With the 2020 NBA Draft approaching, we examine four potential targets for the Detroit Pistons if they choose to trade down.
Heading into Wednesday’s NBA draft, all eyes in Detroit are on the seventh overall pick. That’s for good reason – it’s the only pick the Detroit Pistons currently own.
That could certainly change, though. When new General Manager Troy Weaver kickstarted the offseason by trading Bruce Brown for very little return, it signaled a clear intention to begin a major rebuild in the Motor City.
With that in mind, it makes sense that the Pistons may look to trade down in this year’s draft. That may be easier said than done in a particularly weak draft where numerous teams are looking to do the same, but a team wanting to trade up to guarantee getting a player they’ve fallen love with is an annual NBA draft tradition.
Detroit could trade a couple of spots back for a second-round pick or trade further down for multiple picks. But there should be an opportunity if they can find a team or two that thinks there’s a steep drop-off after the seventh pick.
Under the assumption that the Pistons trade back into a position in the late first or early second, we examine four potential targets for Detroit that may be available later in the draft.
Detroit Pistons trade-down target No. 4: Tyler Bey
The Pistons desperately need length and athleticism on the wing and Tyler Bey fits nicely in that box. The 6’7” Colorado junior is old at age 22, but his physical gifts more than make up for that later in the draft.
With a wingspan of 7’1”, Bey is downright disruptive defensively. He covers a ton of ground in his rotations and has good instincts which make him a great help defender. On the ball, he’s versatile and able to stay in front of multiple positions as a switcher.
Offensively, he’s a bit of a mixed bag. There’s no denying his ability to finish at and above the rim, but his primary creation comes in the post. At his size, he’s going to need to learn some additional perimeter skills to stay on the court in a diverse set of lineups. He improved as a shooter his junior year, knocking down 41 percent of his attempts from behind the arc, albeit on a very small sample. He’s a career 75 percent shooter from the charity stripe, so there’s some indication that he could be a passable spacer. But he will need to refine his dribbling to make himself a threat when defenders close out.
There’s plenty of question marks, but Bey’s highs are very high, particularly in a weak draft. His size and athleticism alone make him intriguing for a Pistons team in need, and his potential if he develops a couple more parts of his game makes him a great option for Detroit in the middle and later portions of the draft.