Me at Detroit Free Press
"Bad news: The Detroit Pistons have just a 2.8% chance of moving up to No. 1 in Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery and picking the highly coveted Karl-Anthony Towns.Good news: They’ll still likely be positioned to leave next month’s draft with a player who fits their needs.Towns is not only the consensus top player in the draft, he’d complement Pistons cornerstone Andre Drummond on both ends of the court. Floor spacing has been a huge issue in Detroit, and Towns could finally solve that problem. He would also add explosiveness and lateral quickness to the defensive end, which makes him the best fit next to Drummond.After Towns, Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay and D’Angelo Russell are widely viewed as the three best prospects. None of the three meshes extremely well in Detroit, but if the Pistons nab a top-three pick (10% chance), they’d have options – draft a poor fit with more talent, reach for a lesser talent who fits better or, my favorite, try to trade down.More important – considering there’s a 72.4% chance the Pistons pick No. 8 – Okafor, Mudiay and Russell being rated so highly means better-fitting players should get bumped to the Pistons pick. (And though not a lock to go top seven like the other four, Willie Cauley-Stein, a poor fit with the Pistons, will also likely go before eighth.)Four of those players particularly excite me: Justice Winslow, Mario Hezonja, Kristaps Porzingis and Stanley Johnson.Winslow is the total package at small forward with few holes in his game. He also plays with an intensity comparable to Russell Westbrook. His athleticism allows him to guard three positions, and he might even match up with smaller power forwards. The only area Winslow could improve is his consistency on his jump shots, but his shooting stroke indicates that shouldn’t be a problem with repetition.Hezonja is similar to Winslow in a lot of ways. Both play with an elite intensity, possess excellent athleticism and have upper-tier defensive potential. But there are a few differences. Hezonja is an elite shooter and scorer, which should intrigue Stan Van Gundy. Hezonja might not be a finished product off the dribble yet, but that won’t matter much with the point guard primarily handling the ball in Van Gundy’s system. Another major difference between Hezonja and Winslow is Hezonja has an on-off switch motor. While Winslow plays all out every minute on the floor, Hezonja tends to coast at times. There are also character concerns that need to be examined closely before a team decides to draft him.Pistons fans might protest against Porzingis after the Darko Milicic experience, but give him a chance. Porzingis is a tremendous athlete at 7-foot with elite shot blocking and shooting ability. His lateral quickness will allow him to match up with any power forward or center and despite being slight in weight. His length more than makes up for any player positioning him in the low post. His weight does limit him in low post offensively, but that won’t matter early on in his career because he can play the perimeter extremely effectively. In fact, Van Gundy may prefer this on offense to give Drummond more room to work. Porzingis also crashes the glass well from the perimeter, which should help soften the blow should the Pistons lose Greg Monroe in free agency."
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