The Detroit Pistons fall in the NBA draft lottery, finishing No. 5

Pistons legend Richard Hamilton sits on stage during Tuesday's NBA draft lottery in Chicago.

Detroit Pistons fans were disappointed by the results of Tuesday night’s NBA draft lottery in Chicago.

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver, on the other hand? Not as much.

Detroit dropped exactly two spots in the lottery for the second time in franchise history, earning the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NBA draft, scheduled for June 23.

And while there’s talk of a “big three” in her own class at the top of the draft, where many Pistons fans were hoping to land, Weaver certainly doesn’t see it that way. Forwards Jabari Smith (Auburn), Paolo Banchero (Duke) and Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga) are all ready to take on the No. 1 pick to fight closely followed by Guard Jaden Ivey (Purdue).

“I don’t see it as a ‘big three,'” Weaver said. “I think there are great players all over the board. LENGTH – Everyone wants to add length and height. We will choose the best player for us. Length, size, speed, it really doesn’t matter. We will select the best player for the Pistons. We’re very comfortable with the guys who are down the line in the lottery.

The other instance of Detroit dropping two spots happened in 2020 when Detroit dropped to 7th and picked Killian Hayes.

There’s no consensus for the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft — unlike last season, when the Pistons snapped Cade Cunningham with the top pick — but Weaver said he doesn’t see this year’s talent dropping as much. from a year ago.

“I like this design just as much as last year’s design. That’s debatable, but I’m comfortable with the players being in the top half of the lottery,” Weaver said.

“I think it compares very well to last year’s picks.”

There’s still a lot of scouting to do ahead of the draft — including the NBA Combine, which starts Monday and runs through Sunday — but Weaver said “there’s no disappointment with where we’re going” and that he’d be comfortable taking his choices to make today. if he had to.

“We could now pick No. 5. We want to move on but if we had to pick today, yes I feel confident we could pick someone we would be happy with,” Weaver said.

The Orlando Magic won the right to pick #1 for the fourth time in franchise history. The Oklahoma City Thunder are second, the Houston Rockets third and the Sacramento Kings fourth.

The Pistons, Rockets and Magic all had an equal 14% chance of winning the lottery and a 52.14% chance of finishing in the top four. Detroit had a 14.84% chance of landing the fifth pick; Their most likely pick was No. 6 at 26%, so it could be argued that the Pistons exceeded expectations.

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When it comes to how he will approach the No5 pick, Weaver said he plans to include his current squad in his decision.

“Definitely, we will select a man who is the best fit for our organization to move forward,” Weaver said. “He’s going to have the same qualities as these other guys. They absolutely consider Cade and the rest of the guys, especially because these guys have so many similarities.”

With the right to pick Cunningham from last year’s Oklahoma state No. 1 seed, the Pistons appear to be accelerating their rebuild. Cunningham, a 6-foot-6 guard, started in all 64 of his appearances last season and averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists.

He finished third in the NBA Rookie of the Year poll behind Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, who won the award after being drafted fourth, and Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, who was won by the Cavaliers with No. 3 pick.

While picking Cunningham at No. 1 was certainly a win, Weaver didn’t need lottery luck to add talent in his first draft as Pistons GM. Both Isaiah Stewart (No. 16 pick) and Saddiq Bey (No. 19 pick) made all-rookie teams after being selected outside of the lottery in 2020.

Cunningham has not yet been named to the All-Rookie Team for the 2021-22 season, but it’s safe to assume he’ll be on that list when it’s announced due to the Rookie of the Year vote.

“There’s a culture here. Working hard, being selfless. Coach (Dwane) Casey’s coaching staff did that,” Weaver said. “We’re confident because we’ve made three players an all-rookie in the last two drafts, so we’re very happy with our culture here and what our coaches have been able to achieve with these young players.”

The Lottery determined the top four picks in this year’s draft, with the remaining Lottery teams picking in reverse order of their 2021-22 record, ranking 5th-14th.

The Pistons finished with the third-worst record (23-59) behind Houston and Orlando, meaning they had an opportunity to move up to 7th place if picks 1-4 were all won by teams outside the top four.

The Kings were the only team to make that leap, landing a tip that gave them an 8.52% chance of making the night.

Ben Wallace represented the Pistons in the 2021 draft. That year, they were represented by another member of the “Goin’ to Work” era in Richard “Rip” Hamilton, who wore his famous lottery mask onstage.

En route to this year’s lottery, the Pistons had only climbed the lottery once in 15 attempts when they overtook Houston from the No. 2 position last year. Detroit was relegated in the lottery six of those years and stayed in its pre-lottery position eight times.