Detroit Pistons rookies making the most of their opportunities

The Detroit Pistons entered the week of the 2020 NBA Draft with one pick; the seventh overall selection. Their plan was to draft a point guard, most likely, perhaps picking between Killian Hayes and Tyrese Haliburton, although Patrick Williams was streaking up their board.

It turns out that new Pistons general manager Troy Weaver had a strategy of attacking the draft, however, and that’s exactly what he did. The Pistons did indeed select Hayes seventh overall, and then they traded for the 16th overall pick, which he used to select Isaiah Stewart. They followed that up with a shocker of a trade, sending Luke Kennard and four second-round picks to the LA Clippers for the 19th pick.

That draft pick was used to select Saddiq Bey.

The rookie class for the Detroit Pistons is taking advantage of its opportunities

Outside expectations were tempered for both Stewart and Bey. At the time it seemed like a reach to draft Stewart so early when he was projected to go much later in the first round, but Weaver decided that waiting until later and losing him somewhere else was an unacceptable risk.

As for Bey, Kennard and a bevy of draft picks seemed like a price far too high to pay in order to get the rights to select him. Sure, he could shoot the ball, but so could Kennard.

It turns out, as we’re getting used to saying around here, Troy Weaver knew exactly what he was doing.

Isaiah Stewart has been a constant ball of energy when he’s on the floor dating back to his first preseason game, and he’s even earned back-to-back starts with Mason Plumlee missing time with injury. In his first start on Thursday against Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner and the Indiana Pacers, he scored 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and added seven rebounds, two steals, a block and an assist.

He followed that up in a win over the Boston Celtics with a quieter performance, scoring just five points and grabbing six boards, but he may wrest the full-time starting spot away from Plumlee sooner rather than later after all. Not bad for a rookie center who seemed poorly suited for the middle of the first round.

As for Saddiq Bey, he’s shown flashes of absolute brilliance this season and none of the inclination to shy away from big moments that his predecessor Luke Kennard is still plagued with. He’ll let the ball fly from anywhere, and he’s an above-average defender, especially for a rookie.

With the Detroit Pistons beset by injuries lately, he’s been pressed into heavier action and, like Stewart, he’s made the most of it.

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On Friday night against the Celtics, Bey played 27 minutes off the bench and led both teams in scoring with 30 points on a scintillating 10-of-12 shooting, and he made all seven of his 3-point attempts.

Over the previous four games before the victory over the Celtics, he averaged 11.5 points per game on 46.9 percent shooting from the floor and 42.1 percent from 3-point range, so while this performance was certainly an outlier, it’s something he’s been building towards.

After the draft, not even three months ago now, the prevailing notion was that as long as Killian Hayes worked out, the offseason would be a success. Now with Hayes sidelined thanks to a hip injury, we can comfortably declare Bey and Stewart alone made NBA draft night a success for the Detroit Pistons.

As they continue to earn opportunities, expect them to keep taking advantage and making the most of them.