How The Pistons Transformed Overnight
The Pistons were in a pretty bad place after the 2020 season ended. They had no young talent on the roster and they didn’t have much upside. But now after a very busy offseason, the Pistons are a brand new team, bursting with young talent. This is a vast improvement from last season, and here’s how Detroit did it.
2020 NBA Draft
The Pistons were very busy in the NBA Draft. They were selecting at pick 7 originally, but traded for two other picks in the top-20, picks 16 and 19. Here’s the haul that they got from those 3 first round picks.
Killian Hayes – 7th Overall
Hayes is a prospect with a lot of potential. He is a good ball handler and distributor, a good young point guard to run your team. His jumpshot does need improvement, but if he can get just a decent one, this will be a great pick. The Pistons might be getting their point guard of the future here at pick 7.
Isaiah Stewart – 16th Overall
The Pistons acquired this pick from the Rockets, and with this pick they selected Washington big guy Isaiah Stewart. Stewart is very talented, but his game doesn’t fit the modern NBA well. He works out of the post primarily and is a bit undersized for the position as he is 6-9, 250 lb. He doesn’t have a jumper as well, so he likely won’t succeed as he should. Stewart is talented, but would have been suited playing 10-15 years ago.
Saddiq Bey – 19th Overall
The Pistons sent Luke Kennard to the Clippers in a 3-team deal involving the Nets. The Nets sent the 19th pick to the Pistons, and with this pick they selected Saddiq Bey. Bey is one of the best shooters in the draft, as he shot 45% from 3 during his sophomore season at Villanova. But Bey is 6-8 and 216 lb, meaning that he has the tools to defend multiple positions. Bey is versatile, and this is a low-risk pick as Bey is NBA-ready. This might have been the Pistons best pick in the draft.
2020 NBA Free Agency
Along with the 3 rookies that the Pistons got in the first round, they made some big moves on free agency, and some of them were very underrated.
Jerami Grant – 3yr/$60 Million Dollar Deal
Grant was a valuable piece for the Nuggets last season, and he was one of the bigger name free agents this summer. Some people said that this was a overpay for Grant, but I think not. Now with Grant not playing with two other All-Star caliber teammates, he will see a boost to his stats and continue to grow. He is a great defender and can score decently, primarily through driving the ball. This was an excellent pickup by the Nuggets.
Mason Plumlee – 3yr/$25 Million Dollar Deal
This one is more confusing than the Grant deal. I get that the Pistons don’t really have a center since they traded Andre Drummond last season, but this doesn’t make much sense. Plumlee is a decent center, much better suited as a backup. They paid Plumlee $8 million per year, which is a bit much but considering that he will likely start, it’s fine. This doesn’t fix the Pistons big guy problem, more of a band-aid. There were other options they could have explored, but at least they get somebody down low.
Losing Christian Wood
Christian Wood was one of the few bright spots of the Pistons last season, and he was one of their best players. But bringing him back was almost impossible. Wood was unhappy with the situation in Detroit, and it was clear that he wanted out. It was reported that the Pistons didn’t even offer Wood a contract, and that’s fine as while he is a very good player, if he doesn’t want to be with Detroit, he can leave.
Losing Luke Kennard
This trade is fine with me, considering the returns that Detroit got. Luke Kennard was solid for the Pistons, but they got Saddiq Bey in this trade, so losing him doesn’t hurt to much. This trade would be bad if the Pistons got little to nothing in return, but they got Bey, who is a very good rookie and will be a very good player (likely).
Possible D-Rose and Blake Griffin Trades
There have been a lot of rumors that the Pistons are really going to clear house and trade their remaining best players, Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin. Derrick Rose definitely has the higher value saying that he has a much easier contract to move and he’s still very productive. Griffin has a much bigger contract and has been plagued by injuries. The Pistons should be looking for first round picks and young guys, or guys who don’t have big contracts. But the Pistons could be quite the haul for either of these two guys, and it could add to what they are trying to build.
The Pistons made some big moves this offseason. They drafted 3 rookies, PG Killian Hayes, C Isaiah Stewart, and PF Saddiq Bey. They added Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee. While they did lose Christian Wood and Luke Kennard, the Pistons added a lot of new talent this offseason, and now they have some sort of future. The Pistons are building towards being a playoff team and they got a lot better this offseason.
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