" "

NBA Draft

Mock drafts across the 'net have the Pistons getting anyone from Ryan Gomes to Julius Hodge to Turkish sharpshooter Ersan Ilyasova to Francisco Garcia to HS PG Monta Ellis (please, no). The Pistons need someone to come in and backup Hamilton and Prince next year, someone who can score 8 ppg and play reasonable defense right away.

The obvious pick is a polished senior, someone who won't need to be taught how to hold the ball and where to put his feet. But all the pre-draft scuttlebutt has toolsy young Euros sliding down the draft board. Given that, it might make more sense for the Pistons to draft a young player who might have gone higher if Milicic and Tskitishvili weren't so fresh in everyone's mind. I have no idea if that's Ilyasova or Vasquez or Ukic, but the Pistons shouldn't lock themselves into getting one kind of player with one kind of resume.

This should be one of the most entertaining drafts in any sport in a long time. The NFL draft is predictable and slow. Baseball America correctly called the first 18 picks in this year's MLB draft. But no one has any idea what's happening in the NBA this year. Milwaukee hasn't committed to anyone with the first pick, Atlanta hasn't committed to one of two players at two, there could be a pile of trades, etc.

posted by Jeff Gray @ 11:12 PM