2020 NBA draft: Top 10 prospects who might interest Detroit Pistons

Omari Sankofa II | Detroit Free Press

Welcome to my first Detroit Pistons mailbag.

It’s an interesting time to take on a new NBA beat. A significant part of the job is meeting and talking to people. But with the NBA’s suspension during the novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s unclear when I’ll cover my first game.

I’m not new to covering the NBA. As I wrote in my introductory piece Monday, I covered the Grizzlies for 18 months for The Athletic before accepting this job. I didn’t expect the league would be halted when I made the transition. It has made the switch easier in some ways and harder in others.

Regardless of what commissioner Adam Silver decides will happen with the remainder of the 2019-20 season, the Pistons’ are essentially done. With a 20-46 record and just 16 games remaining, the franchise is in waiting mode. The front office will have a high lottery pick and several roster decisions to make this offseason.

Fittingly, most of the questions I received in the mailbag were future-oriented. A few of them were more personal. I was born and raised in Detroit and enjoy talking about my city. It felt right to open the door to non-basketball questions for the first mailbag, but feel free to ask me them in the future as well.

Let’s get to it.

What do you want to let Pistons fans know about you personally, to think about while we read your work in the future? — Detroit Sad Boys (@DetroitSadBoy) April 7, 2020

I've always been tuned in to Pistons Twitter and the general tenor of the team. And now I'm a born-again member of Pistons Twitter.

I used to religiously tweet about the team, but that died down in late 2014, when I began to focus on my career. When I got my first post-college job with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2017, I stopped tweeting about the Pistons almost entirely. Pittsburgh isn’t much of an NBA city, and there certainly aren’t many Pistons fans there.

I’m saying this because I’ve fired off a lot of takes about this team over the years. Some of them have aged well, and some haven’t.

Here’s one: On the day of the 2017 NBA draft, I tweeted that Luke Kennard would be better than Donovan Mitchell. Old Takes Exposed found it a year later, and well, here you go:

I’ll still defend that take. True knock-down shooters remain a commodity. Kennard is a 40% 3-point shooter through his three seasons. He has made strides as a playmaker. Tendinitis in both knees cost him a significant portion of this season, and his name was involved in trade talks. But he can play, and if he can stay healthy, I think he’ll be in the league for a long time.

Mitchell, who went a pick later, has been significantly better. No one could’ve predicted he’d be this good, this fast. In a re-draft, he’d go at least 10 spots higher. But getting a good rotation player with the 12th pick is a win, regardless of who went after.

Let’s get back to the original question. When I covered the Grizzlies, I was pushed to think outside the box and come up with unique story ideas. I think I did a good job of that, and I know people in Memphis enjoyed my coverage. I’ve followed the Pistons for a long time, and my aim is to repeat that here in Detroit.

Most overrated and underrated thing about the city of Detroit — David Harris (@thedavidharris) April 7, 2020

Detroit is underrated as a city, period. The food scene is elite. The architecture is beautiful. Folks who are from the city truly care about it and want to see it get better, even though the city often hasn’t done right by them. You can still buy a house for next to nothing.

Detroit has been hyper-analyzed for so long that I’m not sure if any part of it is overrated. But I do think the recent development in downtown and midtown has overshadowed a lot of the real issues the city is still facing, whether it’s education, public transportation or lack of amenities in neighborhoods.

As a guy in his mid-20s, I appreciate there’s a lot more to do in the city compared to eight years ago. But a lot of problems that families face have yet to be solved.

Ball falls to the pistons, does Detroit take him? I hope he falls in Detroit’s lap — adam (@dl100421) April 7, 2020

That partially depends on where the Pistons end up drafting. But LaMelo Ball is widely believed to be the best point guard in the draft, and Detroit has a need for a lead point guard. Derrick Rose only has one year remaining on his deal. And while Bruce Brown played more than half of his minutes at point guard last season, per Cleaning The Glass, it’s unclear if he’s the long-term answer there.

On paper, drafting Ball makes sense. Six-foot-seven point guards don’t come around very often, and Ball plays with a flair that could attract new fans. It doesn’t hurt that he’s also one of the most well-known names in the draft.

There are some genuine concerns about his game — namely, his shooting. He only made 25% of his nearly seven 3-point attempts per game. He has room to grow in that area. Ultimately, his size and elite passing ability sets him apart from the rest of the draft.

how much would you give up(talent/picks) to unload blake by 20/21 trade deadline? — PayCWoodCZN (@Whojive) April 7, 2020

That’s tough to answer without knowing how Blake Griffin will look next season post-January knee surgery.

If he returns to his 2018-19 form, which saw him deliver a career year, the Pistons may not have to sacrifice much to move on from him. Griffin averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists on 46-36-75% shooting splits.

Injuries will always be a concern, and a down 2019-20 season has impacted his value. Regardless how he looks next season, I think sacrificing significant assets to move him would be a mistake. The Pistons don’t have extra first-round picks to spare, nor do they have a surplus of young players they can attach to Griffin.

The best-case scenarios for a Griffin trade? He either returns to form and is moved to a team looking to contend for a championship in return for assets, or he opts into his nearly $39 million player option during the 2021 offseason and is later included in a salary dump.

Either way, Griffin’s contract will expire during the 2022 offseason. I don’t think the Pistons need to force a decision before they have to. Give him a chance to get healthy, and then go from there.

how many current guys on the Pistons roster do you see realistically being around the next time they're a legitimate playoff team? — Brady Fred (@Brady_Fred) April 7, 2020

For the sake of answering the question, let’s say the Pistons become a bona-fide playoff team during the 2022-23 season.

Sekou Doumbouya is the only player who is signed through that season. So, there’s one.

Luke Kennard, Khyri Thomas, Bruce Brown and Svi Mykhailiuk will be restricted free agents during the 2021 offseason. Let’s say Kennard is moved this summer and Brown and Mykhailiuk are re-signed next summer. That’s three.

Brandon Knight, John Henson, Langston Galloway, Jordan McRae and Christian Wood will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Wood is the best player among the group, and is also the player who’ll receive the most attention. The Pistons have his Early Bird rights and cap space. Let’s say he sticks around, and the rest walk. That’s four.

As for the rest of the roster, it’s probably not likely that they will be Pistons in three years. Thon Maker appears to have the best chance to stick around since he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer, giving Detroit a clear path to retaining him long-term. Donta Hall was on the tail end of a 10-day deal before the season was suspended. Griffin, Derrick Rose and Tony Snell will hit unrestricted free agency before the 2022-23 season starts.