“Detroit Pistons Draft Lottery Preview”

The 2023 NBA Draft Lottery is now less than one week away, and many franchises have a ton to be excited about. It will take place on Tuesday, May 16th in Chicago. This year’s draft lottery is very significant for many franchises looking for a boost. Among those teams include the Detroit Pistons.

The Detroit Pistons enter this year’s lottery with the worst record in the league. However, two other NBA teams have identical odds to land the number one overall pick. The San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets. Nevertheless, Pistons fans would love to see the number-one pick land in Detroit for the second time in three seasons.

Wembanyama Sweepstakes

The significance of the number one pick this year is very high. In fact, the 2023 NBA Draft consists of the most anticipated player since Lebron James- his name is Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama averaged 20.3 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks last season for Metropolitan 92 in France. What makes “Wemby” so anticipated is the combination of his size and talent. His height has been compared to that of Manute Bol, and his offensive game to Kevin Durant.

The uniqueness of Wembanyama’s skillset at his size is what has NBA scouts drooling. The potential of Wemby as a prospect is through the roof. What will be interesting to see is what team and into what situation he could land. Obviously, Pistons fans would be ecstatic to have this kid on this team. The potential triple threat of Cade, Wemby, and Ivey sounds like something that could be a problem in the Eastern Conference for years to come.

Pistons situation

Pistons General Manager Troy Weaver was hired in 2020. In the 2020 draft, he traded into the first round and turned one first-rounder into three. With the three firsts he had, he selected Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, and Saddiq Bey. Bey is no longer on the roster but Killian and Stewart are heading into year four looking to make a playoff push.

In 2021, Detroit was awarded the first overall pick for the first time in team history. With that pick came Cade Cunningham, who is the future of the franchise and the building block moving forward. Although his 2022 season was cut short, Cade currently averages 17.8 points, 5.6 assists, and 5.6 rebounds so far into his short career.

The 2022 draft lottery gave the Pistons the fifth overall selection, which turned into Purdue guard Jaden Ivey. and GM Troy Weaver made another trade to also land the 13th overall pick, which was Jalen Duren. Both of these Piston rookies were selected to second-team all-rookie and will look to have impressive sophomore stints. Ivey averaged 16.3 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.9 rebounds while Duren averaged 9.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists.

Possible Outcomes

Although the ideal scenario for any team this year is to land Wemby, only one team can land him. However, the Pistons have many options outside of Wemby given they do not land the first pick. Brandon Miller from Alabama could come in and provide starting minutes at the forward position. He also may be the most polished player in the draft, because I do believe Wemby will have some adjusting to do.

Miller was a first-team All-American at Alabama and averaged 18.8 points on 43% shooting last season. Another option for the Pistons could be G league star Scoot Henderson. Although he is a guard, if he is available I don’t think Pistons pass. His game has been compared to Russell Westbrook and last season on the G league Ignite he averaged 17.6 points on 42% shooting. With whatever pick the Pistons are awarded, Detroit will be adding another young superstar to the city.

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For more from the author Charles Bolone, follow him out on Twitter here: @cbolone

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