OT: Pistons making moves on draft night
For those of you that care to follow NBA basketball or the Pistons specifically, they made a lot of noise and really shook up the roster complexion on draft night tonight.
Personally, I hadn't watched much of Patrick Williams but having watched some of his clips and reading some scouting on him, I was hoping he'd still be there at 7, sounds like the Pistons really wanted him. Bulls (of course) took him at 4th overall.
They took the expected prospect in Hayes at 7, but I really liked how they traded back into the first round not once, but twice (!!)
I liked the Isiah Williams pick with the 16th. Again, I am only really topically familiar with his game, but he's an athletic 5 that avg. 17 and 9 in his freshman and only year at University of Washington. If you can get potential like that at 16 in the draft, I am totally on board with taking a swing
Then three picks later trading back again into the first to grab Saddiq Bey from Villanova at 19 was an interesting move as well. Had to trade by guy Luke - which was bitter sweet - but, such is life in the NBA and definitely will wish him well.
Overall my interested and untrained eye would give Ty Weaver's first draft a B+ / A-.. and I might be being too critical of him. I like how much younger the roster got overnight, and the Pistons are also sitting on $30M in cap space headed into free agency. The Pistons are definitely a rebuild, but to me it seemed like Weaver fully embraced it, he took some swings on some guys with big time upside, but will also need. few seasons to develop. If they can remain vigilant and steer the course with their draft strategy / vision, I think in a few seasons we'll definitely have a fun and competitive team to watch.
No home runs in this draft class, but a LOT of potential, athleticism, length and youth. If we keep that same approach and mentality and can hit on 33 - 40% of those picks, I think we'll have something going in Detroit.
Those are my thoughts, what say ye other Pistons / NBA fans about tonights draft?
November 18th, 2020 at 10:43 PM ^
I really hope they keep Christian Wood. He's going to be an all star
November 18th, 2020 at 10:58 PM ^
They’re gonna have to pay a lot to keep him. Not sure it makes sense when they’re obviously in rebuild mode.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:08 PM ^
He'll definitely have a price tag, but he's also only 25. I think he's still young enough you can make the rational argument to throw a hat in the ring.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:06 PM ^
Absolutely agree. He's a a guy you gotta keep if you can. Looks like they at least have enough cash in the bank to make him an honest offer
November 19th, 2020 at 7:27 AM ^
I don’t think he will be a star, I do think he will be a very good player. But I don’t know if it fits with the Pistons timeline. I’d definitely try to resign him, but if he’s getting simile offers from better teams, he will probably leave.
November 18th, 2020 at 10:56 PM ^
Just glad to see a highly respected basketball guy as Pistons GM. Troy Weaver isn't afraid to be aggressive and his track record as a talent evaluator is excellent. Here's hoping.
I really like the Saddiq Bey pick. Reading up on him it looks like he was the best player on a very good Villanova team
November 18th, 2020 at 11:01 PM ^
Pistons also paid Utah 3.5 mil and "future considerations" to trade for their #38 pick and C Tony Bradley. Seems like Weaver is on a mission to make the Pistons younger
November 18th, 2020 at 11:21 PM ^
They have so much cap space, so I guess they can eat up these salaries.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:03 PM ^
They acquired an interesting blend of rookies and veterans today. I hope this allows Rose and Griffin to play a manageable amount of minutes this year. With Sekou, they could have a nice core of young talent in with their last two drafts.
Also, I'll never shed a tear when we trade a former Blue Devil. I still can't believe SVG drafted him over Donovan Mitchell.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:10 PM ^
Agreed. I like that you can see Weaver implementing his vision right away. He is drafting for length and youth and athleticism when you can get it. It's a good plan and he's being aggressive and sticking to his plan. I like it.
November 19th, 2020 at 6:11 AM ^
Does Weaver know anything about football?
November 18th, 2020 at 11:34 PM ^
I hope Weaver and flip DRose, Blake and Ariza for assets. They need to continue to tank for the next couple seasons to acquire elite talents. At the moment, I do not consider Hayes an elite talent but more of a complimentary piece which isn't a bad thing. Drafting Hayes should not preclude Weaver from taking Cade Cunningham if the Pistons do somehow get #1 overall pick next year.
Obviously the goal is to get Emoni Bates in 2022 draft.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:46 PM ^
hind sight is 20-20. i don't know who i would have taken instead back then, but i hated that pick at the time.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
Agreed, purge all the Blue Devils. Can’t root for any of them. It was so great when we got Ben Wallace for Grant Hill.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:06 PM ^
Troy Weaver has drafted well in the past including taking Russel Westbrook, KD, and Harden at OKC. It looks like he's making strong moves so far and with Dwayne Casey as a solid head coach, the future looks much better than it did last season.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:14 PM ^
You can see the nucleus of the team starting to come together. I do feel confident some of these guys are going to hit. A lot of youth and untapped potential. You won't bat 1.000 but if you can add some depth that can contribute on a competitive team and maybe pick up an all-star between the 2020 and 2021 drafts, you're on your way to something. The player profile he is going after I think gives you the best chance to realize that.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:42 PM ^
agree. i like the approach. they have a lot of young talent. now they have a year to evaluate them. if a few of them hit, then you have a solid nucleus and cap money. cut bait quickly on the guys that don't pan out.
kind of similar to the detroit tigers situation; especially pitchers.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:02 AM ^
Not to be a spoiler, and I have high hopes, but in the same way, he was instrumental in breaking down and dismantling a team with Harden, Westbrook and Durant and getting absolutely nothing in return when they left.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:39 PM ^
OT - but i like oturu (#33 from MN) better than smith (#10 from MD). just think he has better upside and more hustle.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:43 PM ^
So they get a second PG in Saben Lee out of Vanderbilt
November 18th, 2020 at 11:47 PM ^
I lile the guards.
Really wanted us to pick up Winston though. That guys a gamer.
November 19th, 2020 at 2:52 AM ^
He's not an NBA caliber PG. Short, can't play D. Maybe a second unit PG with the right shooters to space the floor.
November 19th, 2020 at 3:54 AM ^
At the NBA level I don’t see Winston being all that different from Derrick Walton. Both excellent in college (Winston being better in the end), but struggling to make a positive impact at the next level.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
Winston is an nba player but his ceiling will be as a reserve. He’s Trey Burke. Which is good and fine but he’s not gonna start for a contender.
November 19th, 2020 at 2:50 AM ^
Bey was an absolute steal for where he was drafted. Made up for Stewart at 16. Lee was a luxury pick that seems like a highlight-tape pick.
November 19th, 2020 at 7:51 AM ^
He was aggressive for sure. I don’t know if being aggressive automatically equates to a win in my eyes (as it seems to in others) though. I thought Halliburton should have been the pic at 7. I don’t mind the trade at 16 because it’s ridiculously protected, so no real risk there and the player they got is loaded with potential. I didn’t like the Kennard trade at 19 because at first glance they just replaced him with a younger, less experienced, less proven version of himself. Lenard would have helped this team more in the next couple of years.
November 19th, 2020 at 9:18 AM ^
I don't see the Kennard/Bey comparrison at all. Bey is a 6'8" 3 and D small forward while Kennard is a 6'4" shooting guard who was always going to be a liability on the defensive end and handled the ball/pick and roll much more than Bey is projected to.
November 19th, 2020 at 8:55 AM ^
NBA Drafts for the Pistons aren't ever about who we draft, it's about who we missed out on. So come on, who did we overlook at each spot? Air your grievances!
November 19th, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
I don't think there's anyone that jumped out that I really wanted that they could have chosen but didn't, more about a couple players that I wish had fallen a few spots so we could pick them.
Really wanted Nesmith with the 16th pick, but Boston took him at 14. I would have been happy with Bey at 16 even though we got him at 19. But when we were looking at the 16th pick, there was nobody I was stoked about picking in that spot other than Bey. Stewart was projected to go in the mid 20s, so we took him much earlier. But like I said, not a big deal considering there weren't a ton of options at that spot, especially in the post.
I would have also liked Tillman at 38, but he was taken a few spots earlier. Lee seems like he has alot of potential to be a 2nd unit PG, so hopefully he meets it.
November 19th, 2020 at 2:28 PM ^
Stewart is a steal. He got downgraded because his team did poorly due to teammate getting suspend
November 19th, 2020 at 9:47 AM ^
Love it. Love it. Weaver probably looked at this roster and said holy fuck, this thing sucks.
November 19th, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Hayes A-
Stewart B-
Bey B+
Lee B
I would've preferred Maxey over Stewart, but the analytics guys love Bey, so that's a wash.
I'm partial to Lee as a former Commodore.
I think Weaver buys out Ariza and deals Rose at the deadline. Better days lie ahead.
But honestly, my favorite move of the night was Minnesota bringing back Ricky Rubio.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:05 PM ^
I think he'll keep Ariza. Ariza is too valuable to buy out since he'll be an useful asset for Weaver to flip since he's a true 3 and D player and 3 and D players are valuable in NBA.
November 19th, 2020 at 2:17 PM ^
My not very well informed opinion is that it was a pretty good draft, probably B+ today. Probably would have preferred Halliburton at 7 but not unhappy with the pick. Bey an excellent value. Not sure about Stewart or Lee but worth fliers. Get two solid long term pieces out of the four and this becomes an A grade.
November 20th, 2020 at 7:55 AM ^
New GM seems promising. Might have to hop back on the Pistons bandwagon in a couple years. Hopefully Gores can stay out of his way.