Eight out of 17 mocks agree, Rodney Stuckey is the pick

by Matt Watson on Jun 28, 2007 2:25 AM EDT

(BTW, I totally ganked the "mock roundup idea" from Bullets Forever. Just saying.)

Rodney Stuckey Who are the Pistons going to draft? I have no f'ing idea. Having participated in a few mock drafts, I certainly have a few ideas, but I won't be surprised by a half dozen different guys. In any case, let's round up some mock drafts and marvel at the lack of consensus people have about Detroit's plans (No. 15 pick / No. 27 pick):

ESPN: Rodney Stuckey / Morris Almond.
Sports Illustrated: Stuckey / Dominic McGuire
Draft Express: Stuckey / Derrick Byars
Comcast SportsNet: Josh McRoberts / Aaron Affalo.
NBADraft.net: Stuckey / McRoberts.
FOX: Stuckey / Tiago Splitter.
About.com: Stuckey / Nick Fazekas.
Pro Basketball News: Spencer Hawes / Rudy Fernandez.
Inside Hoops: Julian Wright / Fernandez.
Real GM: Nick Young / Ramon Sessions.
Fanhouse: Hawes / Marco Belinelli (I made these picks.)
SB Nation: Nick Young / Daequan Cook (I made these, too, and immediately regretted the Cook pick, at least following a Nick Young selection earlier in the draft.)
Hoops Addict: Stuckey / Glen Davis
The Great Blogger Mock Draft of 07: Stuckey / Sean Williams. (I made these picks.)
SLAM: Al Thornton (no 27th pick -- they stopped at 20)
Free Darko: Jason Smith / Taureen Green (or Byars or Stuckey)
SportProjections.com: Thaddeus Young / Petteri Koponen (Yep, I did this, too)

Stuckey looks like the favorite, but that might just be because there's an "echo chamber effect" going on -- I'm guessing a lot of the smaller sites/mocks were influenced greatly by what the big boys (ESPN, NBADraft.net and Draft Express) say -- I know I was. If everyone made a mistake and someone projected to go high ends up pulling a Brady Quinn and falls, you never know how it could shake up the rest of the first round.

That said, if it is Stuckey, it's nice to hear how much he wants to be here. From Andy Katz on ESPN (link swiped from Full-Court Press):

While Stuckey would be thrilled to go just about anywhere out of EWU, his dream destination is Detroit. The Pistons were one of the first teams to scout Stuckey. Former personnel director Scott Perry, now with Seattle, watched Stuckey as a freshman when Eastern Washington played at Cal State-Fullerton.

"It's my style of play, and they've compared me to Chauncey Billups-type guard," Stuckey said. "I'm a big guard [6-foot-5], and they need a backup point guard. I can learn from the best people -- Rip Hamilton, Chauncey [assuming he stays with the Pistons], Flip Saunders and Joe Dumars. It's a great organization. It's perfect for me."

The Pistons do look at Stuckey as similar to Dumars and Lindsay Hunter as being a player from a small school that plays with an edge. Dumars and Hunter played at McNeese State and Jackson State, respectively.

"You can find someone anywhere, and I'm in this position because they found me," Stuckey said.

Random DBB programming note: I'm guessing most of you will be watching the draft on TV. Myself, I'll be listening to a radio while swatting mosquitoes in the sticks of Grayling, MI, on a fishing trip that was planned literally a year ago.

(For some reason, when I tell people about the trip I feel like I need to add that it was planned a year ago, because I literally feel a twinge of guilt leaving DBB on the eve of such an Important Night ... which really is a sign that I need a vacation from blogging more than ever.)

That said, I'm not leaving you guys high and dry: I've enlisted the help of a celebrity guest blogger, PostmanE, one-half of the always awesome We Are the Postmen and a FanHouse colleague. Assuming he's not boozing with Mark Cuban, he should at least have one post up for all of you to congregate and debate the merits of each pick.

(That said, if all hell breaks loose and Joe Dumars ends up trading the entire roster for Greg Oden and a rack of the old "new" microfiber balls, I will get to a computer to weigh in, even if it takes breaking into Grayling's public library in the middle of the night. But barring that, you won't be hearing from me until Sunday evening.)

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Here we go… fingers crossed we come out good tonight! Rodney sounds good to me, although Acie is the dream!

by Rocastle on Jun 28, 2007 5:58 AM EDT reply actions

Summarizing 17 mock drafts that include three of your own seems kind of weird to me. Didn’t “Seven out of 14 mocks” sound authoritative enough?

I’ll be awfully glad when the draft finally starts. My tolerance for BS, unfounded rumors and pointless trade ideas is not what it once was.

by LanierFan on Jun 28, 2007 8:25 AM EDT reply actions

So is it salmon your hoping to catch? The only thing I know about Grayling is when there is snow on the ground and I’m trying to holler at a few snow bunnies on the slopes of Tree Tops.

Regardless who the Piston’s draft its all still a crap shoot and you never really know who will translate their A game into the NBA.

by RopeAdope on Jun 28, 2007 9:02 AM EDT reply actions

Josh Friggin’ McRoberts at 15 by Comcast? I don’t even really want him at 27. I want to cancel my internet/cable to take money away from those idiots…. wow.

by Michael on Jun 28, 2007 9:50 AM EDT reply actions

15- Stuckey/Young/Law
27-Williams/Byars/Almond

Those are the guys I think Detroit has the best chance to end up with, and I would be happy with them.

by Cassie on Jun 28, 2007 10:49 AM EDT reply actions

LF: I was just trying to round up as many mock drafts as I could find (er, as Bullets Forever could find … I was kind of lazy and just went with what they had). As for the title, that came last. But yeah, it does seem weird in hindsight — at least I designated as such the ones I did.

RopeAdope: I have no idea what we’re supposed to be catching — I just do what everybody else is doing. It’s fly-fishing, though, and I don’t really know how to do that, so it usually just results in me standing around in the river in my waders drinking a beer and smoking a ciger waiting for everyone else to come back.

by Matt Watson on Jun 28, 2007 11:29 AM EDT reply actions

McRoberts/Affalo??? What is comcast smoking?

http://goeags.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/stuckey_rodney00.html

They say his nickname is hot rod but if we pick him i vote we change it to Rodimus Prime

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcCCzrTM6tg&mode=related&search=

You’ve got the touch!

by Fel on Jun 28, 2007 1:42 PM EDT reply actions

Chad Ford’s ESPN Chat Transcript Blurb:

Tim (Pontiac, MI): Are the Pistons still targeting Rodney Stuckey at 15? Will he be there?

Chad Ford: I don’t think they are targeting him. I think if Al Thornton and Nick Young are off the board, he’s the guy. If those other guys are there … I’m not sure what they’ll do. Stuckey is also getting play at No. 11.

The “I’m not sure what they’ll do” . . . my reading into this hopes that the last two weeks of silence equaled plenty of phone calls and long work days from Joe Dumars and company, with plenty of time spent on Plan X . . . in the form of a trade of the pick for a player we can use right now.

Reports of Javaris Crittendon vary. Seeing his name bandied about later in the first round tell me that #15 is too high.

No reaching.

None.

A player selected at 15 should play the next day.

I trust Joe to make this happen. Future is cloudy . . . correct pick clears the cloud cover. Incorrect pick brings rain and snow.

by Sauce on Jun 28, 2007 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

If Al Thornton fell to us at 15, I would fall out of my chair and thank jebus.

by Fel on Jun 28, 2007 3:14 PM EDT reply actions

If we draft Josh McRoberts, I will slam my head against a brick wall exactly fourteen times.

by hkm on Jun 28, 2007 3:14 PM EDT reply actions

Stuckey will be in the green room tonight so you would have to think someone gave him a promise.

by Fel on Jun 28, 2007 3:16 PM EDT reply actions

Chad Ford’s draft mock, for instance, has Rodney Stuckey and Marco Belinelli with Detroit’s first two picks.

Chad Ford has it right on the thinking with #15 – Detroit looking to take what slips to them between Young, Stuckey, Law, Thornton, et cetera, if any of them do.

Chad Ford has no clue what Detroit’s going to do, and that’s how I like it.

But for sake of giggles, I can’t help but think Detroit couldn’t have just traded away Carlos Delfino to select Marco Belinelli, aka Italian Delfino.

It seems the national media has no clue what San Antonio’s doing, either.

by Sauce on Jun 28, 2007 4:02 PM EDT reply actions

The news is in-Antonio has returned. Chauncey is next. Thanks Dyess for coming back!!!! Love his attitude.

McDyess will return to Pistons

AUBURN HILLS — Antonio McDyess is in. On Thursday, he notified the Pistons that he will be picking up his $6.3 million option and returning to the team next season.

“We analyzed everything,” said Andy Miller, McDyess’ agent. “At the end of the day, he decided he was comfortable with the situation in Detroit and he wanted to repay the loyalty the Pistons have shown him.”

Miller said he expects to meet with Pistons president Joe Dumars in July to try to hammer out a contract extension that would keep the McDyess in Detroit through the 2009-10 season.

McDyess, who will be 33 next season, averaged eight points and six rebounds this past season.

by Brian on Jun 28, 2007 4:41 PM EDT reply actions