Detroit Pistons 2021 NBA Draft: 5 Isolation scorers the Pistons could target

Detroit Pistons draft picks: NBA Draft prospect Cameron Thomas

As our own Aaron Kellerstrass said about him, Cam Thomas is a walking bucket. He is also the epitome of an isolation scorer, which is why I start with him.

His statistics per game this past season were:

23.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals

He shot 46.4 percent from two-point range, 32.5 percent from three, and 88.2 percent from the free throw line.

The bad with Cam is what people normally associate with isolation scorers when they think of the negatives of that label: He is not a good defender and he rarely passes the ball. He had a usage rate of 31.6 percent last season, played 986 total minutes and managed just 42 assists. He also posted more turnovers at 49, than assists so that is also a negative.

This means he dominated the ball and BARELY managed to get one assist every game. He only managed to post five games where his dished out more than two assists and three games where he posted more than three. He’ll have to improve in this area if he gets the ball as much as he did at LSU.

And when I say he dominated the ball, it is on a different level as Cam took 500 shot attempts last year. That was third most shot attempts of ANY player in all of Division I NCAA basketball this past season.

This lack of passing an defense makes Cam the one in this group that scares me the most. He had Javonte Smart AND Trendon Watford handling playmaking duties for him. He did not flash a lot of desire or skills to do things off-ball. He theoretically COULD be a good shooter off the catch, but it is unclear what kind of role he will have without the ball in his hands and without others handling the playmaking and defense he currently lacks.

BUT, while his three-point percentage may seem below average, he put up 7.2 attempts from distance per game so I think he is a LEGIT shooter who will post a better percentage there in the NBA surrounded by better teammates.

He IS Oak Hill Academy’s all time leading scorer in school history too— which when you consider who has attended that high school (Carmelo, Brandon Jennings, Josh Smith, Jerry Stackhouse) shows how long and how prolific Thomas is at putting the ball through the hoop.

If you wanted the Detroit Pistons to draft a guy that can just flat out score and don’t really emphasize anything else, then Cam is your guy.