2024 NBA draft lottery lacks fanfare, but will set tone for new Detroit Pistons regime
The NBA draft lottery is set for Sunday (3 p.m., ABC) in Chicago. This might be your first time thinking about it.
This year’s crop of talent doesn’t inspire. The hype is nonexistent. There’s no generational talent, on the level of Victor Wembanyama, awaiting at the top. Nor do the top prospects appear even on the level of Paolo Banchero, Cade Cunningham or Chet Holmgren, Brandon Miller or Evan Mobley.
If the Detroit Pistons fall from first to fifth for the second year in a row, it’s hard to see the outcry being as strong as it was a year ago, when Wembanyama was seemingly gifted to the San Antonio Spurs. Will anyone weep because France's Alex Sarr fell out of their grasp? Are there hidden reserves of social media stans for Kentucky's Reed Sheppard, UConn's Donovan Clingan or French teen Zaccharie Risacher?
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For all but the most hardcore fans, the answer to the questions above is “No.”
Yet, this draft will be a key one for the Pistons, as likely the first major test for the franchise's incoming head of basketball operations. It has been a month since the organization made its search for a new front office leader official, and it seems likely that hire will be in place before the first night of the draft, on June 26.
The lottery oddly feels like an afterthought compared to the long list of tasks the Pistons need to accomplish this summer. But the pick — regardless of whether it stays with the franchise, regardless of which of the top five spots it lands in — will give them another needed tool to improve the team following the franchise's worst-ever season (with just 14 victories).
And the new head of basketball operations will need every tool they can get. So although Sunday’s lottery could be a snoozer, it remains an important piece of Detroit’s endless rebuild. And what the new front office does with it will be the first big tell of next season's direction, whether it’s pushing for the play-in or settling for some sort of rebuild/refresh (but maybe not a "restore").
Despite the lack of excitement, there are several players in Detroit’s draft range that make sense. There’s nowhere to go but up, after all. And if there’s any silver lining from last season, it’s that the Pistons can at least proceed knowing they have a bona fide building block in Cunningham. He could use another running mate, though.
Sarr is not the usual caliber of No. 1 overall pick, but the 7-foot-1 French prospect could still be worthy of building around. Versatile bigs run the NBA, and his combination of athleticism, rim protection and shooting touch has made him a popular choice as the first player off of the board.
Risacher — the other French prospect slated to go in the lottery — is a 6-foot-9 wing with feathery touch from 3. He’s the type of forward that has largely eluded the Pistons this past decade — one that can knock down shots, defend and fit into virtually any lineup. He’s raw, but that’s true for much of Detroit’s roster at the moment.
Sheppard, last seen in Kentucky's NCAA tournament loss to Oakland, is one of the draft’s best shooters and could form a formidable backcourt alongside Cunningham, thanks to his playmaking and defensive effort. Clingan was an NCAA tournament star in the Huskies' run to a second straight title and looks like an NBA-ready rim protector. Nikola Topic, Stephon Castle and Matas Buzelis are other names likely to go in the top 10.
The conundrum is that many around the league, along with draft pundits, are skeptical that any player in this class is worth a No. 1-pick salary (which will start at roughly $10 million per year). That doesn’t mean winning the lottery would be a curse for Detroit, which leads the league in cap space. But it illustrates just how bad this class is viewed compared to the average.
The Pistons' new head of basketball operations will be graded more by how they spend the Pistons’ $60 million of cap space in free agency. It’s not an inspiring class there, either, but Detroit could be a big player in the trade market as mediocre teams with expensive rosters look to move salary and duck both levels of the NBA’s luxury tax apron.
The top-five pick could be dangled, if the new decision-maker is interested in building a competitive roster as soon as possible. Because the Pistons still owe a future first to the New York Knicks and are thus limited by the Stepien Rule, it’s tough to see them being able to make a big swing for a star without parting with their 2024 pick and/or some of their young players.
Like any year, the Pistons will need luck Sunday to win the lottery — they have a 14% chance at No. 1, and, yes, a 47.9% chance of falling to No. 5. But they’d be better off being lucky in the actual draft, given the uncertainty at the top. The 20-win 1997-98 Dallas Mavericks picked ninth in the 1998 draft ... and stumbled into selecting Dirk Nowitzki. Paul Pierce was the 10th pick, by Boston. The top three picks in that draft, meanwhile — Michael Olowokandi, Mike Bibby and Raef LaFrentz — didn't live up to their slots.
Sunday’s lottery, despite the lack of fanfare, is the first domino in an offseason the Pistons can’t afford to mess up. Many fans may not even tune in, 30 minutes before the Eastern Confernce semifinal Game 4 between the Indiana Packers and New York Knicks. But it’ll be an unofficial summer kickoff after a month-long period of dormancy. And the Pistons' head of basketball operations’ decision regarding the pick will be a tone-setter as the franchise tries to navigate out of the NBA’s depths.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.
Lottery ticket
What: 2024 NBA draft lottery.
Fast facts: 3 p.m. Sunday; Chicago; ABC.
The rules: The NBA will determine the top 14 picks in the June draft using 1,001 different combinations with 14 ping-pong balls.
The top pick: The Pistons and Washington Wizards have the best odds, each at 14%, with the Charlotte Hornets sporting the second-best odds at 13.3%.
Five for fighting: The Pistons can drop no lower than fifth overall. They had the best odds last season and did drop to No. 5 overall.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New Detroit Pistons regime will get orders from 2024 NBA draft lottery
