If you look at the draft history of any team in the NBA, you are likely to find some years that did not work out, and that definitely applies to the Detroit Pistons, who have had some horrific draft classes.
The Pistons are hoping that has come to an end recently, as they have put together three highly rated drafts in 2020, 2021 and 2022, landing potential superstar Cade Cunningham to go along with Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart.
The book is still out on Killian Hayes, but it looks as if the Pistons have built one of the best young cores in the NBA through recent drafts.
We’ve taken a look at some of the best draft picks the Detroit Pistons have made, but now it’s time to explore the dark side of team draft history.
Here are the five worst (in my opinion) along with who the Pistons should have taken. I factored in draft position and big misses among other things when making these rankings, so it isn’t always about the talent level.
Detroit Pistons: 5 worst draft classes of all time
2011
Who they chose:
- Brandon Knight (8)
- Kyle Singler (33)
- Vernon Macklin (52)
Who they should have chosen:
- Kawhi Leonard
- Isaiah Thomas
- E’Twaun Moore
Brandon Knight did make the All-Rookie team, so there have definitely been years where the Detroit Pistons got less talent. Knight had a decent career, so this one is more about the misses. This draft changed the history of the team, as the Pistons took the mediocre Knight over Kawhi, Kemba Walker and Klay Thompson, so this draft is still hurting Detroit more than a decade later.
A lot of teams missed in this one, and if you did a re-draft of 2011, it would look a whole lot different.
Detroit Pistons: 5 worst draft classes of all time
2016
Who they chose:
- Henry Ellenson (18)
- Michael Gbinije (49)
Who they should have chosen:
- Pascal Siakam
- Fred VanVleet
This shows you why the Toronto Raptors have been so consistently good over the years, as they nailed these two picks (though VanVleet was undrafted). This was a weird draft, as a lot of the top talent went later in the first round (Siakam, Dejounte Murray), in the second round (Malcom Brogdon) or even undrafted (VanVleet, Alex Caruso, Bryn Forbes, Danuel House, Derrick Jones Jr, Dorian Finney-Smith).
In other words, there were at least six players who went undrafted that were miles better than Henry Ellenson, who was always slow as a house and never really looked like an NBA player outside of a couple of Summer League games.
When both of your picks are waived within three years, you know it was a bad draft.
Detroit Pistons: 5 worst draft classes of all time
2019
Who they chose:
- Sekou Doumbouya (15)
- Isaiah Roby (45)-traded to Dallas
Who they should have chosen:
- Literally anyone else (Matisse Thybulle, Grant Williams, Jordan Poole, Michael Porter Jr.)
- Max Strus
Sekou Doumbouya was basically the French Henry Ellenson, and is already on the fringes of the NBA even though he is just 21-years-old. This was a draft where the Pistons could have just thrown a dart at a board of names and ended up with a better player than Sekou.
Doumbouya had a couple of moments when you thought the Pistons might have hit on their high-ceiling, low-floor choice, but Doumbouya never looked like a basketball player consistently and more often looked like a guy who might not be able to identify a basketball in a police lineup.
What makes it even worse is that there were a ton of good players taken after Doumbouya even though he was the 15th pick, so the Pistons could have a guy like Jordan Poole or Matisse Thybulle in their core.
Few players have flamed out as fast as Doumbouya, who still isn’t on a team. Detroit is hoping that Killian Hayes isn’t the next Doumbouya, though he has already been A LOT better in his young career.
Detroit Pistons: 5 worst draft classes of all time
2003
Who they chose:
- Darko Milicic (2)
- Carlos Delfino (25)
- Andres Glyniadakis (58)
Who they should have chosen:
- Dwyane Wade
- Leandro Barbosa
- Jose Calderon
The legendary 2003 draft is one Pistons’ fans will probably never get over, as choosing Darko over Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (among others) will go down as one of the biggest draft blunders of all time, as well as one of the biggest what-ifs in league history, as Detroit had a chance to build a dynasty and potentially win two or three more titles.
The only reason this doesn’t get the top spot is that Delfino was actually pretty decent, and there were mostly just role players taken after him. I can’t dwell on this one too long, as it still hurts nearly 20 years later.
Detroit Pistons: 5 worst draft classes of all time
2000
Who they chose:
- Mateen Cleaves (14)
- Brian Cardinal (44)
Who they should hav chosen:
- Hedo Türkoğlu
- Some random YMCA rec league player
In my opinion, the 2000 NBA Draft was the worst in the history of the NBA, not just for the Detroit Pistons. Seriously, there have never been more busts in one draft, which makes me wonder what the heck was going on at the turn of the century.
This draft was so bad that it’s hard to even name its best player, as it only produced two All-Star appearances (Kenyon Martin, Jamaal Magloire) in the entire draft and barely even had any decent role players outside of Türkoğlu, who might have been the second-best player overall in this steaming pile.
The Pistons took two guys who were out of the league in short order, one of whom was a bald 50-year-old with a knee brace bigger than his torso who looked like a guy you might see throwing elbows in the YMCA.
It was a grim year for the entire league, not just the Pistons, which is why it ranks as the worst draft class in team history.