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Juwan Howard Jr. was happy for the chance to work out with his hometown Detroit Pistons.
(David Mayo | MLive.com)
AUBURN HILLS -- Kevon Looney and Bobby Portis may have seen the last of the Detroit Pistons' practice facility if NBA draft projections hold form but the first two power forwards to visit for pre-draft workouts have seen plenty of each other.
The Pistons hosted six more players, including first-round power forwards Looney and Portis, in the team's second round of pre-draft workouts Saturday.
It was the third consecutive workout for Looney and Portis to hammer each other for personnel evaluators. They also drilled against each other for the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns this week.
"We've giving our hearts," Looney said. "We're starting to know each other's game so it's getting harder each time we play with each other. But it's a lot of fun. He's a great player and it's great competition."
Portis, the 2014-15 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, is already feeling the grind of pre-draft preparation. The 6-foot-10, 246-pounder got stuck in a middle seat on Friday's flight to Detroit and had the sore knees to show for it.
The next morning, he got another dose of the 6-9, 224 Looney.
"I think he's following me or I'm following him," Portis said.
Portis and Looney generally are projected as mid-first-round picks but the Pistons, who have the No. 8 overall pick, face a likely need at power forward with Greg Monroe an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Looney said he decided to leave UCLA after one season once the Bruins qualified for the NCAA tournament. The Milwaukee native started all 36 games and averaged 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 0.9 blocks and shot 41.5 percent on 3-pointers.
"I know one of my goals was to make the tournament and if I didn't make that goal I knew I was going to have to come back. That was really important to me. We made it to the Sweet 16, I felt like I had a chance to go in that first-round lottery, so I decided to come out," Looney said.
Portis wasn't as satisfied with his first season at Arkansas. So he came back and was player of the year in a conference with powerhouse Kentucky.
"Now I'm at that level where it's more competition and more one-on-one things," Portis said. "In college I got double-teamed and triple-teamed so I really didn't get to show my versatility like I wanted to. But now in these workouts I've been showing people I can stretch the floor, I can shoot the three-ball, I can take people off the dribble, things like that."
Portis was mentored by former Piston Corliss Williamson. They met in a barber shop when Portis was in fourth grade.
williamson was Portis' AAU coach for six years and the ex-Razorback helped steer the youngster to Arkansas.
Portis said Williamson's advice as he goes into the NBA has been to "try to find my niche."
"In college my niche was being the leader on the team and the go-to scorer," Portis said. "But in the NBA that probably can't be my niche or probably won't be my niche. Every team in the league has a scorer. They need good role players around them. I can find my niche some way that way. Or I can ultimately, in the next two or three years, be that scorer."
Two Detroit natives, wings Juwan Howard Jr. (Detroit Mercy) and Dom Pointer (St. John's) also were among the players who worked out for the Pistons Saturday.
Howard's father is the former University of Michigan star and longtime NBA player.
Howard is projected as an undrafted free agent. He said he "always" pretended to be a Piston in youthful playground games. Ben Wallace was his favorite.
"I still have the jersey back at home," Howard said.
Pointer grew up in Detroit but moved to Roseville for junior high school. He attended a prep school in North Carolina as a high school senior.
The other prospects who worked out for the Pistons on Saturday were Temple point guard Will Cummings and Penn State combination guard D.J. Newbill.
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