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Matt Dery: Draft Lottery Blues for Detroit

This was not what the Pistons wanted. The NBA Draft Lottery was held this evening in New Jersey and for the second straight year, Detroit gets shut out of the top 3. To make matters worse, the Pistons actually lost a spot to number 8 after Cleveland leapfrogged its way into the number one spot thanks to a trade deadline deal with the LA Clippers. Think about this, the Cavs get Baron Davis AND the top pick in exchange for Mo Williams. What a heist. It is expected that Cleveland will grab Duke point guard Kyrie Irving with the top
selection. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert's son, Nick, was on hand to
represent Cleveland and the kid could now run for Mayor and win in
that city.

The Pistons will have a lot of options at number 8, but once again
they have to hope that teams pass on a very good player that they can scoop up. It happened last year with Greg Monroe and Joe Dumars hit a home run. Also, Joe will have some flexibility and can attempt to move up or back in this draft as well due to the handcuffs being taken off by soon-to-be new owner Tom Gores. While there is a lot of discussion about the Pistons possibly looking at the guard spot and players like Kemba Walker or Brandon Knight, I think that Detroit will draft a big man. There are some very skilled front-court players
overseas that are available in this draft, with names like Jan Vesely,
Jonas Valanciunas, Donatas Motiejunas, and Bismack Biyambo from Spain.

Many NBA scouts love Biyambo's athleticism and to be honest, just the name itself would sell more tickets than the others. I also do not
think Walker will go past five to Toronto. It will be a very
interesting next few weeks for the Pistons to see which players will
want to work out for them and which guys will commit to traveling here
to workout.

Lottery List:

Cleveland
Minnesota
Utah
Cleveland
Toronto
Washington
Sacramento
Detroit

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