OT: Detroit Pistons selecting 8th

Submitted by BursleysFinest on

So the NBA just completed their draft lottery, the Detroit Pistons are drafting 8th.  According to sites I've seen, players listed around 8th best are a couple of foreign prospects (Mario Hezonga out of Croatia and Kristaps Porzingis out of Latvia) and Stanley Johnson.   Full draft order:

1. Minnesota Timberwolves

2. LA Lakers

3. Philly 76ers

4. New York Knicks

5. Orlanda Magic

6. Sac. Kings

7. Nuggets

8. Pistons

9. Hornets

10. Miami Heat

11. Pacers

12. Utah Jazz

13. Phoenix Suns

14. OKC Thunder

 

chatster

May 19th, 2015 at 11:17 PM ^

Long-time AND long-suffering Knicks fan from that days when the roster had names like Richie Guerin, Ray Felix, Carl Braun and Willie Naulls. Even with the fourth pick in the upcoming draft, they’re probably not going to be much better than another lottery team this coming season. Their current salary level, including team options and qualifying offers, is around $32,500,000 for eight players, so they have plenty of cap space.
 
Because they’re unlikely to get Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor or D’Angelo Russell in this draft, even though I’d like Justice Winslow, I don't know whether he's worth the fourth pick in the draft.  I also don't know whether they're so enamored with Emmanuel Mudiay that they'd take him at four.
 
If the Knicks' long-term plan is to sign Kevin Durant in 2016, then I’d not be surprised if they trade the fourth pick in this draft and move out of this year’s draft (because they’d don’t have a second rounder) for a couple of first rounders in the next two seasons. (Pistons Fans: Would you make that trade to get the fourth and eighth picks in this draft, but give up number one picks in the next two years?)
 
The Knicks still would have to land some free agents to fill out their roster for 2015/2016 – maybe bringing back Jeremy Lin at a reasonable salary or adding Matthew Dellavedova to share point guard duties with Jose Calderon, and adding a power forward like Paul Millsap or Thaddeus Young.
 
It's much easier and more fun to follow and root for Michigan basketball these days than it is to follow and root for the Knicks.

lilpenny1316

May 19th, 2015 at 11:37 PM ^

I would make that trade if I can grab two starters this year, and that looks like a definite possibility.  The East is awful, so the Pistons would have to assume they're not trading away lottery picks in 2016 and 2017.  I doubt they can keep Reggie Jackson and Brandon Jennings, so they might be able to pick up another draft pick, even if it's a second rounder, for those years.  

Ronnie Kaye

May 19th, 2015 at 9:49 PM ^

They don't want to make it too obvious. The fact that the NBA selects the balls behind closed doors is very sketchy. Speculation of fixing has given the league a lot of negative attention through the years yet they do nothing to change the process.

Mr. Yost

May 19th, 2015 at 10:49 PM ^

lol, know what the f you're talking about before you type.

They had people in the room and they released the video immediately after the announcement.

I suppose they could've made up the video footage though, like Ocean's Eleven with they had the replica vault and fake robbery video.

Ronnie Kaye

May 19th, 2015 at 11:11 PM ^

That is a brand new policy that Silver started then (and good for him). It was a criticism for a very long time. Stern picked a card from a drum on live TV in the infamous '85 lottery and looked like he was going to have a panic attack.

jmblue

May 20th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^

It's interesting, but seems like it would be unfair to the worst teams, who need the most help. The teams that just barely miss the playoffs would get the top pick and the actual worst teams in the league would be frozen out.  

Blue Bunny Friday

May 19th, 2015 at 10:17 PM ^

You're the worst draft.

 

How would it work? On the day before the regular season began, the NBA would hold a “You’re the Worst!” draft. Selection order for the YTW draft would be determined like any standard reverse-order draft—the team that had the worst win-loss record in the previous season would pick first, the team that had the best record would pick last. But the teams wouldn’t be drafting players. They’d be choosing the rights to another team’s position in the next NBA draft.

Everyone Murders

May 20th, 2015 at 8:48 AM ^

I had not seen this, but I love the idea.  While it would not work perfectly (what would?), the draft itself would be wonderful TV. 

I envision the GMs standing around in a circle, dressed to the nines, and staring down at their shoes like they were auditioning to replace Kevin Shields in MBV.  The GM who had the podium would be required to point at the "chosen" franchise's GM like Nelson from The Simpsons

The "You're the Worst" draft might be enough to make me an NBA fan again.  At least for that one magical day.

West German Judge

May 20th, 2015 at 6:28 AM ^

1. Minnesota Timberwolves (16-66): 25 percent
2. New York Knicks (17-65): 19.9 percent
3. Philadelphia 76ers (18-64): 15.6 percent
4. Los Angeles Lakers* (21-61): 11.9 percent
5. Orlando Magic (25-57): 8.8 percent
6. Sacramento Kings (29-53): 6.3 percent
7. Denver Nuggets (30-52): 4.3 percent
8. Detroit Pistons (32-50): 2.8 percent
9. Charlotte Hornets (33-49): 1.7 percent
10. Miami Heat** (37-45): 1.1 percent
11. Indiana Pacers (38-44): 0.8 percent
12. Utah Jazz (38-44): 0.7 percent
13. Phoenix Suns (39-43): 0.6 percent
14. Oklahoma City Thunder (45-37): 0.5 percent

Ricky from Sunnyvale

May 19th, 2015 at 10:12 PM ^

I think the is for sure not going to resign Monroe, SVG likes a different type of 4 anyway. All the talk is about Draymond, I have no clue how the guy from Croatia is, I do like Stanley Johnson though. I think Mudiay might be the best player in the draft, although I am basing this on never seeing him play so I got that going for me. 



The Knicks LOL. 

Mr. Yost

May 19th, 2015 at 10:56 PM ^

...perfect fit.

But he blew up late in the year and he won't go past 6.

I now think the Pistons should trade down and get Devin Booker along with a SF (in the trade).

You can play Booker with KCP or you can have some more offensive firepower at the wing position.

In the 2nd round, pray for Rakeem Christmas to fall to the Pistons, he'd be a nice backup in the post. He's played extremely well in workouts and may have moved into the first round.

MGoChippewa

May 19th, 2015 at 11:09 PM ^

trading down this year.  If Boston wants to talk about the 8th pick, I'd gladly accept some form of 8 for 16 and 28, with Boston throwing another asset in (maybe a 2nd rounder).  Get yourself Devin Booker/Trey Lyles/Bobby Portis and Justin Anderson/Aleksandar Vezenkov and call it a day.  I think Booker would be better than KCP within the year and give the team a lot of flexibility at SG.  You can keep both KCP and Booker and have an offense-defense platoon, with Meeks left as trade fodder, or you can keep Booker and Meeks and see what you can get for KCP.  Seems like that's a good way to maximize the pick's value.  

As far as Turner goes, where are you seeing that he shot 40% from three this year?  He only hit 27.4% of his threes at Texas...