The Pistons' lucky charm Steve Scott Perry didn't bring them any luck last night, but he also didn't bring any bad luck. Detroit will pick right where they were slotted when the season ended -- at No. 7. How anti-climatic.
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Vince Ellis of the Free Press says the Pistons will probably select from the following list:
Wake Forest forward Al-Farouq Aminu, Syracuse small forward Wesley Johnson, Baylor power forward Ekpe Udoh, Georgetown power forward Greg Monroe, Kansas center Cole Aldrich and North Carolina power forward Ed Davis.
- Bob Wojnowski thinks Davis and Udoh are the most intriguing.
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Past No. 7 picks in the 2000s include:
Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon, Corey Brewer, Randy Foye, Charlie Villanueva, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Nene Hilario[us], Eddie Griffin, and Chris Mihm.
Richard Hamilton is also the product of a No. 7 pick.
- At the Draft Lottery party, at Bahama Breeze in Troy, George Blaha told Eli Zaret that he doesn't believe the Pistons are a bad basketball team to begin with and thinks they were a playoff team in 2009-2010 without all the injuries. He adds that it will be almost impossible for the Pistons, who could've picked as low as No. 10, to get a bad player. Bless you, Blaha.
- GM Joe Dumars spoke with Matt Dery after learning the Pistons would be selecting No. 7 overall. Dumars said that the team needs a player who will make an impact in the rotation right away. He also said they "will not add a big for the sake of adding a big," will explore every avenue they can, and do whatever it takes to get back on top.
- Chad Ford has the Pistons picking MFMP's boy (not really), Al-Farouq Aminu, in his recent mock. That would leave other prominent mock draftees, Ed Davis and Greg Monroe, still available.
- Pistons also have the option of trading the pick. Detroit could either attempt to move up via trade or package the pick for proven talent. Joe Dumars said that he will keep all his options open. For the record, according to Adrian Wojnarowski, Houston and Portland will be working hard to move up via trade with Minnesota and New Jersey. Could the Pistons potentially get in on that? After all, there's already an interesting trade hypothetical involving Detroit and Minnesota from DBB's finest.
- Obviously, it was a kick in the nuts to see the Philadelphia 76ers, who had the same 5.3% odds as the Pistons, actually get lucky. They will pick No. 2 overall, and have a ton of options, while we all jokingly blame the stupid coin toss.
- The Washington Wizards won the lottery behind the luck of soon-to-be-ex-majority owner, Irene Pollin and will pick No. 1 overall. But, really, is she some kind of shapeshifting freak of nature? ESPN didn't seem to know either, as they mis-identified her as the Nets new owner and the 76ers' Jrue Holiday during the lottery.
- Here's a brief look at the Pistons draft history in the first round, as if it's some kind of pump up video for 2010: