We are now less than three weeks away from the 2024 NBA Draft but no closer to knowing what the Detroit Pistons will do with the 5th pick.
It will be First draft of Trajan Langdon as president of the Pistons, he will therefore want to make a splash with a player with high potential or possibly with a big trade.
He could go in many directions, and we’ve seen everyone from Donovan Clingan to Matas Buzelis to Reed Sheppard made fun of Detroit.
1 Possible trade with each team in the NBA Draft lottery. dark. Related story. 1 trade possible with each team in the NBA Draft lottery
With the 5th pick for the 3rd year in a row, the Pistons will once again be limited by the teams picking ahead of them as they hope their best player falls into their laps.
That likelihood may have become slimmer today with a recent injury update.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (subscription) reported that Nikola Topic, who is widely considered a top 10 talent, has a partially torn ACL.
NEWS: Nikola Topic, the projected top-10 NBA draft pick, has a partially torn ACL, his agent, Misko Raznatovic, confirmed to ESPN. The topic is at the NBA Draft Combine in Italy, where he passed the NBA medical exam.
HISTORY: https://t.co/j2NjnE38Kl pic.twitter.com/BqGWygrm9b
– Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 5, 2024
Topic’s agent says it’s not a problem (shocking), but NBA teams may not see him that way since he will now be considered a risk as a player who suffered an injury. knee surgery before even entering the league.
Contrary to what his agent says, his draft stock is going to take a hit, which could mean a potential steal for a team that picks later in the lottery.
But that might not be a good thing for the Detroit Pistons.
Houston and San Antonio (picking before Detroit) have been connected to Topic in mock drafts and it is now unlikely that either of them will use the 3rd or 4th pick respectively to take a freshly minted player knee surgery.
Detroit doesn’t need a point guard and wasn’t going to take Topic anyway, but if the Rockets and Spurs overlook him, they could end up drafting the player Detroit wants instead.
It’s more likely that one of the wingers or shooters will be taken off the board by the time Detroit picks, which is not a good thing, as it could potentially limit their options.
With this latest report, it is extremely unlikely that the subject will be ranked in the top 4, which could remove an additional Pistons target from the big picture.
