DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons have selected Purdue Boilermakers star Jaden Ivey with No. 5 overall pick in the first round of the NBA draft.
READ: Pistons acquire No. 13 overall pick Jalen Duren in 3-team trade on NBA draft night
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At Purdue, during the 2021-22 season, Ivey averaged 17.3 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game on 46% shooing from the field. Those numbers earned him 2022 Consensus 2nd Team All-American honors.
Those numbers, combined with his toughness and tenacity, are what the Pistons need to continue their climb back to relevancy, at least in the Eastern Conference.
The fifth pick gave the Pistons a lot of flexibility. The key building block was selected last year, with the selection of Cade Cunningham.
Ivey has family ties to the city of Detroit as his mother, Niele Ivey, played for the Shock in 2005.
Jaden’s father, Javin Edward, was born in Detroit and attended Detroit Country Day High School before playing wide receiver in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers in the 2000s.
His late grandfather, James Hunter, played at Grambling State under coach Eddie Robinson, who developed him into the 10th pick of the 1976 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
Do you like the fit and the return of the prodigal son?
With the Pistons dealing U.S.A Olympic Gold Medalist Jerami Grant to the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday (June 22), they are now making room to go after key free agents and/or max contracts.
Read: Pistons trade Jerami Grant to Portland for 2025 first-round pick
It has been reported that they will have a projected $43 million in cap space, which is a league-high.
The $43 million in cap space could increase to $55 million, depending on what the team does with contracts like Kelly Olynyk and others ahead of free agency to pair with the team’s young core of Ivey, Cunningham, and Saddiq Bey.
Do you like the pick and or the fit?
What are your thoughts on the team’s future?
