UMHOOPS PISTONS DRAFT BOARD
Chet won the second poll. So, if the Pistons have the opportunity to pick from the following, who do you want them to take?
0 voters
I picked Ivey in this poll. I think Banchero is a good player, but just donāt think he provides what the Pistons need. Chet can shoot and block shots. Jabari can shoot and defend. Those are things Detroit needs. Paolo is not a great shooter and his defense is suspect. What heās really good at is on ball creation, but Detroit has that in Cade. Iām not sold on Ivey as a shooter yet, but his athleticism is something Detroit is really lacking in the lineup.
I agree with all that but I like having two on-ball creators. You can stagger them. And theyāre both such smart players that you can play them together. Plus, injuries. I feel like if you have Cade and Paolo you can just surround them with defensive minded players that can finish the looks C&P create.
Iām not familiar enough with all these guys to make an intelligent decision. I do worry a bit about Iveyās shooting and I worry a little about Paoloās ability to be that efficient creator in the NBA without elite athleticism or an outside shot. But I do like both guys. I think in the draft you want to find good offensive players who can feed off of and compliment Cade - defense is something you look for on the open market or with later picks. I went with Iveyā¦but struggled with it.
Paolo might be Carlos Boozer 2.0ā¦which is both a great asset to have and a bit of a let down for a top-3 pick. He was a good NBA player forever (and I hope his sons come to Michigan) but he was also frustrating to all Bulls fans who wanted a superstar.
If youāre talking about reshaping the entire roster, then Paolo + Cade works. I donāt like the idea of Paolo + Stewart together because neither are a threat from 3. I think Ivey can be that secondary creator and is going to be a guy who does better in the NBA where the offense isnāt throwing the ball inside to Edey or Williams. Ivey with more space to operate and refs who try to keep the offensive player free could be an exciting player. Definitely concerns with both, I guess Iād just rather have Ivey and keep Jerami Grant than take Paolo and still need to sort out a SG.
Now if they move Grant for another pick and can get Paolo + Mathurin, thatās a different discussion.
Banchero shot 33.8% on 3s at 3.3 3PA. He definitely can be a threat and will only improve with time
Yeah I think Paolo shows the capability of developing into a decent shooter. Long term I think he will be able to stretch the floor
i picked Ivey. This discussion on Ivey really solidified my interest in him.
You put him next to Cade and you could really open up that offense. Itās possible Iām just not giving Paolo enough respect, I just love the idea of a hyper athlete next to Cade.
I would contend that āfitting aroundā Isaiah Stewart should not be a consideration of who their high lottery pick (I assume) is. It is a significantly less absurd (but still ill-advised!) version of questioning peopleās fit around Killian Hayes.
The only 2 players who should be given consideration when building the team are Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Livers, and Iām being generous adding the former to this list. No one else.
I would also chill on finding 2 forwards - I think Bey can start on good teamsā¦which is why Iām a little more ambivalent on Smith (aside from not seeing his ceiling). If there was a guy you think is a star, go for it, but I think Bey is the other guy other than Cade who Iād feel ok about starting on my theoretical playoff team (not to say Stewart cannot get there, but he needs to show lots of stuff that Bey I think already has).
I watched a bunch of Duke games on replay a few weeks ago hoping to get comfortable with Banchero. I got sick of watching him pass instead of finishing through contact and watching his teammates dive for loose balls that he also could have hit the deck to get. I absolutely think heāll be a good three-point shooter but the passing looks good but not great. Heās not manipulating a defense so much as taking what it gives him. On defense clearly he may not have a proper position and physical limitations hard to overcome.
I would love to be able to like Murray but to me he looks like a great college player who is just lacking a bit of the length, athleticism, twitchiness, and stroke to replicate that production in the NBA.
If the Pistons draft him itās not a disaster because I think heāll be a productive guy and the next in a long line of NBA bigs who look productive and are therefore tradeable. Iāll be hoping the plan is to trade him before the second contract.
What does everyone think of Duren as a pro prospect? Not for a top-3 pick obviously, but in general? Heās more of a classic center who doesnāt shoot threes and has a mediocre FT stroke. I know heās more athletic than Kofi, I know heās super young, I know it is hard to learn from what Memphis runs on offenseā¦but I guess I was surprised to see him as an option on this list and wondered what people thought. Is his youth and athleticism enough to overcome the possibility that heās like a lot of the B10 centers who arenāt coveted by the NBA?
I think Murray will be a solid pro, and if I had a mid-round or even late lottery pick Iād be very high on picking him. That said, if you asked me to distinguish between what I see his and Saddiq Beyās futures to be, I would have a very hard time doing it.
My main issue is that I donāt think Paolo is a home-run, and I think he is in many ways duplicative of Cade (the one guy the need to be fitting around).
Iāll admit to the unpopular take of preferring Ivey, just because I see Dwyane Wade.
Is that take unpopular? I love ivey
My thoughts exactly - Paolo (like Boozer) is someone whoās going to hit singles, hit for average, get on base, be part of your lineup for yearsā¦but not your star or your homerun hitter. You need guys like that and if they were picking in that next tier (4-5-6) heās a good get. I think youāre hoping for a HR hitting star in the top 3. Ivey might flopā¦but he might be a star.
Well, the polls above suggest heās not one of the top 3 choices for them, at least among UMHOOPS posters.
Ivey makes me nervous but heās who I voted for. I donāt know if thereās a market for the pic and trade, but if Iām sitting third or fourth and both jabari and chet are off the board, Iād certainly be open to trading if thereās a good option available. Although I donāt like Banchero, heās a safe pick at 3 and I prefer ivey by a margin thatās not very large.
I think he has a bit more dynamism than Boozer, especially on the ball, but I think the idea of a weak-defending, solid scoring 4 who also passes pretty well is what weāre looking at. I would agree heās a much surer thing than Ivey.
On your Duren question: I think Iād like him after the top tier, in that 6+ range. This board tends to go overboard on over-emphasizing shooting from Centers (most NBA centers do not, actually, shoot 3s particularly well on any sort of volume). Centers are easy to find if youāre looking for a ācan this guy give me 15 solid minutesā, less so if youāre looking for a 30+ minute guy. Like, he could be DeAndre Ayton.
If we fall to 7, I would consider drafting him. Iāve got the top 3, Ivey, Murray, Mathurin and Sharpe ahead of him in my personal rankings. However, I think Duren has some very good potential. Heās not going to be 19 until November, so we have to remember this last year, it was basically a high schooler playing against college age players. I think he also has some bust potential as it will take at least two years for him to start showing what he can really do at the NBA level.