If you read only one story on the Detroit Pistons today, it should be this post at the latimes.com SportsNow blog. It's one in a series of posts about sports urban legends, and it is one that I was never even aware of:

BASKETBALL URBAN LEGEND: Allergies allowed the Detroit Pistons to, in effect, steal Dennis Rodman in the 1986 NBA Draft.

Wha-wha-what!?!?!

If you're not hooked right there, I'm not sure you're a Pistons fan. Then again, maybe I'm not a real fan because this came as a total surprise to me and the author of the post, Brian Cronin, thanks the authors of the 2002 book "The Detroit Pistons: More Than Four Decades of Motor City Memories," Steve Addy and Jeffrey Karzen, so maybe the story was first told 10 years ago.

And oh, what a story it is.

Long story short, Rodman was an unheralded player that blows up in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and gets every NBA talent evaluator's tongue wagging. Two poor showings in successive tournaments cools everyone's interest.

So how did the best player in the 1986 draft last until pick No. 27? The Pistons were smart and lucky enough to have an "ace in the hole" and knew there was something more to the story.

Luckily for the Pistons, they had an ace in the hole. Rodman's agent Bill Pollack was good friends with the Pistons' trainer, Mike Abdenour, and during the Chicago workouts, Pollack invited Abdenour to Rodman's room. Abdenour later recalled, "Dennis had allergies to almost everything. Cat hair, you name it. In Chicago, it was so hot and humid, the kid could hardly breathe, let alone play basketball."

Can I just say again how much I love that we have trainer wunderkind Mike Abdenour on our staff? I knew he was great before but if we can pretty much peg him as the reason that the Pistons were able to land one of the greatest defenders of all time, I think they should retire his uniform or maybe his awesome mustache.

And believe it or not, the story gets even better.

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Good question. And the answer is ... nobody but David Stern really knows, and for obvious reasons, he's not talking about that right now.

One option that's been discussed by a lot of people is simply using the same lottery odds from the 2011 draft -- an idea which seems a bit crazy to me, not to mention the half of the league that didn't have a lottery ball this past season.  TrueHoop's Kevin Arnovitz examines another possibility -- one that was actually used by the NHL when they were in this same situation several years ago:

Each of the 30 teams was rewarded three lottery "balls" to start the process, but lost one for each playoff appearance over the previous three seasons and for each time it had selected No. 1 overall in the previous four entry drafts. To make things interesting, the NHL guaranteed every team at least one ball, which means that elite teams that had qualified for every Stanley Cup playoff over the past several springs still had a shot for the No. 1 pick. 

And rather than stopping after the selection of the first lottery ball and slotting the remaining 29 teams in order of record/results, the NHL ordered the entire draft based on lottery selection. After Pittsburgh's ball was selected No. 1 (guaranteeing the Penguins a shot at signing Sidney Crosby), Anaheim, Carolina, Minnesota and Montreal followed -- even though none of the four was a "3-ball" team. 

If the 2011-12 NBA season were cancelled and the league opted for these criteria -- playoff appearances over the previous three seasons and No. 1 overall picks over the past four drafts -- here's how the 2012 draft lottery would be weighted:

3 balls: Golden State, Minnesota, New Jersey, Sacramento, Toronto

2 balls: Charlotte, Detroit, Houston, Indiana, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York, Phoenix, Washington

1 ball: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, San Antonio, Utah

I like it. Then again, I'm a bit of an anarchist when it comes to bucking tradition in favor of innovation. What do you think?

P.S. DBB has been stuck in the lockout doldrums the last couple of weeks, but we have some exciting news to share very soon. Stay tuned!

Kevin Pelton, writing for ESPN Insider, has come up with projected stat lines for next year's class of rookies using a formula that combines objective data (including college stats, strength of schedule and last year's offensive pace for their new team) and educated guesses (namely, playing time). How does Brandon Knight fare? Better than you might expect: 

Brandon Knight: 24.0 mpg, 8.0 ppg, 2.7 apg, 2.2 rpg

Knight gets plugged into the combo guard role played by Tracy McGrady for the Pistons a year ago. As compared to his predecessors at the point for John Calipari (Rose, Wall and Tyreke Evans), Knight is not nearly as ready to contribute immediately -- especially as a passer. The upside is that all of those players significantly outperformed their rookie-year projections because the NBA's rules regarding contact on the perimeter made them dangerous off the dribble.

If you trust Pelton's formula (I'm curious what kind of shooting numbers he projects), the key variable is playing time. Knight could easily eclipse 24 minutes a game if he's installed as a starter, but that's a big "if". Without a playbook for summer reading, without any coaching at summer league and with a (likely) shortened training camp, Knight's learning curve will be steep early in the season -- as would any teenager's with just one season of college under his belt.

Greg Monroe was able to do what he did last year by simply reacting to the play -- as he told me following Knight's introductory press conference, "They didn't really have any plays called for me." But as a point guard, Knight won't have that luxury. With that in mind, I suspect 24 minutes a game might be Knight's ceiling as a rookie, at least until/unless Joe Dumars clears up minutes by eliminating some of the competition in the backcourt. 

Random aside that may or may not be worth considering: Rodney Stuckey averaged 19.0 minutes as the No. 3 guard his rookie season in 2007-08, playing on a squad with much more clarity of roles.

Hat-tip to PistonPowered for the link

The vast majority of DBB's post-draft coverage has focused on Brandon Knight, but as I clear my notebook from Saturday's press conference, there are a couple of tidbits about Kyle Singler and Vernon Macklin. (This may be repetitive if you actually watched the presser -- I didn't have a chance to speak with Singler or Macklin one-on-one. But since I already transcribed this stuff, I may as well toss it up.)

• Detroit's front office got a good look at Macklin during a workout in Auburn Hills last Monday, mere days before the draft. His performance against more highly-touted competition sealed his status on Detroit's draft board. "Vernon was in to workout with [Bismack] Biyombo, Tristan Thompson, Keith Benson, Markieff Morris, and he was a warrior during the workout -- just an absolute warrior," Joe Dumars said.

"Physical, strong, defended well, scored the ball in the low post. And it was a guy that fits 'Detroit Basketball,' we like tough, hard-nosed guys here. And all of these guys are tough, hard-nosed ... Thats our stamp, that's who we are, that's who we've been, that's when we've been at our best. So when he came in and showed the way he did, we looked at him and said, 'Listen, if this guy is on the board at 52, if he's still there, that'd be an excellent pick for us."

Macklin explains his mindset during the workout: "I came in here and I wanted to play hard every possession. It was some great guys I was playing up against, so I just wanted to go in there and play physical, crash the boards and try to score in the low post. And I think I did a great job in doing so, and that's what helped me out today."

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Brandon Knight is not a finished product. 

He knows how to score, but he isn't terribly efficient. He has good length, but he's also rail thin. He can find the open man, but that man isn't always his teammate. There's no denying it: Brandon Knight has flaws.

Fortunately, he knows this. And at 19 years old, he has time to polish his game. Following his introductory press conference on Saturday, I asked Knight about the "combo guard" label he's already been dealt, and whether there are aspects of his game that he needs to improve. 

"Definitely, there's a lot that I need to work on," Knight said. "I'm still a very young player with a lot to learn. I can get better going left, better in pick and rolls, and better in decision making. Those are things that I'm going to have to get better at."

That said, Knight bristles at the notion that he can't run an offense. "I really do think people kind of undervalue my ability to run a team," he said, "even though I was able to the entire year and I proved that. But still some people are saying I can't run a team. But that's fine, it's something that I'll continue to show I can do."

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Joe Dumars officially introduced Brandon Knight, Kyle Singler and Vernon Macklin at a press conference in Auburn Hills on Saturday, and more than just the media turned out to see the three rookies. Quietly lurking in the back of the Detroit Pistons practice court was Greg Monroe, the team's young cornerstone. 

Shortly after the press conference, I joined a small handful of reporters to ask Monroe his thoughts about the draft, the upcoming lockout and the team's coaching search. 

"Like Joe said, we were very lucky," Monroe said. "All these guys weren't supposed to be available at the picks that we had. So for them to fall to us, we're lucky. We got a very good group of new players here.

"Brandon -- everybody knows about Brandon, how good he is, what kind of point guard he is. Kyle Singler brings that toughness, that versatility. And then Vernon brings another strong low-post body to come in, score in the post and protect the rim. So everything that we got, it's stuff that will help the team, definitely. I'm happy for all these guys, I'm happy they're going to be my new teammates."

But what about some help down low? I asked Monroe if he was surprised to see so many big men off the board by the time the Pistons drafted at No. 8. "Nah. Everybody has their opinions going into draft night, but no one really knows except for the teams," he said.

"So I wasn't surprised on draft night with the guys going early -- there were good guys going. We're definitely lucky to have Brandon, and Kyle and Vernon, but for those guys to go that early, I wasn't surprised at all."

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Self explanatory. Some winners, some losers, one Biyombo.

Atlanta Hawks
Picks:
Keith Benson (48)
Grade: C+

I don’t mind the Benson pick. It makes sense to take a chance on blocks and rebounding at the 48. The dude did a lot of things well, from shooting to getting to the line, albeit against mediocre competition. Not sure the Hinrich for first-rounder swap was a great plan. This team needs some pieces if it’s going to move on from Josh Smith.

Boston Celtics
Picks: JaJuan Johnson (27), E’Twaun Moore (55)
Grade: A-

Johnson projects as a spot up shooter, someone who can probably spell Kevin Garnett without hemorrhaging in any one particular area. If he falls in love with the three-point shot, though, he’ll be pretty useless. Similarly, E’Twaun Moore should have a shot to make the roster with his perimeter scoring. I’m not sure if I buy into the intangible benefit of bringing two players on from the same team, but it almost certainly can’t hurt, and both picks are old enough to contribute right away for a team making a last run at glory.

Charlotte Bobcats
Picks: Bismack Biyombo (7), Kemba Walker (9)
Grade B+

Ah, the difference a competent GM makes. Exploiting Milwaukee’s desperation to get rid of (a still useful) Corey Maggette, the Bobcats moved up in the draft to get a Biyombo AND unloaded a (not really useful) Stephen Jackson. The Walker pick takes it down a notch for me, although he makes more sense for that roster.

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It was miserable being a Detroit Pistons fan last year.

As if watching the games wasn't bad enough, we also endured far too many antics from whiny veterans who made the team a laughingstock. And because of a feckless front office handcuffed from actually doing its job, the poisonous culture stagnated without repercussion, ultimately costing John Kuester his job, perhaps costing Rodney Stuckey a long-term contract and permanently staining the legacy of Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince.

It remains to be seen how many of last year's disgruntled veterans will return, but it's clear that Joe Dumars was serious about infusing the locker room with high-character draft picks. The Pistons badly need a big man, but with the No. 8 pick Dumars opted instead for Brandon Knight, filling an important but less vital hole at point guard -- mostly because Dumars felt Knight was the best value but also because Dumars feels the young guard can be a positive influence in the locker room. 

"We think the kid has upside -- we think the kid is tremendously smart," Dumars said, according to Pistons.com, of Knight. "He has one of those incredible work ethics -- hours and hours and hours in the gym, totally dedicated – and what we feel is probably the most high-character guy in the draft. We were a little excited in the room.

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