Troy Weaver’s First Tough Decision: Who the Detroit Pistons should draft

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Detroit Pistons Derrick Rose. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The case for trading back

The Pistons have glaring holes all over the roster and we are many pieces away from being in a position of a Boston, or a Miami who are fighting for a spot to the Finals.

One of the less talked about and underrated things that people aren’t either realizing or talking about is that COVID-19 has made this draft a lot more challenging.

No March Madness, no NBA combine, and limited game tape all could lead to some people going unnoticed and gifting better teams’ players that should have never fallen to them. Every year there are certain players who blossom into a star in the NCAA tournament and/or their conference tournaments and their draft stock is greatly affected by their team’s run.

A few examples of this in 2020 would be Obi Toppin, Tyrese Maxey, and Cassius Winston.

Obi Toppin played in the Atlantic 10, a non-power 5 conference and if there was an NCAA tournament, he would have taken his team to the final four and solidified himself as the best player available in this draft in my opinion so if he falls to the Pistons at pick 7 that would be a delight.

Tyrese Maxey is exactly what the NBA is moving towards in my “expert scout opinion” and with Ashton Hagans, his Kentucky teammate opting out of the SEC and NCAA tournaments, Tyrese Maxey would have been the primary ball handler and he would then be getting the Lou Williams and Donovan Mitchell comparisons he deserves.

The primary trade partner rumored is the Celtics who have three first round picks, their own at #26, #30 from Milwaukee, and Memphis’ pick at #14, additionally they have Brooklyn’s second round pick at #47. The deal would likely be Detroit’s pick at #7 for pick #14 and two of picks #26, #30, and #47.

Likely it will be #26 and #47 but if one prospect is there at #7, then we would likely get all 3 picks. That prospect has drawn many comparisons to the very player dominating the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals right now, Bam Adebayo and Onyeka Okongwu.

Okongwu would be a huge upgrade on Daniel Theis and would be a player who could actually stop the Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic pick and roll that put Miami up 2-0 in the first two games.

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Theis is by no means a bad player but he is defiantly not a starting center on a championship team, he’s undersized and cannot spread the floor effectively enough to justify his short stature. Having him be a backup center though, would be incredible and make the Celtics have the best bench in the league.

Other players, like Devin Vassell, Kilian Hayes, and Tyrese Haliburton would he other players the Celtics should be very interested in but Onyeka Okongwu starting for the Celtics next year would be the dream scenario for Boston.

Having three first round picks would mean that the Pistons could take RJ Hampton/Aaron Nesmith at pick 14, Theo Maledon/Cassius Winston at pick 26, and Jaden McDaniels/Zeke Nnaji at pick 30.

Having three picks and bringing in three rookies would help start to build a young core and culture for the Pistons and start to look towards a distant playoff run. There will be some studs at pick 14 and having two more lottery tickets at pick 26 and 30 would give us two more chances at finding the next Piston great in the 2021 draft.