Who the Detroit Pistons should have taken in every draft since Darko Milicic
2007-2009: Big Man and the Role Player Dream Team
2007
Who they drafted: Rodney Stuckey (15), Arron Afflalo (27) Sammy Mejia (57)
Who they should have drafted: Marco Belinelli, Marc Gasol, Anthony Tolliver
Notable Misses: Joel Anthony
Another weak draft where Detroit managed to find some value but still missed out. Stuckey was defensible over Belinelli at the time, but the latter continues to be a key role player for San Antonio and Stuckey is out of the league. Afflalo was the real value at 27 but an even greater value would have been Gasol, who ended up becoming one of the most versatile big men in the league and just helped Toronto win a title. Gasol led the “Grit and Grind” Grizzlies for years and would have been a fan favorite in Detroit.
2008
Who they drafted: D.J.White (29), Deron Washington (59)
Who they should have drafted: Goran Dragic, Timofey Mozgov
Notable Misses: DeAndre Jordan
Dragic ended up becoming a Top 10 point guard in the league for a stretch and would have been great alongside Stuckey. Jordan was the other big miss here. Imagine a team with Jordan and Gasol, ugh, let’s move on.
Top 10 Pistons draft picks of All-Time. light. pistons history
2009
Who they drafted: Austin Daye (15), DaJuan Summers (35), Jonas Jerebko (39), Chase Budinger (44)
Who they should have drafted: Jrue Holiday, Patrick Beverley, Danny Green, Patty Mills
Notable misses: Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, DeMarre Carroll, Aron Baynes, even Wayne Ellington
This was arguably one of the Pistons’ worst drafts and one that set the franchise back considerably, as none of the four players they selected had meaningful NBA careers (Jerebko was a good value pick). This was one of the worst drafts for misses in general, ask Memphis, who could have had James Harden, Stephen Curry or DeMar DeRozan but took Hasheem Thabeet, or Minnesota, who managed to land not one, but two point guards without selecting Curry, who was still available. Austin Daye was the big flop here, as Holiday is still great and Beverley, Green and Mills are part of the role player Dream Team. Ugh.