Who will the Pistons draft?: Wingspan

The Spurs get smart players.

The Hawks get young forwards.

And the Knicks get overpaid veterans.

Certain types of players seem to gravitate toward certain teams. And Detroit is no exception. Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars has a pattern of targeting players with long wingspans.

Here are all of his draft picks who had their wingspans listed on Draft Express:

Plaisted is the only one who’s wingspan isn’t really impressive for his height. And here are the players with wingspans listed who were on the roster this year.

Again, this in not just a list of Pistons with long wingspans. These are the only players listed on Draft Express. Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace certainly have long wingspans, too.

So with that in mind, there’s a very good chance Detroit’s draft picks this year will have above-average wingspans. Here’s a position-by-position list of players with long wingspans in this draft. All numbers come from Draft Express, and I didn’t include players who will definitely be gone before the Pistons pick at 15.

Point guard

Shooting guard

Small forward

Power forward

There are no centers who have impressive wingspans beside Hasheem Thabeet, who obviously won’t be available at 15.

Projecting the picks

So that narrows it down to 36. But I think there’s a strong chance Detroit’s picks come from these 36.

I’d like to whittle this list of players down as the draft approaches — hopefully, to the point there are only four left (one slotted for each of the Pistons’ picks).

I’m not sure how to make the next cut. Does anyone have ideas — either why to to take a specific player off the list or a rule to follow that would remove multiple players?

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