Detroit Pistons Draft Dreams: Marshon Brooks

The Pistons have too many players on the wings already, but if a high-motor, big-time scorer like Marshon Brooks somehow falls out of the first round and to Detroit’s pick at No. 33, he’s the type of hard-nosed guard Pistons fans have loved over the years and missed over the last few seasons.

Info

Measurables: 6-foot-5, 190 pounds senior G from Providence

Key stats: 24.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 blocks, 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48 percent from the field

Projected: Mid-to-late first/early second round

How would he help the Pistons?

At 6-foot-5, Brooks already has decent size for a NBA shooting guard. But if you factor in his massive wingspan, that makes him an even more unique prospect as a NBA two. You can see it in his numbers, as a guard he averaged more than a block a game as a senior at Providence. He’s also a fantastic rebounder for a guard, can shoot reasonably well from 3-point range (34 percent) and gets to the basket and finishes.

It makes sense that the Pistons are looking at other positions first in this draft, but they can’t be choosy. They don’t have a player on the entire roster right now, other than possibly Greg Monroe, who has shown he can be a key piece of a contending team. If the best player on the board is a shooting guard like Brooks, they can’t afford to let him pass by just because they are tied into contracts for flawed guards already.

How wouldn’t he help the Pistons?

Brooks’ biggest adjustment will have to be reigning in his shot selection. He was Providence’s offense, so the Friars played a free-wheeling style where Brooks had a lot of freedom to make decisions. He didn’t always make the best ones and forced things sometimes. He won’t be going to a NBA team, the Pistons or otherwise, that will give him that kind of freedom, so to earn minutes, he’s going to have to use his physical tools to make an impact defensively, which he should be fully capable of doing.

What are others saying?

From DraftExpress:

"Brooks’s overall improvement and efficiency can be seen in virtually all areas of his game, as evidenced by his excellent 31.2 PER, which currently ranks him among the top 20 players in the country. His biggest strength though, is his ability to create his own shot and score, as he’s averaging 23.8 points per game so far this season, which puts in him in the top five in the nation."

From ESPN:

"No player in this draft is drawing more late-in-coming raves than Marshon Brooks from Providence, in part because he’s physically similar to (Paul) George. But to get this much buzz it takes more than a Paul George comparison, and Brooks can thank none other than Kobe Bryant for his rapid mock-draft ascension."

From David Aldridge:

"He’s not a great shooter, but he’s a slasher who can explode for points coming off screens. But he’ll have to fight questions about whether he was just a good player on a bad team that didn’t make the NCAAs. ‘They didn’t play right,” a Western Conference scouting director said, ‘so a lot of his numbers came at the cost of winning, in my opinion.’ Brooks has made an interesting impression on at least a couple of scouts. ‘Whether it’s intentional or not, he tries to move around the court like Kobe,’ a Central Division executive said.”"

Hickory High’s Similarity Scores

Here’s a breakdown of how Ian Levy from Hickory High came up with his similarity scores.

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