The past few drafts for the Detroit Pistons have produced actual results on the floor. There were a couple no no-brainer picks that fell into the Pistons’ lap. I believe there are two or three guys who will develop into stars in the next three years. The most obvious being Cade Cunningham , who is well on his way. You have a small sample size from Jaden Ivey , who has shown he can impact both ends of the floor. Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland II have all the necessary tools to become highly impactful two-way players. Despite the Pistons’ poor history, things have turned a corner, and Trajan Langdon, who was hired last year, is a trusted general manager. Let’s dive into the Pistons’ draft history, and they have improved recently.
Pistons’ Shaky Draft History Starting to Turn a Corner
Impact Rookies Hard to Find in the NBA
The way the NBA is structured, if you are not an impact rookie, and the team does not need to run through you to succeed, it’s very easy to get lost in the shuffle early on in one’s career. It’s a major contributor to a slew of young players who are playing quality minutes for contending teams right now. There are too many players that fit on this list, but the idea brings us back to the age minimum in the NBA. Why does a potential NFL draft pick have to wait three years from when they graduated from high school to be eligible for the draft? Yet, a 16-year-old kid out of Venezuela or the Dominican Republic can sign with an MLB team at 15 or 16 years of age.
A basketball player has to be removed from high school for one year before entering his name; should it perhaps be longer than that? The problem is that they can’t make exceptions for certain players. There may be a guy or two every few years who is ready to go straight to the NBA. But it seems European players have become increasingly effective early in their careers.
It’s a topic that could drag on forever, but the number of young players who are traded throw ins or waived by three teams before latching on with a team and system they fit into has become crucial for NBA teams. Being able to identify those guys is where it gets tricky. We hail front offices when one of these players ends up being a contributor. But when you look at how the player got there, it’s usually telling if they fell through the cracks in other organizations.
Past Pistons Drafts Have Been Notoriously Bad
Pre-2021, you could argue the Pistons had two, yes two, impactful draft selections. Andre Drummond in 2012 with the ninth overall pick and Greg Monroe two years earlier with the seventh pick. Again, questionable picks, seeing as they never really had any real cohesion on the court. My perception is that the Pistons weren’t a team that used the best player available strategy. I think they had guys in the front office whom they trusted; if those guys had a feeling about a player, they rolled with it.
Not many teams have the embarrassing track record of picks over the last 25 years. For all the good things Joe Dumars and company brought to Detroit over the years, drafting well was not one. Darko Milicic and Henry Ellenson stand out as clear misses from the Dumars era. After Dumars, the Pistons had four GMs from 2014-2024. These GMs had their fair share of misses, including Stanley Johnson and Sekou Doumbouya . There were too many head-scratchers to count.
Hindsight is the best sight, but they did draft Bruce Brown and Spencer Dinwiddie. Only to trade them and watch them flourish in their own ways in another city. I’m not suggesting those two players are stars. But they have had markedly better careers than several higher selections the Pistons chose to keep around after it was very clear they had nothing left to give.
The Future is Bright
Great news for every Detroit basketball fan: There is a new voice calling the shots on draft night, Trajan Langdon. His short track record is far better than the one Pistons faithful have been subjected to. Langdon seemed to hit on a pick last year with Holland. Furthermore, he displayed savvy roster-building ability in free agency. While the Pistons don’t have their first-round pick this year, expect them to find with the 37th overall pick. The Pistons are poised to remain a playoff team with Langdon calling the shots and Cunningham’s excellent play. Crucially, Langdon feels capable of finding quality selections even later in the draft.
Featured image: © Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
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