Detroit Pistons draft recap: Making sense of it all

The Detroit Pistons had a controversial draft night. Some fans were excited to get Sekou Doumbouya with the 15th pick in the draft while others criticized the fact that he’s not ready to contribute. Then the second round came and everyone was confused. Everyone.

With the 15th pick of the draft, the Detroit Pistons selected the youngest player in the draft who many scouts projected as a top ten talent. Doumbouya projects to be a versatile defender and promising shooter who is a 6’9″ forward and could still be growing.

The day before, news broke that the Piston traded Jon Leuer. In return they got Tony Snell to fill their small forward need and the 30th pick in the draft. When the time came, the Cavs were enamored with Kevin Porter Jr. and gave up four future second-round picks to Detroit to get him.

Or that’s at least what early reports suggested. Nothing is confirmed yet, as far as I’m concerned but according to sources citing sources, the Cavaliers gave up Utah’s 2020 and Portland’s 2021 and 2023 second round picks. In addition, they gave up a top 55 protected Miami 2024 second, which is unlikely to convey of course.

The Pistons certainly weren’t so high on Porter who, despite his talent, has displayed some character issues. Ed Stefanski, Pistons General Manager, has said multiple times that he’s looking for high character, coachable guys and neither seems to describe the soon-to-be rookie.

Instead, the Pistons flipped the 30th pick for:

• 2020, 2021 semi-to-non-valuable picks that are projected to be in the 45 to 60 range
• 2023 Portland pick in a year when the Blazers could potentially be worse and high school players will probably be included in the draft. Possibly a valuable asset.
• Non-valuable Miami protected pick
• 5 million dollars in cash

This haul makes it seem like the Pistons really didn’t want to add another guaranteed contract with the 30th pick, at least not for the players left on the board. They were reportedly trying to trade back into the second round as early as pick 32.

They managed to get the 37th pick and draft Deividas Sirvydis. The 18-year-old 6’8.5″ marksman needs to add some muscle before he comes to the NBA and will likely be stashed in the G League if the Pistons choose to do so.

It seems like the Pistons were inclined to add Syvydis and that he was a player they were aggressively targeting in the second round.

Then they traded the 2024 Miami pick and two million in cash for Tennessee’s Jordan Bone. Reports suggest that the Pistons had promised to pick Bone with the 45th pick.

Bone is a super athletic point guard, capable defender and reliable off the catch shooter who will need some time to develop his pull up game and refine his decision-making. He will be signed to a two-way contract, saving the Pistons some cap space and a roster spot.

So, what’s the situation right now? These are the numbers from basketball reference.

1.Blake Griffin                        34.234.964$
2.Andre Drummond             27.093.019$
3.Reggie Jackson                  18.086.957$
4.Tony Snell                            11.392.857$
5.Langston Galloway            7.333.333$
6. Josh Smith                            5,331,729
7.Sekou Doumbouya*           3.280.800$
8.Luke Kennard                       3.827.160$
9.Thon Maker                           3.569.643$
10.Bruce Brown                         1.416.852$
11.Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk      1.416.852$
12.Khyri Thomas                     1.416.852$

That’s a sum of 118.401.018$. Given that the salary cap is 109.000.000$ and the tax line is 132.000.000$, the Pistons are 9.401.018$ over the cap and 13.598.982$ under the tax. Take all the numbers with a grain of salt since I’m not a draft expert.

The Detroit Pistons have the capacity to use the full non-taxpayer MLE of
9.246.000$ and the BAE worth 3.619.000$. If they use those exceptions to add a backup point guard and a backup big man they’ll be left with 733.982$ and two open roster spots.

All that is assuming no other trade will happen this summer. The Detroit Pistons have been looking to deal the expiring deal of Langston Galloway, so that could be a way they add some depth.

Even if they don’t make a trade, they could be looking at some real depth using the exceptions now that they traded for Snell. The biggest need has been covered, even if not in the best way, and now they can use their other resources to add depth elsewhere. God knows they need it.

No matter what you think of the draft selections, the Front Office has done a good job of maneuvering with few resources and maintaining as much cap flexibility as they can. They’ve shown signs of competence even though it’s too early to tell.