Who wil the Pistons draft?: Second-round picks
By Dan Feldman
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Here’s a look at where the second-rounders left on the board are projected to be picked:
| Name | .Net | DX | My | YS | Avg. | Avail. 35 | Avail. 39 | Avail. 44 |
| Toney Douglass | 29 | 39 | 34 | 39 | 35.3 | 50% | 50% | 0% |
| Danny Green | 45 | 42 | 42 | 44 | 43.3 | 100% | 100% | 75% |
| Dajuan Summers | 26 | 35 | 25 | 35 | 30.3 | 50% | 0% | 0% |
| Derrick Brown | 21 | 44 | 40 | 31 | 34 | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| Josh Heytvelt | 28 | 37 | 43 | 45 | 38.3 | 75% | 50% | 25% |
| Taj Gibson | 30 | 36 | 30 | 40 | 34 | 50% | 25% | 0% |
| Jeff Adrien | 41 | 44 | 46 | 43.7 | 100% | 100% | 75% | |
| Jermaine Taylor | 38 | 34 | 46 | 37 | 38.8 | 75% | 25% | 25% |
| Jerel McNeal | 43 | 50 | 56 | 52 | 50.3 | 100% | 100% | 75% |
| Dionte Christmas | 32 | 49 | 47 | 42 | 42.5 | 75% | 75% | 50% |
Key:
- .net: NBADraft.net
- DX: DraftExpress
- My: My NBA Draft
- YS: Yahoo! Sports (second round)
- Avg.: Average pick the mocks have that player chosen
- Avail. 35: Percentage of mocks that have the player available at the 35th pick
- Avail. 39: Percentage of mocks that have the player available at the 39th pick
- Avail. 4: Percentage of mocks that have the player available at the 44th pick
Half of the six first-round-only mocks I used in projecting the availability of first round picks have Summers, Brown and Gibson going in the first round. And two have Douglass taken in the first round, too.
I don’t think any of the four will be available at 35. So, that leaves the board like this:
Point guard
| Name | School | Height | Wingspan | Projected |
| Jrue Holiday | UCLA | 6’ 3.25” | 6’ 7” | 13 |
| Jeff Teague | Wake Forest | 6’ 0.25” | 6’ 7.5” | 20 |
| Toney Douglass | Florida State | 6’ 1” | 6’ 6” | 36 |
| Rodrigue Beaubois | France | 6’ 1.25” | 6’ 9.75” | 39 |
| Greivis Vasquez | Maryland | 6’ 4.75” | 6’ 7.25” | 56 |
Shooting guard
| Name | School | Height | Wingspan | Projected |
| Gerald Henderson | Duke | 6’ 4” | 6’ 10.25” | 12 |
| Terrence Williams | Louisville | 6’ 5” | 6’ 9” | 16 |
| Jermaine Taylor | Central Florida | 6’ 3.5” | 6’ 8.75” | 32 |
| Jerel McNeal | Marquette | 6’ 1.5” | 6’ 7.25” | 46 |
| Dionte Christmas | Temple | 6’ 4.25” | 6’ 9” | 59 |
Small forward
| Name | School | Height | Wingspan | Projected |
| Austin Daye | Gonzaga | 6’ 9.75” | 7’ 2.75” | 15 |
| James Johnson | Wake Forest | 6’ 7” | 7’ 0.75” | 18 |
| Sam Young | Pittsburgh | 6’ 5.25” | 6’ 10.75” | 25 |
| Danny Green | North Carolina | 6’ 5.25” | 6’ 10” | 35 |
| Damion James | Texas | 6’ 6.25” | 7’ 0.25” | 42 |
| Joe Ingles | Australia | 6’ 7.75” | 6’ 10.25” | 52 |
| Tyler Smith | Tennessee | 6’ 5.25” | 6’ 9.75” | No |
Power forward
| Name | School | Height | Wingspan | Projected |
| Dejuan Blair | Pittsburgh | 6’ 5.25” | 7’ 2” | 11 |
| Earl Clark | Louisville | 6’ 8.5” | 7’ 2.5” | 14 |
| Gani Lawal | Georgia Tech | 6’ 7.75” | 7’ 0” | 23 |
| DaJuan Summers | Georgetown | 6’ 7.25” | 7’ 0.75” | 31 |
| Derrick Brown | Xavier | 6’ 7.5” | 7’ 2.5” | 41 |
| Josh Heytvelt | Gonzaga | 6’ 10” | 7’ 1.25” | 50 |
| Taj Gibson | USC | 6’ 8.5” | 7’ 4” | 53 |
| Jeff Adrien | Connecticut | 6’ 5.25” | 7’ 2” | No |
There are five second-round targets remaining:
- Jermaine Taylor
- Jerel McNeal
- Dionte Christmas
- Danny Green
- Josh Heytvelt
- Jeff Adrien
Dumars has made three picks in the top half of the second-round – and he used them both on players who could play right away, regardless of their upside.
The first was Brian Cardinal, a scrappy, yet relatively unathletic, forward from Purdue. The second was Mehmet Okur, who had played professionally in Turkey and had a pretty polished offensive game.
After Detroit went 32-50 in 2000-01 (and in all odds, set to get another high pick the next year), Dumars traded his next second-rounder for Zeljko Rebraca. Rebraca became a 33-year-old rookie who was ready to compete right away – further proving Dumars looks to get safe players in the top half of the second round.
The exception is Walter Sharpe, who was picked 32nd last year based on his potential. But it appeared many of his problems could be attributed to his narcolepsy. It’s different taking a chance on a player when you have a clear solution to his problems – unlike most projects.
The Pistons would like to use two second-round picks on players who will play in Europe, according to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. But that article was written before Amir Johnson was traded. With another open roster spot, a second cheap player this year would probably come in handy. So, I’m going only project one pick to Europe.
Danny Green and Dionte Christmas are both good players with limited upside and seem like they’ll be around for the first two picks. Jerel McNeal, based on this Southtown Star article, seems like the type who would be willing to go Europe.
"Then, the Marquette junior declared for the draft but pulled out after he was named an alternate rather than rating an invitation to the NBA’s draft camp.“It could have changed in the next day or so, and guys might have dropped out and I could have told I was going to be in,” McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel at the time. “I’ve got one year left and an opportunity to do some great things (at Marquette) that are going to be very important to me down the line. I think staying here and being here for another year is much more important than actually going through that whole process, trying to squeeze out a spot when people may not necessarily want you.”"
Those three are my picks.
Second-round projections:
35: Dionte Christmas
39: Danny Green
44: Jerel McNeal