On June 28, the NBA will hold their annual draft. For many NBA fans, that means scouring the internet for mock drafts and reading up on all the top prospects. But for many Pistons fans this year, it means very little.
The Pistons traded the rights to their first-round pick to the Jazz last season in exchange for Carlos Arroyo, and after finishing with the best record in the league this season, they currently hold the 60th pick in the draft. Yes, that’s “60th,” as in “dead last.” You know what the last pick of the draft gets you? Guys like Alex Acker, who was the last pick of the 2005 draft and appeared in just seven games and played in just 35 minutes the entire season.
But, if you believe the rumors, the Pistons may not be content holding put with the last pick for long. According to DraftExpress, the Seattle Sonics are looking to sell their second-round selection. That’s right, sell; apparently the franchise is so hard up for cash that it’s using draft picks to raise enough funds to pay for a new assistant coach next season:
Pistons looking to move up? The Detroit Pistons could be looking to move up higher into the second round in order to land a legit backup point guard. They will conduct a big point guard only workout on Thursday featuring Jose Juan Barea, Mustafa Shakur, Dwayne Mitchell, Will Blalock and Walker Russell. A 2nd round pick that is reportedly for sale is Seattle’s, slated 40th overall. The Sonics would use that money to hire another assistant coach for next year, as they reportedly do not have the budget at this time to do so considering how much money the ownership there has lost over the past few years.
It comes as no surprise that the Pistons are trying to add backup point guard, though I suspect anyone drafted in the second round this year will be an investment in the future and not a potential rotation candidate in 2006-07. Before you take my word as gospel, though, realize that I know next to nothing about college basketball and wouldn’t know any of those point guards DraftExpress listed if I passed them on the street. Except for maybe Dwayne Mitchell, whom I just learned has fantastic hops after watching this YouTube video:
The Pistons aren’t limiting themselves to just point guards, though; they’re also rumored to be interested in a raw big man named Kyrylo Fesenko from the Ukraine — assuming he doesn’t make too much of a name for himself over the next couple of weeks. From DraftExpress:
The Pistons were reportedly initially hoping to draft Ukrainian big man Kyrylo Fesenko late in the 2nd round, and asked his agent to “hide” him overseas with a 2nd round promise so no one else catches wind of him. Fesenko smartened up, though, and decided to make his way over to the States to work out for NBA teams, which likely nullifies his promise by Detroit. He reportedly measured out as a legit 7-footer in one private workout, but still looks like he has a long ways to go skill wise. He has an NBA body with long arms and great raw core strength. From the tapes we’ve acquired, it’s quite obvious that he is very athletic for a player his size, European or not. His quickness is especially impressive, as he’s both nimble with his feet but also runs the floor extremely well. His leaping ability is just average, though. The impressive numbers he put up early on in the season in the Ukrainian first division before moving to a new team seem to be in spite of the little coaching he’s received, not because of it. His footwork, post moves, and go-to moves around the basket all need serious work, as does his overall feel for the game. He’s also not a great rebounder, and his defense is terrible any way you slice it. Fesenko’s really getting by solely on the fact that he’s very athletic, plays hard, and is that much bigger than anyone else. He doesn’t shy away from contact and definitely has some fight in him. The best NBA comparison for him would be Mehmet Okur, but he is very far from making a similar impact. His best bet would be to pull out of the draft, go to a better league, and enter the draft again either next year or the year after, as he’s only a 1986 born prospect. Should he stay in, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him drafted somewhere in the 2nd round, as his buyout is reportedly affordable. He wanted to play at the Eurocamp in Treviso, but requested to be added to the camp roster too late and was turned down.
A raw Mehmet Okur? Very interesting. His draft profile on Yahoo! Sports (which appears to be written by DraftExpress, as well) has a bit more info on him, including a much-less-interesting comparison to Jackie Butler.
(Special thanks go out to DBB reader JackDutch, who passed along the DraftExpress and Yahoo links. If you ever find some interesting Pistons news or rumors, pass them along to matt@detroitbadboys.com)
Trade Talk [DraftExpress]
University of Louisiana slam dunk [YouTube]
Kyrylo Fesenko profile [Yahoo! Sports]
I’ve heard great things about the Ukranian kid…I kinda miss Mehmet Okur, too bad he’s not playing like a big man in Utah, he’s trying to be Dirk Nowitzki but he puts on about 50 lbs through the course of the year.
Whatever happened to that other foreign guy we had at center? the one with the heart condition? Actually, whatever happened to Bison Dele? I know he’s out of the league cuz he’s old but I thought he was sort of a force down low?
Boney: the first guy you’re thinking of is Zeljko Rebraca. He’s not quite over his heart condition — he missed more time this year because of it — but he’s a reserve for the LA Clippers.
As for Dele, it’s a sad mystery. I’m surprised you missed it because it was a semi-big story at the time: Dele retired when he was just 30 years old, walking away from five years and $36 million left on his contract. A couple of years later, he went missing while sailing in the South Pacific Ocean. He may have been killed by his half-brother, but he also died under suspicious circumstances before he could talk to authorities. The Free Press wrote an interesting story about it, which you can read in Google’s cache.
The only college players I can think of that I’d like and could possibly fall to us (at the 60th) are Dee Brown from Illinois and Ryan Hollings from UCLA. Both are probably mid-second rounders.
Hollins is interesting, but kind of Shawn Bradleyesque. Seems like he’s an inch taller than Amir Johnson and doesn’t have much (if any toughness). under 5 rebs per game is pretty sad for a 7 footer.
Dee Brown would be nice, but I really think the pistons need a TALL PG/SG to bring in. Hunter offers great intensity but frequently gets shot over. Dwayne Mitchell at 6′5″, 220 is more what I’m hoping for.
Matt,
considering the brief knowledge of the Pistons’ history that I’ve dropped on previous postins, I’m surprised I forgot about Bison Dele. I simply overlooked the fact he went fishing and never came back. My bad…
Yeah, that’s who it was. Zeljko…although you can’t ever blame a guy with a heart condition for not playing well, he was one of the first foreign born guys the Pistons took a flyer on and he never really panned out. Yeah, Mehmet panned out ok in Salt Lake, but he always started the season in shape and over the course of it appeared out of shape (ala Toni Kukoc). By the way, was it just me, or did Toni Kukoc look like he just stepped out of a bar in the Pistons’ series? You could tell he was out of shape (he turned bright red after just a few minutes of actually running up and down the court), and overall he was just a shell of whatever his former self was.
Zeljko didn’t work..Mehmet didn’t really work…Darko was a disaster…I think this new guy they’re talking about although he’s good, I wouldn’t take a risk with it. All of these guys are big men, and typically it’s the third time’s the charm…not the 4th.
Trade rumors are flying about the detroit pistons for this year!!!! Ben Wallace is talking about leaving and going to Chicago. Flip Saunder’s has said he wants to take a shot a picking up Kevin Garnett. Garnett wants to play for detroit because he is such close friends with chaunce billups, and he like coach saunders. He has said he will take a pay cut to play on a winning team. I got all this information from the Pistons trainer Mike Abdaman(or however you spell it) he came in to my job the other day.
I can’t see how we could possibly get Garnett. He gets $20mil next year which is about equal to Rasheed and Rip’s salaries together (hoopshype.com). Ben would probably go too, leaving us with Chauncey, Tay, Garnett and two holes to fill in free agency.
Can’t see Ben leaving after JoeD traded Darkarroyo to free up space for him. JoeD will probably stick to his word and make an offer to Ben that would make him the highest paid Piston ever. Not sure what that is but I assume it’ll be a little higher than what ‘Sheed got. $12mil? 3 or 4 years? Ben would take that to stay. Whether it’s the right move? I don’t know.
So, you’re telling me that Dwayne Mitchell kid is 6′5″, can run the point, and can jump like THAT? I am SOLD.
And he spells his name correctly. Which is very refreshing.
And he spells his name correctly. Which is very refreshing.
That’s pretty much enough for me right there.
I highly doubt anyone from the Pistons’ organization, especially someone as respected as Mike Abdenour, would throw those rumors out there to just random people.
By Flip saying he wants Garnett he’s basically saying that either Tay, Sheed or Ben Wallace aren’t good enough to start. KG cannot line up with centers or big power forwards like Sheed/Ben can. Unless you somehow trade Sheed for KG I don’t see this happening…They’re about the same age, they’re the same height, KG is a little more aggressive in taking it the the hole. KG’s attitude would fit in good in Detroit because he’s all about the team, but you’re about to break up a solid nucleus to bring him in.
Check out this account of Fesenko (he’s the Ukrainian guy) working out with Milwaukee. Weird, yet tantalizing …
http://www.draftexpress.com/headlines.php#2044
LanierFan: great link! I just put it up.