For some lucky fanbases, it’s the NBA Playoffs.
For Detroit Pistons faithful, it’s mock draft szn.
Until the NBA Draft Lottery on June 22, the Pistons will be picking second in these mock drafts. That means a lot of Jalen Green, Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs. What it also means is not a lot of Cade Cunningham, the golden goose of the draft.
Except, maybe it doesn’t.
Krysten Peek of Yahoo! Sports released a mock draft today that actually had the Pistons landing Cunningham with the SECOND pick in the draft. Yes, that would be a pretty amazing result if the ping-pong balls don’t bounce Detroit’s way.
“If Cunningham doesn’t go No. 1 due to team needs, there’s no way he’s falling past No. 2. He is the favored No. 1 overall pick and shows promising upside with his size and high basketball IQ,” Peek wrote. “Cunningham became just the fourth player in Big 12 history to sweep the Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year this past season and led Oklahoma State to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009. His game has been compared to Luka Doncic and Paul George after one year of college basketball and is a player the Pistons could plug in right away next year alongside Killian Hayes.”
All good points. Cunningham is the best player, in my amatuer opinion, and he checks so many boxes for this team. It’s a no-brainer.
However, it’s interesting to see who Peek has going No. 1: Jalen Green. She cites growing intrigue over how he played in the G League and how he’s looked in pre-draft workouts. Again, all good points. I think Green is good, and I’d lean toward him over Jalen Suggs if the Pistons were picking third with Cunningham and Evan Mobley gone. Heck, I can see taking Green over Mobley is you already have a franchise center like the Timberwolves.
But he’s not better than Cunningham. However, if Peek is right in assuming some GMs might think that, I’m down. That can only help Detroit.
Anyway, here’s to hoping the Pistons land Cade at No. 1 or No. 2. Heck, let’s just hope they land him if they pick No. 3 or 4 or 5 or 6, too.