Trade up, trade back, trade out: 3 Possible draft moves for the Pistons

The Detroit Pistons have the 5th pick in the NBA Draft. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. 

For the third straight year, the Pistons will choose 5th, which almost seems a fitting punishment considering how bad they have been. 

Unlike the previous two years, the Pistons could draft more for need or they could trade the pick in a number of different scenarios. 

They could trade up for a better shot at an impact player, trade back to pick up additional assets or trade out of this draft altogether in search of more proven talent. 

Here are three possibilities, starting with the least likely. 

Detroit Pistons trade up in the 2024 NBA Draft 

Teams to watch: Atlanta Hawks 

Given that there isn’t much perceived difference between the 1st pick and the 10th in this draft, it seems unlikely that any team will expend assets to try and move up, and we may see far more teams trying to go the other way. 

There was one proposed scenario in which the Pistons move up to the #1 pick, but it seems unlikely given that they have about as good a chance of finding an impact player with pick #5. 

If Atlanta wanted to get younger, they could take a couple of the Pistons’ young players and the #5 pick in exchange for one or more of their veterans (Murray, Hunter, Capela) along with the 1st pick, especially if they were keen to cut payroll and put a different kind of team around Trae Young. 

It seems more likely that Atlanta will try to reload if they keep Young, not rebuild, so it won’t be easy for the Pistons to move up. 

There may be more interesting opportunities for the Pistons to move back or out of the draft.