2022 NBA mock draft: Detroit Pistons make a trade

 2022 NBA Mock Draft: Pick #7-The Detroit Pistons trade Jerami Grant

I am still dubious that the Trail Blazers would be willing to trade a top-10 pick for just one guaranteed year of Jerami Grant, but we’ll roll with it in this scenario.

The Detroit Pistons have to take back Eric Bledsoe, who is washed and makes just under $20 million next season, which isn’t great, as it eliminates any cap benefits they’d get from trading Grant.

But that will be the cost to get the 7th pick and luckily for the Detroit Pistons, there is a guy there who would be a nice fit.

The Detroit Pistons grab their shooting guard with the 7th pick and now have one of the biggest backcourts in the NBA, a dynamic young starting five and a team that should be able to shoot the ball much better than last season.

Given his size and defensive upside, Mathurin may end up being the best shooting guard in the 2022 NBA Draft and would give the Detroit Pistons a lineup that looked like this:

• Cade Cunningham (6’6″)
• Bennedict Mathurin (6’4″)
• Saddiq Bey (6’8″)
• Keegan Murray (6’8″)
• Isaiah Stewart (6’9″)

As the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics have shown, you can win in the NBA without a traditional point guard or center if you have big playmakers and switchable defenders. This would give the Detroit Pistons a five-man group where all five guys can switch on the perimeter and post.

Mathurin and Murray would give Cade Cunningham the three-point weapons he lacked this season and the Detroit Pistons would be set up for the future, but VERY YOUNG.

While this is enticing, there would be some growing pains and this team might win even fewer games than this season. I think a lot of fans of the Detroit Pistons would jump at this opportunity but buyer beware, if one or both of these guys don’t work out, this team is going to be bad for the foreseeable future.