After a miserable 14-68 season that featured an NBA record-tying 28-game losing streak, the Pistons won’t even get to pick first in June’s draft.
They fell four spots to No. 5 overall for the second consecutive year in the NBA draft lottery, watching as the Hawks snagged the top selection — with the Wizards, Rockets and Spurs filling the next three spots.
Detroit wasn’t even one of the seven teams that had a chance before the final number was announced, according to The Athletic.
It’ll mark the fourth consecutive year that the Pistons have selected inside the top-five picks, though.
In 2021, they possessed the No. 1 overall pick and chose Cade Cunningham, who averaged 22.7 points per game last year and has predictably emerged as a piece of their core.
The next two years, Detroit went with Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson at No. 5, missing out on No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama in the 2023 NBA Draft.
But those high picks haven’t translated to sustained success — and, in the early stages of the 2023-24 campaign, a historic losing streak materialized instead.
The Pistons started 2-1 but proceeded to lose their next 28 games until a two-point victory on Dec. 30 against the Raptors.
“I’m just so happy we were able to get that,” center Jalen Duren told reporters following the win, according to the Associated Press. “We’ve been fighting hard for a couple of months to get one, and we’ve been through a lot of adversity.”
The Pistons finished last in the Eastern Conference in the first season with Monty Williams as head coach, one game behind the Wizards.
Atlanta entered the draft lottery with just a three percent chance of earning the top pick, and even secured a spot in the play-in tournament as the No. 10 seed — falling to the No. 9-seeded Bulls in the opening game.
But they’ll have a chance to add to a roster that already includes — for now — Trae Young and Dejonte Murray, with both ESPN and Yahoo! Sports projecting in mock drafts that the Hawks will select 7-foot-1 center Alex Starr from Australia.
The Pistons, though, will once again have to wait for the dominos to fall before they’re on the clock.
