Pistons director of player personnel George David spoke to the Free Press about which players the team has already worked out:
David wouldn’t divulge every prospect the team has worked out, but he did give some names: Vanderbilt shooting guard Shan Foster, Tennessee-Martin combo guard Lester Hudson, Israeli small forward Omri Casspi, Kansas State swingman Bill Walker, Alabama power forward Richard Hendrix and Indiana power forward D.J. White, all of whom would be considered for the first-round pick.
The team also has worked out Virginia Tech swingman Deron Washington, Southern Cal forward Davon Jefferson, Hillsborough (Fla.) Community College forward Keith Brumbraugh and Georgetown forward Patrick Ewing Jr., for its second-round slot.
According to Internet rumors, the Pistons promised White that they’ll draft him if possible — but David laughed at the notion. “From what I’ve heard, we’ve made four promises,” he said. “His promise was two weeks ago, so that’s about three promises behind.”
Is David telling the truth about White? I’m inclined to believe him, but only because that rumor didn’t seem to grow legs beyond the initial report. But if the Pistons did make a promise, I’d expect David to brush it off, just like how Joe Dumars denied making a promise to Rodney Stuckey a year ago.
(That said, does David protest too much? Have there really been three other alleged promises? I know he’s trying to make light of how you can’t believe everything you hear, but I haven’t heard about any other promises.)
DJ White gives us yet another undersized front court player, if drafted by Detroit.
He’s a Detroit type of guy… blue collar, hard worker, etc… I don’t know exactly where he’ll fit in, likely he would never be able to play at the same time as Maxiell, which makes it hard unless Maxiell is packaged with someone else for someone else.
ESPN at one time was reporting of a possible promise to Bill Walker by the Pistons. Im really hoping that isnt true considering he is now injured..
Patrick Ewing Jr. would be a great second round pick.
I actually really want Bill Walker. He apparently had a great workout for the pistons.
Dave- Never fear, Arnie Kander is here
Walker is still in the draft, after his MRI came back negative. He would be a great fit behind Tay. I still don’t believe the White promise. At 29, there’s too many variables to promise someone that you’d take them.
please no guards
a backup sf or a low post banger
In other news, I’m really bummed that Nathan Jawai has injured his groin. I can only hope he goes early in 2nd round.
Keith Brumbaugh (SF, 6′9″, 210) is a local kid from my part of Florida who got in a lot of trouble as a kid coming out of Deland, FL HS but seems to have gotten a lot more mature in the past 2 years. Both the Orlando Sentinel [see link in my name] and Daytona Beach News-Journal had positive pieces on Brumbaugh’s new found maturity. The kid spend more days in jail (a series of small but serious trouble, shoplifting, possession of marijuana, battery) since HS then he has playing on game night but a few years ago he was considered a top 10 talent coming out of HS. He could be an unpolished gem in the late 2nd round. His game and strength hasn’t progressed that much since HS but I think that’s understandable since Brumbaugh was busy making himself a better person, a much harder task.
Note: I’m not saying it’s “a much harder task” for Brumbaugh because he’s a bad kid. I’m saying life is more complicated then taking a thousand jump shots in a gym to improve your game.
I don’t believe that Jason Thompson of Rider worked out for us. Chad Ford of ESPN in latest Mock Draft (V5.0) has us taking him in the first round.
A number of Mock Draft sights have Thompson going in the low to mid twenties.
He has a lot of talent for a big guy 6′10″ and about 245. He is fast, can shoot, rebound and pass. He averaged 20 ppg and 12 rpg for Rider last year. Depending on who you read his defense is either good or not so good. One Mock Draft sight thinks he has the potential to be another Carl Boozer.
Rider did play KSU during the year.
Thompson’s line in that game
Points 21
Rebounds 12
Assists 5
Beasley’s line was
Points 13
Rebounds 10
I haven’t seen him play so I can’t comment more about him.
Walker had 14 points 10 rebounds and 3 steals in that game.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore;_ylt=AglUuBBOJUL_ZDWZlxYmYuIOvbYF?gid=200711250488
Of the underclassmen who stayed in the draft, Walker was the biggest surprise. He hurt his knee in a workout this past weekend, again raising concerns about the long-term health of his knees. While his advisers say they are confident he’ll go in the first round, I’ve talked to a number of executives with picks late in the first round and all of them swear they haven’t promised Walker they’ll draft him. That includes the Detroit Pistons — a team that has been rumored to have great interest in Walker at No. 29.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/insider/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=DraftInandout-080616&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fdraft2008%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dford_chad%26page%3dDraftInandout-080616
Though Walker won’t get another chance to display his skills before the draft, his adviser remained confident he will be among the first 30 players chosen.
“We expect once he gets healthy, three or four teams will still consider him as a late first-round pick,” Rivers told foxsports.com.
One of those teams is believed to be the Pistons, whom Walker visited for a workout last week. It’s even been rumored that Detroit promised to take Walker with the 29th pick, though it’s unclear how his injury might affect that arrangement.
“Last week he was getting ready to work out for Detroit, and he was real excited about it,” Martin said. “Then I heard back that he had a great workout in Detroit. Last night, when this story started breaking, I felt for him.”
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/061708/cat_291742509.shtml