The end of the 2024-25 season has been a welcome change for fans of the Detroit Pistons, as we aren’t scouring scouting reports and reading hundreds of Mock Drafts.
The Pistons are headed to the playoffs and will send their first-round pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves to finalize the Isaiah Stewart draft trade that was made back in 2020. That pick has been on quite a journey, and I wish it well but am glad it is no longer hanging over the Pistons.
Detroit does have a pick in the second-round courtesy of the Toronto Raptors, which will be the 37th overall.
Second-round picks will be increasingly valuable under the new tax rules as teams try to find cheap talent to round out their rosters and stay under the aprons.
That makes Detroit’s pick that much more valuable, and they can use it in several different ways.
Trajan Langdon can find talent in the second round
The Pistons already have one developmental second-round project in Bobi Klintman, who wasn’t able to crack the roster after an early injury and some predictable struggles in the G-League.
He wasn’t ready for action, though he did have some nice moments offensively in the final game of the season to give some hope for his future.
Trajan Langdon has a good track record in the second round and beyond, as he found players like Naji Marshall, Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado in New Orleans.
It won’t be the worst-case scenario if the Pistons just bank another developmental talent and hope Langdon can find a gem. With all the incoming international talent, the pool is bigger than ever and there will be impact talent available at 37, Trajan Langdon just has to find it.
The Pistons can trade up in the 2025 Draft
Langdon wasn’t able to add any first-round picks this year, but he did add a plethora of 2nds, and the Pistons now have extra picks in every draft from 2027-2031.
The Pistons may be able to package the 37th pick with an extra 2nd-rounder or two to move up into the late first-round of the 2025 draft if there is a player they really like.
Tax teams in the late first round may look to move down and avoid the guaranteed salary of a first-round pick, which may give the Pistons an opportunity to better their chances.
Detroit can trade the pick for a role player on a cost-cutting team
Teams will be looking to avoid the second tax apron, and that might mean trading valuable role players whose salaries they can no longer afford.
This will apply to teams like the Suns, Bucks, Cavaliers, Celtics, Timberwolves and others depending other moves.
An example would be the Celtics, who may have to shed a guy like Sam Hauser to avoid the tax and there are similar situations in Cleveland with players like Max Strus and Isaac Okoro, quality role players who are not worth a first-round pick but are still valuable.
The Pistons won’t be in the lottery for the first time in recent memory, but they can still find ways to land a valuable player in the 2025 Draft.