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kimmy 12 years, 10 months ago.
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providencefriars1I copy and pasted this article from ESPN.com, written by Chad Ford.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/blog?name=nba_draft&id=6634270
After two years of running his team with essentially both arms tied behind his back, Detroit Pistons president Joe Dumars is finally free to begin re-making the Pistons alongside new owner Tom Gores.
For the past two years, Dumars has been unable to rebuild his team while Bill Davidson’s wife had the team up for sale. With the NBA announcing that the sale is finally complete, Dumars is ready to get rebuilding.
Not only has Gores given strong support to Dumars, but he’s not pressuring Dumars to take shortcuts. Dumars is going to have the green light to build the team the right way over the next three years.
How will it affect the Pistons’ draft? Like every team, they would be open to a trade for the right offer. If they stay at eight, there are really five guys on their radar at the moment. Most of the guys they are looking at are bigs — Jan Vesely, Jonas Valanciunas, Bismack Biyombo and Tristan Thompson. The one lone name that’s a guard is that of Kemba Walker.
Who would Joe D take?
Dumars likes winners and if Kemba Walker fell that far (a big if) he’d be seriously in the mix despite the fact that point guard isn’t a pressing need for the Pistons. Vesely is ready to play right now and has major upside, but he doesn’t exactly fit a need, either.
Biyombo and Thompson are the best fits on their frontline next to last year’s lottery pick — Greg Monroe. Biyombo is bigger and more advanced defensively, while Thompson is a better offensive rebounder and a better scorer. But both are long-term projects.
Valanciunas may be the best prospect of the bunch — but he also has the biggest learning curve.
Do the Pistons go for immediate help now? Do they select for need? Or do they go with the best prospect on the board?
We’re two weeks away from the draft and the Pistons are still trying to figure that out.
Dumars has already been to Europe to scout both Valanciunas and Vesely. Two key members of the Pistons’ staff — Scott Perry and George David — will travel to Spain later this week to check out Biyombo in Valencia, Spain. However, thanks to an ongoing coaching search, Dumars won’t be joining the rest of his staff on the trip.
Walker will be in to workout on Wednesday against Colorado’s Alec Burks. Thompson will be in on June 21.
Workout posturing
There can be a lot of anxiety and drama over draft workouts this time of year. While they look pretty sexy at first glance, for most teams they are a small part of a much larger process.
Still, both teams and players take them seriously and there can be major politics involved. Virtually all of it is agent-driven. When players refuse to work out against certain players or insist on working out alone or skip a team workout, it is almost always the agent — not the player — making the call.
Factor in schedule changes, injuries and the occasional promise from a NBA team and it can all be a bit head-spinning.
Take, for example, UConn’s Walker and Kentucky’s Brandon Knight.
Walker’s camp changed the date of a workout in Sacramento on June 9 to June 13.
Some wrote that Walker was dodging his workout partner for the 9th — Jimmer Fredette. Others posited that he’d gotten a promise from the last team he worked out with (the Charlotte Bobcats) and was sitting out the rest of workouts. Neither theory is true.
The bigger story? Walker changed the workout date in Sacramento to facilitate a shot at working out with a player who has been reluctant to work out with anyone — Knight.
Over the weekend, Kemba’s camp learned that Knight will be in Toronto on the 7th working out with the Raptors. Walker has been seeking a workout with Knight for weeks. The problem is that Knight is refusing to work out against anyone prior to the draft. Walker’s coming in any way — even though it looks like the two won’t actually workout together.
The move forced him to reschedule his workout in Detroit from the 7th to the 8th.
That put him in a quandary for the Kings workout on the 9th. No player does three straight workouts in three days. So the workout with the Kings was moved to the 13th.
For those mourning the loss of a Kemba-Jimmer head-to-head in Sacramento (one none of us will actually get to see) … you may still get your wish. As of right now, both players are scheduled to workout for the Jazz on the 15th.
And for those of you wanting a Kemba-Knight rematch, you may get your wish too. The Jazz have told Knight’s camp that they strongly prefer that Kemba and Knight workout together and have a bit more leverage to make it happen.
But even if it doesn’t happen, all is not lost. Feel free to pop in the Final Four game when the two players went head-to-head. That should tell you more than a one-hour workout would, anyway.
Notables
• There was a big workout in Charlotte on Sunday that could help chart the course for the Bobcats future. Kawhi Leonard, Jordan Hamilton, Chris Singleton, Tobias Harris, Josh Selby and Klay Thompson headlined the workout. Two other critical players — Alec Burks and Marshon Brooks — sat out the workout due to minor injuries.
[+] Enlarge
Harry How/Getty ImagesKawhi Leonard had a great workout for the Bobcats on Sunday, but chances are he won’t be around by the time Charlotte picks at No. 9.Add in Kemba Walker, Tristan Thompson and Nikola Vucevic’s visit on June 3, and Markieff Morris and Kenneth Faried’s visit on June 2, and the Bobcats, within a week, saw virtually all of the prospects on the table with the 9th and 19th picks. The only key player missing was Marcus Morris.
Leonard, Singleton and Thompson all drew praise from Bobcats sources. I’m told the Bobcats are going to be pretty conservative with the 9th pick. They’ll be content with a single or a double and will likely go for a proven prospect who can be an impact player out of the gate. Even if that means drafting a player with a bit lower ceiling. In other words, don’t expect them to take a swing for the fences with a player like Biyombo or even Selby.
Of the group, Leonard and Walker are at the top of their list, but neither player is projected to be on the board at No. 9. That should leave the two Thompsons (Klay and Tristan), Hamilton, Singleton and the Morris twins battling it out to be the 9th pick.
Faried, Markieff Morris, Brooks and Vucevic are all serious possibilities with the 19th pick.
• Speaking of Burks and Brooks — neither injury is serious. Burks bruised his shoulder in a workout with the Bucks. While at least one media outlet reported he had dislocated his shoulder, an x-ray taken in Charlotte says it’s just bruised. He’s expected to return to working out in Detroit on Wednesday.
Brooks had a slight ankle sprain and is expected to play in Indiana’s workout on Tuesday.
• With the recent announcement that Donnie Walsh is leaving the Knicks, a legitimate question has arisen among other NBA GMs: Who is running the draft for New York?
I spoke to several sources inside the Knicks’ organization this week and they’ve all said the same thing — Walsh is. The Knicks aren’t expected to hire their new GM until after the draft. Walsh and his team have spent all year scouting and it’s too late to change course now.
The Knicks are essentially looking at five players at No. 17 — Klay Thompson, Jimmer Fredette, Josh Selby, Marshon Brooks and Kenneth Faried.
Both Thompson and Fredette are unlikely to be on the board when the Knicks pick — which means this could be a three-way race between Selby, Brooks and Faried. Selby and Brooks both impressed in their workouts with the Knicks last week.
Faried is scheduled for later this month.
The direction in which the Knicks appear to be leaning is clear. It looks like they are in the market for a scoring guard — which is a bit odd considering that Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and, to a lesser extent, Chauncey Billups, Toney Douglas and Bill Walker, are all scorers too. Faried is the only guy in that group that brings something to the table that other Knicks aren’t already bringing (motor, defense, rebounding, shot blocking).
More likely, the Knicks are looking to hit a home run here. Selby and Brooks are scorers with major upsides. Both present risks (which is why they’re in the Knicks’ range and not in the lottery) but both offer them a chance to get a potential lottery talent in the mid-first round.
• So far Turkey’s Enes Kanter has been working out against proverbial chairs. His one-on-none workouts for the Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors in Chicago haven’t hurt him. But they haven’t exactly helped him, either. The Jazz and Raptors both came away praising Kanter privately, but also admitted there wasn’t a lot to go on from a basketball perspective.
That will change on Tuesday when Kanter does his first workout against live competition — Texas’ forward Tristan Thompson and Kansas forward Marcus Morris.
Kanter’s workouts mean more than they would for most prospects. With so little meaningful game film to dissect — and much of it from when he was a 17-year-old in high school — these types of settings are important.
Kanter’s workout in Cleveland should be a good one to gauge his abilities. The Cavaliers are seriously looking at Kanter at No. 4 and this could go a long way toward convincing him he’s their guy. If he struggles, don’t be surprised to see them opt for either Jonas Valanciunas or Jan Vesely instead.
• San Diego State forward Kawhi Leonard started working out for the first time on Sunday. As we reported earlier in the blog, he had an excellent workout in Charlotte against a number of top forwards including Jordan Hamilton, Chris Singleton and Tobias Harris.
His next big test comes on Tuesday in Washington with the Wizards. Leonard is a guy the Wizards are looking at very closely with the sixth pick in the draft. A great workout there could seal the deal.
He also has an intriguing workout next week with the Cavs. While No. 4 seems high for Leonard, don’t totally discount it. One Cavs source says he’s in the mix. He fits a need, can play right now and still has upside.
Also, keep a close watch on the Kings. If both Knight and Walker are off the board, he could be a real possibility there, too.
• Still trying to figure out the draft range for Tristan Thompson. He’s already worked out with the Milwaukee Bucks, Wizards and Bobcats. His next workout is on Tuesday at Cleveland. After that he’ll work out next Monday, June 13 in Phoenix. He also has the Raptors on the 15th, the Kings on the 18th and the Pistons on the 21st.
It’s an interesting spread for him. He’s essentially taken workouts from the 4th pick to the 13th pick. Considering that there are a few teams below that point in the draft that wanted him to work out (Pacers, Sixers) but didn’t get him in, his camp must feel pretty strongly that the Suns, at No. 13, are his floor.
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