The fundamental truth of the NBA is if you draft well you’ll be successful, and if you draft poorly you’ll find yourself in the lottery over and over again where your incompetence will be on display.
The Pistons, my friends, have not drafted very well lately. Since the Stan Van Gundy regime began in 2014, the Pistons have been without a first-round pick twice and when they have had them, Detroit took Stanley Johnson, Henry Ellenson, Luke Kennard and Sekou Doumbouya.
Kennard is the best pick of the lot, but he wasn’t the best choice possible with Donovan Mitchell still on the board.
We can’t wave a magic wand and fix everything but we can retroactively complain and fix things on the internet through a sitewide redraft, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
All the site managers throughout SB Nation NBA are going to redraft from pick No. 1 for 2014, 2015 and 2016. That means there will likely not be a bunch of diamonds in the rough to choose from, and, unfortunately, we can’t undo bad trades so the Pistons don’t have a No. 1 pick in 2014 (thanks Ben Gordon and Joe Dumars).
We won’t be able to unveil other site’s picks, but you can use your intuition and figure who will be available. The Pistons picked No. 8 overall (Stanley Johnson) in 2015. Something tells me he will still be on the board in the redraft! However, it’s likely a good player will also be on the board and the Pistons can pick someone new.
Maybe a Josh Richardson or Montrezl Harrell will be available. We’ll see!
In the horrific draft of 2016, the Pistons selected Henry Ellenson and Pascal Siakam was taken nine picks later. Something tells me Siakamisn’t lasting beyond the top three, but who knows will be there for the taking at No. 18. Probably someone who can be counted on to have a 10-year career.
Do some draft boarding in the comments and help me ensure the Pistons come out of this with a great redraft haul.