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

2016 Draft

Round 1 Pick 18:Henry Ellenson

Remember when many analysts were considering Henry Ellenson to be one of the steals of the draft? Those days are long gone. Ellenson spent three seasons rotting away on the Pistons bench, playing a total of just 76 games in those three years before he was eventually released to make room for Wayne Ellington.

Ellenson was not unemployed for long as he was signed to a 10-day contract less than two weeks later with the New York Knicks. The Knicks being a rebuilding franchise, it seemed as if Ellenson had found a good fit. The team would allow him to get the playing time he could not receive during his tenure with the Pistons while fostering his development as a player.

He performed well, putting up more than a few double digit scoring games. In his second game with the Knicks versus the Orlando Magic, Ellenson looked to have found his groove playing a career-high 36 minutes scoring 13 points to go along with nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Down the stretch in a tight game, Ellenson even hit a clutch three to bolster the Knicks lead with two minutes left to play.

Ellenson’s quality play earned him a full standard contract at the completion of his 10-day contract and he finished out his season with the Knicks where he appeared to have finally found some traction in his career.

This summer, Ellenson was assigned to play in the Summer League so the Knicks front office could further assess his development. Ellenson would not play a game for the summer league team as he stepped away from basketball temporarily for multiple personal reasons it was reported. This led to the Brooklyn Nets signing him to a new two-way contract in mid-July.

Who knows how Ellenson’s career will pan out? The 6-foot-11 forward had a lot of potential when he was drafted. It would be a shame if he failed to reach any of it and could not become at minimum a regular rotational player.

Round 2 Pick 49: Michael Gbinije

Michael Gbinije never got much time on the court with the Pistons. In his lone season with the team he appeared in just nine games. As one would expect from a player who only played nine games out of the entire season, Gbinije’s numbers were by no means eye-popping. To encapsulate the previous statement I will bring up that his career high points scored in a game is two points.

Gbinije did not get a chance to perform in the league whatsoever. After his rookie season Gbinije was out of the NBA for what appears to be forever as he still has yet to be on an NBA roster since he got drafted. After the Pistons waived Gbinije he was signed to a training camp deal with the Golden State Warriors and appeared in four preseason games before he was waived and resigned to another contract with the team’s G-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Gbinije spent 2 years with the Santa Cruz Warriors until this summer when he was picked up by the Knicks to play for their summer league team. Gbinije performed well enough to catch the eyes of teams overseas and in July he signed with a German team by the name of  Mitteldeutscher BC where he will be playing this season.

Notable Players Passed On: Pascal Siakam, Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert, Malik Beasley