Detroit Pistons: Diving into the 2018 draft night and results

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A deeper look at how the Detroit Pistons approached the 2018 NBA draft. What could’ve been? What does it mean with who they drafted?

The Detroit Pistons went into the NBA draft with just one pick. That was the 42nd overall pick midway through the second round.

They ended up coming away with two players by the end of the night. Detroit traded up to the 38th spot to get a player they believe will be a splash when looking back on this draft class.

Starting with what could’ve been for the Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons gave up their first round pick when they traded for Blake Griffin midway though last season. In turn, they watched a lot of good talent go through the end of the lottery.

Granted, this is playing a game of ‘what if’ right now. It’s hard not to pay attention to that part of the draft. The Pistons were supposed to have the 12th pick in the draft. The Los Angeles Clippers drafted former Michigan State Spartan Miles Bridges with that pick.

Michael Porter Jr. ended up falling to the 14th spot in the draft as well. It’s difficult to not think about what could’ve been if either of these two players end up thriving in the league and become stars.

Porter Jr. is likely the stronger candidate in that respect. He was supposed to be a top five pick. Questions regarding his health came up and a lot of teams passed on him.

The fact of the matter is that this could end up not being a big deal at all.

The front office did show a pulse

When entering the second round, a lot of big prospects were off the board. To counteract this falloff of talent, the Pistons traded two future second round picks to get Khyri Thomas who was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Gores and Stefanski pulled the trigger on a guy that received a lot of praise heading into the NBA draft. Even though they traded future picks to get a guy that was drafted just a few spots ahead of them, it shows there was a sense of urgency. It shows there was a plan of some sort.

It’s a lot more than what people expected. The Pistons then selected Bruce Brown with their second round pick at the 42nd spot.

This move says something. It stands by what both Gores and Dwane Casey have said over the past few months. This team wants to compete now and they’re in a window of opportunity.

You might just shrug it off because all they did was get another second round pick. The fact is that teams aren’t giving up future picks if they don’t want to win now.

What do the picks mean?

Ultimately, the biggest problem over the past two seasons for the Detroit Pistons has been their play at the point guard position.

Reggie Jackson hasn’t been able to stay healthy for a large majority of the last two years. Ish Smith is a serviceable back-up point guard. He’s by no means is an effective starter in this league.

Their third point guard in their rotation was a mix of Jameer Nelson and Dwight Buycks. The five on the floor seemed to lose their cohesion offensively when either of these two we’re directing the show.

What do the Pistons do? They go out and draft two guards that can handle the ball. These are two players that fell to the second round for a reason. Brown and Thomas are two talented players but they both had enough flaws to get passed up.

This was a move to improve the back court and they did just that. Jackson and Smith shouldn’t feel as comfortable coming into this season as they did last year.

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