The 2021 NBA Draft is less than a week away, and the anticipation amongst Detroit Pistons fans has reached its boiling point.
For the first time since 1970, the Detroit Pistons will be making the first overall selection in the draft. This occasion also marks the first time Detroit has moved up in the lottery with their own pick.
Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham is the presumptive number one pick for Detroit. The 19-year-old point guard has been the top prospect in the 2021 Draft Class for well over a year at this point.
In addition to the first overall pick, the Pistons also enter the July 29 draft with three second-round selections. Detroit owns the 37th, 42nd, and 52nd picks in the draft.
Detroit Pistons: Some NBA Draft questions still remain
With the team owning four total draft picks, there are many uncertainties for the Detroit Pistons heading into the 2021 NBA Draft.
While Cunningham is the expected first overall pick, there is no guarantee Pistons GM Troy Weaver does not look elsewhere in this draft. Reports indicate Detroit views USC’s Evan Mobley and G-League Ignite guard Jalen Green in high regard. It is possible Weaver could look to trade down if he covets one of them more than Cunningham.
There has also been speculation that the Pistons front office could look to use a combination of their three second-round picks to trade up into the late first round. Weaver has shown an eye for talent outside of the lottery and gaining another first-round talent for the team would not be an unexpected move for the second-year GM.
To get some semblance of clarity on these questions, along with addressing a few odds and ends, I sat down with The Athletic‘s Pistons beat writer James Edwards III.
The first question that I think every Detroit Pistons fan has is how certain are you that Cade Cunningham will be the number one pick for Detroit.
Edwards III: I will just say that I would be shocked if he’s not the pick. I personally am just not 100 percent until it’s done. I have just gotten this sense that he’s emerged as the guy. I think he’s probably been the guy. I think all their homework and their research backed up what they thought. I just end up thinking that he’s the pick
You have done interviews with people close to Cade Cunningham to talk about him. What has been the most surprising or intriguing thing you’ve learned about Cade during the interviews you have done with people talking about him.
Edwards III: I would say just how down to earth he is. I learned that as a kid he was a good player, but I learned he was a little chunky. He was the best player in where he was, and as he got to high school and then nationally people started to take notice. He seems very humble. He seems like, to be honest, a cool young man. Talking to people, everybody I talked to that’s close to him raved about him. Of course, those are his people so they’re going to talk highly of him. Even listening to him on podcasts, he sounds like a really smart, interesting, and insightful guy. I think he’d fit right in with the young group they have here in terms of personality for sure.
Other teams have obviously been making calls to try and trade up for the first pick. Which team do you think would have the best chance at making that move to trade up to number one?
Edwards III: I would say it would probably be the teams right behind in Houston and Cleveland. Just simply because I don’t think Detroit entertains any realistic trade that could be thrown at them that doesn’t involve pick two or three and the chance to get Mobley, Green, or Suggs. I think for them to even consider or think about a deal it would have to involve one of those picks so that they walk away with someone they really like. A young player they can build with and around going forward.
Trading up back into the first round has been speculated for a while now. Are there any players that fans should keep their eyes on if they start to fall for the Detroit Pistons to potentially trade up and grab?
Edwards III: ‘Bones’ Hyland is a guy I had them getting with their first pick of the second round which is 37 for them. There is a world where he goes in the late first. Maybe they know that and move up to get him. Jared Butler from Baylor is another guy. He had some health issues. He’s been cleared to play in the NBA. Personally, I thought he was the best guard at Baylor. He’s a guy that could go late first depending on how scared teams are with the medical stuff, or how unafraid they are. Afraid or unafraid, that could waver where he falls. I think that’s another guy who could be of interest. Those two are the two names that I’m pretty confident that they like in some capacity. Whether or not they’re willing to trade up to get them is another story.
You recently wrote an article about five draft-and-stash players the Pistons could look to target. Of those guys, who do you think would make the best fit for Detroit and have the highest potential?
Edwards III: Rokas Jokubaitis is the guy that’s probably the best in this class, but I think he probably goes too soon for Detroit if they keep their seconds. So from there after him, I really like Vrenz Bleijenbergh from Belgium, he played at Antwerp. 6-10, 6-11 plays like a wing, solid passer pretty good IQ, can shoot the three-ball. Weirdly was terrible at the free-throw line, but shot well from three at the Euro Cup. He needs to get his body to fill out a little bit and probably needs to sharpen some things in terms of skills. I just think he’s very much kind of like today’s NBA, a long tall wing who can put the ball on the floor and create and if all goes well, create mismatches on the offensive end. That’s a big ‘if’, but it’s worth it if you’re picking at 52. It’s not a bad idea to have a guy that you’re intrigued by that you can stash away and don’t need to worry about paying him right now. If things go well and you can see he’s doing well overseas, you have the rights to bring him over.
Looking past the draft, will the Detroit Pistons have enough cap space to bring back Hamidou Diallo and Frank Jackson.
Edwards III: I believe so because they own their bird rights. I think they have Frank’s, but regardless I don’t think Frank is going to command a big enough salary that it’s going to impact it. They can release Corey Joseph and save $10 million. I think Hamidou, as long as the competing offers aren’t too much, I think there’s enough for the Pistons to bring back both those guys.
Are there any free agents that weren’t with Detroit last year that you think they have some interest in bringing in?
Edwards III: I’ve always kind of maintained that I don’t get the sense that they’re going to be super active in this free agency class. It’s not a great one, it’s not. It’s not one that you want to tighten your flexibility for. They have a lot of guys under contract. They like their young guys. They like their vets. I’m sure that there’s going to be a guy or two that they maybe bring in that wasn’t on the team last year just because that’s how that stuff usually goes. Bring them in on a vet minimum or something. I don’t think it’s going to be anything consequential that catches people by surprise. I don’t have a name, but I’m expecting there to be at least one guy who wasn’t on the team last year maybe to join this year. I think their priority is to develop the guys they have here, retain the guys they like that are free agents, and prepare themselves for next year’s free agency and the following year, when they have a lot more cap space and Blake comes off the books. I definitely think their eyes are not on this free agency but the next two.
How much do you anticipate Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey, and Isaiah Stewart will play in the summer league this year.
Edwards III: This is all just speculation on my part. It doesn’t look like we’ll see much of Isaiah if at all. We all saw the photos of him wearing a walking book, and there was the photo of him with the crutch next to Johnny Kane. So that’s not encouraging. We haven’t gotten any information on the severity of the injury. Whenever he gets out of that I imagine he has to go through rehab, and I’m sure he’s not in shape right now because he hasn’t been able to run. He’ll have to get back in shape. I would be shocked if he played.
Saddiq is another one where he spent a good chunk of time at US Basketball. He’s a guy that proved himself as a rookie. I’d be surprised if he played in more than two or three games max, but you never know he’s young. They might want to put him out there and let him have this time because they didn’t have it last year.
I think Killian is similar. He’s the one with the injury history. I think obviously it’s important for him to develop. They’re going to want to get him out there and let him try different things and get into the flow of playing and try to see where he’s at. Again, he’s important to what they’re trying to do, so maybe there’s a world where he only plays two or three. There’s also a world where he plays the whole time.
I’m not really sure. Knowing these guys aren’t just players you’re putting on ice and you don’t have to rely on, they are guys you have to rely on next season. So, I’d be surprised if they played every single game, or, to be honest, I’d be surprised if they played the majority of games.