During the tanking years, we always expected the Detroit Pistons to just take the best player available, as they were trying to land a star, and “fit” wasn’t really a concern. Now that the Pistons have talent in place, they can use the draft to fine tune their roster, but what that looks like will depend on other moves.
The Pistons have three distinct needs, which are ball handling, shooting on the wing, and power forward depth, and those things are true whether they retain their own free agents and non-guaranteed contracts or not.
The Pistons would love to bring Tobias Harris back but still need his eventual replacement. Detroit would love to keep Duncan Robinson but need a move to push him to the bench.
Not all of this will be solved by a draft pick, especially considering the Pistons only have the 21st pick to work with, but by the time they are on the clock, we will likely know which direction they are going to go.
The Pistons will likely make a trade before the draft
There is a good chance the Pistons won’t even be keeping their pick, as it is one of their best trade assets and could be moved in a deal for a player like Tyler Herro or Trey Murphy III.
But there is a world where the Pistons keep their pick even if they make a trade, and in that case, we’ll likely know which direction they will go.
If the Pistons were to trade for TMIII, they’d have their wing shooting sorted but would still need ball handling and power forward depth.
If Detroit were to land Herro, they’d have some ball handling and shooting but would still be thin at the four and would still lack a two-way wing.
The offseason is just a series of connected moves, and the Pistons are likely to know exactly what they need by the time they are on the clock.
Point guards, wings and power forwards
If the Pistons look to bolster their ball handling in the draft, then we could see Bennett Stirtz, Christian Anderson or Ebuka Okorie.
If they are still looking for shooting on the wing, then Cameron Carr would be ideal (if he falls that far) and Isaiah Evans will also get a look. Power forward options include Allen Graves, Koa Peat or Hannes Steinbach, among others.
If the Pistons are going to make a trade, it could come just before or during the draft, so we will likely know where the roster stands before they are ever on the clock.
But it won't be surprising at all if the Pistons end up making that pick for someone else as part of a trade, so buckle up, as this is bound to be a wild draft night.
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