Once again, the basketball gods have punished the Detroit Pistons for being the worst team in the NBA.
This was the third time in four years that Detroit had the best odds of landing the No. 1 pick, and outside of 2021, when the franchise won the NBA Draft Lottery and selected Cade Cunningham, it hasn’t been able to land a pick inside the top three.
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By all accounts, talking to league executives, scouts and talent evaluators, the top of the 2024 NBA Draft class is one of the least inspiring in recent memory. There are concerns that whomever goes in the top-three spots won’t be worth the payday that comes with being the top choice over the duration of their rookie contract. There are also worries that whoever goes in that range could end up being as good as the players slotted to go in the late lottery. And there are thoughts that whoever goes in the top three won’t be ready to contribute in a significant way immediately.
There are many around the NBA that I’ve talked to who see the No. 5 pick as the equivalent to the 10th to 12th pick in a normal draft class.
France’s Alexandre Sarr, the 19-year-old, 7-foot center out of the Australian National Basketball League, appears to be the clubhouse leader to go No. 1 overall. Names like Serbia’s Nikola Topić, Connecticut’s Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle, France’s Zaccharie Risacher and the G League Ignite’s Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland are all expected to be in the mix, too. While all are intriguing in their own right, Sarr isn’t even heralded like the top picks before him — not Cunningham, Paolo Banchero or Victor Wembanyama. Most people I’ve talked to see him comfortably below the likes of Evan Mobley, Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith as a prospect.
With all that said, the Pistons should trade the No. 5 pick.
Detroit should do this not because the names mentioned above aren’t promising as prospects, but because of the situation the organization is in. The Pistons have had five straight seasons of putrid performances — some by design, some not. They have a potential All-Star-caliber player in Cunningham, who is extension-eligible this summer and has yet to have a capable roster around him. They have too many young players on the roster. If the Pistons were able to get to close to 30 wins this past season, this wouldn’t be a discussion. Progress would have been made, things would have looked on the up for a relatively young squad. Take whoever and keep building from the ground up.
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However, regression happened. The team with hopes of playing competitive basketball all the way until the end of the regular season had its season unofficially ended before the turn of the calendar year with an NBA-worst 28-game losing skid. The Pistons recorded a franchise-worst 14 wins after winning just 17 the season previously. This thing is currently at rock bottom.
The Pistons’ focus this offseason should be to do everything possible to put a capable roster around Cunningham. It should try that first before banking on the development of yet another young player. Cunningham showed this season why he was worthy of a top choice, improving across the board in both counting stats, advanced stats and efficiency in what was, essentially, his second season. Cunningham missed all but 12 games of the 2022-23 season due to a shin injury that forced him to have surgery.
In theory, someone like Clingan could help the Pistons. He’s a 7-foot-2 center who has the chance to be a real impact defender. The same could be said about Castle, who is a a gritty defensive guard with ballhandling skills and a high basketball IQ, which every team could use. But the Pistons don’t really have the time to allow any of these potential fits to figure it out at the next level — if they figure it out — unless they’re willing to part with one or two young pieces they already have at home. There is pressure from ownership to get better. There is even more pressure from the outside to get better. And, eventually, there will probably be pressure from Cunningham to get better. Detroit has to seriously consider making franchise-altering moves sooner than it anticipated because of how poorly last season — and the others before — went.
Now you’re probably asking yourself this: If the 2024 class is so underwhelming, what could Detroit even get for trading the pick?
Fair question.
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As I mentioned above, some people I’ve talked to are very down on this crop of talent. However, there are people who I’ve talked to around the league that believe a top-three pick in this draft will have some value to certain teams. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder as it pertains to the 2024 NBA Draft.
Certainly, Detroit won’t get a bonafide star if it elects to trade the No. 5 pick. But it doesn’t need one to get back on track. Even being able to turn the No. 5 pick into legitimate NBA starters/role players would benefit the Pistons, who will have roughly $60 million in cap space this offseason to reshape the roster. They still have to prioritize the in-house development of Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson. Adding another top draft pick to the fold just doesn’t seem healthy for a team that maybe has a handful of legitimate NBA starters/rotation players right now.
I’d even go as far to say that the Pistons should trade the No. 5 pick and one or two of their young pieces to build a more competitive, Cunningham-friendly roster. The combination could potentially net something worthwhile for the organization as opposed to trading each asset separately.
Detroit is in the process of hiring a new president of basketball operations, and while that person will surely be enticed by the possibility of having a top-five pick to play with in his/her first season on the job, the focus the first summer should be setting up Cunningham for success. He’s the one young player who has shown legitimate top-20 potential, all while doing it with a roster that doesn’t necessarily enhance his strengths as a player. That’s good. Everyone should take notice of that.
The Pistons will have a tough decision to make as it pertains to keeping this selection, and that’s because years of losing and losing and losing and losing … badly … have appeared to finally catch up to them.
At least I think they should feel that way.
(Photo: David Banks / USA TODAY Sports)