Detroit Pistons: NBA Finals show the importance of the Draft

The Detroit Pistons know that there is more than one way to build a championship team.

While the “Bad Boys” titles came with a starting five comprised mostly of guys the Pistons drafted themselves, the 2004 “Goin’ to Work” title came behind a team where four of the five starters were drafted by someone else.

Things have changed considerably in the NBA, as the salary cap and max salary structure have made it more difficult to build from the outside, and it’s pretty much imperative that teams get at least some of their stars through the draft.

We’ve recently seen teams like the Lakers fail to win with a “super team” constructed almost entirely of guys they didn’t draft.

Meanwhile, the two teams in the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics are reinforcing the importance of getting it right in the NBA Draft.

Detroit Pistons: The NBA Draft is everything in team building

Ironically, both the Warriors and the Celtics have been accused of building “super teams” themselves. Boston’s last title came with a bunch of guys they didn’t draft and the Warriors added Kevin Durant to a roster that had just set the NBA record for wins.

But I always felt that was an unfair assessment of the Warriors, as most of their talent was homegrown, and you can’t blame them for going after one of the best players in the league when they had the chance.

Durant aside, the Warriors built this dynasty through the NBA Draft, and this current Celtics team is trying to do the same.

The Warriors currently have nine players on their roster that they drafted, including the four best players on the team (Curry, Thompson, Green, Poole) as well as some high-end talent in the pipeline in Wiseman, Kuminga and Moody.

The Celtics also feature nine players that they drafted, including four out of their five starters, their best bench player and some nice young talent on the rise.

The Detroit Pistons currently feature just six players that they drafted themselves (Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes, Saben Lee and Isaiah Livers), two of which were taken in the second round.

Cade Cunningham looks to have star potential, and Bey and Stewart have already proven themselves to be quality role players who could be more, but the Detroit Pistons clearly need to find some more star-level talent in the NBA Draft, and they hope to do it with the 5th pick in less than two weeks.

With max players eating up a big chunk of the salary cap, it’s become more important than ever to find a steady stream of talent in the NBA Draft, starting with getting your two stars and then continuing to add after they are getting max money.

As much as I hate to admit it, the Warriors and Celtics have built sustained success the right way, and the Detroit Pistons should take note.