Detroit Draft Debate: B.J. Mullens

Yagabombs, yagabombs, haircuts, haircuts, muscle milk

Ugh.

We could have had this guy: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/DeAndre-Jordan-1072/ with a second round pick last year, and now it makes sense for us to take BJ Mullens with a mid-first round pick this year? They’re the exact same player, with possibly a slight edge to Jordan because of better rebounding ability.

“…I’m in favor of taking a raw prospect over a player like… who already are who who we thought they were.”

I don’t hate Mullens as a prospect (I’d probably take him over Jordan Hill), but this idea that, “Meh, we know who they are already…” is basically B.S. Nobody knows how prospects abilities are going to translate to the NBA.

If you look at the last 5 drafts, the star players have come pretty evenly from “safe” picks (established, star college players) as from “upside” type picks (like Mullens). There’s a million examples in either direction- Brandon Roy traded for Randy Foye, and drafted after Tyrus Thomas, or- Andrew Bynum lasting until the 10th pick, with Channing Frye and Ike Diogu going just before him.

I just don’t think it can automatically be assumed that Mullens rawness/youth gives him more NBA potential than a college upperclassman.

I wouldn’t mind Mullins. The only two players I absolutely don’t want are Austin Daye and Gerald Henderson. I can see pros and cons for all others.

Agreed with MFQD re: Daye and Henderson, although I’d add Twilly to that list. Beyond that—

I’d prefer drafting Mullens instead of trading for Kaman. We’ll get a few years of Mullens on the cheap instead of paying 8 figures for a half-a-season center. I assume we’re all pretty relegated to a shitty season in 09/10, so it makes sense to let a kid like this share the C minutes with Kwame. If he doesn’t pan out, make some moves next summer for a guy like Przybilla or otherwise.

While “I’d prefer drafting Mullens instead of trading for Kaman”, I still prefer Blair, Lawson or Clark instead. Clark, meanwhile, has continued to climb the charts and is now at 14 on DraftExpress.

The way I see it, Blair and Lawson are pretty much sure things. After that, I’m fine with guys like Johnson, Clark, Mullens, Casspi, and that chunk of point guards – they all seem to have some nice tools but are risks. Mullens is probably the biggest risk out of all of them – but if we’re going to draft another big man who doesn’t get any minutes and always looks lost when he’s on the court, why not a guy who’s a pretty good offensive player?

(/shoots self)

mullens and daye are the two players that scare me to death at 15. reaching for a big in this draft seems really questionable since even thabeet is a somewhat shaky prospect. the talk of how bad these guys are getting beaten by 2nd round prospects in workouts should scare off any team. if clark isn’t there, i’d rather take advantage of the glut of pgs that are pushing down the lawsons and maynors of the world, than wait on mullens or daye to MAYBE become a serviceable pro.

but i’ll be honest: the psychological scars of the darko-era are a factor in this opinion.

I vote Clark first if he’s there after that Mullens ,lets face it we need bigs are front court as is today, is what scares the hell outa me if we were to start the season taday,why not draft a true 7 footer especially one thats athletic with good hands those three qualities alone are rare,as MP. said were not going anywere for three yrs anyway nows a good time to throw a Mullens type player out there and let him sink or swim.

You take Clark because he has the potential to be a more consistent Lamar Odom, but if he’s off the board, you have to take Mullens and take the chance. We don’t have anyone for the future at center, and I think resigning McDyess and keeping Kwame, you could have a semi-decent C rotation (Dice can play center for 10-15 minutes a game, have Mullens and Brown absorb the other 33-38 minutes). It won’t blow you away, but I think if we’re going to rebuild, it’s better to throw a guy like Mullens to the wolves and see if he can do a decent job. It might be a better option than trading for Kaman.

rodney suck me is nobodys future. he suck as pointguard because other teams just through shooting guards on him defensivly and they lock him down. so putting him at the two and trade rip is stupid as fuck. trade stuckey and let him become somebody elses problem. if the player don’t cut the mustard don’t kiss his ass get rid of him. that what you did to billups and he’s way better than a suckey. his upside is learning how to shoot and run a team, if he come back this summer just being able to drive to the basket trade him while you got the chance.

Funny, when Stuckey was shooting 50% in December and January, there wasn’t a peep out of this Anti-Stuckey group.

we need to stop entertaining these dumb articles. the pistons front office cry every year that we need a impact player like lebron, like kobe, like wade and like the great jordan, but when one in their face they don’t grab him. i’ll repeat gp is not jumping on terrance williams bandwagon for no reason. jordan was not a great player in college but look what he did when he came in the nba. nobody knew kobe would be as good as he is,in the nba or he would have been the #1 pick when he was drafted.so in other the words don’t judge what he did in college, judge what he is capable of.

this should be line up for next year.
PG: barbosa, binum and a third guard
sg: twill, stuckey
sf: ariza, aa
pf: maxell, pendergraph and heytvelt
c stoudemire, brown( hopefully one of pf rookies play better so they can take brown spot)
sign ariza as free agent, trade prince,rip and johnson for barbosa and stoudemire, grab twill at the 15 pick.
with this team the pistons will be energetic and athletic. which will give other teams problems. the only thing that will be left to fill is the coach position but that another story!!!!

Apparently a promise has been made:

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/59945/20090620/sources_pistons_make_mullens_promise/

Mlive has an interesting article about the Mullins rumors.

Apparently, the new rumor is that the Pistons will take Earl Clark or Austin Daye (please, no) and if they are not there they will take Mullins.

Mlive theorizes that maybe the Pistons would package Mullins and Amir to OKC for OKC’s 25th pick.

There’s also a rumor that OKC is going to get Marcus Camby from the Clippers.

Either of these (or both) coming true knocks one of the only other teams with a lot of cap space out of the free agent equation. Detroit and Memphis can set the market.

@ joe

You honestly believe that Terrence Williams is a FRANCHISE player?

What are you smoking and where can I get some?

The mlive rumor makes sense except with the part about Daye unless we can put 30 pounds on that guy whats the point ,if we couldn’t put 10 pounds on Tay how the hell can they expect to put 30 pounds on daye.I think Clark is our best bet even if we have to move up one or two spots to get him.

@joe

I think you are a little harsh with Stuckey. The kids got a very good first step. If he played above the rim a little bit more he would be a bonafied star. He still might be one. I admit the jury is still out. But give the kid a break. Last season the Pistons had a very unsettled roster, a new coach and an old has been super star in AI. Stuckey spent a lot of time deffering to the vets. Once the vets are traded or Stuckeys place is solidified in the mind of the coaches and his teammates I expect him to have a very good year. You can’t expect a guy to be aggressive and to deferr to veteran teammates without some problems manifesting in his overall play.

In regards to BJ Mullens. I have a gut feeling he’s junk. No established offensive game that I can see but dunks. He is athletic but there’s no evidence that he wants to be the best. He does seem to think he is the best. I couldn’t believe my ears when he compared himself to Kevin Garnett an established super star. Simply ridiculous.

I hope the Pistons brass stays away from this kid on draft night. They’ve been hoodwinked before by athletic immature bigs with no college experience or not much to speak of.

Do you have ANY evidence that Motta was holding him out so that he wouldn’t leave? I saw him play, and they were better with him on the bench. Maybe Motta didn’t play Oden or Koufos, either. Wait. No, he did play them.

@ shawnindc

i think stuckey might have a good heart or be a great guy, but with a dissapointing seasons like the one we had that is no concern of mines. the pistons need results not who took up for other players, so i’m looking at derek roses short nba career and noticing that it’s didn’t him long to be effective for the bulls. am i bad guy for wanting the same effectivness out of stuckey?

@ tj

first of all, the nba season is not only played in december and january, im speaking of stuckey over all performance, so into proving wrong he is still rodney suck me.

and as for t will, nobody can predict a franchise player but david stern lol, but im just saying gary payton is not riding his coat tail because he thinks he’s handsome guy.

i’m just saying it will be nice to have the lebrons, kobes, wades, reggie millers and the jordans on the pistons for once, instead of getting these guys when their careers ain’t worth two pennies(webber,ai).

@joe: you wantthe roses of the world, but ready to suck so we can have a #1 pick and not 14/15’s.

@ markbutter in socal

we don’t have to suck to get a potenial superstar, all we have to do is recognise when their’s one in our face. thats what i ment by my comments. for example melo, wade and bosh with any of theses selections we’re not sitting here right having this conversation.

@ joe, Agreed. But I’m not worried about 2003. Darko was a fucked pick. As was Cleaves & R. White. Much like Atlanta can’t do anything about passing on Stuck for Acie Law or I believe Sheldon Williams for CP3 & Deron Williams.

Picking at 15, who’s the superstar that will fall to us, or at least give me who you think will be available that pick that we’ll pass on who will be a superstar. How many teams are kicking themselves passing on T. Parker when picked 29th by SA and Ginobili in the 2nd round. It’s a crapshoot. In 2003, we could legit pass on Melo cause we had Tay who had shown against Orl & McGrady he had some talent.

It was only this year that Melo took his game to a higher level (reb & def).

And I think alot of people looked at Riley when he picked Wade and said WTF?

people say this is a weak draft and 2 thru 10 it probably is, but from 11 to 48 ish it looks to be one of the stronger drafts in yrs.its so strong in the second round i’d be ready to trade the 15 for 2 more second round picks having 5 picks this yr. in the second round would be awsome.

@ joe

Stuckey had a very different college career than Rose. Rose would have been a straight out of high school type player, but the NBA rule forced him into one year of college. Rose is going to be a star, and just because Stuckey isn’t going to be a star doesn’t mean he can’t be a great player. People want Stuckey to be up there with guys like Wade, LeBron and Kobe. That’s simply not going to happen. But on the flip side, that doesn’t mean he still can’t be a great player. He just won’t be a superstar. And that doesn’t mean you just toss him to the side. We complain about what we did to Billups, when Billups didn’t exactly have glowing seasons his first two years in the league:

11.2 points, 3.9 assists on 37.4% shooting
13.9 points, 3.8 assists on 38.4% shooting

Comparably, Stuckey’s first two seasons:

7.6 points, 2.8 assists on 40.1% shooting
13.4 points, 4.9 assists on 43.9% shooting

Stuckey is already statistically better than Billups.

So it’s much too early to give up on the kid. I’m pretty sure Boston, Toronto, Minnesota and at one point Denver were kicking themselves for letting him go. Let’s not do the same.

@tj
i don’t care how you put it, you don’t give away a star pointguard for a later bloomer. joe d. theory on why he traded billups don’t make no senses. he might as well just came out said it was for the cap space because to develop stuckey is a bunch of bull crap. ai is not your ideal guy to develop another player. he keeps the ball in his hand too much and he take mighty mouse shots(impossible).in my honest opinion i probably won’t be so hard on stuckey if he was playing behind a vet pointguard for a few years or if LB was still the pistons coach.

I’ve seen BJ Mullins in 100 other project big men. Take BPA. pg, sg, sf, pf, c. BPA.