Rumors abound that the Detroit Pistons might trade up in the NBA draft for a player like LaMelo Ball, but maybe the best play is to trade down instead.
The Detroit Pistons may find themselves with a plethora of options as the NBA draft nears. They have been mentioned as possibilities to move up in the draft, perhaps to select LaMelo Ball, but they also have some opportunities going the other way.
While I’ve been steadfast since new general manager Troy Weaver was hired and the organization ended up with the seventh pick that they wouldn’t trade down, now that we’re nearing the big moment I’m starting to waver on that opinion. After all, a good executive won’t marry himself to a single outcome in the draft if other, better opportunities arise, and by all accounts, Troy Weaver is indeed a very good executive.
According to The Athletic’s John Hollinger, the Pistons are enamored with Florida State’s Patrick Williams (subscription required). The wing has reportedly received a promise that they would select him at seven, or at least they have a great deal of interest in him. Since Williams is projected to go somewhere closer to 10 than seven, the Pistons could squeeze out a bit more value for him by trading back a couple of spots.
In the scenario Hollinger suggests, the Pistons could trade back to nine with the Washington Wizards. If Williams is indeed higher on their radar than, say, Onyeka Okongwu, this might be the move to make. At least as long as the Wizards (in this example) are willing to sweeten the pot for them.
The Detroit Pistons could move back further in the NBA draft
The Pistons love Patrick Williams, but there are teams looking to move draft picks later in the first round. The Boston Celtics spring to mind as a team with the 14th, 26th and 30th pick in the first round of this draft.
Another name that Hollinger suggests for the Pistons – if they move back – is Vanderbilt wing Aaron Nesmith, and he could fit right in with that 14th pick. The Pistons could send the seventh pick to the Celtics in exchange for perhaps the 14th and 30th picks and get a player that like in the form of Nesmith and add another late-first pick as well.
Nesmith is not necessarily a physical specimen which certainly limits his draft stock, but he’s an absolute lights-out shooter. He shot 52.2 percent from 3-point range last season and scored 23.0 points. That kind of lethality is hard to find in any draft class, let alone one like the 2020 NBA draft class which is fairly weak throughout.
In addition, the Pistons are one of the five teams Nesmith has worked out with so far.
This is a great draft to have a top-10 pick when you’re not especially enamored with anybody (other than Patrick Williams apparently). Unmooring yourself from any specific spot could pay dividends if a team like the Celtics with an embarrassment of draft assets wants to make a move into that upper tier, and it may be a situation the Detroit Pistons can capitalize on.
The last few days before the NBA draft are nothing but layer upon layer of smokescreen, so you can take what teams are saying with a grain of salt. Where you should look to determine what teams might actually do are at their motivations and incentives, and in the case of the Pistons, they have motivation and incentive to trade back in this NBA draft.