The Detroit Pistons have been attached to various stretch fours and fives this summer and could have one fall into their laps if Maxime Raynaud isn’t picked in the early second round.
For the first time since I’ve been covering the Pistons, which is around six years now (how?), Detroit was not heavily involved in the first round of the draft, and in fact, didn’t even have a pick after finally conveying the one Troy Weaver traded away to get Isaiah Stewart back in 2020.
The Pistons will have the 7th pick on the second day of the draft and could fill a distinct need with a good player if they get lucky or push in some assets to move up a spot or two.
Detroit Pistons draft: Maxime Raynaud draws comparisons to Rasheed Wallace
Maxime Raynaud is from France and went to school for four years at Stanford, where he improved and added to his game every season, culminating in a monster senior year that saw him average 20 points and 10 rebounds while hitting 34 percent of his 3-point shots on over five attempts per game.
At 7-foot-1, Raynaud qualifies as the stretch the Pistons have been looking for and has drawn comparisons to Rasheed Wallace for his ability to post, hit jumpers, pass and play solid defense.
Let’s be clear, Raynaud is nowhere near the defender Rasheed was, even in college, where Wallace blocked nearly three shots per game in his sophomore season.
Raynaud is closer offensively to late-stage Rasheed, who could operate out of the elbow as a passer, hit a baseline jumper off a post or step out and take a 3-point shot.
It’s the latter skill the Pistons would be most interested in, as they need a big man who can shoot and create space off the bench, a player who could theoretically play with Beef Stew and stretch the floor without giving up too much on the boards.
The Pistons have also been attached to shooters like Chaz Lanier, but if Raynaud drops to them, he’d have to get consideration given the speculation we’ve seen so far this offseason.
I’m sure other teams in the early second round will be eyeballing Raynaud, who was a productive college senior who should be able to play sooner rather than later off someone’s bench, so if the Pistons want him, they may have to use some of their many future second-round picks to move up.