NBA Draft 2019: Detroit should consider Robert Franks, Zach Norvell Jr. or Jared Harper at 45

The NBA Draft is normally the crapshoot of all crapshoots, but this year it seems especially true. It’s Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and just a bunch of other guys that don’t really seem that appealing. Certainly that’s not fair, yet that’s what most of the media and basketball know-it-alls would have you believe. Point blank, there’s going to be a handful of excellent players to come from this draft, and most certainly they will be scattered around the whole draft.

So, good news, right? The Pistons have the 45th pick in the draft (well, now as I write this, the 30th pick too! — via a Woj bomb) in addition to their 15th pick in which they’ll most definitely draft Bol Bol and put Blake Griffin at the three and play Bol at the four with Drummond at the five. Take that, league!

Let me quickly get to some second round picks that the Pistons should consider at No. 45.

ROBERT FRANKS

The Pistons need shooting — I think we’ve beaten that horse to death. A player that might be available in the second round at pick No. 45 is Robert Franks out of Washington State University*. He’s 6-foot-9 and can shoot the three ball. He also has a 7-foot-3 wingspan.

Really, I’m not fooling you, Franks can shoot the living daylights out of a basketball. His junior and senior season saw him put up about seven three-pointers per game and connect on over 40 percent of them. Franks worked out with Detroit on June 12th and you’ll find Franks mocked in the late second in a few mock drafts. What holds him back is lack of a diversified offensive game, plus just average athleticism. He may be a prime undrafted free agent pickup option. Though, I’d jump on him if I were Detroit.

*Current NBA players that suited up at Washington State University are Aron Baynes and Klay Thompson. That’s it. Just two of them. In fact, there’s only 16 of them all-time.

If there’s one NBA player I’d look at as a comparison to Franks, it would be old friend of the program Anthony Tolliver.

ZACH NORVELL JR.

I mentioned Norvell Jr. on the Inside The Cylinder podcast talking about the 2019 NBA Draft, published on Monday. The 6-foot-5 Norvell Jr. worked out with the Pistons on June 13th. He’s a quick trigger lefty with a smooth game, but did struggle from the field at just 43 percent his second and final season at Gonzaga. When he’s right, he’s a deadly shooter with the ability to score at the rim as well — but when he’s not right, he’s a wild chucker.

This is his bread and butter:

JARED HARPER

The 5-foot-10-ish backup point guard of the future, Jared Harper, everybody. He’s lightning quick, a capable long range shooter (37 percent his junior season on eight tries per game) and has some grit in him. How’s that for cliche talk?

I enjoyed watching Jared in the tournament with basketball powerhouse Auburn making a long run. Jared is slated in the second round in a decent portion of mocks.

Anyway, did I mention he’s lightning quick?

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Bad Boys Nation — what do you think about these shooters at No. 45?