The Detroit Pistons have endured three straight losing seasons and have made the playoffs twice in the last 13 years. Such ineptitude has the fans longing to see a team with promise. The Pistons took their first big step towards that in last year's NBA Draft, selecting Cade Cunningham with the first overall pick.
Cunningham showed enough to prove he can be a guy the Pistons can count on. However, the next step is building a team around him. Armed with the fifth and 46th picks in the draft, Detroit has a chance to get another really good player.
That doesn't mean the franchise will absolutely do the right thing, though. Here are two players the Pistons must avoid in the 2022 NBA Draft.
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2 Players Pistons Must Avoid In NBA Draft
2. Dyson Daniels
Admittedly, Dyson Daniels is likely not on the Pistons' radar. However, the talented guard is rising up draft boards, meaning he could potentially be in play as a top-seven pick on draft night.
The Pistons have been linked to Iowa's Keegan Murray, a versatile forward who would help fill the void left behind by Jerami Grant if he is ultimately traded. However, Detroit, who worked out Purdue's Jaden Ivey, would love to select him.
If they miss out on Ivey, could the Pistons, enamored with the possibility of adding another guard, take Daniels? It's not the most likely scenario, but crazier things have happened.
A strong perimeter defender, Daniels, who is a native of Australia, averaged nearly two steals per game for the G-League Ignite this past season. That's music to the defensively-starved Pistons' ears.
However, the talented guard struggled mightily with his three-point shot, which would make him an odd fit next to the slashing Cade Cunningham. If the Pistons are somehow in a position to select Daniels, they shouldn't.
1. Shaedon Sharpe
Kentucky's Shaedon Sharpe is a bit of an NBA Draft mystery. Sharpe, who was a consensus five-star recruit after a dazzling career in Glendale, Arizona, was once the number-one recruit in the nation before reclassifying.
Kentucky landed him in a huge commitment, though Sharpe never played a game for the Wildcats this past year, participating only in team practices. It was a bit of a surprise, then, to see him declare for the NBA Draft with so little experience above the high school level.
Even still, Sharpe is an efficient scorer who excels both at the rim and from the perimeter. Now 6-6, the Kentucky product has great size and athleticism for the guard spot. Many mock drafts are projecting Sharpe to easily be a lottery pick.
There are some who even believe that Sharpe could be a top-three pick. If that's the case, the whole take-the-best-player-available-logic applies for the Pistons. However, taking Sharpe could potentially hinder the development of Cunningham, something the Pistons almost certainly don't want to do.
Detroit needs wings in the NBA Draft, not guards. As talented as Sharpe is, Detroit should look elsewhere if given the chance to select him on the night of the NBA Draft.
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