Detroit Pistons can not just draft ‘best player available’
Detroit Pistons should trade pick rather take Ivey
The Pistons should have a pick in the top five of the 2022 NBA Draft, so they should get an impact player. With Isaiah Stewart able to play center or power forward, there is a spot open for another post player.
If Jerami Grant is still on the team post-trade deadline, and if Detroit is in position to get Banchero, Holmgren or Smith, he can go to the highest bidder.
However, to be guaranteed to have a chance at those prime big men, Detroit would need to have a draft pick in the top three. Unfortunately, the odds are against that happening. According to Tankathon, assuming the Pistons finish with the second-worst record in the NBA (not an outlandish prediction), there is an almost 60-percent chance they will end up out of the top three.
If Detroit ends up drafting fourth, fifth or even sixth (with their past draft luck, not counting last year, the likely result), the big three will most likely be gone. when it is their turn.
If Ivey is still on the board, he is the ‘best available player’ and there is no way the Pistons should take him. Why:
- You are basically admitting that Killian Hayes, taken seventh in 2020, is a bust, as there will be no place for him except as a sub in the rotation.
- Cunningham and Ivey’s games mirror each other. Do you need two of them when you are so needy in other positions?
- Look at Cleveland, they drafted two point guards in a row (Collin Sexton and Darius Garland) and the Cavaliers still stunk. It was not until they strengthened their frontline by adding Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley (and Kevin Love finally not hurt) that the Cavs starting winning.
If Holmgren, Banchero and Smith are gone when the Pistons pick, their options are: they can either draft someone rated lower than those four or trade the pick.
Detroit could get a nice player in the draft, but they need more than a ‘nice’ player. They need studs, just not at guard.
General manager Troy Weaver will undoubtedly get some choice offers for a draft choice in the No. 4-6 area, particularly since this is not thought to be a deep draft, so it is even more important for teams to draft high.
Weaver could get some talented players and definitely a haul of future draft choices. Remember, the Pistons owe Houston a first-round pick in the near future. A trade could help replace the first-rounder Detroit is going to lose.
dark. Next. Detroit Pistons are winning, but how much is too much?
It would be optimum that Detroit gets a top three pick in the 2022 draft. However, if they don’t, and the odds are they will not, they should not go to the ‘best available player’ trope.
Anyone but Ivey (nothing personal).