The NBA draft is less than 24 hours away and there is a ton of uncertainty–particularly because there are reportedly 15 picks in the first round being shopped. With so many picks up for sale, would the Detroit Pistons have the ammunition/desire to move up in the draft?
The Detroit Pistons could likely move up as high as 15 spots to number three overall selection. That however, is highly unlikely with the asking price being too steep.
But a move into the top-10? That’s doable.
Draft picks for sale! By my count that's picks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, & 21 on the market https://t.co/Wk8FKlimOo
— NBA Big Board (@chadfordinsider) June 22, 2016
As you can see from Ford’s tweet, six of the top-10 picks are being shopped. Picks 11-16 are also being shopped. You might ask yourself why that is. The reason is because after Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons (both of whom have been reported as the first and second overall selections) there is a significant drop off in talent.
The next tier of players (Kris Dunn, Buddy Heild, Marquese Chriss, Jamaal Murray, Dragan Bender, Jaylen Brown) all have question marks, but high enough ceilings to really entice a team picking outside the top-10 give up assets in exchange for the young players.
The other theme here? The Celtics (third overall), Timberwolves (fifth overall), Pelicans (sixth overall), Nuggets (seventh overall), and Kings (eighth overall) are all teams that are desperately seeking a stud veteran to get their team back into the playoffs as soon as next season. (In the Celtics case, they are looking to get a step closer to a title).
With so many picks up for grabs, the Pistons could easily orchestrate a deal to land them inside the top-10, but unlike the one-sided deals they’ve made in the past, a move into the top-10 would cost them valuable assets.
Of the Pistons’ core players (Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris, Tobias Harris, Andre Drummond, and Stanley Johnson), only one players seems moveable–Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
There has been some uncertainty with the Pistons’ ability to retain Caldwell-Pope.
Though Caldwell-Pope is a restricted free agent after the season, the Pistons–at this point–likely don’t view him as a max contract type player. I don’t know that any other team in the NBA does either, but with the salary cap shooting up over the next two seasons and a premium on strong two-way players, Caldwell-Pope could really cash in next offseason.
Losing the best wing defender on the team could be a tough pill to swallow for the Pistons, particularly because Caldwell-Pope is still so young and has plenty more to grow.
But by trading Caldwell-Pope, the Pistons could move up into one of the top seven spots and draft a player to fill their need at power forward who also has good upside like Marquese Chriss or Dragan Bender.
If the Pistons were able to retain their 18th overall selection they could then focus on a guard spot to groom while inserting Stanley Johnson into the starting lineup at shooting guard.
Ultimately, I think the Pistons stay pat. I think that’s the right move too. But there is chance–albeit very slim one–that the Pistons could look to move up in the draft.
If they do so, it wouldn’t surprise me if they used Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to do so.