Paxon
202? Stanley Cup Champions
Or a different explanation, which I think is actually closer to being right:
Detroit is the outlier to the general rule that having more draft picks is better than having fewer.
Kind of like how many advanced stats people throw out Buffalo this year in analysis b/c we're soooo freaking terrible, I think an analysis like this needs to more or less throw out Detroit, as they are the CLEAR outlier to this situation.
Moreover it's not as if it's indicated that having fewer picks has been "better" for Detroit. They made lesser pick values work with the right mix of existing team, luck, scouting, development, pro-level trades and signings, etc, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't have made it work even more if they had more pick value.
It happens quite a lot in NBA ... Celtics are on the tail end of it. Lakers are going thru it with the exception of Kobe.
Not to mention the Sixers, probably the biggest bottom out of them all considering their top draft picks in back to back years didn't play their rookie seasons due to pre-existing injury. They dumped probably every single non-rookie deal player as well as any players they got in return for those players.