2024 NBA Draft Prospect Discussion

[SuperBad]

Really only Stew, Killian and Cunningham have both missed a year, or at least half a year, Ivey and Duran only in year two. The guys we’ve drafted are all playing pretty good, some of them are going to continue to turn the corner this season, but usually I think they make there first moderate jump in yr 3, which is only Killian, and Stew. So I think in two seasons , we’re a fast rising solid playoff team, with the current contenders rebuilding of reshuffling.

[NYPiston]

Ok Boys, it's that time of year again sadly.
I consider myself somewhat of a prospect connoisseur in general as I've done a lot of research on previous drafts but, even though I know some of the names, I really don't know much about this draft so I figured I'd start a thread for prospect discussion and for those with more knowledge than me to give their thoughts about the best prospects and the best fits for the Pistons as it looks like our Pistons will in the thick of the top of the lottery again so have at it...

Edit: I see that there's another thread about "upcoming drafts" so the mods can merge this one with that one if they'd like.

[Invictus88]

It’s hard to see today, but we really have a good young core all developing at ounce, Draymond, Curry, and Kerr talked about how it takes 4-5 years to really become a good NBA player, literally are whole roster we’ve been playing this season is on its first 4 seasons, we have all star talent all ready, we need to grab some role players that fit the PF position, build them up and play the odds, we’ll find a good that can compliment Stew, Thompson, and Duran.

This is where a lot of this board’s discussions start Some posters expect a rookie to be a star in 2 years, otherwise they are a bust and Weaver should be fired. Instead, they should realize that this is what a full rebuild looks like.

It’s easy to be disappointed that it looks like another year in the lottery. But our cap space is good and we got a lot of good young players. A top 5 pick, hopefully a PF that can shoot, and maybe another wing that can shoot would be nice.

The rebuild is on year 4, not 2, though ....

A rebuild implies you are starting with a structure and restoring it to what it once was or iteratively improving it.
4 years ago we started with a toxic waste dump.

[bstein14]

This is where a lot of this board’s discussions start Some posters expect a rookie to be a star in 2 years, otherwise they are a bust and Weaver should be fired. Instead, they should realize that this is what a full rebuild looks like.

It’s easy to be disappointed that it looks like another year in the lottery. But our cap space is good and we got a lot of good young players. A top 5 pick, hopefully a PF that can shoot, and maybe another wing that can shoot would be nice.

The rebuild is on year 4, not 2, though ....

A rebuild implies you are starting with a structure and restoring it to what it once was or iteratively improving it.
4 years ago we started with a toxic waste dump.

2020 we had three rookies that we were giving major minutes to and we traded away or bought out the vets. I think that is pretty clearly year one of the rebuild. We stopped trying to win and started trying to develop young guys and get high draft picks.

[reanimator]

Alex Saar
Ron Holland
Isaiah Collier
Stephon Castle
Jakobe Walter
Matas Buzelis
Cody Williams
Nikola Topic

would be my early list of guys to track

[buzzkilloton]

Yup time to set up for 2025 draft class this rebuild is wack. If we would of drafted Maxey,Haliburton, or Sharpe things look better. Weaver fumbled the bag when he wouldnt trade the Cade pick for SGA+pick 6 which would of been a franchise changer.

Best thing to do now to salvage this is move Cade and Ivey while their on their rookie deals. Higher value in moving them on rookie contract while they still hold unknown ceilings. Cade has enough value to bring us back some future 1st that can give us more chances at Flagg.

[NYPiston]

We are trending to be the worst in the league this year. Top 5 worst the following year would be logical.
We need a number one guy like Cooper Flagg and he fits a position of need and is beast on defense.

No, that's not logical that's absurd. If they're freaking bottom 5 in the league next season as well just fire everybody and trade everybody and sell the team.

Also, you know the Pistons are drafting #5 in 2025 no matter where they finish in the bottom 5

[Billl]

If we continue to suck, this year's draft is going to be hilarious. Most of the top 10 prospects are playing overseas, in the gleague or in overtime elite. The debates about guys we've never seen play is going to be epic.

[SuperBad]

I like what weaver has done and who he’s drafted, I just think we should be realistic and see that the odds a way lower already that we make the play in, trade the vets at the deadline, and build through the draft another year, next yr is year 5, a lot of our guys will be on yr 3 or more, we will take a jump.

[Snakebites]

I like what weaver has done and who he’s drafted, I just think we should be realistic and see that the odds a way lower already that we make the play in, trade the vets at the deadline, and build through the draft another year, next yr is year 5, a lot of our guys will be on yr 3 or more, we will take a jump.

This is the fourth straight year of being bottomed out under Weaver.

It’s getting harder to say “he’s done a good job but we need to manage our expectations”. At this point those two statements are mutually exclusive. He just had his fourth draft with us. This talk works for three years max- at this point all the crap he inherited is gone and he’s had ample time to build this team his way.

Four years in if he’s done a good job we should to see progress. Not necessarily massive progress or playoff contention, but at least we shouldn’t be league worst anymore. And if we haven’t got that it’s time to re-evaluate.

[kingmob]

how do you evaluate a team that is playing their 10-14 guys 20+ minutes every night (due to injuries), and a roster mostly of sophmores and rookies mixed in?

this team can't survive 6-7 guys being regularly out, with a new system in place just being broken in.

they are going to suck. they might not be able to really evaluate the constructed roster for another 2-4 weeks, and by then, the season is pretty much over as far as standings and all that.

you play your young assets as much as possible, and let them develop and learn.

You don't expect win/loss progress with the circumstances at hand.

My expectation is that by mid January there will be more cohesion and some seasoning, and then you will see progress on the court.

Get another top 5 draft pick, and continue with the rebuild.

[Mr Peanut]

These threads have been an early season hot topic since i started browsing this forum circa 2009 and it's becoming quite sad.

[theBigLip]

We would have a better team if the damn ping pong balls would cooperate! They worked for us w Cade, but against us almost every other lottery.

If we can get a top 3 pick this year, and more aggressively use our cap space and get some young shooters, we, um, might make the playin

[DET_Athletics]

My sort list is Holland and Buzelis, if you have been watching the team we are two good rotation pieces and a starter away from true competition. The forward, Big Man and Wing shooter position is still the problem. Of we hit Holland on the draft, trade for a better starting PF and move Stewart to the bench and bring in a knock down shooter that can play defense as well that's not over 30 this team would be in great shape.

Sent from my SM-S908U using RealGM mobile app

[Patrick27]

We would have a better team if the damn ping pong balls would cooperate! They worked for us w Cade, but against us almost every other lottery.

If we can get a top 3 pick this year, and more aggressively use our cap space and get some young shooters, we, um, might make the playin

Like it or not, that's how lotteries work. Someone wins, which shoves everyone else down.

Remember how much we moved up in 2003 when we got the 2nd overall pick? That was extremely lucky - we hit on a 6% chance.

This reminds me of a neat article about lottery luck from last spring. If you didn't catch it then, here it is:
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/who-is-the-luckiest-team-in-nba-draft-lottery-history-we-dug-through-38-years-of-results-to-find-out/

We aren't that unlucky, only slightly less lucky than average.

[Kalamazoo317]

This is where a lot of this board’s discussions start Some posters expect a rookie to be a star in 2 years, otherwise they are a bust and Weaver should be fired. Instead, they should realize that this is what a full rebuild looks like.

It’s easy to be disappointed that it looks like another year in the lottery. But our cap space is good and we got a lot of good young players. A top 5 pick, hopefully a PF that can shoot, and maybe another wing that can shoot would be nice.

The rebuild is on year 4, not 2, though ....

A rebuild implies you are starting with a structure and restoring it to what it once was or iteratively improving it.
4 years ago we started with a toxic waste dump.

And 4 years later, where are we? Young, sure. With some developmental assets, sure. Also worst in the league.

[Kalamazoo317]

We would have a better team if the damn ping pong balls would cooperate! They worked for us w Cade, but against us almost every other lottery.

If we can get a top 3 pick this year, and more aggressively use our cap space and get some young shooters, we, um, might make the playin

Yeah, getting Wemby would've been huge, obviously. That said, I think we low-key may have gotten the second best player in the draft at #5? If he could shoot, he'd be on track to be an all-star.

[Kalamazoo317]

This is where a lot of this board’s discussions start Some posters expect a rookie to be a star in 2 years, otherwise they are a bust and Weaver should be fired. Instead, they should realize that this is what a full rebuild looks like.

It’s easy to be disappointed that it looks like another year in the lottery. But our cap space is good and we got a lot of good young players. A top 5 pick, hopefully a PF that can shoot, and maybe another wing that can shoot would be nice.

The rebuild is on year 4, not 2, though ....

But how many of our young core has been here 4 years?

Is that the standard other teams have used while rebuilding? How many teams are bottom of the barrel for 4 years straight?

[BDM22]

Yup time to set up for 2025 draft class this rebuild is wack. If we would of drafted Maxey,Haliburton, or Sharpe things look better. Weaver fumbled the bag when he wouldnt trade the Cade pick for SGA+pick 6 which would of been a franchise changer.

I've never understood this obsession with Sharpe. Sharpe's currently averaging 17/5/3 on 40% FG and 32% 3FG with more turnovers than assists per 36 minutes this season and he plays trash defense. Ivey's career per 36 is 18/5/6 on 42% FG and 35% 3FG with a much better A/TO ratio and he also plays trash defense.

What am I missing?

[BDM22]

The rebuild is on year 4, not 2, though ....

But how many of our young core has been here 4 years?

Is that the standard other teams have used while rebuilding? How many teams are bottom of the barrel for 4 years straight?

A lot of teams start with big trade chips. Houston had prime Harden, OKC prime Paul George and Westbrook averaging a triple double, Orlando had Vucevic which landed them WCJ and Franz.

The Pistons had broken down Blake Griffin on a boat anchor contract and Luke Kennard. The path to having a roster with talent is just much different.