The Detroit Pistons stockpiled second-round draft picks in the recent trade of Sekou Doumbouya and Jahlil Okafor.
Detroit grabbed four picks and some cash from the Nets in exchange for the two players and taking on DeAndre Jordan’s salary, which they quickly bought out.
There has been debate whether this return was enough for Sekou Doumbouya, who hasn’t shown much yet but is just 20-years-old and was taken in the first round of the draft just two years ago.
Some fans may have overvalued Doumbouya, but Troy Weaver certainly didn’t, as he must believe he can find a superior talent with one of those second-round picks.
Weaver has done well in the draft so far, nailing the Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart picks and looking like he found second-round talent in Saben Lee and possibly Luka Garza and Isaiah Livers.
But will these second rounders eventually pan out? It’s tough to say, but the Detroit Pistons do have a history of finding talent in the latter part of the draft.
Detroit Pistons: Top second-round draft picks of all time
#7-Jonas Jerebko (2009)
The fact that Jerebko is on this list shows that second-round gems are not always easy to find. Jerebko flashed some potential with the Pistons in his rookie season before getting hurt and having to miss year two.
He was a 6-foot-10 forward who could shoot, a guy who might go higher in a modern draft than he did then, as he had several seasons where he shot over 40 percent from 3-point range.
You have to wonder what his career might have been like if he had not blown out his Achilles early on, but Jerebko was a decent rotation player for many years, which is really what you are looking for in the second round.