The draft is the furthest thing from the Detroit Pistons’ minds, but as fans, it’s not a bad idea to go ahead and check in on who could be the next Piston. So, if the draft were today, who would the Pistons select? Chad Ford has the Pistons taking the ultra-athletic and smooth-shooting Terrance Ferguson.
The Detroit Pistons might be thinking playoffs, but it’s never a bad idea to look into the future as fans.
As we enjoy and sometimes vomit all over this roller coaster of a season, let’s look at what Chad Ford has mocked up for the Pistons in his mock 3.3, should the season end today.
"17. Detroit PistonsTerrance FergusonAustraliaAge: 19GuardFerguson’s stint in Australia has been solid. He’s not shooting the ball particularly well, but he has picked up valuable experience and teams like his long-term upside as a shooter. The Pistons could use depth behind Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at the 2."
Ford currently has Ferguson rated as his 22nd best prospect in the class, which isn’t awful consider the quality of talent this year.
Here’s what Ford had to say about Ferguson’s season in Australia:
"Ferguson’s season in Australia is over and now he heads back to the United States to prepare for the draft.He didn’t really do anything to help his draft stock there. According to our own Neil Johnson, his advanced statistics weren’t very good and with so many dominant freshmen, he has lost some of the luster he earned with a strong performance in last year’s Nike Hoop Summit.The good news for him is that this is a weak draft for shooting guards and shooters in general, which could help Ferguson’s case."
Unless you believe Darrun Hilliard or Michael Gbinije are the long-term answers at shooting guard behind Caldwell-Pope, a player like Ferguson makes a ton of sense.
At 6’7″ with a 6’10” wingspan with speed, athleticism, and shooting ability in spades, the Pistons really don’t have a player on their roster with the sort of upside Ferguson possesses on both sides of the ball.
I particularly like the idea of having a combination of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ferguson, Stanley Johnson, and Marcus Morris from a defensive perspective as the team would have the ability to switch on just about everything.
Of course, rookie’s are notoriously poor defenders, but that doesn’t mean that couldn’t be a potent defensive rotation at some point down the line.
I don’t know how much Ferguson could contribute early on. I’m not even sure shooting guard is the biggest need with Aron Baynes likely to hit free agency and with the variability of what happens to Reggie Jackson this offseason.
That said, this is a very strong draft class and netting a player with Ferguson’s athleticism and upside where the Pistons will likely end up drafting is about as much as you can ask for.
Here’s a video of Ferguson’s athleticism. His last dunk is particularly NICE.
And of course a breakdown video of Ferguson’s game.