It appears Iowa will have their highest-ever draft pick in the 2022 NBA draft if this prediction comes to fruition. In Jonathan Givony’s most recent mock draft for ESPN, he has Hawkeyes forward Keegan Murray going No. 5 overall to the Detroit Pistons.
Murray exploded onto the scene this past season with Iowa, averaging 23.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. His points per game average was tops among all Power Five players and his rebounds per game constituted second-best in the Big Ten.
In the process, the 6-foot-8, 225 pound forward emerged as a national player of the year candidate. Murray finished as a consensus first-team All-American and was honored as college basketball’s Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year.
Murray’s all-around game has him all but locked in as a lottery selection and it appears his stock is soaring much higher than that. Here was Givony’s rationale behind Murray heading to the Motor City with the fifth overall selection.
The Pistons would likely be disappointed to see Ivey off the board in this scenario. Still, drafting the most productive player in college basketball this season in Murray would be an excellent consolation prize, as he looks like a day-one contributor ready to step into the void left by Jerami Grant, whose future with the Pistons looks uncertain. – Givony, ESPN.
Givony is not the first draft analyst to project Murray to Detroit, CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish projected the same after the draft lottery set the order in stone.
Murray is a switchable big who can guard in space and consistently make shots from the perimeter. What he does, at his size, is perfectly suited for the modern NBA and would fit well with a Detroit franchise trying to return to respectability with Cade Cunningham as the centerpiece. – Parrish, CBS Sports.
Judging from the reactions on social media, many Pistons fans would be disappointed in the selection. Some fans want another guard to pair with rising star Cade Cunningham. While it is true that the Pistons desperately need another guard—Killian Hayes has struggled a ton over the past two years and Cory Joseph as a starting point guard is rough—the Pistons desperately need help everywhere.
The roster reads off as one big “he’s still in the league?!” It features the likes of Frank Jackson, Trey Lyles, Kelly Olynyk, and Josh Jackson. There is a reason that this team finished with only 23 wins in the 2021-22 NBA season.
While many fans have their hopes set on Purdue guard Jaden Ivey, in Givony’s latest mock draft Ivey was selected a pick before Detroit and there have been reports that teams are mixed on Ivey.
Shaedon Sharpe is another guard from the Kentucky Wildcats that will tantalize Detroit fans with his potential, however, he is one of the biggest boom or bust prospects in the draft. He shows promise and is quick for his size, but Sharpe didn’t play a single minute of college ball. All of the projection comes off of his massive stock as the third overall recruit in 2021. That is a large leap in competition.
While many will fall in love with his superstar potential, there also is the possibility that he never develops quite how many hope he will. That is a very big risk for a team with the fifth overall pick, especially a team that has not had much luck in the draft in recent years besides Cade Cunningham who was an obvious prospect coming out of Oklahoma State.
With all that in mind, it makes sense why Keegan Murray keeps getting linked to Detroit in mock drafts. The Pistons in recent years have taken shots on two risky European prospects in Hayes and Sekou Doumbouya, and Doumbouya’s already on another team while Hayes hasn’t polished his game in the NBA yet.
Murray, while an older prospect, is seen as one of the most complete players in the draft and a ready-now player. He can immediately add scoring and high IQ to the Pistons. He might not have the highest ceiling, but he can help Detroit start to turn things around. A team can only spend so long in the gutter before people start to lose their jobs.
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