Like all franchises in the NBA, the Detroit Pistons have a few NBA Drafts that they’d like to do again.
Some of the team’s worst decisions have been draft picks, whether you want to talk about Stanley Johnson, Brandon Knight or go all the way back to Darko Milicic, who is widely considered one of the biggest draft busts of all time.
Recently, we took a look back at the 2011 NBA Draft, where the Pistons passed on a few generational talents.
That draft was actually defensible, as most of the best players were not well known coming out of college and plenty of teams passed on guys like Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson, who ended up becoming superstars in the league.
In 2017 the Detroit Pistons went for “need” over talent, taking Luke Kennard for his shooting when future superstar Donovan Mitchell was sitting right there.
But the Pistons weren’t the only team to blow this draft, so let’s take a look at how it might go now for picks 1-12 in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Detroit Pistons: Re-drafting the 2017 NBA Draft #1-3
No team would like this one back more than Philly, who passed on several guys who became stars in favor of Markelle Fultz, who no longer even plays for the team. This is one of many picks the 76ers blew during “The Process” and one their fans would rather forget, as Tatum would look pretty good with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Ouch.
There was no way the Lakers were going to pass on hometown star Lonzo Ball, but they should have, as they could have had superstar Donovan Mitchell.
This is one of the biggest “what-ifs” in recent NBA history, as this pick might have changed the current landscape of the NBA. If the Lakers had drafted Mitchell would they have pursued Anthony Davis? Would Mitchell now be on the Pelicans with Zion Williamson? There is a lot to unpack with this one.
Adebayo is another guy who wouldn’t fall nearly as far if we were to do this again, as he is one of the best bigs in the league and the model for Detroit Pistons’ center Isaiah Stewart.
Adebayo is an elite defender who just keeps getting better on offense and has proven himself to be one of the top players from the 2017 NBA Draft.
Detroit Pistons: Re-drafting the 2017 NBA Draft #4-6
Josh Jackson of the Detroit Pistons was originally taken here but it’s safe to say that the Suns would change their minds if they could do it again.
Fox and Booker would have been an electric backcourt, and probably would have kept them from pursuing Chris Paul, so this is another one that would have big ripples across the NBA.
Fox averaged 25 points per game last season and is one of the best young guards in the league.
The Kings would miss out on the guy they originally picked by one spot but still get a quality player in John Collins, who is one of the most underrated players in the league.
Collins averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds for the Hawks last season on the way to making the Eastern Conference Finals and will be a key part of their core moving forward after signing a max extension.
There is some argument that the Magic would be the only team in the 2017 NBA Draft to keep the guy they picked, which was originally Jonathan Isaac, but since he’s no longer with Orlando, I think Anunoby would be the guy here.
Anunoby originally went 23rd in this draft, but there is no way he’d fall out of the top-10 now, as he has evolved into one of the best two-way wings in the league.
Detroit Pistons: Re-drafting the 2017 NBA Draft #7-9
I’m sure Lonzo Ball’s cult er ummm, fans would disagree with this assessment, but I think he falls at least this far if the draft were done again.
Ball would have been a nice pairing with Karl-Anthony Towns and would have given the ‘Wolves the kind of pass-first point guard they have lacked over the last few seasons.
Ball is now in Chicago, where he hopes a change of scenery will help him reach his potential.
Isaac has had some injury woes in his short career, but I still think the Knicks would take him here if they had a redo, although the Knicks would probably still find a way to mess it up, even with the benefit of hindsight.
Isaac has yet to put it all together for a full season, but he is one of the best young defenders in the league, a guy who can change games with his blocks and steals.
Allen just signed a big contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers after originally being drafted by the Nets with the 22nd pick.
Allen looks like he’ll be a quality modern big who can run the floor, grab rebounds and block shots, and may even develop a long-range game over time. He’ll be a nice fit with Evan Mobley, and would have looked even better with Luka Doncic.
Detroit Pistons: Re-drafting the 2017 NBA Draft #10-12
This one might get some argument, but I think Brooks is one of the better two-way young wings and the Kings could have built around he and Collins.
The Kings originally took Zach Collins here, who they they traded to the Trail Blazers, finding a way to mess up a chance to get two very good players in the same draft. This is why the Kings are the Kings.
The Hornets originally took Malik Monk here, which didn’t really work out and he now finds himself on the Los Angeles Lakers, who signed half of the league this offseason.
Markkanen is one of the most controversial players in the league, as some fans feel he has superstar potential while others scoff at his lack of defense and injury history. But he’s still a 7-footer who is an elite 3-point shooter, so I don’t think he’d fall any further and there is an argument he’d go much higher than this.
The Detroit Pistons would still get a guard with the 12th pick, but it would probably not be Luke Kennard, though if you look at this draft in retrospect, he wouldn’t be nearly as bad if this was what was left on the board.
Kennard wasn’t horrible for the Pistons, though I do think he ranks as one of their most overrated players of all time.
Kennard only looks so bad now because the Detroit Pistons passed on Donovan Mitchell, but they would not be given that chance if every team could do it again.
That leaves Derrick White, guard for the Spurs, though I think there are several guys who have an argument here including Kennard, Josh Hart, Monte Morris and maybe even Kyle Kuzma.
The Pistons did blow this draft, but so did a lot of other teams, so in retrospect the Kennard pick doesn’t look as horrible as we might think even though his time in Detroit did not work out.
In the end, Kennard brought us Saddiq Bey, and I’d take Bey over any of the guys I just named, so this one worked out for the Detroit Pistons.