How the Detroit Pistons really blew the 2019 NBA Draft

Detroit Pistons draft picks (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Detroit Pistons draft picks (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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Detroit Pistons, Sekou Doumbouya, NBA Draft
Detroit Pistons Sekou Doumbouya. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Every team in the NBA has a long list of players that they missed on in the NBA Draft, including the Detroit Pistons.

It’s easy to say where teams went wrong in hindsight, but let’s face it, the draft is a crap shoot and there are very few sure things. But the Pistons have some of the most high-profile draft misses in league history, as they famously drafted Darko Milicic second with a trio of future Hall-of-Famers still on the board.

It has happened to every team, but it’s especially painful when teams not only miss out on a player, but miss out on adding talent completely.

That is exactly what happened in 2019, as the Detroit Pistons selected Sekou Doumbouya, who ended up as one of their biggest draft busts of all time.

But it wasn’t just Doumbouya, the Pistons had misses with all of their picks.

Detroit Pistons: A draft that yielded nothing

The Pistons had been killed for drafting for fit two years earlier when they took Luke Kennard, passing on future superstar Donovan Mitchell in the process.

So it made some amount of sense for them to swing for the fences on a player they perceived to have high-end talent, as they needed a young star to save their aging roster. Doumbouya had been playing professionally since he was 15 and played in the top French league before entering the NBA Draft.

Doumbouya played just 94 games over two seasons for the Detroit Pistons and outside of 1-2 games, never really showed that star potential.

I liked the pick at the time, as I was sick of the Pistons taking guys like Kennard, and I still can’t kill them for it now, even in hindsight.

Every team was looking for the next Giannis Antetokounmpo and it’s not like there were a bunch of superstars taken after Doumbouya. But there were some very good role players, a couple of borderline stars and guys that the Pistons could definitely use now.

It wasn’t just the first pick, the Pistons also traded the rights to Kevin Porter Jr. (who is now scoring 20 points per game), drafted Deividas Sirvydis with the 37th pick and took Jordan Bone late in the second round. None of the players the Detroit Pistons drafted are currently in the NBA and completely missing a year of draft talent is still hurting them.