NBA Draft Outlooks For Top Lottery Contenders: Detroit Pistons Edition

Right now, the NBA playoffs consume the basketball world. With Round 2 kicking off this week, hoop lovers are engulfed in the events of an already-memorable postseason. However, the 2024 NBA Draft looms right around the corner.

Every year, fans are reminded of the quick turnaround from the conclusion of the NBA Finals to Draft night. Game 7 of this year’s NBA Finals would be on June 23 if necessary. The top selection in this year’s pool will hear their name called just three days after that, on June 26.

While eight teams still vying for the title, the other 22 have their focus set on the Draft as the lottery approaches. This Sunday, May 12, amid the playoffs, the ping pong balls will be drawn, and the draft order will be set.

There are five teams with a double-digit percent chance to land the top overall pick: the Detroit Pistons (14.0%), Washington Wizards (14.0%), Charlotte Hornets (13.3%), Portland Trail Blazers (13.2%), and San Antonio Spurs (10.5%). Each organization brings a different set of needs to the top of the draft.

In Detroit’s case, this is a team that desperately needs to win games as soon as possible. Next year will be the last of 2021 first-overall pick Cade Cunningham’s rookie contract, and the Pistons have no playoff births to show for it yet. 

As they presumably ink franchise cornerstone Cunningham to a maximum rookie-scale extension this off-season, the Pistons will look to bolster their roster around the star point guard. Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, and Jaden Ivey provide a solid foundation, but Detroit will need more as the clock ticks for them to achieve any sort of winning.

Their best move is to get Duren and Thompson a frontcourt partner to build towards an elite defense. Talents such as Alexandre Sarr and Donovan Clingan would be ideal. They’d be better interior presences than Duren protecting the rim, as he is mobile enough to develop into a productive defender in a more perimeter-oriented role.

Down the road, the defensive-oriented double-big route may provide offensive shortcomings, but as the Eastern Conference has seen with teams like the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers, a stifling defense is often the recipe for tanking teams to start stacking wins. Sarr or Clingan may be the final piece Motor City needs to turn around its rebuild.