The Detroit Pistons have decided if it wasn’t broke then it is best not to fix it when it comes to the NBA Draft Lottery. The franchise has reached into the recent past and decided the best person to represent the Pistons at next week’s NBA Draft Lottery is franchise great Ben Wallace.
If you’re too young to remember Wallace from his playing days, perhaps you remember him from the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery when he represented Detroit and the Pistons got the freaking No. 1 pick.
It seems that with a generational talent like Victor Wembanyama in this draft, it’s best to redo what worked before and hope lightning strikes twice.
The draft lottery will be held Tuesday evening in Chicago and air on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. ET. Detroit enters the lottery with the best odds for securing the No. 1 pick, though the worst record in the league is only good for a 14% chance at No. 1, a 13.4% chance at No. 2, and 12.7%, 12.0% and 47.9% at picks three, four and five, respectively. Detroit can only fall as far as fifth with four lottery slots up for grabs.
After Victor Wembanyama the near consensus No. 2 prospect is Scoot Henderson of the NBA G League Ignite. After that you start enter intriguing, potentially franchise difference-making players who also happen to have some legitimate red flags in their games.
Among the prospects the Pistons would be choosing from if they landed in the 3-5 range include Brandon Miller, a sweet-shooting and passing big wing from Alabama, Amen and Ausuar Thompson, twins who are stars of the Overtime Elite pro circuit, Jarace Walker, an easy fit at power forward out of Houston, Cam Whitmore, a super athletic forward out of Villanova, and Anthony Black, a playmaking guard out of Houston.