Who will the Pistons draft?: Locality
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In this installment of “Who will the Pistons draft,” international players are eliminated. This doesn’t change the board much. Just point guard Rodrigue Beaubois of France and small forward Joe Ingles of Australia get the cross out.
The Pistons used to be very gung-ho about drafting players from overseas. They took Mehmet Okur in the second round in 2001.
Two years later, they used all three of their picks on international players – Darko Milicic, Carlos Delfino and Andreas Glyniadakis. The Darko pick was obviously a disaster and Delfino and Glyniadakis didn’t pan out either.
Since then, Detroit has only taken one international player – Chiekh Samb in the second round in 2006. That’s one out of its 12 total picks in that span (eight percent). Meanwhile, the league as a whole has used 23 percent of its picks on international players. (For full information on the number of international players the Detroit and the rest of the league has drafted in the Dumars era, see after the jump).
So, yeah, the Pistons have definitely backed away.
I wouldn’t be shocked if Detroit takes an international player (especially if its with one of their three second rounders). Tony Ronzone is still working for the organization.
But in interest of narrowing the board, I’m crossing off Beaubois and Ingles. The odds just aren’t working in their favor. So, here’s the updated list:
Point guard
| Name | School | Height | Wingspan | Projected |
| Jrue Holiday | UCLA | 6’ 3.25” | 6’ 7” | 13 |
| Jeff Teague | Wake Forest | 6’ 0.25” | 6’ 7.5” | 20 |
| Toney Douglass | Florida State | 6’ 1” | 6’ 6” | 36 |
| Greivis Vasquez | Maryland | 6’ 4.75” | 6’ 7.25” | 56 |
Shooting guard
| Name | School | Height | Wingspan | Projected |
| Gerald Henderson | Duke | 6’ 4” | 6’ 10.25” | 12 |
| Terrence Williams | Louisville | 6’ 5” | 6’ 9” | 16 |
| Jermaine Taylor | Central Florida | 6’ 3.5” | 6’ 8.75” | 32 |
| Jerel McNeal | Marquette | 6’ 1.5” | 6’ 7.25” | 46 |
| Dionte Christmas | Temple | 6’ 4.25” | 6’ 9” | 59 |
Small forward
| Name | School | Height | Wingspan | Projected |
| Austin Daye | Gonzaga | 6’ 9.75” | 7’ 2.75” | 15 |
| James Johnson | Wake Forest | 6’ 7” | 7’ 0.75” | 18 |
| Sam Young | Pittsburgh | 6’ 5.25” | 6’ 10.75” | 25 |
| Danny Green | North Carolina | 6’ 5.25” | 6’ 10” | 35 |
| Damion James | Texas | 6’ 6.25” | 7’ 0.25” | 42 |
| Tyler Smith | Tennessee | 6’ 5.25” | 6’ 9.75” | No |
Power forward
| Name | School | Height | Wingspan | Projected |
| Dejuan Blair | Pittsburgh | 6’ 5.25” | 7’ 2” | 11 |
| Earl Clark | Louisville | 6’ 8.5” | 7’ 2.5” | 14 |
| Gani Lawal | Georgia Tech | 6’ 7.75” | 7’ 0” | 23 |
| DaJuan Summers | Georgetown | 6’ 7.25” | 7’ 0.75” | 31 |
| Derrick Brown | Xavier | 6’ 7.5” | 7’ 2.5” | 41 |
| Josh Heytvelt | Gonzaga | 6’ 10” | 7’ 1.25” | 50 |
| Taj Gibson | USC | 6’ 8.5” | 7’ 4” | 53 |
| Jeff Adrien | Connecticut | 6’ 5.25” | 7’ 2” | No |
The deadline for underclassmen to pull out of the draft is 5 p.m. today. So, there will definitely be more names to cross of then.
Leave a Reply
Jun 15, 2009 • 9:17 pm
by Kent
I think we can eliminate point guards. With the Chauncey trade, Joe D has gone all-in with Stuckey. I think it is highly unlikely that Dumars will draft a point guard at 15th.
Jun 16, 2009 • 12:08 pm
by Austin
Yea i think ur rite. In a way i think we need a PF in which can stretch tha floor and stick Wallace at center because i think stuckey has taken over point very well.
Jun 16, 2009 • 7:46 pm
by Dan Feldman
I discussed the idea of taking a point guard here:
http://www.pistonpowered.com/2009/05/do-the-pistons-really-need-another-point-guard/
With Dumars talking about Stuckey playing more off guard, I think a point guard is certainly possible.
Jun 15, 2009 • 11:13 pm
by dana
please make a strong push for stefen curry or terrence williams, if they are not there take a highly touted point gard. The bigs in this draft arent that good so make some moves in free agency. just dont draft another euro project… we need somebody thats ready to go right away.
Jun 16, 2009 • 7:48 pm
by Dan Feldman
I don’t think Curry will be there, but Williams could make sense.
Jun 15, 2009 • 11:19 pm
by dana
tony douglas would be a grate pick, he is a sharp shooter who can handle the ball with speed and quickness he gives up size but we need a point gard that is great behind the three point line..
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Jun 16, 2009 • 9:50 am
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