2020 NBA Draft: Detroit Pistons should open their wallet
Almost as easily as one can buy a hot dog at a game, NBA teams can purchase draft picks. With the Detroit Pistons only having one selection currently for the 2020 Draft, it might be time for owner Tom Gores to write some big checks for additional picks.
There is plenty of maneuvering the Detroit Pistons could be involved in trying to accumulate more draft choices. They could have constant phone calls, being up all night negotiating with a bunch of teams, juggling different offers and deciding which one to accept. Sounds fun but there is an easier alternative.
Just flat out buy them.
Purchasing picks has a lot of positives. It means saving future basketball assets, be it draft picks or players, from being lost in a trade. The only thing being used with buying them is owner Tom Gores’ checkbook.
It also gives the Pistons executives a little more cover so they might make a more daring selection. If the player drafted turns out to be a bust, fans might not be as upset since Detroit, in their mind, gave up nothing to get that player.
The negotiations are also a lot simpler. Detroit president Ed Stefanski calls another team, asks them how much $$$$ will it cost for their (blank) pick and, once he gets the price, asks Gores for the green light.
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Coming off the financial hardship of the pandemic, finding teams willing to sell should not be a problem.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, one team executive told him even first-round picks could go to the highest bidder this year.
The last time a first-round selection was sold came in 2013.
The Denver Nuggets sold the No. 27 pick to the Utah Jazz, who used it to select a raw, athletic big man from France named Rudy Gobert. That purchase turned out rather nicely for the Jazz, netting a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year for mostly cash (a late second rounder was thrown to Denver to give them cover).
The Pistons have only pick in this year’s draft and it is at No. 7. Coming off a 20-46 season, there are plenty of open roster spots and the more competition the better.
This is the point where Stefanski and general manager Troy Weaver start calling and owner Tom Gores opens his checkbook.
Worth $5.7 billion according to Forbes, how much would Gores be willing to shell out for additional draft picks?
They are not cheap.