Draft night has often resulted in massive disappointment for Pistons fans across the board as the selections have either produced headaches with missed opportunities or minimal excitement met with sadness as it was soon realized that the guy they took was nothing more than a bust.
Which leads us to tonight.
The 2020 NBA Draft will be like no other, taking an entirely virtual format considering we’re still in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. What is like any other draft though for Detroit is the relative lack of excitement surrounding tonight which can be attributed to the aforementioned minimal expectation with the eventual pick plus where they’re ultimately drafting.
Picking seven overall is the first pick the Pistons have had inside the top-10 since 2015 when they went with Stanley Johnson out of Arizona. Johnson lasted less than four seasons in Detroit before he was eventually dealt to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a three-team deal that also involved the Milwaukee Bucks.
I guess the upside to any of this is at least Stanley Johnson is still in the League with the Raptors unlike some of the other Pistons’ first-round selections that have bottomed out to the point of a negative wins above replacement combined with them being out of the League.
Looking to tonight though, the most exciting thing surrounding the seven pick for Detroit were the notions that the Pistons could actually trade up, perhaps to take LaMelo Ball. However, as it stands right now all indications seem to point to Detroit sticking with the seven pick and essentially settling with a player who maybe could amount to an impact guy in the NBA, but let’s not confuse the talent level of late top 10 NBA Draft guys to that of the NFL where you can still draft first-round talent in the early second round — if that makes any sense.
So who do the Pistons go with?
If Troy Weaver in his first draft with the Pistons decides to stay at seven, we’re probably looking at the Pistons drafting their point of the future which could mean taking Killian Hayes out of ratiopharm Ulm.
Not that Hayes at seven is an awful pick. He’s seemingly gotten the endorsement of former Piston Will Bynum whose been working out with the prospect referring to his work ethic as “Kobe-esque”. Beyond that, Hayes is a big guard standing at 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-8 wingspan which has served him well on the defensive end of court.
His shooting will be somewhat of an early project which is a turnoff when you’re focusing on any prospect for your backcourt, however, Hayes does have good court vision and IQ something that could hopefully offset any of those early developmental issues Hayes may bring with him.
Drafting Hayes though is all contingent on a couple of things.
First, if Patrick Williams is still available at seven then the Pistons likely go with the Florida State product who has been connected with Detroit as of late.
Then there’s that whole notion of a trade that isn’t totally off the table and could certainly happen. However, if Detroit does opt to make a deal, it’s probably not to move up one spot to take Williams at six, it’ll most likely be to move up within the top-three to take LaMelo Ball.
If that’s the case, we’re probably looking at a trade with Golden State to acquire the second overall pick to leapfrog Charlotte who would be primed to take the next Ball brother at three. If it is the Warriors though, you can probably assume that Blake Griffin would be involved in any deal to move up along with the seven overall pick. Obviously too you’d probably see someone like Andrew Wiggins or Kevon Looney head back the other way in the deal in order to make the money match up.
Would this trade scenario be the most ideal situation for the Pistons? As much as I like Blake Griffin (the player, not the contract) the answer is an undeniable yes considering you’re free of that massive deal attached to Griffin while expedited the rebuild with LaMelo.
