Pistons 2020 NBA Draft Thoughts

 

The Pistons made noise before this draft even got started and it changed everything for them tonight. They went from having just one pick, to making four, three of which were in the first round. 

I absolutely love the trade the Pistons made tonight before the draft with the Houston Rockets. Detroit received Trevor Ariza and the No. 16 pick tonight for a future pick. The pick we sent to Houston is heavily protected as it is a top-16 protected the next four years, top-10 the following two, and then top-9. After then, it becomes a second. So, for all that follow the Pistons, the Rockets basically just gave the pick away for a second because the Pistons will be in the lottery for years to come. On top of this, if anyone knows me, I am a huge Trevor Ariza fan. I know he was not the reason for this trade, but I am here for it. Who knows if he will ever even play for Detroit, but for now, this is something I love to see.

Another trade that happened with Houston tonight was for 4.6 million dollars in exchange for a Detroit 2021 second round pick- via the Los Angeles Lakers. This does not seem like a big move right now, but for how often second round picks come to be anything in the league, to get a nice sum of cash is a nice surprise. Hopefully, the extra cash can go towards acquiring or resigning a solid piece. Knowing the Pistons, they will probably spend it on 920,000 Hot-N-Ready-Pizzas.

With the seventh pick of the draft, the Detroit Pistons select Killian Hayes. Before this draft started, everyone knew that I wanted the Pistons to trade up and go get LaMelo Ball. Point guard is a need for this team and he is the best one out there. While they did not get Ball, they got a really solid playmaker in Killian Hayes. Hayes, who has been playing overseas in France has demonstrated that he can play against top international talent. Standing at 6 ft 5, he has great size for a point guard. Hayes has a solid midrange game with an improving deep shot. Utilizing a step-back or pull up to get most of his shots up, he has the ability to score when he needs to. I believe this is a really nice pick and a solid value at number seven. Though he might not have a large immediate impact, he will gain crucial knowledge and gain valuable experience under Derrick Rose. He should play really well in the P&R game with Blake and the French connection is made with Sekou.

With the acquired 16th pick the Pistons drafted Isaiah Stewart out of Washington. In his lone year with the Huskies, Stewart was dominant on both ends of the floor. He is a huge presence having both power and strength to deal with any big man in the NBA. At Washington, he began to develop an outside shot, shooting 25% from deep. Definitely still a huge work in progress, but it is nice to see him begin to start matching today’s NBA game. This pick does concern me however, nothing about Stewart, but about Christian Wood. Wood, is an Unrestricted FA this offseason, and by picking a center with this pick, does it mean they do not think they can resign C-Wood? Wood is a centerpiece of this rebuild and is a must sign. This is a really interesting pick with a huge upside.

 

Then Troy Weaver traded Luke Kennard…

I had just gotten off the phone with Nick, checked Twitter, and immediately called him back. The first words I said were “I think I’m gonna cry, we just traded Luke Kennard.” Of course, a few choice words followed, but I think you get it. As someone who continually defends the drafting of Luke Kennard, it really does break my heart to see him go. While he is headed off to the Clippers, the Nets receive Landry Shamet, and Detroit gets pick No. 19 and Rodney McGruder. It was clear last season that Kennard was not going to be apart of the future, so at least we got a first round pick out of him.

 With that No. 19 pick, the Detroit Pistons select Saddiq Bey from Villanova. Bey is the definition of a 3-and-D guy which the Pistons will find very valuable. At 6 ft 8, Bey is a very promising defender, being able to guard multiple positions. He also has the ability to be a really good scorer, shooting over 45% from deep last year. His production on both ends of the floor speak for itself, and it showed as he took home the Julius Erving award last season. I really like this pick, but I really love Luke Kennard. Having three of the first nineteen picks in this draft does strengthen the youth movement behind this team’s rebuild.

 Troy Weaver still was not done for the night as he traded with Utah for the 38^th pick and C Tony Bradley for future considerations. Hopefully, these “future considerations” do not equate to too much as second round picks are really a crapshoot. With pick No. 38, the Pistons select Saben Lee from Vanderbilt. Lee is a really solid slasher who likes to score around the basket. When matched up with a bigger defender, he is a nightmare to defend. Shooting is definitely an area he needs to improve if he wants to be successful in the NBA, but he definitely has the potential to be a three-level scorer. I really like this pick in the second round and with the lack of guards on this team, he might find himself playing some rotational minutes this season. I would think though, that he is going to be a two-way player As for Tony Bradley, he is nothing special.

 

So far this week, new Pistons GM has

Dumped: Bruce Brown, Luke Kennard, Future Pick to HOU, and whatever “future considerations” are in the Utah trade

Picked Up: Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey, Trevor Ariza, Dzanan Musa, Rodney McGruder, Saben Lee, and a Future Pick

 

Final Thoughts:

The Pistons were really aggressive in this draft and I absolutely love it. Troy Weaver made a statement tonight. I think it was a successful statement, but there is so much farther to go. This team is now loaded with young talent, but still a few years away. Christian Wood needs to be resigned, Blake Griffin needs to be traded, a few free agent pieces need to be signed, if you can get something midseason for DRose, trade him too, and they need to bring back the teal jerseys. What is likely to happen though, is that CWood is going to be a sign-and trade for some washed up nobodies, Blake Griffin will be resigned after 2022 for $50M a season, they’ll blow their wad on huge contracts on guys like Ben Gordon and Charlie V like they did in 2009, that pan out to be nothing and set the franchise back years, give away DRose for a Happy Meal (probably with apple slices because that’s just how the Pistons do it), and then incorporate the new 313 marketing campaign into uniforms that once again fail to excite any of us. As long as we keep Tony and Thon, I am happy.  

Roll Stones

ZT

 

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