Okay, that was confusing. Out goes DJ White, in comes Walter Sharpe out of University of Alabama-Birmingham.
To be honest, I don’t know much about Sharpe — and apparently, neither does DraftExpress:
This player does not currently have a completed profile or player blog entries.
Bullets Forever has an interesting profile on Sharpe, who kicked his college career at Mississippi State in 2004-05. This guy has taken one of the oddest paths to the NBA I’ve ever seen:
The promise rapidly morphed into disappointment. Sharpe could never get his act together, as he had multiple issues from tardiness to academics. Despite missing a team flight to a tournament in California in December of ‘04, and skipping a practice, thus being left home for the NCAA tournament in March of ‘05, the door of chances was still open for the kid.
During Sharpe’s sophomore year with the Bulldogs, he missed the beginning of the season due to academic ineligibility and only ended up dressing out six games (averaging 9.3 points and 5.0 boards) before ultimately being dismissed from the team in January of ‘06. Missing another practice was the final straw.
Next stop: UAB. Before even making it to UAB, Walter Sharpe was shot with a tiny bullet in the stomach in April 2006. Curiously, he tried to deny he was shot and attempted to hide his wound from police and medics. In August of 2007, Sharpe was one of five UAB Blazers arrested for disorderly conduct after a night on the town in Birmingham. UAB head coach, Mike Davis, credited the arrest with bringing his team together. No word if other college coaches have caught onto this phenomenon.
After sitting out a year and finally suiting up for the Blazers, Walter Sharpe averaged 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in UAB’s first 12 games of the 07-08 season. However, in January of 2008, Sharpe was declared academically ineligible for the rest of the year. He was subsequently been diagnosed with narcolepsy, which has been used as an excuse for academic woes. Sharpe had hopes to receive treatment and suit up for the Blazers in 2008-2009, but for one reason or another, opted to declare for the NBA draft instead.
Not too hard to see why this guy wasn’t on everybody’s radar, I suppose.
Here are his college stats — if you look at that game log, he had some huge games and some quiet ones, though I won’t pretend to judge the quality of competition he faced. Also, 18 games in three years? Huh. (Edit: Sharpe played 22 games as a freshman for Mississippi State in 2004-05 — his ESPN and Yahoo profiles don’t list that for some reason — so his college career spanned 40 games. Better than 18, but he did in four years what a lot of guys do in one.)
From Keith Langlois’ live chat (hat-tip to Jim):
Keith Langlois: Walter Sharpe … major, major sleeper. He had narcolepsy, of all things, that affected him earlier in his career. We know very little about him, except he came on very late in the draft process and is supposedly a very, very athletic player - a shot blocker. Might be a little bit like Amir Johnson. He was academically inelgible in the second half of last season and played just 18 college games. He went to Mississippi State first and then transfered to UAB.
Keith Langlois: It appears the narcolepsy Sharpe suffers from - memory lapses, excessive daytime sleeping - was only recently diagnosed. He was relieved at the diagnoses and believes it was at the root of his other problems. Sharpe was ruled academically inelgible and was arrested last fall for disorderly conduct after an argument and fight at a nightclub. He’s a high-risk, high-reward type of pick. That’s what fans who were screaming for DeAndre Jordan wanted.
Jesse (White Pine): Walter Sharpe worked out for the Pistons, so, presumably, he impressed the powers-that-be. He probably would have been available to us with our later second round picks, though…right?
Keith Langlois: I think the Pistons were convinced he wouldn’t be. I first heard Sharpe’s name mentioned last week. Heard he was really wowing people in workouts. Some mock drafts started slipping his name into second rounds.
Ah, DraftExpress has heard of Walter Sharpe (from Fennis in the comments):
-Walter Sharpe may be a surprising name called on draft night, after conducting strong workouts with teams like Cleveland, Denver, New Jersey, Washington and Charlotte, and showing surprisingly well there. Sharpe, a very highly touted member of the 2004 high school class, only played in 12 games this season before being ruled academically ineligible at UAB. He was later diagnosed with Narcolepsy (a sleeping disorder), but has numerous other red flags on his resume, including being kicked out of Mississippi State for breaking team rules, being shot in the stomach, and then later being arrested for disorderly conduct—all separate incidents.
Some team may regardless decide to take a chance on Sharpe due to his terrific combination of size, athleticism and skill playing both inside and out. One NBA Assistant General Manager told DraftExpress that he thinks Sharpe is a first round caliber talent who may not get to the middle of the second round due to the increasing buzz around him. He still has workouts to conduct with Utah, Detroit and the LA Lakers.
SERIOUSLY!!!
WHY NOT CDR!!
we need a backup SF but apparently walter sharpe? will solve our problems
I posted this on the other thread, but I think most people will be here now;
From Chad Ford:
I like this pick for Dumars. Sharpe is a total sleeper who really emerged in the past few weeks as a legit prospect. The Pistons love his athleticism, length and scoring ability. He’s a project headed for the D-League, but the Pistons had great luck developing Amir Johnson there and will try it again with Sharpe.
From Keith Langlois;
Walter Sharpe … major, major sleeper. He had narcolepsy, of all things, that affected him earlier in his career. We know very little about him, except he came on very late in the draft process and is supposedly a very, very athletic player - a shot blocker. Might be a little bit like Amir Johnson. He was academically inelgible in the second half of last season and played just 18 college games. He went to Mississippi State first and then transfered to UAB. It appears the narcolepsy Sharpe suffers from - memory lapses, excessive daytime sleeping - was only recently diagnosed. He was relieved at the diagnoses and believes it was at the root of his other problems. Sharpe was ruled academically inelgible and was arrested last fall for disorderly conduct after an argument and fight at a nightclub. He’s a high-risk, high-reward type of pick. That’s what fans who were screaming for DeAndre Jordan wanted.
Youtube Clip: He’s #42
http://youtube.com/watch?v=99OCS02NAn8
don’t know who the heck this guy is but this is what i found on draftexpress:
-Walter Sharpe may be a surprising name called on draft night, after conducting strong workouts with teams like Cleveland, Denver, New Jersey, Washington and Charlotte, and showing surprisingly well there. Sharpe, a very highly touted member of the 2004 high school class, only played in 12 games this season before being ruled academically ineligible at UAB. He was later diagnosed with Narcolepsy (a sleeping disorder), but has numerous other red flags on his resume, including being kicked out of Mississippi State for breaking team rules, being shot in the stomach, and then later being arrested for disorderly conduct—all separate incidents.
Some team may regardless decide to take a chance on Sharpe due to his terrific combination of size, athleticism and skill playing both inside and out. One NBA Assistant General Manager told DraftExpress that he thinks Sharpe is a first round caliber talent who may not get to the middle of the second round due to the increasing buzz around him. He still has workouts to conduct with Utah, Detroit and the LA Lakers.
Interesting?
joe D better make something happen quick. this is unbelievable !!!!! walter sharpe ?????? come on joe this guy wasnt even expected to be drafted !!!!!
I’m pretty confused, how come we didn’t go for something like a PG or C when they had DeAndre Jordan and Mario Chalmers on the board? I haven’t really been following the draft, but it seemed like they would be great value there and we could probably grab Sharpe with that 46th??? Or even take CDR and then Sharpe? Am I crazy or something?
So we trade the Big Ten player of the year for a narcoleptic with a bullet in his stomach who played 18 games total the last 3 years? I’m confused.
In Joe D we trust.
theres gotta be an explanation for this action….joe is up to something, or at least i hope…..i just can’t wait to find out WHY?
How about Bill Walker at 46?
ReichardZ, I think thats gonna happen–and I won’t be too mad with that.
You are going to jinx it ReichardZ, now we’ll end up with Darko’s brother instead…
i don’t care anymore….i thought dj white was a good pick…can’t wait on joe’s next move.
4 more picks til we get bill walker hopefully.
San Antonio is in front of us…
Huh. The bullet, grades, and generally inability to get it together seem un-Piston-y.
Wait, who said something about having a bullet in his stomach? Where did you hear this?
Keith Langlois called Walter Sharpe a “major, major sleeper.” The guys a narcoleptic! Makes me wonder if the pun was intended.
It’s on the post and apparently from Bullets Forever
Joe D is overrated. There is nothing up his sleeve. We are going into next season with the same team. Woo. Hoo.
Also, why would you draft a player as a project if he has documented issues with learning? Isn’t that kidna like hiring a convicted embezzler to watch over your finances?
Sweet now San Antonio can steal Bill Walker from us?
Nevermind, I didn’t see the update, I was living in the comment thread.
Bill Walker, please.
Jim - That YouTube clip of Sharpe at UAB is good. Walter Sharpe looked fast and agile with a nice post move and he had a strong block. He’s sure had his share of troubles on the way to the NBA but I wish him well. It sounds like he really had troubles in his life because of undiagnosed narcolepsy. I like the pick if only because it shows Joe Dumars trusts Joe Dumars to do things the Joe Dumars way. If I was GM I would have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head with CDR, Chalmers, and lots of big names on the board. Not Dumars.
Sorry jinxed it…
Trent Plaisted????? I give up. I’m going to bed.
TRENT PLAISTED!
and Washington takes Bill Walker..
i strongly believe something is already set in stone in joe’s sleeve….by the july, it’ll be revealed.
The NBA draft is a waste of my life.
I can’t think of anything to say…
Why did we get this C from BYU when we could have had DeAndre + Sharpe??? I am at a loss that we didn’t pick Bill Walker…
I’ll say this………… thanx for nothing joe. go pistons.
james, everybody is just as confuse as you.
Devon Hardin at 59?
nah too many good things have been said about devon hardin. we wont get him.
Sharp, Trent P from BYU (other half of Sea trade), Amir & Max. Alot of athletic front court for the Pistons. Now, who do we trade from the core and who steps in.
Since there’s a automatic range for salaries in Rd 1, two second round picks now can make the same or less and it gives us cap room.
there goes hardin.
Great pick by Joe. Don’t sleep on him. He will put all your doubts to bed.
Unrelated, but was anyone following Leitch’s roast on Deadspin today? That was, quite simply, amazing. Loved the Bill Simmons one myself.
I’m liking the Walter Sharpe pick. Narcolepsy is a serious problem and not something that should be laughed off with “sleeper” jokes. If this kid has the worst effects of narcolepsy under control with the help of doctors and support then he could be a real monster player. Here’s a good explanation of narcolepsy from Stanford med school.
http://med.stanford.edu/school/Psychiatry/narcolepsy/symptoms.html
If Sharpe has this under control and is the talent that NBA teams are seeing in workouts he might not be the project people are saying and be able to contribute this year.
lets get it over with this draft and move on to the trade market
Narcolepsy? Memory lapses? I’m sure Arnie Kander can fix those.
qd, “memory” lapses…..arnie isn’t a psychiatrist.
I think that we could call this the Woody Allen pick in reference to his 1973 movie “Sleeper”.
This is the summary of Sleeper by Wiki.
“Sleeper (1973) is a futuristic science fiction comedy film, written by, directed by, and starring Woody Allen. It is loosely based on the H. G. Wells novel The Sleeper Awakes.”
Sounds about right to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeper_(film)
Was joking Ric. From pistons.com:
Joe Dumars was smiling like a guy who knows something about Walter Sharpe that nobody else knows. He watched “a ton of tape” on him and brought him in to work out, holding him over for a second day.
“He’s good, man, he’s good,” Dumars said. “Handles it, shoots it, long and smooth.”
Dumars said Sharpe will be a small forward in the NBA, though he was playing out of position at UAB as a power forward.
As for Sharpe’s history of off-court trouble - arrested for disorderly conduct, academically inelgible, shot two years ago though it appears he was an innocent victim - Dumars said almost all of it traces to the narcolepsy only recently diagnosed. He said Sharpe is now on medication and that “he says it’s changed his life.” Dumars said he’s talked to “more people in Alabama than I care to remember” and is perfectly convinced Sharpe has a firm grip on his life now.
Dumars was prepared to take him at 29 when Seattle called and wanted to trade up to get D.J. White. Dumars saw it as an opportunity to get the guy he wanted and pick up and extra pick in the deal. He also said he knew of two teams preparing to trade up to take Sharpe.
Trent Plaisted and Deron Washington, the two other second-rounders, were picked in part because they agreed to play in Europe next season. Dumars said the organization asked potential second-round picks if they would be willing to play overseas because he didn’t anticipate having a roster spot for them next season. Those who answered no, the Pistons scratched off their list. That’s one reason they didn’t take Bill Walker, though Dumars said “we liked him a lot.”
The reason they didn’t keep White, Dumars said, is they saw him as too close in playing style to Jason Maxiell – an undersized power forward who can play, but a duplication of Maxiell.
That’s pretty much it for tonight, guys. I’ll be back tomorrow with more on the draft.
I don’t know shit about College ball or the draft, so I’ll just go off of google images search, which shows Deron likes to dunk, Trent plaisted is white, and Walter Sharpe has that mad dog Rasheed-Maxiell look about him.
There will be trades. Anybody who thinks we’ll play in 2009 with this team is foolish.
I’m from Birmingham, and have been watching this kid since he was in the ninth grade, and if he played two straight years, he, and I know this for a fact, would be a lottery pick.
Im from B’ham and have played with Walter on numerous occasions and everywhere he was easily the best player on the court. He is 6′9 with skills of a guard. He should make some noise.
Anyone still hate Joe for taking Sharpe instead of those other guys? Looks like Dumars knew what he was doing yet again…