Fans of the Detroit Pistons will be watching tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery with nervous anticipation, as it could be the most important one in team history.
This might be recency bias talking, but I have been a Pistons’ fan longer than most of you have been alive and I can’t remember an NBA Draft Lottery that was so important.
The Pistons will be choosing somewhere in the top-6, so already this will be their highest pick since 2003, the year they chose Darko Milicic.
But the difference between one and six will be huge this season, as it could be the difference between getting a franchise-altering talent and getting a pretty good player who will continue to help the rebuild.
There are a combination of factors that make this the most important lottery in team history, or at least recent team history.
Detroit Pistons NBA Draft Lottery: The role players are assembled, the Pistons just need a star
A lot of teams in the NBA could say this, but for the Detroit Pistons is it true: the Pistons are just a star away from being good.
The Pistons have assembled some very good young talent in Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes to go along with veteran Jerami Grant, who just had a huge breakout season.
If you look at where Atlanta was before they drafted Trae Young, I would argue that the Pistons have a much better cast of quality role players to put around a star.
If the Pistons can nail this draft, starting with getting lucky in the NBA Draft Lottery, they could make a similar leap and be in contention sooner rather than later.
I can’t remember a Pistons’ team that was more ready to win (other than 2003, but they were already very good), as they have the role players, coach and front office in place and just need their star.
Detroit Pistons NBA Draft Lottery: The fans are ready to erupt
I haven’t seen this much excitement around the Detroit Pistons in a long time. Being perpetually mediocre is not a way to win over a fan base, which is why Troy Weaver was dead honest with the fans about how this team needed to be “restored.”
Part of that is winning over a fan base that has been tortured for over a decade. I know for a fact that the Pistons have some of the best fans in sports, but you can only kick a dog so many times before it eventually runs away.
The fans have, and the Pistons had some of the lowest attendance in the league for several years even before COVID. It was so bad that they had to change the color of the seats so that the empty red wouldn’t stand out on TV.
The fans are absolutely ready to come back and support a winner, and Pistons’ fans are smart enough to know the timeline for this rebuild and what to expect.
Landing a top-3 pick would vault the Pistons back into the top of the league in attendance over the next few seasons.
Forget the Lions and Tigers, the Pistons are Detroit’s team and fans are ready to turn the dead Little Caesar’s Arena into an electric atmosphere and give Detroit the home court advantage they once enjoyed in the good years.
Detroit Pistons NBA Draft Lottery: Finally getting the right pick in the right year
It takes a lot of luck to land a superstar in the NBA Draft.
Not only do you have to get lucky in the NBA Drat Lottery and land a top pick, but you have to do it in a year when there is a superstar player.
Think of the odds the Pelicans bucked when they not only won the number one pick with a 6 percent chance to do so, but also did it in a year when there was a consensus superstar.
It doesn’t happen that often, just look at last season, when you couldn’t even get a consensus top 3, which means it was still a pretty big crapshoot.
the Zions and LeBrons of the league are few and far between.
I am not saying Cade Cunningham is at that level, but he’s not far behind. Not only that, but there are three more guys who most believe will be impact stars in the NBA.
If the Pistons can just stay in the top-four they will almost certainly get a player who can change the course of the franchise, which is not something you can say for every draft.
Timing is everything and Detroit has timed things well with a masterclass in tanking that not only brought them a chance at a superstar, but at a time when the fans are ready to jump back in with both feet.
Get out your good luck charms, Detroit, this NBA Draft Lottery is one of the big ones.