He's a 6-6 swingman taken 59th overall out of Virginia Tech. He's being hailed as a so-so offensive player capable of locking down on defense, which sounds like Pistons material to me. For his sake, here's to hoping he has a future in the league beyond Detroit's summer league team and training camp roster. Good luck, Deron, you face an uphill battle.
Update: well, at least he has an entertaining YouTube mix, which is more than can be said about Walter Sharpe and Trent Plaisted:
I usually don't like putting two videos in one post, but this is slick, courtesy Dan Steinberg:
As impressive as those dunks are, Washington admitted to Steinberg that he can't even palm a basketball. He makes up for it with a 40-inch vertical, though. You might also enjoy this list of YouTube vids courtesy of Wikipedia.
DraftExpress wasn't impressed with Washington at the Portsmouth Invitational in April:
While there were flashes of ability at multiple points throughout the week, Washington confirmed what we already knew about him: he is a tremendous athlete with a poor basketball IQ and plenty of skill development needed. Defensively he gambled excessively and seemed to play with a reckless abandon that had to make those around him nervous, as his play frequently borders on dirty. Most concerning was his poor body language and the way he just didn’t seem to fit in with anyone else on the team, not cheering his teammates on, and showing very little regard for making anyone except himself look good.
If you thought that was bad, Awful Announcing was appalled by Washington's performance in January's Duke/Va. Tech contest:
It was well documented how dreadful Paulus' flopping was against FSU, but his antics were nothing compared to Deron Washington's show last night. In a game against Duke the Virginia Tech Forward proceeded to flop, trip players, try to get into the Duke huddle, start a fight with Paulus, AND undercut Demarcus Nelson on a dunk attempt.
[...] It's one thing to flop and look like a complete idiot (*ahem* Paulus) but actually trying to injure people during a game is unforgivable. That undercut of Nelson was premeditated and dirty as hell. Washington should be suspended for at least a game if not more.
The video that accompanied that post has already been pulled from YouTube, but that sounds pretty awful. In fact, that sounds ... like Bill Laimbeer. Hey, I just found tonight's silver lining!