When Troy Weaver traded Christian Wood, a protected first-round pick and a second-round pick back in 2020 for Isaiah Stewart, it didn’t seem like something that would be hanging over the Detroit Pistons for this long.
But here we are in 2024 and that protected first-round pick has not conveyed. It hasn’t come close, and in retrospect it looks like an overpay for a guy most teams had ranked in the back of the first round.
The pick has changed hands a few times and is now owned by the New York Knicks.
When you consider how this pick has hampered the Pistons from making a trade (which may have been a good thing considering Weaver would have been the one doing the trading) and that two of the three players the Pistons drafted in the first round are no longer on the team, the 2020 NBA Draft is the primary reason Weaver’s rebuild never worked.
The Knicks are hoping this is finally the year their bet on the Pistons pays off, but when you look at the numbers, it’s unlikely to happen this season and they will be lucky if that pick ever conveys.
Detroit Pistons draft picks: The protections are a long-shot bet for the Knicks
The Pistons have been picked to win anywhere from 23-27 games next season depending on the publication, and it would be a safe bet they will end up somewhere within +/- five games of those predictions.
The first-round pick the Pistons owe the Knicks in 2025 is protected 1-13 and would go to the Knicks if it lands anywhere in the 14-30 range.
If we look at last year’s standings, the teams that landed in that range, the Kings, Warriors and Heat, all won at least 46 games.
The Pistons would likely need to win somewhere around that for them to fall to the last pick in the lottery or beyond, and the chances of that happening are slim and none.
The protections go down to 1-11 in 2026 and 1-9 in 2027, and if doesn’t convey by then, it turns into a second-round pick for the Knicks.
Given the timeline Langdon seems to have set for this team to make a big move, which is two years, there is a good chance the Pistons will keep their pick in 2025 and 2026 depending on how Langdon views their progress.
There is a chance the Pistons will exceed expectations, especially if Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren make big year-three leaps, but even if they do, the Pistons are likely to have a pick in a loaded 2025 draft and the Knicks are going to have to continue to wait.