NEW YORK (WXYZ) — The Detroit Pistons have acquired Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie, after he was drafted 17th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, the team announced on Wednesday morning. The Pistons dealt away the draft rights to pick No. 21 Karim Lopez and three future second round picks for Okorie's draft rights.
It is unclear which year the second round picks will come from, being that the Pistons have no other draft picks in the 2026 NBA draft.
Okorie led the Cardinal in scoring (23.2 points per game), averaging 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 46.5% from the field, 35.4% from three and 83.2% from the free throw line. The 6-foot-1 guard earned the following accolades this past season:
- AP All-America honorable mention (2026)
- All-ACC first team (2026)
- ACC All-Rookie team (2026)
- NABC All-Pacific District first team (2026)
- Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year late midseason team (2026
The Pistons got held the 21st selection after a pick swap with the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is general manager Trajan Langdon's second first-round selection with the Pistons, with the first being forward Ron Holland from the NBA G League Ignite. Detroit did not have a first round pick in 2025.
The Pistons are coming off of a 2025-26 season where they earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference after posting a 60-22 regular season record, the team's best 2005-06. The postseason was a relative disappointment for the Pistons. After Detroit beat the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic in seven games, the Pistons fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. That series win over the Orlando Magic was the first series win for Detroit since 2008.