NBA Draft

I think the Pistons need to be a bottom 7 team to get the player they need this draft. Chad Ford's big board lists the following players as your top 10 prospects as of right now:
1) Ben McLemore - a 6'5" SG who can shoot, defend, and is pretty athletic
2) Nerlens Noel - a 6'11" C who defends and rebounds like mad, but has injury concerns
3) Marcus Smart - a 6'4" PG who's more of a combo guard, but a good athlete & defender
4) Anthony Bennett - a 6'8" PF who's more of a stretch 4 or a big 3
5) Victor Oladipo - a 6'5" SG who's a lock-down defender and is basically all over the court
6) Otto Porter - a 6'8" SF with smooth game, nice outside shot
7) Alex Len - a 7'1" C who sounds a bit like Greg Monroe as a skilled big
8) Shabazz Muhammad - a 6'6" SF who can defend & shoot, but doesn't exactly dazzle
9) Cody Zeller - a 6'11" C who comes & goes, but never dominates
10) Gary Harris - a 6'4" SG who can handle & shoot, but is a bit streaky

If you take out the centers, the stretch 4 and the combo guard, that leaves you with McLemore, Oladipo, Porter, Muhammad and Harris. Right now at the number 9 pick the Pistons have a 1.7% chance of winning the NBA lottery. The number 7 pick would triple their odds, plus give them a shot at Oladipo or Porter with Muhammad as a consolation prize. If they slip a little farther up the draft to the #6 slot, that affords a 9% chance at the #1 pick.

I think I put this one out before, but this dude is too sweet on D

It's mainly jumpers, but he's good. Reminds me of Tay a little...

Ok, he's less than impressive on offense... His D is really good though

In the second round the Pistons have their pick (anywhere from the 35th-42nd overall) and the Clippers' pick also (probably the 58th overall), although the Pistons lose that one if that pick falls into the sub-56th overall range. At the moment I like either Ray McCallum or Adreian Payne for that first Pistons' pick in the 2nd round, and then maybe a guy like Adonis Thomas or Andre Roberson with that last pick.

He reminds me a little of Will Bynum, but with better defense & decision-making

At this point we know what he does - block shots, rebound & dunk

Draft Lottery is May 21st and the actual draft is June 27th, so we've got plenty of time to see this change. I'll probably check in with another draft update after the NCAA's. The NFL Draft is next month, so I'll be hyping that on a regular basis.

Tigers tidbit - Nick Castellanos has been SWEET! He's still learning left field, but I think he's got a solid shot at making the opening day roster, especially if Boesch & Quintin Berry start the season on the DL. Even if he doesn't make the opening day roster, he should get called up early on when one of those 2 guys inevitably slumps.