The Pistons spent all season dreaming about Victor Wembanyama, and lost the most games in the NBA to secure the best odds possible of winning the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery.
Their hopes crumbled Tuesday night, when the Pistons tumbled to the No. 5 pick.
It's the farthest Detroit could have fallen in the lottery, a brutal twist for a franchise that also fell from No. 3 to No. 5 in last year's lottery and has lost the most games in the NBA over the last five seasons. Wembanyama, the 7'5 phenom from France, was hailed as a potential savior, dubbed an "alien" by LeBron James. He won't be coming to Detroit.
Of the top five picks, No. 5 is where the Pistons were most likely to land. But they still had a better-than-50-percent chance of landing somewhere in the top four, with a 14 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick.
Instead, the grand prize went to the Spurs, who shared the top odds with the Pistons and the Rockets. And now Troy Weaver and the Pistons go back to the drawing board.
Listen live to 97.1 The Ticket via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker