NBA Draft: Who can Detroit Pistons draft and stash?

Vrenz Bleijenbergh could be another Detroit Pistons tall shooting wing

Vrenz Bleijenbergh put in for the NBA Draft two years ago, but pulled out. This year, the 6-foot-10, 170-pound wing is staying in the draft.

Playing for Antwerp, the Belgian native averaged 9.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists. His scoring average remained pretty much the same playing in the Belgian League as with the higher level Euroleague.

Bleijenbergh is tall, thin, likes to shoot from outside and is an excellent passer for his size. Think a little shorter Kristaps Porzingus as the type of player he is.

The Pistons have a somewhat similar player already in Deividas Sirvydis, who is a little shorter and about 20 pounds heavier than Bleijenbergh.

Adding a bit of intrigue, is that Bleijenbergh’s agent was George David. He was recently hired as an assistant GM by the Pistons, a position he also held in Detroit from 2012-14.

David obviously knows Bleijenbergh and his thought process. If the Belgian is willing to be a draft-and-stash candidate, David would know, which means the Pistons will know.

Most mock drafts have Bleijenbergh going somewhere in the second round. Where he ends up will be one of the stories to follow as the draft moves along.

Rokas Jokubaitis could be a guard of the future for Detroit Pistons

Rokas Jokubaitis is a young and quickly improving Lithuanian guard who would make a great draft-and-stash candidate for the Pistons.

At 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, Jokubaitis is coming off his first year as a full-time starter with Zalgiris in the Euroleague, the highest level of basketball outside of the NBA. The 20-year-old (turns 21 in November) averaged 7.0 points and 2.5 assists in 21 minutes a game. He was named the Euroleague’s Best Young Player.

He played 74 games for Zalgiris last season, combined Euroleague and his local Lithuanian league.

The word that comes to mind when watching Jokubaitis is: solid. If you need ballhandling or passing, he can do it. If you need him to slide to shooting guard and knock down some threes, he can do that as well (38.8 percent three point shooter this past season).

Defensively, once again, Jokubaitis is solid. He works hard to fight over screens and is not a liability guarding one-on-one.

The Hoop Hype aggregate of mock drafts has Jokubaitis going at No. 47, well within range of the Pistons current (and things do change quickly in the second round) draft picks.

Jokubaitis was trying out for the Lithuanian Olympic team. However, they will not be in Tokyo, as Luka Doncic and Slovenia knocked them off in a qualifying tournament.

Jokubaitis is most likely going to become one of those solid, plug and play guys that coaches love. Wherever the team needs him, he can help them.

As for being a draft-and-stash guy, that is a very real possibility. Jokubaitis signed in May with Barca, a major European club. If he was planning to play in the NBA this season, not much reason to leave his hometown club team.

NBA teams probably would love to employ the ‘draft-and-stash’ strategy more but most players from around the world, when drafted, want to come to America and play against the best competition. It is hard to tell a 20-year-old to go back to his village and play another year there instead of going against LeBron James and Steph Curry in huge arenas.

Stashing a foreign player is something the Pistons will be looking into as part of their due diligence. Discussions with candidate’s agents are probably already under way, seeing about their client’s thinking.

There may be no immediate gratification for the fan, but draft-and-stash can pay off big, down the line.