Detroit Pistons: The worst draft in the history of the NBA
Detroit Pistons: Worst draft in team history?
I’d say the 2000 draft has to go down as one of the worst drafts in team history for the Detroit Pistons.
Their first-round pick was MSU senior Mateen Cleaves, who had an outstanding college career but probably wouldn’t have even been drafted in the NBA most years.
The Pistons took him 14th, so not only did a guy who barely played in the NBA get drafted, but he was in the lottery!
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The second round was even worse, as the Pistons took another senior, Brian Cardinal. If you don’t remember, Cardinal looked like a middle-aged man with four kids and a mortgage by the time he got to the NBA, wearing a knee brace that was bigger than his head and playing like a rec league goon.
Cleaves lasted exactly one season before being traded, and Cardinal made it two before being dealt as part of the package that brought back Richard Hamilton.
Cardinal played a whopping 23 games total for the Pistons, while Cleaves played 78 in his only season, making only eight starts.
This would be the last time Detroit took two seniors in the same draft and will hopefully be the last time they draft a guy who is already bald.