Lottery luck for Pistons would require major shake up
The most realistic best-case scenario for the Detroit Pistons next season would probably look something like this:
The Pistons get meaningful development from all of their young players, who mesh well with the new veterans they acquired this offseason.
Detroit is surprisingly competitive and fights for one of the last two play-in spots, grabbing one of them on the final day of the season.
They come up short of making the playoffs, but their young guys get to play the first meaningful games of their careers.
The Pistons then get love from the lottery gods, jumping to the #1 pick (as Atlanta did this year) and take prospect Cooper Flagg.
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Pistons fans would likely be dancing in the streets at this outcome, as the team would finally be going in the right direction with a new future All-Star to speed things up.
Detroit Pistons draft: Cooper Flagg would require some changes
The Pistons aren’t going to be worried about fit if they land a top pick again, they are going to take the best player, and right now that player is projected to be Flagg.
He has the athleticism, size and two-way skill to fit onto any roster. Flagg has a high basketball IQ, is a good defender and a willing passer who may never be a prolific scorer but will excel at just about everything.
The one thing he doesn’t project to be (at least right away) is a high-volume 3-point shooter. He may get there, but Flagg will get most of his points in transition, off the bounce and at the free-throw line early in his career.
If Flagg were to land in their laps, he’s the power forward of the future and he and Cade Cunningham are now the guys they are building around. What would that mean for everyone else?
The Pistons already have four shaky young shooters in Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland and Jalen Duren. Adding Flagg to that group makes long-term fit an even bigger issue, especially after future trade-bait Tobias Harris is no longer around.
The Pistons would be elite defensively on the wing, which is a good thing, but would have painfully little shooting, which would likely require them to trade one of Thompson, Ivey,Holland or Duren for more suitable role players around Cunningham and Flagg.
Ultimately, this would be a great problem to have, as the Pistons would potentially have the best young duo in the NBA, but one that requires a very specific set of complementary players that they do not currently have.
The chances of this happening are slim and none but it’s an interesting hypothetical, one that the Pistons hope they see play out.
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