Pistons 2016 NBA Draft Links: Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije are your newest Detroit Pistons

Wojo: Ellenson ideal fit for youthful Pistons -- Detroit News

On a wild night of dealing and dropping, the Pistons accepted a nice benefit, grabbing Henry Ellenson, a 6-foot-11 freshman center from Marquette, with the 18th pick. Stan Van Gundy didn't try to hide his shock about getting a prospect most projected to go in the top 12. The Pistons pegged him 10th, and were so confident he'd be gone, they didn't even bring him in for a workout.

It was appropriately strange, but then, the NBA draft gets stranger and stranger, loaded with more projects than players. The Pistons figured they'd land a project, but they might've stumbled across a player.

Safety first.

Ellenson was a solid pick, and you might even consider him a safe pick, because size doesn't need seasoning. Other parts of his game surely do, and he'll need to stretch his predominantly inside game out a bit farther for the Pistons' pick-and-pop action.

Ellenson is another piece, a big piece (body-wise) but don't bank on him being a big piece (immediate impact-wise). That's OK. Van Gundy wanted a workable, flexible player, a rotation-changer, and he might have gotten even more than that.

Henry Ellenson became a Piston in unintelligible chat with Andre Drummond -- MLive

We expected nothing less from the very outgoing and warm teammate Andre Drummond.

As Henry Ellenson fell down the NBA draft board and the frustration started to mount, a familiar face blinked onto his telephone.

It was the first alert that Ellenson received that he was about to become a Detroit Pistons player, and it came from their All-Star center, one pick before the Pistons actually selected the former Marquette power forward at No. 18 overall.

"I had a great Facetime from Andre Drummond the (pick) before. It was too loud to actually hear what he was saying but I had contact with him," Ellenson said.

Grade A from SI

What does SI think of the Ellenson selection?  Ben Quagliata will have more grades later today.

Grade: A. After the draft got topsy-turvy, it settled back into another terrific value pick. Able to score on the block, put it on the deck and hit an open jumper, Ellenson was No. 6 on my Big Board and is one of the most offensively skilled bigs in the class. The Pistons need shooters around Andre Drummond, and Ellenson — also a good rebounder — seems tailor-made for what Stan Van Gundy likes to do. This was a no-brainer choice.

Michael Gbinije happy to go to Detroit Pistons: 'My heart's still beating now'  -- Syracuse.com

"It's been a crazy day so far, a lot of anxiety, just waiting to hear your name called,'' Gbinije said. "So grateful for the opportunity right now, special shout-out to the Pistons. It's nice to know the team believes in me, and I'm ready to get it going.''

And a big shout-out to 2nd round selection (No.49) Michael Gbinije -- while it's not a sexy pick up, it sure does seem like a smart one.

The Champs get a little richer

Oakland University star 'point' guard Kay Felder (wanted by many Pistons fans, including me) was drafted in the 2nd round, No. 54 pick. The Atlanta Hawks made the pick, then the Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly bought the rights of former Oakland University guard for about $2.4 million. I'm pretty sure current point guard Matthew Dellavedova signs elsewhere in the offseason, so maybe Felder and veteran Mo Williams are the backup points guards for the Cavs next year.

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More to follow later -- now go eat your veggies, folks. More precisely, try and get your hands on some Wisconsin (insert vegetable here) in celebration of the quite tall and seemingly talented newest Detroit Piston, Henry Ellenson.