Joe Dumars on passing on Trey Burke: Not a popularity contest

I'm a huge Trey Burke fan. So big, in fact, that I had a couple thousand words prepared if the Pistons selected him. If you're interested, I posted that up over on the SBNation Utah Jazz site, SLC Dunk. Like a lot of Michigan Wolverine fans, emotionally, I'm bummed. I've cheered hard for Trey. I'm invested in Trey. I felt terrible when they felt short of winning the national championship, and full of pride when he won player of the year.

Joe Dumars - rightfully - didn't factor hometown popularity into his draft selection. It seems as though he drafted based on need and talent, and as I wrote quickly, the stats suggest that Dumars made a solid decision.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>Dumars on not taking Burke: &quot;The draft really doesn’t come down to a popularity contest. It comes down to teams trying to fill their needs.&quot;</p>&mdash; Dave Pemberton (@drpemberton) <a href="https://twitter.com/drpemberton/statuses/350425540764766209">June 28, 2013</a></blockquote>