DETROIT — The Pistons got who they wanted and what they wanted. And in a perfectly fortuitous twist, Jaden Ivey wanted them just as badly.
GM Troy Weaver was determined to make his team more athletic, quicker, bigger. He wanted a running mate for backcourt star Cade Cunningham, and also a bigger interior presence. He didn’t have to wait long to get what he wanted.
This was an impressive and perhaps franchise-shaping haul, and with the pending free-agency period, more is likely to come. It was a crazy night from the start, and as he tends to do, Weaver took advantage.
Ivey wasn’t the top-rated player in the draft but was considered the most athletic with one of the highest upsides, and Weaver happily grabbed him at No. 5. The Pistons didn’t even have to maneuver to land him. The 6-4 guard handled that part of it, making it clear Detroit was his preferred destination, and he worked out only for the Pistons and Orlando.
Later in the first round, Weaver went back to his aggressive ways, acquiring talented 6-11 Memphis center Jalen Duren, who was Charlotte’s pick at No. 13. The Pistons also received Knicks guard Kemba Walker, while surrendering the first-round pick they acquired in the Jerami Grant trade the day before. That deal freed up salary-cap space to facilitate the Hornets deal.
Essentially, Weaver got a lottery pick (Duren) for Grant, plus Walker, 32, and his expiring contract (one year, $9 million). The Pistons are planning to buy out the contract, but the trade can’t be official until the new league year starts July 6.
This is how dominoes fall, and this is how Weaver envisioned making it happen. When Sacramento took Iowa’s Keegan Murray instead of Ivey at No. 4, Weaver had one thought: “Let’s cash in.”
At the draft in Brooklyn, Ivey expressed similar eagerness and glee. But first there were tears, as he fell into his mother’s arms and sobbed.
“I wanted to come to Detroit, but I don’t dictate the draft,” Ivey said. “I didn’t know where I’d go, and when they told me, I just broke out in tears. … Dream come true for sure. Just coming from my background, my family has Detroit ties. When I heard my name called, just an honor. It felt like home, a special place to be.”
Detroit connections
His journey continues where it essentially began. His grandfather, James Hunter, played for the Lions from 1976-82. His father, Javin Hunter, played football at Detroit Country Day and went to Notre Dame and the NFL. His mother, Niele Ivey, played for the Detroit Shock in 2005 and currently is the women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame. With such deep lineage, Ivey made sure he drew the line from there to here.
Weaver loves to make moves, but this time, his best move was sitting tight and waiting. And sure enough, a dynamic, daring guard fell right to him. Ivey averaged 17.3 points for the Boilermakers and was a speed demon in transition. His shooting must improve, and based on his work ethic, it probably will. In two seasons at Purdue, Ivey improved his 3-point percentage from 26% to 36%.
For all the talk of “fit,” there couldn’t be a better fit for the Pistons, from Ivey’s background to Weaver’s foresight. The Cade-Jade backcourt was forming in Weaver’s mind as he talked about it.
“He blends with Cade,” Weaver said. “Both have a competitive spirit. He’ll help generate easy buckets, create for others on the floor. We think it’s a big-time fit.”
And the Detroit connection? A heartfelt bonus, with real tears and real hopes.
“It makes all the difference in the world, a win-win on both sides,” Weaver said. “When they want to be here, and you want them, you’re gonna get their best effort. He’s a tremendous young man, tremendous family background.
"And what he brings to the table, he’s got electric speed, and the measurables to become a big-time defender. His athletic gifts, along with the tenacity he brings to the floor, those are the things that attracted us to Jaden.”
Ivey was attracted to Detroit by the memory of his grandfather, who played cornerback for the Lions. He gives his mother credit for helping develop his basketball instincts. He models his game after Ja Morant, the Grizzlies’ star guard, and the connection grew there when his mother was a Grizzlies assistant for one season.
Team on the move
With roots this deep, and talent this obvious, the Pistons sure looked like a team on the move Thursday night, hopefully putting distance between them and their 23-59 record last season. Duren, 18, was the youngest player drafted and averaged 12 ppg in one season at Memphis. He has an NBA body at 6-11, 250, and was coveted for his potential more than immediate impact.
“He has elite physical gifts, tremendous upside,” Weaver said. “We were aggressive and made it happen.”
Ivey, 20, will make an impact right away. He should alleviate some of Cunningham’s ball-handling responsibilities, and has the speed to ramp up the running game. NBA analysts already were envisioning a Cade-Jade backcourt developing into one of the league’s most explosive.
“I fit well with Cade, very unselfish player,” Ivey said. “I can play off the ball, with the ball, take turns, whatever the coaches need to do to win.”
From the first pick of the draft, when Orlando pulled a stunner and took Duke’s Paolo Banchero No. 1, the maneuvering was wild. This is his third draft with the Pistons, and Weaver said in all his years working in front offices, it was the most action-packed he’d ever seen. He got what he wanted, maybe a bit more than he expected.
Did he accomplish all he wanted to?
“So far, so good,” Weaver said, before heading back to the Pistons' draft room. He has work to do with his $43 million salary-cap cache, and in the coming week, he’ll likely launch a pursuit of Suns center Deandre Ayton. More talent to find, more ways to find it, more deals to make. And no time to waste.
