Detroit Pistons draft picks of the last 10 years: Where are they now?

2018 Draft

Round 2 Pick 38: Khryi Thomas (Acquired from Nets via trade)

Khyri Thomas did not get much playing time with the Pistons in his rookie season. Do not let his lack of playing time force you to inaccurately gauge his potential. The Pistons were chalked full of guards who all deserved to play in the 2018-19 season. It just so happened that due to Thomas’ lack of experience, he was the odd man out.

Things will start to change for Thomas this upcoming season as he has a realistic path to playing time now with expectations for his minutes to increase in the future. Thomas is a talented player on both ends of the ball and projects to be a quality three-and-D wing for the Pistons.

Thomas was most recently playing in the NBA summer league this offseason where he put up 26 points in the first game against the Croatian national team.

The Pistons need Thomas to improve if they hope to make it further into the playoffs. Thomas seems to have the proper attitude and the will to do just that. In an official Pistons article written by Keith Langlois, Thomas was speaking of his offseason regimen when he said “I took a week off and kept at it – and that week I was off, I was just lifting. You know how much I played last year, so I don’t think I really had time for an offseason. The trainers told me to relax and chill. But I was like, nah, I don’t have time to relax and chill.”

With his potential that is a great attitude to have and the Pistons are hoping to see more of him on the court instead of on the bench this upcoming season.

Round 2 Pick 42: Bruce Brown

Bruce Brown was the surprise of the 2018 draft. Going into the season, Thomas was deemed to be the more day one playable and NBA ready player between the two. It turned out being the opposite. Brown started 56 games for the Pistons in his rookie season while Thomas only appeared in 26 games total.

Brown’s offensive game left much to be desired, as it was his tough defense that got him on the floor for the team. Brown would routinely be tasked with defending the opposing team’s best guard and did an excellent job in that role. Brown’s defense this season was highlighted in a game versus the Rockets when he absolutely locked up the MVP runner-up James Harden.

For context, in the 2018-19 season Harden put up 18 games in which he scored 20-29 points, 29 games in which he scored 30-39 points, 19 games in which he scored 40-49 points, seven games in which he scored 50-59 points, and two games in which he put up a whopping 60+ points.

Harden went on a monumental scoring tear this season and yet the rookie made him look completely lost while he was guarding him. That is impressive for any NBA player to do but for a rookie to do it is incredible and symbolic of his potential as a defensive stopper. If Brown can round out his offensive game he will be a stud for the Pistons and a nightmare for opposing NBA players trying to score on him.

Noteworthy Players Passed On: Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk