The Pistons will enter Thursday’s draft with plenty of holes to fill.
They may not be as big as they’ve been in year’s past, but there are plenty of questions as to which direction the Pistons go with their second round pick. Do they go with an established senior or an unproven freshman? Do they draft and stash?
Let’s go with the former, Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas.
WHAT CHRISTMAS DOES WELL:
He dunks. He rebounds. He blocks shots.
Christmas doesn’t bring a ton to the table, but the traits he does have are important ones. He’s got legitimate length with a 7-foot-5 wingspan and he’s an active rebounder. There could be concerns about his height at 6-foot-9, but he’s got the athleticism and length to nullify some of that.
There aren’t a lot of guys in the second round who bring specific skills like Christmas. You’ve got athletes and shooters and defenders, but Christmas brings NBA-ready rebounding and athleticism. There are concerns that he’s a bit old at 23, but that’s kind of how the second round goes.
If you’re not gambling on an 18 year old whose name you cannot pronounce, you’re gambling that a college senior still has room to adjust and fit in most of the time. It’s pretty astonishing to see Christmas’ jump in production this past season.
After averaging 5.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 23.6 minutes per game as a junior, Christmas exploded this past season with averages of 17.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
It’s lost in the shuffle a bit because Christmas did that in a year where Syracuse was ineligible to play in the NCAA tourney. I don’t know if that jump is a good thing or bad thing for his future. But it’s intriguing to say the least.
WHAT CHRISTMAS DOESN’T DO WELL:
Christmas was a fantastic defender his senior season, but he’ll face the same stigma as previous Syracuse big men: How well can he adjust to playing man defense in the NBA?
It’s well-documented that Jim Boeheim has made a living with his 2-3 zone at Syracuse. We’ve seen a number of players — like Fab Melo or Hakeem Warrick — thrive as defensive anchors in that system.
Both struggled to adjust in the NBA, and Melo washed out while Warrick found his niche as a role player.
Christmas has a lot of similar traits to Warrick. Both were raw offensive players – though Warrick developed a jumper in the pros — and both were instinctive shot blockers. I don’t see Christmas as a hidden gem, but I don’t think he’s that dangerous of a selection.
If you think about roles in the NBA, the fourth or fifth big man is near the bottom of the list. They’re niche players expected to bring rebounding and defense to the table. Christmas’ biggest challenge is going to be mastering those two traits while playing his ass off.
Unless you’re an elite shot blocker (see: Joel Anthony) or an elite rebounder (see: Reggie Evans), you’ve got to play hard and bring all you can to the table. I don’t think there’s any reason to believe Christmas can’t give you a little bit of both, but he’s going to have to get used to man defense.
If you can’t figure out rotations and figure out when to help, those 5-10 minutes per game that might be up for grabs are going to somebody who knows what they’re doing.
SHOULD THE PISTONS TAKE HIM AT NO. 38?
There are two routes you can take in the second round.
One is play it safe, and that’s drafting a college vet like Christmas. He’s been productive in major college basketball, he has all the tools you’d want from a bench player and he’s (hopefully) not going to be leaned on. You can bring him along slowly and hope you’ve stumbled onto a role player ala Lavoy Allen.
There’s also a side that thinks it’s smarter to go the draft-and-stash route. There are a number of European prospects like Cedi Osman or Mouhammadou Jaiteh, who would make great draft and stashes.
The Pistons don’t need production from their second round pick, you know, unless that guy forces his way into the lineup. It’ll be hard enough for last season’s second rounder Spencer Dinwiddie to find time if Brandon Jennings is healthy.
If you want to play it safe in the second round, Christmas should be at the top of your list. He could potentially provide the same overall impact that Joel Anthony did this past season at a fraction of the cost. But if you’re like me, go for it all in the second round.
I’d rather dig for a first-round talent than scrape the bottom of the second-round barrel.