The draft mystery is over — the Detroit Pistons officially hold the 37th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The pick originally comes from the Toronto Raptors and is courtesy of a 2024 trade with the Dallas Mavericks by first-year president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon. In that trade June 28, the Pistons acquired Mavericks veteran wing Tim Hardaway Jr. and three second-round picks in exchange for Quentin Grimes.
The picks gained were a Raptors 2025 second-rounder and two 2028 second-rounders, adding to the Pistons' dim asset pool.
The Pistons don't have a first-round pick in 2025 after trading it to the Houston Rockets in exchange for the No. 16 pick in the 2020 draft. The Pistons then drafted center Isaiah Stewart with that pick, and Stewart has become a Pistons mainstay and fan favorite since.
The 37th overall pick is the only pick in the 2025 draft the Pistons currently have. Their own second-rounder, projected at No. 47 currently, is owned by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 2025 first-round pick the Pistons sent over to the Rockets in 2020 was top-13 protected this year, but since the Pistons are a playoff team, they will lose their pick, now owned by the Minnesota Timberwolves and projected between No. 19-21 entering Friday night's games.
Once that pick is made in the 2025 draft, the Pistons will no longer be subject to the Stepien Rule, which prevents NBA teams from trading first-round picks in consecutive drafts. That should give the Pistons more assets and flexibility in the trade market to build the roster around franchise leader
