Detroit Pistons: 5 best options for pick No. 1

The euphoria heard around the Detroit area, as well as from Pistons fans around the world, was palpable when it was announced at the NBA Draft Lottery that the Pistons would get the No. 1 overall pick.

Luck on lottery night had been all bad for Detroit until this year. Since the lottery was instituted in 1985, the Pistons had never moved up in the draft with their own pick (they did with the Grizzlies in 2003 to No. 2, but that really was not helpful).

The last time Detroit drafted first was 1970. Heck, the Pistons are one of the founding members of the NBA (the agreement to form the league, legend has it, was drawn up on Pistons owner Fred Zollner’s kitchen table), and this is only the third time ever, they get to draft first.

They actually had, historically, drafted first the same number of times as the Providence Steamrollers (1948 and ’49) … until now.

And the Pistons staff was just as thrilled as the fans about getting No. 1

The prize of course, is 6-foot-8 Oklahoma State combo everything Cade Cunningham. After every loss, the tag ‘Fade for Cade’ was on many Pistons fans social media posts.

Cunningham is projected to be the highest-impact player the draft has seen in a few years, according to those in the draft media.

But before you go out and get a Cade Cunningham Pistons jersey, or buy a package to watch the Pistons summer league team in Las Vegas (game tickets already on sale), you might want to heed the words of the person who will actually make the pick, courtesy Rod Beard of Detroit News:

"“We’ll look at everything; we’ll look at 5 guys in the draft,” said Pistons general manager Troy Weaver. “We’ll uncover every stone and put ourselves in the right position to get the right guy for the Pistons. … We’ll look at everything; we’ll be aggressive and have the mindset to improve this team by all means necessary.” Trading the No. 1 pick?: “Yes, that’s an option.”"

Weaver put a number on it. They will look at five players for the No. 1 slot, if they don’t trade the pick.

Now, don’t get too upset Cade Cunningham-loving fans. A lot of this is GM-speak. Weaver learned his trade in Oklahoma City, which has a lot of experience in dealing with high draft positions successfully (Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook)

He knows there is no upside to blurting out on lottery night they will take Cunningham. And Weaver has always trusted his own evaluations over the draft industry mob’s projections.

No mock draft had Isaiah Stewart going No. 16 in last year, but Weaver liked him and got him. Saben Lee was not even listed on some mock drafts top 60, but Weaver took him in the second round and he looks to have potential.

As for the trade quote, that was a note to the other NBA general managers: ‘Hey, call me. I might not say yes, but we can talk’.

This is in line with Weaver’s philosophy. At the trade deadline, when asked about dealing Jerami Grant or other top players, he responded: “Some guys are not going anywhere … But I never say anyone is untradeable. You never know when someone is going to offer you four first-round picks.”

And, to get Cunningham, some team (probably based in Oklahoma), could offer Weaver four first-rounders.

But Weaver will bring in five players (Cunningham has already let it be known he will attend a Pistons workout), and if he thinks someone is better than Cade, his track record says he will take him instead.

So here are the five best options for the Detroit Pistons to deal with the No. 1 pick:

April 5, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Jalen Suggs (1). Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

No. 5 option for Detroit Pistons No. 1 draft choice: Jalen Suggs and a future first-rounder

Most experts say there are four potential stars in this years draft. Jalen Suggs had the most successful collegiate career and probably is more NBA-ready than any other top prospect.

The 6-foot-4 Minnesota native helped lead Gonzaga to the NCAA finals and showed he can be counted on in the clutch with a buzzer-beater against UCLA in the semifinals.

However, outside shooting is actually his main weakness. Suggs only made 33.7 percent of his three-point attempts in college.

A fairly tall point guard who is not a great outside shooter is NOT something the Pistons need. They already have that in last year’s No. 1 pick, Killian Hayes.

But, as Weaver has pointed out, teams that go 20-52 should not care about fit.

Suggs is a winner, can handle the ball and score, is quick and athletic. He is a born leader and, at 20-years-old, still has a lot of upside. He is not a great shooter from beyond the arc, but he is money in the mid-range.

To get Suggs, the Pistons would have to remain in the top four of the draft. The Toronto Raptors have the No. 4 pick.

Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri is one of the sharpest in the league. He knows having a pick this high is a rare opportunity for a franchise just two years removed from an NBA championship.

Unusual circumstances, like a COVID breakout, injuries and playing its home games in Florida, have gifted them with a much higher draft choice than they will probably have in the future (at least Toronto fans hope).

So what if Ujiri gives Weaver a call, the offer:

Toronto does not have a lot of future draft picks stashed away (see Option No. 2 for that), put they can give the Pistons everything they have.

Also, Detroit is desperate for shooting. A promising young, tall, athletic three-point sniper like Gary Trent Jr. is exactly the type Weaver wants. He would be a must throw-in to any trade.

Basically, it would be Jalen Suggs and Gary Trent Jr. and a future No. 1 for Cunningham. Is that good enough to pry the No. 1 draft choice from Detroit?

Odds of Pistons doing it: 30/1

Option No. 4: Jalen Green brings scoring to Detroit Pistons

Strictly based on need, Jalen Green would be the perfect fit for the Detroit Pistons. Think of Detroit legend George Gervin, he is of that body type and game.

An explosive, super-athletic wing, the 6-foot-6 Green averaged 17.9 points for the Ignite team in the G-League this past season.

He fits like a glove next to Killian Hayes in the backcourt.

In the current NBA, having a high-scoring wing seems to be the main ingredient for success: the Clippers with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Phoenix’s Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday of Milwaukee are all key players in their team’s making it to their respective conference finals.

Green would serve that role with the Pistons.

Unlike many others (except Cunningham) projected in the top 5, Green is a decent outside shooter, making 36.5 percent of his threes for the Ignite.

Green can use his amazing athleticism to score on the fast break or simply drive past a defender off the dribble. He would be lethal in the pick-and-roll with someone like Mason Plumlee, who knows how to set rock-solid picks.

He does not turn 20-years-old until next February, and GM Troy Weaver does like to get his hands on players when they are young, so he and coach Dwane Casey can teach them good habits.

As with most young players (except Cunningham), Green is not a polished product.

He weighs only about 180 pounds, so he can be taken advantage of on the defensive end. He also did not have a great assist-to-turnover ratio in the G-League. He is not a Trae Young, who will get you 30 points but also 10 assists in a game.

However, Green can score and, if you watched the Pistons during the season, outside of Jerami Grant and, when he was hot, Wayne Ellington, no one else really did.

The Pistons were 26th in scoring last year. Defense and all the intangibles are nice, but the winner of the game, is the team that scores the most points.

If Cade Cunningham does not knock Troy Weaver’s socks off at his workout, and Green look like the next George Gervin, based on merit, Detroit could select Green with the first pick.

If Weaver decided Green is better, or equal, to Cunningham, maybe he cadges an extra pick and player out of Houston, which goes second. Cunningham is a native of Texas, so he would be a very popular choice with a fanbase not too thrilled with the way current Rockets management has been running things.

Odds of occurring: 25/1

Detroit Pistons go big in NBA draft

Everyone talks about how the NBA has turned into a small-ball league. However, in the voting for League MVP, the two top vote-getters were centers Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver openly admits he likes centers. At one point in last off-season, he had five centers on the roster.

The last time the Pistons had the No. 1 pick in the draft, they did select a center, Bob Lanier. Maybe Detroit continues this pattern.

One big man stands above the others: USC center Evan Mobley.

He stands 7-0 tall but is a rail-thin 215 pounds. One would assume the just turned 20-year-old will fill out his body.

Mobley was named the PAC-10 Conference Player of the Year as a freshman with the Trojans. He helped them to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Mobley is much better skill-wise for the modern NBA game than James Wiseman, who was drafted second last year.

Extremely mobile, he is a rim-protector but can guard anywhere from the 2 to a 5 in a pinch. He also made the PAC-12 All-Defense team.

He is not a great outside shooter, making just 30 percent of his three-point attempts at USC, but he has potential to improve. He is actually pretty good at the mid-range shot, he just needs to extend his shooting range.

He can run on the fast break and be a matchup nightmare in transition. He could, with his size, ball-handling ability and shot, play power forward.

Mobley and Mason Plumlee could be a fun ‘Twin Towers’ for opposing defenses. It would also provide insurance if Isaiah Stewart struggles with a move to the power forward spot.

Might be strange to have a 6-8 center and 7-foot power forward. But something similar won an NBA title for the Washington Bullets back in the 1970s with Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld.

Mobley’s biggest weakness is his frame. He will never be Shaquille O’Neal-sized. Defensively, a meaty low-post player will give him a lot of trouble.

His ability to score down low in the NBA might also be a problem, as he could be pushed out of the post.

However, center prospects like Mobley do not come down the pike all the time, particularly for a team like Detroit. If Troy Weaver does not pull the trigger on Mobley, the Pistons may never get the chance for years to get a young, potentially all-star level center, who fits the modern game.

With Houston having Christian Wood, the most likely destination for Mobley is the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 3 pick. They let go of center Andre Drummond when they realized, you know, so they could use a big man.

But the Cavs might prefer Cade Cunningham. Certainly would give juice to a franchise that is going nowhere. Cleveland had high expectations for last season, that came crashing down.

If Weaver wants Mobley, and he thinks Houston will pass on him, a little trade with the Cavaliers could be in order:

Osman is a shooter, so Detroit could use him.

Cleveland is in the same division as the Pistons, so Weaver had better be right that Mobley is better than Cunningham. Or, more likely, that the odds of getting a big man with Mobley’s skills are so rare, they have to take him.

Odds of occurring: 15/1

Option 2: The Thunder make a lot of noise about getting No. 1 pick from Detroit Pistons

Oklahoma City tried so hard to get into position for the No.1 overall draft pick.. Once its star player, guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, was hurt and going to miss the rest of the regular season, they did not just go into tank mode, but super-tank (if there is such a term).

The Thunder told Al Horford to go home and collect his paycheck. No need for him to play when looking to lose as much as possible.

Oklahoma City played its young players down the stretch. Guys at the bottom of the bench were suddenly becoming starters.

On March 22, the Thunder held a record of 19-24 and held an outside chance of making the Play-in tournament. That was the last game for Gilgeous-Alexander.

With their chances of making the play-in disappearing with the absence of Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City went hard for a tank.

The Thunder went 3-26 the rest of the season. Sam Hinkie would have been proud how they tried to lose. Its record of 22-50 tied them with the Cavaliers for fourth-worst.

The lottery was not kind to OKC. They moved back two spots to take the No. 6 overall slot in the draft. In a draft that most experts agree is, at most, five deep, being sixth is not optimal.

In no way is Thunder general manager Sam Presti in danger of losing his job. He is recognized as one of the sharpest GM’s in the league.

Presti is so sharp, that he has piled up an insane amount of draft picks. Just in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Thunder have three of the top 18 and five of the top 36 draft picks. But no one is projected to be a star at the point they start drafting.

After one awful year, Thunder fans are ‘devastated’ following the lottery. It looks like they will endure another season with lots of losses.

As Pistons fans learned this year, having a real bad season is somewhat palatable if there is hope for the future. But right now, Oklahoma City has a bad team and no hope to change its fortunes anytime soon.

But it does have one thing: first-round draft picks. A lot of first-rounders. To be exact, the Thunder have 18 first-rounders in the next seven years (also 18 second-rounders).

The promise of future first-rounders, who are never guaranteed to be good, rings hollow at the moment.

The Thunder fans know what they want Presti to do with his truckload of draft choices:

Again, Presti’s job is not on the line, so he does not have to turn it around quickly. But it would be nice for the fans to see some tangible results from all the draft stockpiling.

Hmm, who could Presti turn to and pull off a major deal. Until last summer, guess who Presti’s top lieutenant was: Troy Weaver.

Oh, and where did Cade Cunningham go to college? Oklahoma State, a mere hour-drive to Oklahoma City. The phone lines to buy Thunder tickets would get immediately jammed if Cunningham went there. And, as a small market team, Oklahoma City relies on ticket sales for revenue more than most NBA teams.

Would Weaver give his old boss some kind of break in the asking price for the No.1 pick. No, but they, obviously, have a good working relationship (witness the Hamiduo Diallo trade).

If anything, Weaver knows the situation in Oklahoma City better than most, and how much getting Cade Cunningham would mean to the area.

As we said at the beginning of this article, Weaver has said no one is untouchable, because you never know when someone will offer you four first rounders.

That someone is Sam Presti, and he is not going to get off as easy as four first round draft choices:

So it would be five No. 1s (three this year and two in future), plus Ty Jerome, a young shooter who looked promising during last season’s meltdown.

The problem is, most of the Thunder future draft picks are with teams that are usually near the top of the standings, like the Heat, Nuggets, Clippers and Celtics. Most likely, these picks, when conveyed, will not be in the top-10.

So Weaver would be shipping out Cade Cunningham, which he will get intense criticism for, and end up with No. 6 this year and a bunch of first-rounders that will, most likely, be in the teens and 20s.

This year’s draft is not thought to be as deep as last year’s. If Weaver agrees (and he may not), a deal with Oklahoma City is probably dead in the water.

Odds of occurring: 10-1

No. 1 option: Cade Cunningham to Detroit Pistons

Sometimes the obvious choice is obvious for a reason.

Cade Cunningham is the consensus No.1 player in the draft, the Detroit Pistons have the No. 1 pick in the draft. Easy peasy.

Cunningham is the most hyped draft prospect since Zion Williamson. He is 6-foot-8, 220-pounds and can do … everything.

Now, Pistons GM Troy Weaver has said there are no LeBron James or Michael Jordan-level players in this draft, so Detroit fans need to be realistic in their expectations.

Cunningham is special because he checks off every box. He might not be great at every facet of the game, but he is good at them all, at the very least. He can play anywhere from point guard to power forward.

Cunningham is also a high character individual, very important to the Pistons.

Jalen Green has the advantage over Cunningham in terms of pure athleticism and fit with the current Pistons roster.

Of course, Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum have done pretty well without being incredible athletes, two players Cunningham has been compared to.

And the current Pistons roster will most likely be very different than in a few years. Detroit will have lots of salary cap space following the 2021-22 season to be a major player in free agency.

Importantly, Cunningham wants to be here. After the draft, Cunningham’s camp let it be known he will only work out for one team: the Pistons.

As has been shown many times, Detroit GM Troy Weaver does not go along with the crowd.

He has said he will work out five players (most likely Cunningham, Mobley, Suggs, Green and either Scottie Barnes or Jonathan Kuminga) and make his decision.

The workouts loom large.

Back in 2018, presumptive No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz had a terrible workout with the Boston Celtics, who held the first draft spot at the time. Celtics GM Danny Ainge decided to trade down and got Jayson Tatum at No. 3, while the 76ers celebrated getting Fultz at No. 1. Google it to see how that turned out.

This is not an election where everyone gets a vote. Troy Weaver, with some guidance from coach Dwane Casey, is the only vote that counts.

If he likes another player better than Cunningham, he will draft him. If Detroit gets some incredible offer for No. 1, he will take it. Bowing to public opinion has not been his style.

However, the betting here is, literally, that Weaver will go with Cunningham and make him the No. 1 pick in the draft.

There are five viable options for the Detroit Pistons with the No.1 pick.

Do the option No. 1 with the No. 1 pick, and take Cade Cunningham.

Odds of occurring: 2/5