to get Edmondson here in Detroit
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It's just ridiculous. I am so sick and tired of seeing this Red Wings franchise be a team that nobody wants to be a part of
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We can't get a GM that wants to be here. We can't get a guy that wears the C on his chest to want to be here
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And we can't get Edmondson to want to be here. Nobody wants to be here
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I'll give nods to Alex DeBrinckit. He said he wants to be here. But this Red Wings team has gotten such a stigma of being a losing organization for a decade now
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Maybe they can redeem it with a hot start to the season, but they also need to finish the season strong
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They need to get back in the playoffs. I say Vegas can tell us a lot about sports
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Vegas has said from the very beginning, the Red Wings have the worst odds of making the postseason
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Nobody has faith in the Red Wings. I actually think they'll give it a go. I do think they make the playoffs, but they really need to do some changes
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because the look for this organization entering into this season, season opener is tomorrow, it's a bad look
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One more franchise, one more team, one more league that I would like to discuss
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We are in the midst of the WNBA playoffs, and I get it
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Maybe that's not appealing to you. We don't have a team that's going to be playing here until 2029
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but I'm promising you a team is on the way. And why I want to talk to you about the WNBA is because I am so excited for Detroit to get a WNBA team
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I am a huge basketball guy. And I watch all forms of basketball not just college not just the NBA but I watch EuroLeague I watch Mexican leagues I watch every form of basketball And I be completely honest for years the WNBA was the most criminal to watch It was brutal
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There was a lack of talent, and it was just not fun basketball. Well, if you've been watching
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these playoffs, this is the definition of fun basketball. Nothing will compete with the level
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of talent you see on the NBA, but the WNBA has gotten really enjoyable to watch. They've got
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names. Paige Beckers. They've got Kaitlin Clark, obviously. Angel Reitz. They have got good names
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and if you need a reason to buy into the WNBA and get jazzed up about Detroit getting a team
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in a few years, just watch this playoffs. We just saw Minnesota, a one seed, get swept by New York
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An 8C. That's never happened before in the playoffs for WNBA. We just saw a thriller in overtime yesterday
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Dallas evening up the series with Golden State. That goes to overtime
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Both teams cracking 100. Guys, this has been a fun playoffs. I'm not sure if you're keeping an eye on it
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Let me know if you care about the WNBA, but I've really, really enjoyed watching it
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Been a fun playoffs, and if anything, it's going to get you more excited. Cannot wait for 2029
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It's a while away, but I cannot wait for Detroit to get a team as well
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Those are my thoughts. I'd love to hear from you. So guys, make sure you're dropping them in the comments, liking and sharing as always
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And we do always encourage you to please subscribe to the newsletter
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You just drop an email into the box. That's all you got to do. No other info needed
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Entirely free. And you get all the Detroit sports news that you need to know
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So for Detroit Sports Nation, I'm Dustin Fiocco. It's been your Daily Rundown
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Thank you
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