The Detroit Pistons have a few options to carefully consider with the No. 21 pick in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft
In the wake of a second round exit from the playoffs after obtaining the top seed in the East from a 60-win regular season, the Detroit Pistons have both innumerable positive accomplishments to draw from while also carrying a handful of weak points that will sting through the offseason with the 2026 NBA Draft looming.
The Pistons maintained their stout, turnover-forcing defense all season long with Cade Cunningham running the show at an elite level on the other end, Detroit was eventually outdone in the postseason when Jalen Duren’s secondary scoring dropped by nearly 10 points per game against the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers. Ultimately, the Pistons couldn’t muster enough production outside of Cunningham and Duren to sustain a deeper playoff run, and the team’s lack of perimeter shooting stood as a clear need for improvement to help create space in the paint for Cade and JD.
At the moment, the Pistons are entering the offseason just as their starting power forward, Tobias Harris, enters unrestricted free agency. Harris, a 35-year old vet who’s looked upon fondly within the organization, started all 63 regular season games that he was healthy enough for while posting over 13 points and five rebounds per game for Detroit.
During the team’s end of season press conference, Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon expressed an interest in keeping Harris in the Motor City moving forward, but it would be prudent for Detroit to consider a long-term option at the four spot. If the Pistons choose to pursue a younger power forward, this year’s draft has more than a few that could fit the bill, including Santa Clara freshman Allen Graves.
At 6-9 with a 7-foot wingspan, Graves has the size to battle in the paint for the Pistons while presenting a tenacious, instinctual level of defense that Detroit covets. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made it clear that spirited effort is a non-negotiable for playing time on the Pistons, and Graves was known to ramp up the stocks during his sixth-man role this past season (1.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in 22.6 minutes of burn for Santa Clara).
Since Graves is more than a competent defender, the question shifts to whether he would be a stylistic fit for the Pistons on the other end of the court. As a shooter, Graves took less than five jumpers off the dribble, so his 41.3% clip from three-point range and 51.2% shooting rate overall comes almost exclusively from catch-and-shoot situations. Graves does have a lengthy, laborious shooting motion, but he’s a knock-down perimeter threat when able to get his three-point shots up. Now, Graves wasn’t necessarily prolific from deep with only 2.6 three-point attempts per game, but he was working his way into more playing time (and shooting space) as his freshman season progressed.
So far, Graves has often been projected as a mid-to-late first round draft pick in recent mock drafts, which is precisely where the Pistons sit at No. 21. On the surface, Graves seems to fit some very specific areas that Detroit would look to shore up over the summer, but it remains to be seen what Langdon and the rest of the Pistons brass will do with their first round pick this year.
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