Detroit Pistons draft grades: Did Weaver really hit home runs?

Now that the dust from draft night has settled, the Detroit Pistons came away with two draft selections, and one trade.

Troy Weaver and company decided to use the fifth overall pick on possibly the most boom-or-bust player in this draft, Ausar Thompson, and then trade back into the first round to take Houston point guard Marcus Sasser at 25.

Let’s take a look at these selections and provide grades for each of their picks.

Detroit Pistons draft grades: Did Weaver really hit home runs?

Fifth Overall Draft Pick – Ausar Thompson (SG/SF, Overtime Elite)

Grade – C+

Ausar Thompson’s talent is apparent. He will immediately become one of the best athletes in the NBA, and can finish around the basket as well as anyone. A true wing compared to his point guard brother, Ausar is a well balanced ball-handling, slashing and cutting prospect. His defense is top notch, which is well needed for a Detroit team that was one of the worst in the league last season. When you combine his athleticism, defense, and incredible work ethic, you can understand the upside to Ausar.

However, the question marks around his play are legit. Ausar struggles mightily with his shooting. During his time with Overtime Elite, Thompson hit on just 29 percent from deep. Considered the better shooting twin, his shooting mechanics are actually decent, meaning there still is hope that he can figure it out. In fact, during the Overtime Elite’s playoff run a few months ago, Thompson connected on almost 39 percent from deep – a good sign that an improvement is possible and in the works. In today’s NBA, there just isn’t a place for wings who can’t shoot, especially on a team like Detroit that already has a 1 and 2 guard who don’t excel from deep. And, already at 20 years old, Thompson’s clock to improve is ticking.

25th Overall Draft Pick (via Boston) – Marcus Sasser (PG, Houston)

Grade – B

Before the draft began, I mocked Marcus Sasser to Detroit. I love his fit with the Detroit Pistons. Sasser is a quick-twitch, ball hound defender. Excellent at moving his feet, he excels at keeping the player in front of him and on closeouts. Adding him brings another top notch defender to the struggling Pistons’ defensive squad, a common theme in this draft. On the offensive side, Sasser was extremely efficient from downtown for Houston, knocking down 40 percent of his contested catch and shoot three point attempts. Sasser will likely come off the bench as a perfect spark-plug for Detroit, allowing them to move on from Killian Hayes if they wish. His two level scoring, leadership, and defense will be called upon when Cade or Ivey need a breather and Monty Williams can rest assured.

The only reason this selection received an average grade is that I believe that the Detroit Pistons could have gotten Sasser with their original second round pick, rather than moving back into the first for him. Swapping picks, plus two future second-round picks with Boston to move up to 25 is quite a lot for an under-sized, bench spark plug. It’s possible that a team like the Nuggets or Clippers were planning on taking Sasser before Detroit at 31 though, and if that’s the case, you can’t knock Weaver for going and getting his guy.

Overall Grade – B-

Troy Weaver took a different approach with each of his two selections in Thursday night’s draft, with a common denominator of defense. Going with athleticism, defense and overall potential when selecting Ausar Thompson, and then choosing reliability, shooting and defense once again with Marcus Sasser. Ausar has a high ceiling for sure. But his ceiling is coupled with an extremely low floor if his shooting doesn’t come around. That’s a huge if  for a fifth overall draft pick. Sasser has all the abilities you want from a point guard, especially if they are expected to come off the bench, as Sasser likely will. But giving up two future second round picks to move up and get him hurts the selection slightly.

Regardless, Weaver said earlier in the week that he was gonna swing for the fences, and that he did. All in all, it seems Weaver got his guys.