8 Pistons Draft Night Nuggets By Matt Dery
1. Pistons get a serious steal with Brandon Knight at #8. Wow. A stunner that he is on the board at 8. This feels like 1981 all over again with Zeke doesn't it?
2. Knight is a high character kid who had a 4.0 GPA at Kentucky. 4.0 GPA! At UK? How many John Calipari kids go to class? Knight did and he is just what the Pistons needed. A star in the making who is smart and will not act a fool.
3. Rodney Stuckey is going nowhere. He is a Piston for 2011-2012.
Joe Dumars seems to have a soft spot for this guy. The Pistons President referenced Stuckey a bunch on Thursday night.
4. Kyle Singler at #33. I do not love it. Every time I watched Singler at Duke, he was missing shots. I love his motor and character and effort, but he hit just 43 percent from the floor last year. He can score and is a big name, but I am not sure of the fit here.
5. Character was a huge theme for the Pistons on Thursday. Last season the players abused the privilege of playing in the NBA and Dumars has brought in three young guys who will respect the game.
6. Tom Gores was very present on Thursday. He hung out in the Pistons war room and had Joe D's full attention throughout the process. He wanted to learn. I dig it.
7. Vernon Macklin at #52. I like it. An experienced big man from Florida who is in shape and is strong. One source told me Thursday that he did well going one-on-one against Keith Benson on Tuesday in a workout.
8. Macklin is 23 years old and if you remember in the Elite Eight against Butler, he destroyed Matt Howard to the tune of 25 pts. He is not a great rebounder, but this was a good value for Joe D.
