2022 NBA mock draft: Detroit Pistons make a trade

Bennedict Mathurin #0 of the Arizona Wildcats (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Bennedict Mathurin #0 of the Arizona Wildcats (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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Detroit Pistons, NBA Draft Lottery
People look at the draft lottery order after the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons have the 5th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, but could possibly add another top-10 pick if they pull off the much-rumored Jerami Grant trade.

It’s a tough call for Detroit, as the idea of adding two top-10 picks has to be enticing, but Grant is one of the Pistons only veteran contributors, wants to be with the team and showed after he came back from injury that he is willing to take a different role.

Trading him for another young player would potentially set the Detroit Pistons up for sustained success, but would almost certainly make them worse in the short term and they’d be putting a lot of faith in the idea that one of the players would eventually be better than Jerami Grant.

It’s a big roll of the dice, especially when the Detroit Pistons already have Cade Cunningham and would like to put a winning team on the floor around him sooner rather than later.

Trading Grant will require a lot of patience from fans, as it could set the team up for yet another losing season, which won’t be tolerable for much longer.

But in this 2022 NBA mock draft, well look at what might happen if the Detroit Pistons move Jerami Grant for a top-10 pick.

2022 NBA Mock Draft:  Pick #1

The top-3 of the 2022 NBA Draft could go in a lot of ways even though most experts think the “Big 3” will be there in some order.

I’m not sure the 2022 NBA Draft has a “Big 3,” so it is very possible we’ll see a shakeup and the order will not go to scratch.

But I do think Orlando is going to take Jabari Smith, as he is the best fit and might have the highest floor in this draft considering his size and ability to shoot the 3-ball.

Holmgren is also a questionable fit with the bigs they already have, so Orlando will most likely make Jabari Smith the #1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.