Greg Monroe could be available at No. 7

No, Greg Monroe isn’t DeMarcus Cousins, but he’s also not Ed Davis, who the Pistons have been linked to for around the past 48 hours. According to Andy Katz and Chad Ford’s latest mock preview, the draft is looking to shake out like this (barring any trades): 1. Wizards – Wall; 2. Sixers – Turner; 3. Nets – Favors; 4. Timberwolves – Wesley Johnson; 5. Kings – DeMarcus Cousins; 6. Warriors – Ekpe Udoh.

Katz writes that Golden State is intrigued by Udoh’s defensive prowess, and think he could be a “game changer” at that end. Unfortunately, he doesn’t indicate that the fact that Greg Monroe would be available would change the Pistons’ gameplan, writing that sources around the league expect Detroit to still select Davis.

Chad Ford, however, has updated his mock draft, and have the Pistons selecting Monroe with the seventh pick. Ford has always had good ties to the brass in Motown, so I am inclined to believe his reporting on the issue.

Of course, there could always be a mega-deal in the works. I’m crossing my fingers.

I’m going to be live-blogging the draft tonight, so for the six people that have stumbled onto this blog since I took over, you’ve got that to look forward to.