NBA Draft: Detroit Pistons could fill up at center with Petrusev

Not too many players have been named Player of the Year on two different continents in consecutive years. Filip Petrusev was able to accomplish it, and the Detroit Pistons could get him in the second round, according to at least one projection.

The Pistons currently have three picks in the second round (Nos. 37. 42 & 52) of the NBA Draft. While most of the attention has been on Detroit having No. 1, their night does not end with that pick.

The latest Yahoo! Sports mock draft has the Pistons taking Petrusev, the former Gonzaga University and Adriatic League star with the 42nd pick.

Drafting Serbian centers in the second round has worked out for other teams (see Jokic, Nikola).

While the 6-foot-11, 235-pound Petrusev is from Serbia, unlike Jokic, he has played extensively in the United States. One of the reasons Petrusev said he eschewed the draft last year was that he had not been home in six years. Instead, he signed with a local Serbian club team.

He is rated as the 11th best center by NBA Draft Room.

Could Filip Petrusev center things for Detroit Pistons in the future?

After two years of playing high school ball in the United States (including at national champion  Montverde Academy as a senior), Petrusev signed with Gonzaga University.

By his sophomore year with the Zags, Petrusev was averaging 17.8 points a game. He was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award.

With the college season abruptly ending in March, 2020 due to the pandemic, Petrusev had the choice of putting his name in for the NBA Draft or returning for his junior year at Gonzaga. At least, that was most people assumed his choice was.

Petrusev pulls a surprise

The Adriatic Basketball League starts play in the fall, so Petrusev decided to sign with Serbian club team Mega Soccerbet and play in the ABA.

While he was doing well with Mega Soccerbet, Petrusev decided to withdraw from the 2020 NBA Draft, as it was not guaranteed he would be drafted. NBA personnel people still remembered his 18-percent shooting from three, and lack of range in college, and that could have hindered his chances.

Petrusev, who just turned 21 in April, averaged 23.6 points and 7.6 points a game for Mega Soccerbet, and was named ABA MVP. He shot 42-percent on threes, a huge improvement from Gonzaga.

Jokic had also been the ABA’s MVP before he was drafted.

In June, he was the leading scorer for Serbia at an Olympic qualifying event. Italy beat Serbia in the finals, so Petrusev will not be in Tokyo.

But former Pistons center Boban Marjanovic was on the team, so Petrusev got to play a lot at the power forward position.

How would Filip Petrusev fit on the Detroit Pistons?

The Pistons have three centers under contract for next year, Mason Plumlee, Isaiah Stewart and Jahlil Okafor. While Stewart is seen as part of Detroit’s young core, Plumlee and Okafor are veterans basically there to plug the gap from the losses of Andre Drummond and Christian Wood.

Okafor has one year left on his contract, Plumlee just two to go. A young center/power forward with skill, size and shooting ability, but in need of some seasoning, would be the perfect draftee for Detroit.

Petrusev would most likely spend a lot of time his first year with the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ new G-League team. But with his extensive American playing experience, Petrusev could be ready to contribute after that, giving Detroit the flexibility to use Plumlee in a trade.

Petrusev is not an incredible athlete and does not have one skill that is spectacular, which is why he will probably be available in the second round . Of course, that was the rap on another young center from Serbia a while ago, but the Nuggets took a chance, and it kind of worked out for them.

We are NOT saying Filip Petrusev is the next Nikola Jokic. But they do have a similar background and he is certainly, if you are the Pistons, worth a shot.