Detroit Pistons draft picks of the last 10 years: Where are they now?

2010 Draft

Round 1 Pick 7: Greg Monroe

It is strange to think that at one point Greg Monroe was looked at as the Pistons best player and the cornerstone for the future. Yet a brief 10 years ago, that is exactly what was transpiring. Monroe was a center out of the University of Georgetown that showed plenty of promise with the Pistons in his early years. During his rookie season, Monroe averaged 9.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

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He improved with a strong sophomore season, this year averaging 15.4 points, 0.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Monroe had established himself as a solid young NBA center and a promising cornerstone piece for the Detroit Pistons. The drafting of current franchise center, Drummond, in 2012 complicated things as the franchise was eventually forced to pick between the two centers.

In the 2014 offseason it appeared that the Pistons had made their decision offering only the qualifying offer to Monroe. Monroe agreed to this which would mean he would become an unrestricted free agent come the following summer in 2015.

Monroe finished out the season with the Pistons strong averaging a double-double (15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game) and in the offseason he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks ending his five season tenure with the Pistons averaging 14.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 steals per game for his career with the team.

Monroe played an integral role with the Bucks in his first two season with them from 2015-17 playing in 79 and 81 games respectively, although his minutes declined from his Pistons days. In the 2017-18 Monroe would be traded to the  Phoenix Suns in a deal for Eric Bledsoe.

From that point forth Monroe would not receive any significant playing time with a team. In the February of 2018 Monroe would get waived by the Suns which would lead him to sign with the Boston Celtics. During his time with the Celtics, Monroe would actually record a triple-double.

 At the completion of the 2017-18 season Monroe would once again be on the move. This time Monroe hopped teams starting with the Toronto Raptors, then going to the Brooklyn Nets where he would be immediately waived. He signed a 10-day contract with Celtics but was not re-signed at the contracts expiration which led him to the 76ers and then now Bayern Munich of Germany.

It is interesting how a player can go from being considered a franchise cornerstone to a solid role player, to a benchwarmer bouncing around the league, to being out of the NBA all together. Part of the reason has to do with the fact that Monroe was a very immobile center so with the change of play style where basketball became more positionless, Monroe could not keep up defensively.

Piston fans have to wonder how Monroe’s career would have panned out if the Pistons had chosen to keep him over Drummond back in 2015.

Round 2 Pick 36: Terrico White

There is not much to say about Terrico White. He was drafted by the Pistons with their second round pick but never appeared in a game for the team as in the first preseason game he broke a bone in his foot, forcing him to miss the entirety of his rookie season.

After the NBA lockout of 2011 concluded, White was waived by the Pistons and spent the 2011 preseason with the New Orleans Pelicans but was waived due to back issues. Following this setback, White played 18 games in the G-League with the Idaho Stampede before going down due to a stress fracture in his back that forced him to miss the remainder of the 2011-12 season.

In the 2012 offseason, White played with the Los Angeles Clippers Summer League team which learned him a contract with the Serbian team Radnički Kragujevac. White would go on to play for a number of overseas teams including Royal Halı Gaziantep of Turkey (2013-14), Hapoel Eilat of Isreal in 2014, Yenisey Krasnoyarsk of Russia (2014-15), Ironi Nes Ziona of Isreal (2016), Seoul SK Knights of Korea (2016-18), then finally his current team the Perth Wildcats.

It is a shame that White was so injury prone because with bounce like his who knows what White could have done in the NBA?

Notable Players Passed On: Paul George, Gordon Hayward, Hassan Whiteside, Avery Bradley, Lance Stephenson, Ed Davis, Larry Sanders

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