NBA Draft 2017

[Aussie Dunker]

Ok guys - probably that time of the year to start looking at the prospects in the Draft we might be looking at / wishing for.

Believe it or not, we have another high mid range pick (because we haven't been here before............. ! )

Looking like #12 or there abouts, so which players should we be targeting / hoping to fall?...

I would assume that we will sign KCP long term, which means that we will have C and SG (Dre + KCP) locked in to those spots. I am still hoping Stanley takes the reigns for us at SF, and he still is not even close to reaching his potential so I doubt we look for another prospect there.

So to me, I am hoping, that one of the top 5 PG's fall to us to eventually take over from Reggie. Fultz, Ball and Fox will not fall past the top 6. Which leaves Smith and Ntilikina. I would LOVE either of them, but highly, highly doubt either will be available at #12 (although Draftnet has Ntilikina currently going to us at #12).

[dd24]

Interesting article. The Pistons are one of only two teams in the league without a top 5 pick on their roster.

http://www.nba.com/pistons/features/rock-and-hard-place-pistons-aim-compete-without-top-5-pick-roster

I've said all these years that we've sucked that the Pistons needed to suck worse. The same goes for this year. This is the worst place in the league to be stuck at. Without knowing much about him other than some stuff on the internet so far I'm hoping Ntilikina will fall to us. I think it could be a long shot. PG is a position that every team wants. It's what the great teams are built on now. Reggie is going to win us titles. We need a solid young prospect at that position. I'll take a 6'5" PG that also happens to be the top international prospect in the draft. The international guys have been good picks lately though. Not just that but if you look at the mock drafts it's all PG's and wings. It's no surprise. Teams can't get enough of them. We just have to hope one of those PG's drops to us, otherwise we're just going to be getting depth on our front line which would equal a guy who won't crack the rotation for a year or two. Ellenson couldn't play this year. Boban sat the bench. Lueur isn't going anywhere. We still have Tobias and Morris that can play the 4 too. PG seems like the only position someone may get a crack at it if someone gets injured. I think it would be a great spot for us too since it would give the player a chance to learn for a season. Ntilikina could possibly play with Reggie or Ish in the back court some too. He's tall enough to defend SG's at least. If that doesn't happen I'd take the huge risk and go for Harry Giles. He was supposed to be the top pick of this draft before the season. Injuries have hurt that but he's young still. He wouldn't need to play a ton so he would have time to work on conditioning and making sure he's 100%. Sure he isn't the 3 point shooter we need but he could end up being a good perimeter defender on other PF's who shoot 3s and also it would make for an interesting pick and roll game. I'm all about going for a guy who was once considered a #1 pick (hence Drummond). It's really all we can do at this point. Try to get the player who falls for some odd reason. It's the story of all of our drafts kind of.

[Aussie Dunker]

If for example the Jazz came to us with an Exum for #12 trade, would we pull the trigger on something like that?........

[dd24]

I don't see the Jazz shopping him. I'd think about it though. He's more game ready than a lot of the guys being drafted in that area.

[Aussie Dunker]

20 year old,
6'5
Super highly touted draft pick from last year,
Athletic

However is quite raw, outside shot is not consistent (although developing) and has probably been slower to progress as Jazz would have hoped.

If the Jazz are indeed (I think they will) going to give Hill 100 million $, then they surely would entertain something like that?.... Perhaps

[dd24]

I think trading for LMA would be something the Pistons should entertain first. That would be an amazing front line. The problem is this is a guard/wing driven league.

[Aussie Dunker]

hrmmm I think after watching him this year he is deff on the decline, looks a little slower than previous years - I think that trend will continue - I wouldn't be looking at him. Would rather Milsap of LMA any day of the week...

[Nastradamus]

If for example the Jazz came to us with an Exum for #12 trade, would we pull the trigger on something like that?........

It would be an interesting gamble. DOesn't help our shooting though

I need to some how get both Ntikilina and Kennard

[Nastradamus]

I think trading for LMA would be something the Pistons should entertain first. That would be an amazing front line. The problem is this is a guard/wing driven league.

Yah, IDK, he looks like crap right now. Never been a fan really tbh

[dd24]

Those ping pong balls never work in our favor lol. At least we're in the same spot that we should have been.

[dd24]

I really wish we would have tanked like some of these other teams. I think the Lakers have better young players than we do. I think the 76ers really look like they're set up to be an excellent team in a few years. The Pistons have no direction. Looking at how this ended up I don't see one of those PG's falling to us. That's going to possibly leave a guy like Lauri Markkanen. That would mean we would be using a draft pick on another PF that can shoot outside. We already have Ellenson, and Luerer. All pretty much the same player lol. I don't see how Frank Ntilikina would fall past Sacramento. Rather than being mediocre next season I'd rather just tank lol.

[Aussie Dunker]

* Unrealistic draft day thought * (mini rebuild)

- Trade Dre for Kings #5,
- Trade our #12 to Blazers for their #15 and #26 (say they really wanted someone like Markkanen and he was still there at #12)

So outgoing is Dre and #12, incoming is #5, #15, #26


- With #5 we draft Fox (Fultz to Bos, Ball to LA, Tatum to Phi, Jacks to Pho)

- With #15 we could go two ways, a C, or a wing. I would expect Allen, J.Collins, Patton and Bam to be available. If we rate all these guys similar, then I would be tempted to see if one of these guys were available at #26. I would then perhaps look at Mitchell or Jackson at this spot. Let's say we fall in love with Mitchell's defense and athleticism and go with him.

-With #26 let's say Patton slides and we nab him here.

#5 - Fox / #15 - Mitchell / #26 - Patton
or
#5 - Fox / #15 - Allen / #26 OG Anunoby

This is obviously more of a 2K18 move than a real life move - but what would be the feeling on something like this? PG of the future with high ceiling, sturdy C with upside, defensive minded wing with potential.

[Aussie Dunker]

Well - what a great response to the above NBA2K scenario :P

Next question:
A few players in the draft have such a huge best case / worst case draft position that have been fluctuating over the past few weeks. Just keen to get people's thoughts on the following players...

Donovan Mitchell - Have seen him as high as #8 and as low as #27

Harry Giles - as high as #11 and as low as #28

Ike Anigbogu - as high as #14 and as low as #36

OG Anunoby - as high as #6 and as low as #37

Luke Kennard - as high as #12 and as low as #26

[dd24]

I've seen a few scenarios where we trade up a few spots to get Malik Monk. I thought that was interesting. Detroit would finally have a knock down shooter. I've already said since we're not in a good spot I like the Milwaukee Bucks approach of swinging for the fences. I would really take a hard look at Giles. Most think he will fall out of the lottery. The guy was considered a top pick before last season. The same situation happened with Dre. Of course Giles dropped partially because of the injury concerns. I think with his frame and his age it isn't a big deal though. If the talent is there they need to go for it. The Pistons were dumb enough to not lose games at the end of the season for the past 4 years.... they need to take a gamble on a player that could be an all-star. I'd rather take a chance on a player with a really high ceiling that could just be a bust rather than drafting another guy who's just a rotation player. We have a full team of those.

[dd24]

A good article on Malik Monk. Another reason why we should trade up for him.
https://theringer.com/2017-nba-draft-malik-monk-kentucky-wildcats-f074a0b238f0

[dd24]

I knew when Charlotte was on the clock and Monk was still on the board we were just 1 pick away and it was too good to be true. I hate how this team can't lose right. Kennard fills a need with a shooter but I really had my fingers crossed for Monk. It's almost hard to be a Pistons fan anymore. They're so mediocre. There's no hope. There's not a trade that makes us better. We can't go after free agents. We never get great draft picks. At least with all these years that Philly sucked they have something to be excited about. The Pistons just won't develop young talent. They would rather win those few extra games. All these seasons it has devastated the team. Such a bummer. I'd rather just blow it up, trade for a bunch of future draft picks, and rebuild it again. This team isn't set up for todays NBA.

[ZMonkey11]

We are officially the Milwaukee Bucks and are looking for a Greek Freak.

Unless we get lucky like they did, and then find a team that will keep taking our unwanted players *cough* Pistons *cough*, we will be on this treadmill for a while.

We just got a new arena. What is the point of getting a new arena and making it blatantly clear we have NO talent to motivate the fan base.

I cannot get behind what Philly did. I never want our team to be a part of that trash. However, I would not mind a full breakdown and rebuild, if we are truly earning a top 3 spot, but at the same time developing the thin talent we have. I don't want us to trash seasons for the sake of robbing the integrity of the game.

SVG needs to start digging really hard to find that homerun. That may take getting out of the coaching position or moving yourself to the coaching position only/finding someone you know and trust to take the GM role.

But, whatever is going on right now is not working.

[dd24]

We had many seasons where we were in the lottery. Instead of losing 6 or 7 more games they would go on a winning streak at the end of the season. Rather than having a top 4 pick we were at 7-9 (and even 12 this season...). What's the difference in losing a few more games? Let the young guys develop. I can get behind watching the young guys develop for a few seasons. What I don't see the point in is drafting a guy like Stanley Johnson and just putting him on the bench for two seasons. Maybe his work ethic did suck and he didn't earn it. In which case they drafted a bust from the get go and they should have done their homework better when they were scouting. To me if a guy can't crack the lineup in two years he's not going to be that all-star caliber player that we need. I feel like Ellenson isn't going to get much of a chance either. No development of young players and just plain missing in the draft is terrible for our future. All of the experts gave our draft this year an A. It still isn't going to make a difference. This is a mediocre team.

[dd24]

Looking back at that Jimmy Butler trade yesterday that affects the Pistons too. The Bulls aren't going to be that good. I feel bad for Dwayne Wade who just opted in. I wonder if he really wants all that money now. When the Pacers trade Paul George those will be the bottom two teams in our division. That puts us right in the middle being mediocre.

[Aussie Dunker]

Something interesting though,

I have just checked out all the scouting reports and draft projections / ratings of Klay when he got drafted - basically IDENTICAL to Kennard. Klay wasn't even considered a good defender in college either.

Klay is 1 inch taller, but Kennard's wingspan is 1 inch longer than Klay's.

I know a lot of people are saying Kennard's ceiling is something like Reddick, but who would have thought Klay's roof was something like what it is today.

I am not saying he will be anything close to what Klay is, but just some food for thought - they are basically on par coming out of college with their projections...

[dd24]

That is interesting. I didn't realize Klay had such a short wingspan. Surprising he's such a good defender.

[Aussie Dunker]

That is interesting. I didn't realize Klay had such a short wingspan. Surprising he's such a good defender.

Klay's wingspan is 6'9 - so not short just not long.

Kennard's is 6'10

[dd24]

Luke Kennard only has a 6'5" wing span. Klay Thompson's is 6'8". Luke's not being longer scares some people about his defense.