Other than taking Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 overall pick, the Detroit Pistons worked on draft night in a quiet or maybe even quietly disappointing fashion. Yes, they drafted a franchise player with their No. 1 overall pick, but then not only did the Pistons not aggressively trade up in the draft, as they did in 2020, but they seemingly took a step backward by trading down to free themselves of useful veteran big man Mason Plumlee and waded in low second-round waters with three additional players. So instead of adding other exciting prospects to their pool (it took only a reserve and SRP to get Isaiah Jackson; the pick attached to Plumlee was used to grab JT Thor) the team lost a functional piece coming off a good year and were left with lowered pool of second round prospects.
Is the Detroit Pistons’ ‘restoration’ about to accelerate?
