Detroit Pistons draft picks: Redrafting the 2000’s for the Pistons

2017: Detroit took Luke Kennard but should have taken Donovan Mitchell

I like Luke Kennard a lot. He plays in the NBA the same way I do in pickup games. We both stand behind the arc and wait for a pass, and then shoot it. On defense, we run back and try our best but often get torched. I am not the best player at pickup games, and Luke Kennard is not the best player in NBA games. Donovan Mitchell usually is. Bam Adebayo went right after Kennard and Mitchell, and he would have been a better pick too. Just a bad pick by Detroit, but at least they turned Kennard into Saddiq Bey. I’d rather have Mitchell though.

2018: Detroit did not have a first-round draft pick

2019: Detroit took Sekou Doumbouya and it looks like they got it right

It really is too early to say, but of all the power forwards taken after Doumbouya, it seems like he’s just about on par with the rest of them. Nassir Little and Luka Šamanić both play at around the same level. None of these players get a lot of minutes, so it’s really too soon to make a call.

2020: Detroit took Killian Hayes but should have taken Tyrese Haliburton

Hayes seems to be a good player, and Detroit’s other rookies are all playing well above their projection, but Haliburton is something special. He is maybe the best rookie in the league right now and has stayed healthy all season. Haliburton can do it all, and Hayes can’t, although that’s not a knock against the young Piston. I like Hayes as a Piston and I think he will become a really good player, but Haliburton could easily go down as the best player in the class of 2020.

The Detroit Pistons didn’t get a lot right in the 2000’s but Troy Weaver is turning that around and they now look to have one of the best rookie classes in their history.