Who the Detroit Pistons should have taken in every draft since Darko Milicic
2010-2012: Painful Misses and the Ripple Effect
2010
Who they drafted: Greg Monroe (7), Terrico White (35)
Who they should have drafted: Paul George, Lance Stephenson
Notable Misses: Ish Smith
Greg Monroe was okay for Detroit but didn’t work alongside Andre Drummond and ended up becoming a dinosaur in a league that got quicker and less focused on the post game. George went to rival Indiana and helped to rebuild their franchise back into a competitor with his play and eventually the haul the Pacers got by trading him. This was a huge miss for Detroit and continued their inability to identify and draft a quality wing, which is still evident on the roster today.
2011
Who they drafted: Brandon Knight (8), Kyle Singler (33), Vernon Macklin (52)
Who they should have drafted: Kawhi Leonard, Isaiah Thomas, Justin Holiday
Notable misses: Klay Thompson, Kemba Walker, Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris
Look at that list of names. This one hurts. The Pistons selection of Knight wasn’t defensible then, but now looks like a pick that rivals Darko for worst in franchise history. The Pistons missed out on future Hall of Famers in Leonard, Thompson and Walker. Harris and Vucevic would have been nice upgrades as well. This was another draft that set the Pistons back and kept them locked in perpetual mediocrity.
Related Story. Ranking Andre Drummond's 10 best games of his career. light
2012
Who they drafted: Andre Drummond (9), Khris Middleton (39)
Who they should have drafted: Andre Drummond, Khris Middleton
Finally, the Pistons hit some homeruns. Drummond would probably go fourth in this draft now behind Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal, so the Pistons did well here. Middleton was also an excellent selection at 39 but the Pistons managed to botch it by packaging him with Knight in a trade for Brandon Jennings. The Knight pick was so bad that it continued to ripple into future seasons, costing the Pistons Middleton, who is now an All-Star and exactly what the Pistons lack. One bad draft hurts a team exponentially and the Daye, Monroe and Knight picks continue to haunt the Pistons.