Look, this year’s NBA Draft doesn’t have a prospect of the caliber of someone like Victor Wembanayama. So, the stakes of losing out on the No. 1 pick or falling in the draft order aren’t necessarily as grand, even though there are plenty of potentially awesome rotational players available.
Even still, you have to feel bad for the Detroit Pistons and their poor fans after Sunday afternoon’s demoralizing result in the NBA Draft Lottery.
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Despite finishing with the NBA’s worst record in each of the last two seasons, the Pistons earned just … the No. 5 pick in both drafts. They literally won 31 total games in two years and still couldn’t crack the top three on either occasion. That is just brutal. There’s no other reasonable way of putting it.
Now, again, losing out on Wembanyama hurt a lot more than this instance. But if you’re young guard Ausar Thompson, you still would’ve liked to see the pinballs go in your team’s favor for a higher pick, at least once.
His awkward reaction after the Pistons’ latest poor stroke of luck says it all:
Ausar Thompson's reaction to the Pistons' getting the fifth pick 😮 pic.twitter.com/zsf4Pivqfv
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 12, 2024
The Pistons have some nice pieces, but for the time being, they don’t seem to fit together all that well. It would’ve been nice to have a chance at a better player with a higher pick, but it appears that the basketball gods have different plans for Detroit.