The Detroit Pistons tried to trade away their first round pick in this year’s NBA draft at the trade deadline in February, and it may be time to try again.
Just three short months ago, the Pistons were briefly without their first round draft pick. They had traded it–along with center Joel Anthony–to the Houston Rockets in exchange for forward Donatas Motiejunas and guard Marcus Thornton.
As with all trades in the NBA, the trade was conditional pending physicals for all players involved, and as is widely known across NBA circles now, Motiejunas failed his physical and the Pistons were returned their pick and the Rockets got DMo and Thornton back in return.
More from PistonPowered
- Which Detroit Pistons could save Team USA in the Olympics?
- Detroit Pistons could have major roster churn after 2023-24 season
- The best Detroit Pistons to wear each uniform number
- Full Detroit Pistons NBA 2K24 ratings
- Detroit Pistons: Who will sign the remaining NBA free agents?
The Pistons have tried to move this pick before, doing so at a time when they were just under .500 and on the fringe of the playoff picture, meaning that the pick had more value at that time than the 18th overall pick that it has now conveyed to. If ever there was a draft to try and package a pick in an effort to trade for depth, this might just be it.
While at the top, this draft class might be strong, the value plummets the farther down the ranks you get.
The Vertical mock drafts Domantas Sabonis, 6-foot-11, 240 lbs power forward/center out of Gonzaga, to the Pistons, and while he fills a need behind Andre Drummond, big men don’t tend to have much impact right off the bat. The Pistons are now a playoff contender, and it’s important to be able to add immediate depth to the roster.
CBSSports.com mock drafts Demetrius Jackson to the Pistons, a 6-foot-1, 198 lbs point guard out of Notre Dame. Jackson averaged 15.8 points and 4.7 assists per game last season on shooting splits of .451/.331/.813, clearly far from a sharp-shooter and his size will be a problem against bigger and stronger point guards.
The draft is not bare in the late teens by any means, but the Pistons have pressing depth needs that need to be addressed in a hurry if they’re going to be able to mount a challenge to climb up a tier or two in the Eastern Conference.
It’s been well-documented that the point guard situation is a desperate one, as Steve Blake is a year older and was barely playable most of this past season, and Spencer Dinwiddie probably just won’t be an NBA-level player. The Pistons also don’t really have a true power forward, as both Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris are both a bit undersized, and Anthony Tolliver is primarily usable only as a shooter who will be coming off one of the worst shooting seasons of his career.
Steve Blake has been washed up for years, and Anthony Tolliver can’t be depended on for big minutes as either a starter or one of the first two players off the bench.
Next: Detroit Pistons Big Board 1.0
It won’t be a disaster if the Pistons have to actually use this pick themselves, but hopefully they’ll be able to package it in a trade of some sort to bolster one of their critically thin positions.