The Detroit Pistons will enter the 2021 NBA Draft with four picks to work with and they could use them in a number of ways.
They will likely just use their first rounder on the best player available, although it is possible that they could trade down and try to acquire more picks.
It is also possible that they could trade up, especially if a guy like Cade Cunningham is available for trade and they think he is the best player.
The second round picks are a complete mystery.
The Pistons have three of them and it is very unlikely that they will use them all, so I could see them either packaging them to trade up for a guy like Cameron Thomas in the first round, using them on international players to stash overseas or even trading them for future picks.
However they use the picks, the Detroit Pistons will be looking for a specific type of player.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons have a mold
The Detroit Pistons are trying to build their system around a certain type of player.
Troy Weaver has shown a preference for long, athletic guys who are versatile defenders who can guard multiple positions.
Jerami Grant, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Josh Jackson and Hamidou Diallo all fit this mold and it is clear that the Pistons are trying to build around defense first.
This is a smart move by Weaver, as all of the top teams in the NBA are near the top of the league in defense, which is not a coincidence.
It’s too soon for the Pistons to start drafting for need, so Weaver will continue to take guys who fit his system and vision of how to build a team.
Here are three players who fit the mold, one for if the Pistons fall out of the top five, one who they might have to trade up to get and one for the early second round.