DETROIT — With their first offseason addition, the Detroit Pistons selected Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier with the No. 37 overall pick in Round 2 of the 2025 NBA Draft Thursday night.
After three seasons at North Florida where he averaged 4.2 points per game, Lanier broke out in his fourth year of college basketball as an elite shooter, averaging nearly 20 PPG.
He decided to transfer to Tennessee for his final season and was a superstar, earning the Jerry West Award — given to the best shooting guard in the nation — and SEC Newcomer of the Year honors after putting up 18 points and 3.9 rebounds per game on 43.1% shooting from the field and 39.5% from beyond the arc.
Lanier will likely be the Pistons’ only draft pick this year. Detroit didn’t own a first-round selection and have been emphatic there [isn’t a desire to go all-in at this stage](https://www.mlive.com/pistons/2025/06/pistons-wont-push-all-our-chips-in-during-nba-offseason-says-team-president.html) in the organization’s growth.
Trading future assets now for a late second-round pick wouldn’t necessarily be in line with that approach.
The Pistons are interested in continuing internal growth of a young roster and plan to just add around the margins of the team where they can, at this point.
Detroit made the playoffs for the first time since 2019 last season and took the New York Knicks to six games in what was one of the most competitive first-round matchups.
Four of the Pistons’ five starters are set to return and they could still bring back guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who became an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Now they’ll bring in some depth at guard with the addition of Lanier.
This is the fifth time the Pistons have made a pick at No. 37 in the draft, most recently in 2024 when they [selected forward Bobi Klintman](https://www.mlive.com/pistons/2024/06/2024-nba-draft-detroit-pistons-select-swedish-forward-bobi-klintman-at-no-37.html) — the Minnesota Timberwolves made the pick because a draft-day trade had yet to be finalized — out of the National Basketball League in Australia.
He played in eight games last season for the Pistons, while spending most of the season with G League affiliate Motor City Cruise.
Other picks at the spot were Deividas Sirvydis (2019), Tony Mitchell (2013) and Isaiah Morris (1992), who was acquired in a post-draft trade from the Miami Heat.
None of those players have made it past 25 games with the Pistons.