Detroit Pistons lose Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, land fifth pick in NBA draft lottery
The Detroit Pistons will have a top-five pick for the third season in a row. But they didn't leave Tuesday's NBA draft lottery with the grand prize.
Detroit will have the fifth pick in this year's draft, which will take place at Brooklyn's Barclays Center in New York on June 22. The Pistons won't be able to draft French phenom Victor Wembanyama — a tough result for a franchise coming off of an NBA-worst 17-65 season. The Pistons were one of three teams with a 14% chance of winning the No. 1 spot, but the reveal of the No. 5 pick — the league draws for the top four spots — revealed the Pistons' logo at the draft lottery Tuesday night in Chicago.
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That meant the Portland Trail Blazers, who entered the draft with a 10.5% chance at the No. 1 spot and a 42.1% chance of a top-four pick, had moved up. Picks Nos. 6-14 fell according to their pre-lottery odds. The Blazers jumped to No. 3, with the Charlotte Hornets coming in at No. 2 and the San Antonio Spurs, one of the two other teams with 14% odds, winning No. 1. The Houston Rockets, the other 14% squad, finished with the No. 4 pick.
Like any other draft, there will be star talent outside of the top pick. And the Pistons will be in prime position to select from a talented group of players. G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson and Alabama forward Brandon Miller are likely to be gone, but Overtime Elite twin guards Amen and Ausar Thompson could be available, with Villanova's Cam Whitmore and Houston's Jarace Walker also top-five possibilities.
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That player will join a talented group of young players including 2021 No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham, who will return next season after missing most of the 2022-23 with a shin injury and surgery, and 2023 All-Rookie Second Team selections Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey.
Ivey was the No. 5 pick last summer. Quite a few Hall of Fame players have been selected fifth overall, including Charles Barkley (1984), Scottie Pippen (1987), Kevin Garnett (1995), Ray Allen (1996) and Vince Carter (1998), who'll soon be enshrined.
Detroit will also have the first selection of Round 2, the 31st overall pick of the draft.
This year represented the 17th time the Pistons were in the lottery and the third year in a row they had a 14% chance at the No. 1 pick. They lucked out in 2021 and landed Cunningham, who finished third in 2022's Rookie of the Year voting. That was also the only time their pick improved thanks to the lottery. In seven previous drawings, the Pistons dropped at least one spot (last year and in 2020, they dropped two spots). Eight other times, they remained in their original position.
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The Pistons had the No. 1 overall pick in the draft two times before selecting Cunningham: 1970, when they selected St. Bonaventure center — and eventual Basketball Hall of Famer — Bob Lanier, and 1967, when they beat out the ABA for Jimmy Walker, thanks to some recruitment from Pistons star — and future mayor of Detroit — Dave Bing. Walker would go on to father Michigan star Jalen Rose.
The rest of the top 14: 6. Magic; 7. Pacers; 8. Wizards; 9. Jazz; 10. Mavericks; 11. Magic*; 12. Thunder; 13. Raptors; 14. Pelicans. (*via trade with Bulls).
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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons lose Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, land fifth pick
