The Detroit Pistons have a collection of talented prospects to choose from at No. 21 in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft
At the moment, the Detroit Pistons are sitting at the beginning of a busy offseason filled with important decisions for President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon. All-NBA Third Team center Jalen Duren is due for an expensive contract extension, and both Tobias Harris and Kevin Huerter are veterans headed toward unrestricted free agency, which means Langdon will have a pair of decisions to make there.
But before free agency opens up, the Pistons will have the opportunity to draft a strong contributor who can hopefully help round out a 60-win squad that ran out of gas in the second round of the playoffs. Detroit showed signs of greatness, but the team ultimately couldn’t create outside of Cade Cunningham once the paint closed in, which made life virtually impossible for Duren as a byproduct. The Pistons need outside shooters to help space the floor and improve on their No. 17 rank in regular season three-point percentage, and this year’s draft is the logical place to start when attacking that problem.
Sitting at No. 21 in the first round, the Pistons occupy an intriguing pivot-point in the draft. Once the top 15 are off the board, several talented (and highly coveted) players will likely have fallen into the mid-to-late first round range, so Detroit could wind up with a prospect that otherwise appeared out of reach. And in terms of reliable perimeter shooters, Duke sophomore Isaiah Evans is a player who must be considered at the 21st spot overall given the traits he demonstrated across 38 starts last season.
At 6-6, Evans is an aggressive off-ball guard who has the speed and quickness to break down a defender off the dribble. Evans showed the ability to score from all three levels, and he can climb the ladder to reach the rim with zero difficulty. Last year, Evans averaged 36% from three-point range on 7.4 attempts per game, so the Duke guard is a high-volume scorer with the confidence and accuracy to hoist shots from well beyond the arc.
Given the Pistons’ roster construction as a group that relied so heavily on paint production, adding a perimeter scorer of Evans’ level to pair with Duncan Robinson on the outside would force opposing defenses to choose which area to prioritize. With Cunningham running the show, that is a situation that the Pistons believe works in their favor, but the team still needs to supply their All-Star floor general with the shooters to take that next leap.
Based on recent mock drafts, Evans has frequently gone within the 20-25 range. With the Pistons located near the top of that window, Langdon could have the opportunity to bolster Detroit’s scoring from downtown with a player like Evans, who they’ve already had in the building for a pre-draft workout.
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