Detroit Pistons: 3 NBA Draft trades with the San Antonio Spurs
Detroit Pistons: Trading Sekou Doumbouya to move up in the NBA Draft
The Spurs currently have the 12th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. If Detroit were to somehow acquire that pick, they would have two lottery picks and could maybe add NBA-ready talent like James Bouknight, Franz Wagner, Chris Duarte, or Corey Kispert. The Detroit Pistons would have to give a king’s ransom to take the Spur’s second lottery pick since 1997, but it could feasibly be done.
By 2024, the Pistons should be good. So their first-round pick is an asset of course, but not an exceptional one. Detroit should be out of the lottery and maybe out of the top 20. If the Pistons offer up the 37th and 42nd pick in this year’s draft, their first-round pick in 2024, and a complementary role player the Spurs would actually want to add and use, then perhaps San Antonio could be talked into it. With Rudy Gay and Trey Lyles potentially walking in free agency, the Alamo City could use some at the forward position.
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Sekou Doumbouya is not a fit in Detroit at the moment, but he could be the perfect Spur. Raw, defensive-minded, young, and from the international scene, he would fit into the Spur’s culture very well. San Antonio also has a reputation for mentoring and improving young guys, so it could work for Sekou, too.
The real plus is that Detroit would not have to take on another contract, so Casey and Weaver can build a roster exactly how they want to. It’s a bit of a dice roll because if somehow Detroit botches this draft with two lottery picks and remains a perennial cellar dweller, San Antonio could luck into a top pick very soon.
This still might not be enough to take away the 12th overall pick. While most teams tend to avoid trading draft picks with the Spurs because they know how to use them, the Spurs don’t trade picks for the same reason. There is frankly no one on the current Pistons roster that the Spurs would swoon over, aside from Beef Stew. The only way Detroit could snag the pick is if they give up on the second round and give up on Sekou Doumbouya. At only 20 years old, it could come back to haunt Detroit, but if they use the newfound pick wisely, both teams could walk away feeling good about it.