NBA Draft Lottery primer: What is at stake for the Detroit Pistons?
Fans of the Detroit Pistons have been waiting nervously for this day to arrive and it is finally here.
The NBA Draft Lottery is upon us and it’s time to find out if all of that losing was worth it, as the Pistons are hoping that the #1 pick lands in their laps for the second time in three years.
Obviously, Victor Wembanyama is the big prize from the 2023 NBA Draft, and it’s not exaggeration to say that this could be a turning point for the Pistons and the city of Detroit.
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So some of the stakes are obvious when it comes to this NBA Draft Lottery, but where the Pistons’ end up choosing will have a ripple effect on the entire franchise from the top down.
Here is what’s at stake tonight in the NBA Draft Lottery.
NBA Draft Lottery: Detroit Pistons’ lottery odds
In case you haven’t been spending every free moment on the draft simulator at Tankathon, here are the Detroit Pistons’ odds for each pick:
- #1: 14 percent
- #2: 13.4 percent
- #3: 12.7 percent
- #4: 12 percent
- #5: 47.9 percent
So the good news is that the Detroit Pistons can drop no further than 5th in the 2023 NBA Draft, but the bad news is that they have a 47.9 percent chance at that 5th pick, the highest of any one pick.
When is the NBA Draft Lottery?
The NBA Draft Lottery will be held tonight May 16th, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET and you can watch on ESPN. Bring your good luck charms.
NBA Draft Lottery primer: What is at stake for the Detroit Pistons?
The state of the rebuild
If the Detroit Pistons were to land the #1 pick in this draft, then the rebuild is nearly complete. They would have all of the high-end young talent they need, tanking would be a thing of the past and the Pistons could then set their sites on competing in the Eastern Conference right away.
Victor Wembanyama would become the centerpiece of the rebuild along with Cade Cunningham and the Pistons would have the best young core in the NBA. Obviously, no player is a guarantee, but landing Wembanyama would change the dynamic of the team in ways that other picks would not. He’s at least going to be good defensively right away and would potentially change the types of free agents the Pistons would pursue.
Anything short of the #1 pick and the Pistons will have to weigh their options carefully when it comes to free agents, as they wouldn’t want to extend too much before they were ready. There’s no guarantee that any of the other picks would even be a day 1 starter for Detroit. They may still end up with a very good player, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it wouldn’t immediately change the perception of what their ceiling can be and would leave Cade Cunningham as the centerpiece of the rebuild.