Troy Weaver promises he didn’t decide until Thursday morning who to take with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. It really was that close.
Turns out the talk of smokescreen was just the Detroit Pistons general manager turning over every stone.
In the end, after almost two months of vetting and studying and contemplating, Weaver couldn’t walk away from the intangibles Cade Cunningham offers. “Human connector” is the phrase he used to describe the team’s first No. 1 draft pick in more than 50 years.
Both on and off the court.
“Larry Bird” is another phrase he used.
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Yes, that’s not technically a phrase, it’s a name, of Weaver’s all-time favorite player, an admission he acknowledged he probably shouldn’t have made in Michigan as he sat inside the team’s practice facility Thursday night during the first round of the NBA draft.
He was smiling.
Recalling the old Celtics-Pistons rivalry, of course. But also at the idea Cunningham reminds him of Bird, especially in the mind, and how he sees the game.
Weaver had been asked about the one knock on the 6-foot-8 point guard from Oklahoma State, which is his relative lack of high-end explosiveness.
“I’ve always loved athletes,” he said, referring to his days as the assistant GM in Oklahoma City, when he helped draft Russell Westbrook, among others. “But, for me, it’s where your team is and what we are trying to build. We’ve got some young guys here that really work and we wanted to double down. (Cunningham) has a tremendous competitive spirit.”
Though that isn’t all.
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His leadership is what finally helped Weaver make up his mind Thursday morning. And, to him, sometimes those outweigh what some might consider more conventional athleticism.
Bird, he said, is a top-5 all-timer. And while he made the comparison to the former Boston great, he didn’t want to lay the franchise at Cunningham’s feet just yet. He wanted to drive home that he admires Cunningham’s mind.
Human connector, right?
Not 20 minutes before Weaver spoke, Cunningham told ESPN right after he’d been selected that he had been blessed.
“I didn’t do this by myself,” he said.
That may sound like boilerplate speak, but it also sounded sincere. That, above all else, is why he is now a Piston.
Well, that and his height and his wingspan — some seven feet — and his vision and his passing and his ball skill and his stepback and his shooting. Let’s talk about his shooting for a moment. It’s gotten lost a little as we’ve focused mostly on his basketball soul.
He wasn’t just a 40% shooter from 3 a year ago, he made shots in the final minutes of tight games, more than any other in college basketball, in fact. Which is to say he loves the moment, loves pressure.
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It’s partly why he was fine attending a non-traditional basketball school as a five-star recruit, a blueblood prospect at a non-blueblood program.
Weaver loved how he handled his time in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and loved how he lifted a largely non-shooting team to the NCAA tournament.
“(It’s) winning basketball,” said Weaver.
And he has always played it.
That matters, especially for a the kind of young team he joins. His versatility matters, too, as coach Dwane Casey should be able to give him the keys to the offense but also move him around.
As Weaver noted, he can play just about anywhere, on both ends of the floor. That versatility will help him fit seamlessly next to second-year point guard Killian Hayes.
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The Pistons need more playmakers anyway. It’s where the NBA game is headed. Defenses are too good for offenses without multiple attackers.
Cunningham is that but so much more. An attacker, a facilitator, hopefully for the Pistons a pied piper.
“It’s crazy to be in the moment,” he said.
Crazy, indeed. The No. 1 pick is here, finally.
“We’re excited,” said Weaver. “Great night for the Pistons. We’re thrilled we landed on Cade.”
A franchise and its city await.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.