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Stan Van Gundy has a lot of work to do this offseason to remake his Pistons roster in a way that matches his style of play. And while Van Gundy has always matched his schemes to his talent, he has already gone on record and said that the team will look to add perimeter shooting in the offseason.
2014 NBA Draft
It is the Pistons' most glaring offensive weakness and Van Gundy has always prioritized the value of the 3-pointer in both his previous coaching stints in Miami and especially Orlando. But Van Gundy was dealt his first major blow as a part of the Pistons organization as Detroit lost its pick No. 9 pick to the Charlotte Hornets as part of the Ben Gordon trade of two years ago.
Now, Doug McDermott isn't walking through that door. And neither is Nik Stauskas. Nor is James Young.
Currently, the Pistons have only the No. 38 pick overall but the team could still prioritize a perimeter shooting threat with that pick. To help identify possible draft picks that could help the Pistons' 3-point shooting woes I compiled a list of players who attempted more than four 3-pointers per game and shot at better than 38 percent from deep.
I then used the players on Chad Ford's Big Board of top 100 draft prospects from 20-100 and SB Nation's top 60 prospects to get a sense of the best 3-point shooters that have a shot at an NBA career. That left the following 10 players as possible Pistons draft picks. Or, 11, actually, as I kept one player on the board that is likely to be gone:
Chad Ford Rank | SB Nation Rank | Player | Class | Pos | Height | School | FG% | 3P% | FT% | 3P | 3PA | PPG | WS/40 |
23 | 27 | Shabazz Napier | SR | PG | 6'1 | Connecticut | 0.429 | 0.405 | 0.87 | 2.2 | 5.4 | 18 | 0.226 |
30 | 46 | C.J. Wilcox | SR | SG | 6'5 | Washington | 0.453 | 0.391 | 0.873 | 2.8 | 7.2 | 18.3 | 0.159 |
35 | 55 | Joe Harris | SR | SG | 6'6 | Virginia | 0.441 | 0.4 | 0.64 | 1.9 | 4.9 | 12 | 0.187 |
47 | 38 | Russ Smith | SR | SG | 6'0 | Louisville | 0.468 | 0.387 | 0.705 | 1.9 | 4.9 | 18.2 | 0.249 |
48 | 48 | Jabari Brown | JR | SG | 6'4 | Missouri | 0.467 | 0.41 | 0.797 | 2.3 | 5.6 | 19.9 | 0.178 |
64 | 54 | Lamar Patterson | SR | SF | 6'5 | Pittsburgh | 0.441 | 0.388 | 0.754 | 2.2 | 5.7 | 17.1 | 0.200 |
67 | Scottie Wilbekin | SR | PG | 6'2 | Florida | 0.402 | 0.39 | 0.725 | 2 | 5.1 | 13.1 | 0.181 | |
75 | Travis Bader | SR | SG | 6'5 | Oakland | 0.386 | 0.408 | 0.943 | 4.5 | 10.9 | 20.6 | 0.126 | |
82 | Langston Galloway | SR | PG | 6'2 | Saint Joseph's | 0.444 | 0.443 | 0.826 | 3.2 | 7.2 | 17.7 | 0.190 | |
91 | Langston Hall | SR | PG | 6'4 | Mercer | 0.4 | 0.391 | 0.85 | 2.4 | 6.1 | 14.6 | 0.198 | |
96 | Kendall Williams | SR | PG | 6'4 | New Mexico | 0.43 | 0.389 | 0.792 | 1.9 | 4.8 | 16 | 0.196 |
Napier is the only player on the list that is almost sure to be gone by the time the Pistons select, but I left him on the board as a possible draft target if the Pistons were going to attempt to trade up, possibly back into the first round.
It might be a little high to draft Joe Harris, but he does have the reputation as being perhaps the best pure shooter available in the draft and also has the size to capably play on the wing in the NBA. Russ Smith is an all-around scoring machine that is also armed with a 3-point shot, but if he can't learn to play point guard in the NBA then I'm not sure there is a spot for him in the league.
C.J. Wilcox would be an intriguing as he is a great shooter and quality defender. He's likely to fall because he is already 23 years old, but age concerns are less of an issue when you get into the No. 38 range.
What do you think of this crop?