The Detroit Pistons are due for some luck in tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery.
I mean, every team says that. And “luck” could also apply to the fact that top prospects like Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond and, depending on whether we’re still having the argument over whether he’s good or not, Brandon Knight have fallen to them later in recent draft lotteries. But if we’re defining “luck” solely as “moving into the top three,” the Pistons haven’t had any of it.
So it’s fitting that in a year where I’ll resort to begging for the Pistons to move up in the draft because they’ve been so deprived of opportunities to pick in the top three, the consensus top two prospects in the draft are big men who play best in the paint and would help recreate an often-lamented concern about the Greg Monroe-Andre Drummond pairing.
Who cares, though. You take talent and you sort it out later. So if the Pistons end up with the first pick, who should they take?
What Jahlil Okafor does well
Here’s my nuanced case for Okafor: this is what a basketball looks like in his hand. That’s sufficient, right? Here’s another argument.
But in case you’re one of those stat geeks out there who believes holding 13 tennis balls in your hands isn’t an actual “basketball skill,” I’ll offer a few other attributes. Okafor is an efficient offensive player who was rarely bothered defensively during his lone NCAA season. He finishes well around the basket, he’s crafty, he has great footwork and he passes well out of the post to perimeter shooters — something that should come in handy in Stan Van Gundy’s offense when he eventually gets around to adding players who define shooting as threes going in rather than taking a lot of threes.
What Karl-Anthony Towns does well
Karl-Anthony Towns played fewer minutes than Okafor due to Kentucky’s ridiculous depth, so we didn’t get a full look at how dominant he would’ve been as a primary option at the NCAA level, but his per-minute stats suggest he might be better than Okafor.
As tends to happen during the draft, because we’ve seen slightly less of Towns than Okafor, that tends to lead to a more favorable view of Towns’ upside and DraftExpress now lists him as the projected top pick.
That’s fine, too — Towns’ polished low post game rivals Okafor’s, he rebounds and he’s a better shot blocker than Okafor and, in what is sure to be welcome news to Pistons fans, he’s a center who hits free throws at an 81 percent clip. There’s nothing not to like here either — it’s easy to see Towns/Drummond erasing shots at the basket then racing each other down the court to smash Reggie Jackson lobs.
Towns also allegedly has the ability to shoot threes, though he didn’t do it much at Kentucy.
What they do poorly
I mean, I could nitpick Okafor’s poor free throw shooting or Towns’ foul proclivity and lack of minutes as detriments. But that’s clown behavior. Take either guy and be happy that you’ve added a beautiful baller to your team.
The Pistons have landed the No. 1 pick. Who should they take?
From a personal perspective, I tend to favor players like Okafor who have been productive in major roles. But Towns’ lack of major role was only a product of being on a team full of future NBA players, so I don’t really hold that against him. I’m a sucker for huge hands (put C-Webb on my all-time team at power forward) though, so I’m biased.
From the Pistons’ perspective, Okafor’s passing and existence in Coach K’s very modern NBA-style pace and space offense would be appealing. But if Towns’ shows that alleged stretch ability in workouts, it’s probably far more tempting to see if he could work in tandem with Drummond rather than trying another lane-clogging duo.
Or hey, drafting either Towns or Okafor also suddenly gives you the ability to explore Drummond trades which would be an interesting layer in this whole scenario.