Isaiah Stewart Drafted 16th Overall

Isaiah Stewart has been selected 16th overall by the Detroit Pistons tonight in the 1st round of the NBA Draft. The pick was technically made by Portland but they recently traded the pick to Houston who traded it to Detroit.

Stewart entered Washington as one of the highest rated recruits in program history as a dominant 5-star big man. In 33 games Stewart put up a stat line of 17.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 57.0% FG, 25.0% 3pt, 77.4% FT. He was a 1st team all Pac-12 selection and if the Huskies had been able to field a better team around him would have been a serious contender for Pac-12 player of the year.

In addition to the tremendous on-court talent Stewart is also known for his relentless work ethic and positive attitude off the court. There should be no question that he’ll be an asset in the locker room moving forward.

Stewart should be considered a potential rookie of the year candidate by landing in Detroit. The Pistons are one of the most talent bereft teams in the league. They have Blake Griffin who is obviously a star when healthy but that’s been a big if lately. Last year’s starting center Christian Wood is a free agent for Detroit so there’s a ready made opening for Isaiah to step into and put up numbers.

Stewart was the 2nd of 3 first round selections made by the Pistons in tonight’s first round after taking French PG Killian Hayes at 7th and SF Saddiq Bey from Villanova.

If you’d like to see more about my thoughts on Stewart’s skillset and how he fits in the NBA check out my draft profile which you can find here.

Congratulations to Isaiah and we wish him the best of luck as he transitions to the NBA!