Considering NBA rookie contracts don’t require much negotiation these days (salaries are based entirely upon their draft slot), this is hardly a surprise, but Rodney Stuckey and Aaron Afflalo have each officially signed with the Pistons.
Archive for the '2007 Draft' Category
After selecting Rodney Stuckey with the 15th overall pick, the Pistons surprised a lot of people by selecting another guard with pick No. 27. I figured they’d target a guy like Derrick Byars, who has the size and experience to play small forward and back up Tayshaun Prince, or perhaps even a big-man project like Tiago Splitter, who might eventually grow into being a starting center. Instead, they passed up on both guys and took Arron Afflalo.
I’m not a college basketball fan, so when I first heard his name I didn’t immediately remember that he led UCLA to the Final Four the last two seasons, nor did I realize that he was the reigning PAC-10 Player of the Year. But even though I’m not sure how he fits into the rotation in the short-term, his selection is starting to grow on me. He’s a great defender and a solid shooter, and while he may never be a star, those types of players are always valuable.
A couple of weeks ago, my FanHouse colleague Nate Jones (who is far better versed in college basketball than I) wrote the following in a post about Afflalo and Boston College’s Jared Dudley:
The problem I have with the NBA draft is that too many teams try to hit home runs instead of taking players that can come in and help their team right away. Listen, not all of these kids are going to turn into 20 point per game scorers. However, having players that can come in and knock down an open shot and play excellent defense is probably just as important to building a winning team as having a 20 point scorer is.
I mean, look at Raja Bell, Shane Battier, and Bruce Bowen. All three of them have carved niches for themselves within the league as charge taking defensive stoppers. They’ve also all honed their offensive games so that they can be successful on that side of the floor without actually having the ball (in other words: all of them have become solid spot up shooters). They also all have been winners throughout their careers.
More after the jump … Continue reading ‘The “Arron Afflalo is a Piston” post’
First things first: many, many thanks to PostmanE, who filled in for me last Thursday. While I was stuck listening in a car listening to the NBA Draft on XM, he was doing a bang-up job here keeping everyone informed and entertained — and for that I owe him an Old Style or three.
Rodney Stuckey: The fact that the Pistons had their choice of USC’s Nick Young and Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey and still went with the kid from the small school actually makes me feel better about this pick. Most of the mock drafts I saw had Young going higher, which made me think like the Pistons would be settling for Stuckey. Now, I see that’s not the case — Joe Dumars and co. must have really seen something they like.
Reading his profile on DraftExpress, it sounds like he should be a great addition:
In a copycat league such as the NBA, scouts and executives are always looking for the next great talent that happens to remind them of some other team’s biggest star. In this case, we’ve seen a few quotes this year already comparing Rodney Stuckey to the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade. But is that really a fair comparison?
Physically, there are certainly some similarities. Standing a hair under 6-4 without shoes, with a great frame, a 6-7 wingspan, and solid athletic ability, Stuckey passes the eye test and then some. He is strong and quick, with a powerful first step, and has great body control putting the ball on the floor and making his way to the rack.
In terms of his style of play, Stuckey reminds of Wade to a certain extent as well, although he is obviously nowhere near as naturally talented. He has very nice ball-handling skills with either hand, being the main facilitator of his team’s offense, and likes to push the ball up the floor in transition. His footwork is outstanding, and he’s able to draw plenty of fouls through the work he does from the triple-threat position, either getting his man to bite on a pump-fake or going to the basket after utilizing a big time crossover and stopping on a dime from mid-range. Stuckey can also go into the post a bit to punish smaller, weaker matchups, showing really nice toughness in the process. His bread and butter, though, by far, lies in his mid-range game.
Considering Detroit’s starting backcourt of Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton jump-shooters (yes, until I have reason to believe otherwise I’m still banking on Chauncey returning), I’m excited about Stuckey’s ability to get into the paint and score, but it’s also nice to see that’s not all that he can do. Usually the term “combo guard” is reserved for short shooting guards, regardless of whether he can actually play the point. But DraftExpress suggests Stuckey does have some point guard skills:
Stuckey is more than just a pure scorer, though, he’s also pretty good at creating for others too. His court vision is very solid, particularly threading the needle to cutters from the perimeter, driving and dishing in traffic, or finding open teammates in transition. Despite the 17+ shots he took per game, he doesn’t come off as a selfish player when watching him on tape, even when Eastern Washington played against much more talented opponents like Washington or Gonzaga and he was forced to shoulder a considerable amount of the scoring load. He did average 5.5 assists per game on the season after all.
That doesn’t mean that Stuckey is necessarily ready to be a point guard either, though. For one, his decision making skills can be really poor at times, forcing up ill-advised shots early in the shot-clock, lowering his shoulder and driving into a brick wall, or trying to make high degree of difficulty passes in half-court sets, leading to unnecessary turnovers.
OK, so he’s not without his faults, but bear in mind that when he was in college he was far and away the most talented guy on his team. I’d like to think that when he’s asked to run the point in the NBA he’ll make smarter decisions, in part because he knows that with the talent around him he won’t have to do it all himself. From the Free Press:
Dumars called each player “battle-tested.” Stuckey’s fight came as a small-school, small-conference guard trying to make a name for himself and win games without a strong supporting cast.
“He had to be the guy who had to do everything for his team,” Dumars said.
Stuckey will be asked to back up point guard Chauncey Billups — assuming he returns as an unrestricted free agent — and shooting guard Richard Hamilton. Stuckey has no qualms about that.
Asked whether he played much at the point in college, the 6-foot-5 guard said, “Every play.”
In other words, he did it all.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Stuckey said. “I had to bring the ball up, get into the offense and get into my position. I’m really comfortable in the one spot, and if I need to play the two, I can do that. Whatever they need me to do, I’m willing to do that.”
Right now, the Pistons have a bit of a glut at the guard position, but that could change if Lindsey Hunter retires and Flip Murray is traded (which Chris McCosky thinks will happen). There’s also a new “Rip Hamilton to the Sonics” rumor, but I’m putting little to no weight in that just yet (read the article, it’s a second-hand account of what someone heard on talk radio … not exactly what I’d call credible info.)
No matter what happens, it looks like Stuckey will be the first guard off the bench backing up both spots in the backcourt, and if Dumars’ mandate to reduce the minutes for starters holds true, that could result in a solid 20 minutes a game.
For more scouting reports/profiles on Stuckey, keep reading after the jump … Continue reading ‘The “Rodney Stuckey is a Piston” post’
PISTONS PICKS:
Round 1: No. 21 — Rodney Stuckey, No. 27 — Aaron Afflalo
Round 2: No. 27 (57 overall) — Sammy Mejia
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Evening, Pistons devotees! PostmanE from the always moderately better than average We Are The Postmen, as well as the AOL FanHouse, here, setting up the structural component most necessary for draft discussion — the Official Detroit Bad Boys Draft Thread. Consider this your one-stop shop for Pistons draft discussion. I’ll be updating each time the Pistons make a selection, as well as when other notable picks take place. (Who’s it going to be? Oden? Durant? Or … Tiago Splitter? Hmmmm.)
So, here we are. To be perfectly honest, you commenters will definitely know much, much more about the Pistons and their needs than I do, as I am a Bulls fan and do my best to ignore the Crucial Motor Engine Parts until they inflict the annual early-round exit for the Bulls. Therefore, analysis will be largely left up to you. And please be gentle.
Since we’re about an hour away, I’ve got a question.
Surely you remember the Grant Hill-era teal and black and yellow uniforms. (Who could forget them?) While perhaps the real question here is “What were they thinking?”, my question is: What’s with the horse? Is a horse a piston, too? Or was that simply the most intimidating thing the Pistons design staff could come up with? Discuss amongst yourselves; back in an hour.
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7:oo: Well, this actually starts in another half hour. For some reason, I didn’t know that.
In any case, the big story so far is Joakim Noah’s suit. Henry Abbott mentioned Noah’s suit prediction to his father in a post earlier today — Noah called his suit “so funky” — but it simply exceeds all expectations. Bow tie, triple-breasted, cream and tan pinstripes … it’s truly a thing of beauty.
7:42: I’ll try to keep the non-Pistons stuff to a minimum, but for the sake of posterity, Greg Oden was just selected by the Blazers No. 1 overall. No real surprise there, but it’s hard not to think that the Trail Blazers missed a huge opportunity to start Sergio Rodriguez, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, Zach Randolph, and LaMarcus Aldridge for the next six years. Then again, it is Greg Oden.
Also, apparently, Boston is going to trade their No. 5 pick, Delonte West, and Wally Sczerbiak to the Sonics for Ray Allen. And Seattle just drafted Kevin Durant. Again, no surprise, but now it’s clear that the Sonics are going to dump Allen and build around KD.
(Also, the post might have just been set to Private for some reason. Should be all fixed now.)
8:00: Things are falling into place basically as expected. Al Horford went No. 3 to the Hawks — weee, another forward! — and the Grizzlies took Mike Conley at No. 4. At No. 5, the Celtics just picked Jeff Green for Seattle. So, to shake things down, Seattle gets: Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Delonte West and Wally Sczerbiak’s contract and shooting. The Celtics get: Ray Allen. Not a bad pick-up for the Celts, considering they can start Pierce, Jefferson, and Allen together. And the Supersonics are set for years. The Bucks just took Yi, and Fran Frischilla just described him as “new school, hip hop, 50 Cent.” Riiighhhhht.
8:28: The Bulls, in case you’re interested, just selected Joakim Noah. As my cohort PostmanR just mentioned (we’re both Bulls fans; be gentle) hopefully Skiles doesn’t make him shave his head or something. But everyone’s happy here: the Bulls get a great motor guy who also happened to have NCAA success, and the Chicago beat writers get a better quote than the stylings of Ben Wallace. Win-win!
9:05: PISTONS SELECT RODNEY STUCKEY. The many mock drafts were correct — Stuckey it is. Jay Bilas just called him a poor man’s Dwyane Wade. Thoughts?
9:15: The Knicks just traded Steve Francis and Channing Frye for Zach Randolph and some pieces. Had to figure Randolph was going to wind up somewhere, but I would never have thought it was going to be the Knicks. Kudos to Isiah? Feels weird saying that.
10:20: PISTONS SELECT AARON AFFLALO. Detroit just selected the Pac-10 Player of the Year, a guy I’ve had the opportunity to watch in person several times. Good shooter, great defender, bad ballhandler, good character guy who’s gone through a lot during his poor Compton upbringing. Seems like a great teammate, which will have to make up for a skill set probably best suited for the role he played in college. In any case, the Pistons have definitely drafted in their guard template tonight (big, physical), something Jay Bilas has been happy to remind us of. So, what do the DBB commenters think?
10:47: Apparently the Bobcats are going to trade their first-round pick, Brandan Wright, to the Warriors for Jason Richardson. I told you I was a Bulls fan, so it’s probably no surprise to you that Michael Jordan is my favorite player of all time … but man, is that a bad trade for the Bobcats. I know Morrison struggled last year, and I know Gerald Wallace can be hit or miss, but what the hell? Jason Richardson is probably slightly above average, but he’s certainly not a franchise-changer — and Brandan Wright could be, given enough time to develop. Since when are the Bobcats in a hurry to win? Baffling.
11:02: Easily my least favorite player in the draft, Josh McRoberts, was just chosen by the Trail Blazers. It gives me great pleasure that this incredibly overrated, whiny d-bag — seriously, he cried during a game — fell all the way to the third hour of this draft. Cheers to that.
12:00: PISTONS SELECT SAMMY MEJIA. Just as the clock strikes midnight, and my sense of fatigue grows into a full-on fight with impending sleep, the Pistons mercifully select Mejia. I’d be lying if I said I knew much about Mejia, so, Pistons fans: what do you think? As always, throw your opinions in the comments.
And that will just about do it for me. Thank you for reading and checking it out, and while we may be rivals in ideology — Go Bulls! — we are forever united by our mutual love of Detroit Bad Boys. Catch you on the flipside, if people still say that.
(BTW, I totally ganked the “mock roundup idea” from Bullets Forever. Just saying.)
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.)
Of all the guys the Pistons might have a chance to draft, two guys have become personal favorites of mine: Nick Young and Acie Law. Depending on what mock draft you’re looking at, one or both might be available at No. 15, though it’s just as likely they’ll each be off the board.
When looking at the list of players the Pistons had recently worked out (a list which has since expanded to 32 players in all), I noticed that Law was conspicuously missing. What gives? Chris McCosky explains in his blog:
Why didn’t the Pistons work out Acie Law. Two reasons: They know him extremely well. George David has seen him play countless times and Law works out in the summer with Chauncey Billups. Secondly, it would be a minor miracle if he’s still around at 15. Most have him going to the Hawks at 11. But if he falls, the Pistons would probably snap him up in a heartbeat.
Well, that’s nice to hear — excepting, of course, the whole “minor miracle” part.
Update: Seems there may have been a third reason: Law canceled his workout with the Pistons. DBB reader Jeff points us to this article from ESPN Insider’s Andy Katz on June 11:
“Meanwhile, it looks like you can lock in Texas A&M senior guard Acie Law no lower than No. 14 to the L.A. Clippers. Law told ESPN.com as much in Orlando, and then he canceled his workout with the Pistons at No. 15.”
In other Law news, I spotted this tidbit on TrueHoop from Penn’s Steven Danley, writing for the NY Times:
When we were preparing to play Texas A. & M. in the tournament, the scouting report pointed out an amazing stat. In the last two minutes of close basketball games, Law outscored the entire opposing team. It wasn’t until we actually played him that I understood what that stat meant. For most of the game Law was content to set up his teammates, trying to involve everyone in the game. Coming down the stretch in the second half he went for the jugular and ran off a couple of quick buckets to put us away. Say what you want about his skills or his quickness, but if you have to win a game, you want this kid on the court.
If the Hawks go big with the No. 3 spot, I can’t see them passing up on a point guard at No. 11 — and Law is definitely more a sure thing at a leadership position than Georgia Tech freshman Javaris Crittenton, who has potential but is still raw. Although, for what’s it’s worth, there’s no guarantee the Hawks will even be using their No. 11 pick — if you believe the rumors coming out of SLAM-ville. So you never know.
Random bits and pieces I wanted to mention before they fall through the cracks:
- I made a list of Detroit’s top 10 athletes for FanHouse — how’d I do? Leave your list in the comments over there.
- The Sonics hired Sam Presti away from the Spurs to be their new general manager, and one of Presti’s first moves was to hire Scott Perry, formerly Detroit’s director of player personnel, to be his new assistant GM.
What this means for Detroit is … I don’t have a clue. I know Perry’s main job responsibilities for the Pistons had him intimately involved with scouting prospective draft picks, but I honestly don’t know how much input he had on the team’s final decisions. Either way, I’m happy for the guy — he first joined the Pistons as a college scout in 2000 and has steadily moved up in organization, and this seems like a pretty big break.
- Natalie from Need4Sheed has John Hammond’s ear … or at least his business card.
- Kobe and KG and Marion have (not really) been traded!
- An interesting theory about Alex Acker’s immediate future from the guys at PistonsForum.com.
- Is Mark Champion, radio play-by-play guy, taking a shot at Rasheed Wallace?
Following back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and ‘90, the Bad Boys began losing their balance on that slippery slope called complacency. The 1990-91 season was the beginning of the end – the famous walkoff led by Isiah Thomas following a Chicago Bulls sweep in the Eastern Conference finals.
The following season saw the urgency of winning replaced by the complacency of “been there, done that.”
A first-round loss to the New York Knicks would end a five-year run that stamped the Detroit Pistons as one of the NBA’s elite franchises. During the dog days of that season, Daly urged me to watch closely during a timeout. Look at the body language of the players. Look at their eyes. It was a window to the soul of the team.
Dennis Rodman would be sitting on press row, several feet from the nerve center. …
Replace “Dennis Rodman” with “Rasheed Wallace” and Champion sounds a lot like Chris Sheridan.
- If you haven’t listened to Chad Ford’s interview with Joe Dumars over at ESPN, I recommend you do so. There’s a lot of interesting tidbits there, many of which were highlighted by MLive.com’s Full-Court Press as well as Keith Langlois at Pistons.com.
Ford always scores incredibly insightful interviews with Dumars. Does he simply not make himself available for these types of things with the local press? Because he never seems to reveal quite as much to them as he does Ford.
Also, if you’re looking to satisfy your mock draft jones …
- I’m no good at mock drafts (all I know about most of these college players I learned reading other mock drafts over the past few weeks), but that hasn’t stopped me from participating in a few. Over at the FanHouse, Spencer Hawes was available at No. 15, so I took him. I haven’t seen him falling that far anywhere else, but I imagine the Pistons would be intrigued with him there, right? Since I went big early, I went small late, going with Marco Belinelli with the 27th pick.
- In a mock draft conducted at Ballhype, though, I had them going with Rodney Stuckey and Sean Williams …
- … and in the one at SB Nation, I went with Nick Young and Daequen Cook. In hindsight, that Cook pick was probably a bad/unrealistic move, at least following the selection of Young.
What can I say, I’m not really that good at mock drafts. You guys sound pretty intelligent, though.
There’s really nothing cooking these days in terms of actual Pistons news, but I can point you in the direction of a pretty interesting (and on-going) mock draft. The guys at SB Nation have organized a draft with bloggers representing each team, and Indy Cornrows (whose Pacers don’t actually have a first-round pick) is posting the results.
So far there have only been six picks, and at this rate it’ll probably be at least Friday until I get a chance to throw out a name for the Pistons. The picks made thus far are below (with the representing blog in parenthesis):
- Greg Oden, Blazers (Blazers Edge)
- Kevin Durant, Sonics (SonicsCentral)
- Al Horford, Hawks (Impending Firestorm)
- Mike Conley, Jr, Grizzlies
- Yi Jianlian, Celtics (Green Bandwagon)
- Brandon Wright, Bucks (With Malice)
The way they’re doing this draft allows teams to make realistic trades and whatnot if we so choose, but I like Detroit’s chances to grab decent player (and most likely a point guard) at No. 15. I’ll probably mention the mock draft again to solicit input once it comes closer to being my pick, and I’ll try to update this list as time permits. We’ve already been talking about the draft for the last couple of weeks, but feel free to campaign for your favorite player in the comments if you want to influence who I announce as Detroit’s choice.
Update: OK, here’s the update:
- Corey Brewer, T’Wolves (I heart KG)
- Al Thornton, Bobcats (Blogcats / Bobcats Planet)
- Spencer Hawes, Bulls (Blog-A-Bull)
- Acie Law, Spurs (Kings traded down … ) (Pounding the Rock)
- Javaris Crittenton, Hawks (Impending Firestorm)
Both Law and Crittenton are off the board — damn it!
- Jeff Green, Sixers (Passion and Pride)
- Julian Wright, Hornets
The Clippers are due up, and then me picking for the Pistons. I hate the fact Joakim Noah is still available — he wouldn’t exactly fit on the Pistons, but he has to go sooner or later, right? Is he a better pick than Rodney Stuckey or Nick Young, who’d actually fill a need for the Pistons?
Update: The blogger representing the Clippers ended up trading the 14th pick to the Suns (in exchange for the 24th and 29th). That guy took Noah, I took Nick Young from USC — here’s the write-up I included:
After trading Carlos Delfino to the Raptors, we were in need of a perimeter player who could back up both Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton. Young fits the mold. He should provide instant offense off the bench, hopefully helping prevent quite as many long stretches where the team struggles to find the bottom of the basket. The moment he signs a contract he’ll be one of the few players on the team who can create his own shot. Plus, his midrange game is strong, so he should also be able to contribute within the flow of the game.
I got all of that from piecing together various scouting reports (as well as this interview with Young by my FanHouse colleague Nate Jones). Who knows if it’s true — I don’t watch college ball, so I haven’t seen him play.
For the majority of the year, I’m willfully ignorant of college basketball. I usually participate in a tournament pool with some friends, but even then my entire bracket is based on how teams are seeded. So with that in mind, I’m usually a step behind many of you when it comes to evaluating potential draft picks and what they’d bring to the table to Detroit’s roster.
I know there are a handful of prospects who the Pistons can’t afford to pass up regardless of position should they fall to No. 15, but assuming there aren’t any huge bargains, I’m assuming the Pistons will go for a point guard. Ideally, that guy will be a backup his first few years, but in the (unlikely?) scenario that Chauncey Billups doesn’t return, I’d like the team nab someone who could potentially start from Day 1. It’d be nice if this guy could play both spots in the backcourt, and I’d place a premium on getting to the hoop over long-distance range. Does this player exist? I have no idea.
One name I’m hearing more and more frequently (although it could just be due to the echo chamber effect of reporters repeating each other) is Rodney Stuckey. Some people say Stuckey has been telling people the Pistons have promised to draft him if he’s available at No. 15, but his agent refutes the claim. From DraftExpress:
Stuckey’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, told us in response that “This rumor was started and perpetuated by other agents, and all will see that Stuckey will continue to workout and definitely for teams with picks before the 15th. I’ve heard it from teams also, and I have told them this also. “
A. Sherrod Blakely also isn’t sure about the rumor:
For one thing, the Pistons haven’t worked out any players yet because of a new league rule which wouldn’t allow teams to start working out players individually until June 5. It makes no sense to guarantee a player, when you haven’t really had a chance to see, on an individual, one-on-one basis, your other options.
And while I think Stuckey is a decent player, I just don’t see him being THAT kind of a talent to where you would be pressed to guarantee him a first-round spot.
Then again, this whole draft process will be different than previous ones for Detroit. Because of the new rule for working out players, the Pistons - like a lot of playoff teams - are a lot farther behind than they would like. Usually Detroit has had at least a dozen players in by now for workouts. In the past, they brought them in during the home playoff games.
The reason they didn’t plan any workouts for this week was because they expected to be in the NBA Finals which, at this point, would have probably meant they were on the road for Games 1 and 2. Because of that, they didn’t anticipate bringing guys in until sometime early week.
By the time their season ended, Detroit was left scrambling to try and arrange workouts, while most of the players they’re interested in already had stuff lined up.
For what it’s worth, Blakely thinks Stuckey could go to the Pistons if he has a good workout but otherwise expects him to go later in the first round. So what kind of player is Stuckey? He’s a 6-5 “combo” guard, which is usually a nice way of saying he’s primarly a two-guard but knows how to pass. He averaged a bit more than 24 points a game in two years with Eastern Washington. Never heard of Eastern Washington? According to a scout who spoke with Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, that shouldn’t be held against him:
Said one Eastern Conference scout: “If this kid was playing at Washington, instead of Eastern Washington, people (would be) talking about him as a top 10, maybe top seven or eight player, in this draft.”
Stuckey is a fearless, tough guard with a great shooting touch. Out of high school, he would’ve gone to the Pac -10, but he didn’t have the grades to become eligible as a freshman.
“And even with that, I love the fact that he became an academic all-conference student,” the scout said. “That tells you something about his determination.”
Okay, he has my attention. Other prospects I’ve been keeping an eye on include Mike Conley (not because I think he’ll be available but just in case the Pistons trade up), Acie Law (whose been Ian’s personal favorite for a while) and Javaris Critteron … but like I said, all I know about them are the profiles I’ve read online. Can anyone fill me in? Are there any die-hard college basketball fans out there who have watched enough games to create their own opinion about what point guard the Pistons should target?
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