Detroit Pistons

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated published a new mock draft, and he has the Pistons taking Shabazz Muhammad at No. 8: With Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, the Pistons frontcourt is set. Detroit needs help scoring, though, (94.9 points per game last season, 22nd in the NBA) and Muhammad is a scorer. He prefers to play the 2-guard spot, but Muhammad has the size and strength to play small forward, too. Questions about Muhammad’s attitude and one-dimensional play linger, but his talent is undeniable. Right now, I think Muhammad is the Pistons’ most likely pick. I think they’ll view him as a player who earned a great reputation coming out high school and and failed to meet expectations at UCLA only because expectations were too high. I think they’ll see how hard he plays and disregard any controversy. I think they’ll see his fit and deem it better than anyone else in the tier. I think they’ll see a player available at No. 8 who not long ago seemed like a top-three lock. A lot can change between now and the draft, but at the moment, I consider Muhammad the Pistons’ most likely pick.

While today might not be the best birthday in Joe Dumar's life, it is one of the biggest. One of the founding members of the Detroit Bad Boys turns 50 today and to celebrate I found a bunch of awesome clips that work toward putting his excellent career into perspective. First, some specifics: "What he meant to his game, not just to this city but to the entire league, with his sportsmanship and his class and his character, it doesn't come around often. Just the things that he did outside of this court, I think it's long overdue. He's definitely deserving." -Chauncey Billups on Dumars' HOF induction Full Name: Joe Dumars IIIBorn: 5/24/63 in Shreveport, La.College: McNeese StateHigh School: Natchitoches (La.) Central Drafted: Detroit Pistons, 1985 (18th overall)Nickname: Joe D.Height: 6-3 Weight: 195 lbs. Honors: Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2006); NBA champion (1989, 1990); NBA Finals MVP (1989); NBA All-Rookie Team (1986); six-time NBA All-Star; All-NBA Second Team (1993); All-NBA Third Team (1990, '91); All-Defensive First Team (1989, 1990, '92, '93); All-Defensive Second Team (1991); World Championship gold medalist (1994); NBA Sportsmanship Award (1996); J. Walter Kennedy Citzenship Award (1994). Bio: One of the top shooting guards of his era, Joe Dumars was a consistent all-around player throughout his 14-year NBA career. He played his entire career with the Detroit Pistons and was a six-time All-Star, the owner of two NBA Championship rings, a defensive standout and a clutch shooter. Dumars quickly earned the reputation of being a defensive stalwart and a serious offensive threat but it was cemented with his 1989 NBA Finals MVP performance. Dumars was also well-respected for his sportsmanship that belied his intensity and toughness and for being a true leader in the NBA. Dumars went from a small town in Louisiana to the top of the Motor City and the basketball world, as both a player and later as an executive as the architect of the 2004 NBA World Champion Detroit Pistons. Read entire bio But they say that a picture is worth 1,000 words, so here are some excellent moving pictures for you to enjoy. Joe Dumars drafted by the Detroit Pistons Dumars has always been plainspoken and here he is downright shy and reserved. He would eventually reveal that he thought being drafted by the Pistons was the worst thing that could have happened to him (Detroit already had Isiah Thomas and it was a cold-weather city for a guy from the south). Lucky for everyone, he was wrong. Dumars 1989 NBA Finals MVP -- Top 10 plays Dumars had a real coming out party in the 1989 NBA Finals where he showed he could not only be a lockdown defender but also a creative scorer who wasn't afraid to take the big shot. He ended up winning his first championship that year as well as being named NBA Finals MVP. Dumars vs. Jordan I always loved Dumars more than any of the other Bad Boys because he was just as much of a tenacious defender as any of them but did it in an almost quiet, unassuming way. And he had no bigger defensive challenge than Michael Jordan. Here Dumars and Jordan go toe to toe and while it does have a pro-Jordan slant (it was his video after all), he freely admits nobody guarded him better than Dumars. Dumars retirement interview When he retired in 1999, Dumars was the old guard leaving a rebuilding team. This interview captures a little of why he was so great, particularly his comments around the 3-minute mark where he defends the Bad Boys mentality and hints at the perspective he brought with him to the front office. Also, the 1990s were ridiculous in every way. Hall of Fame induction speech An incredibly classy speech from an incredibly classy individual. Rasheed Wallace REMIX And remember, if Joe Dumars didn't trade for Rasheed Wallace, or draft Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson or Will Blalock, we might have never gotten one of the best things on the internet ever.

DraftExpress.com’s Jonathan Givony wrote his first mock draft for Yahoo! Sports, and he has the Pistons drafting C.J. McCollum: 8. Detroit Pistons C.J. McCollum (PG/SG, 21, 6-3, 197, Lehigh, senior): The Pistons’ rebuilding continues. They missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year and won just 37 percent of their games in that span. The Pistons have some nice young pieces to build around, especially in the frontcourt with Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, but the backcourt situation is not as promising. Brandon Knight still hasn’t proven himself as a point guard capable of leading a winning team on a nightly basis and Rodney Stuckey has seemingly regressed. The situation at small forward is similarly in doubt. The Pistons will likely look hard at each of those three positions, but are missing quality depth throughout the roster, so nothing can really be ruled out. A highly efficient combo guard like C.J. McCollum could slide in nicely between Knight and Stuckey, giving them some much-needed scoring. The fact that he comes ready to play right away has to be attractive for a team (and ownership group) that is desperate to win at this point. McCollum has definitely grown on me. He scored well at Lehigh, but he didn’t show much passing skill. I think there’s a good chance that was because Lehigh needed him to shoot so much. McCollum hasn’t proven himself a bad passer. He just hasn’t proven himself a good one. That’s a difficult skill to test in pre-draft workouts, but it would be essential for the Pistons to make a determination on him. McCollum seems so smart about the approach he takes to scoring that I’m hopeful he has the court sense to become a plus passer – if he isn’t one already, hidden underneath all those points.

I barely watch college basketball. I watch any Michigan State game I can catch, and parts of the tournament. So I think it's fair to say that I honestly know very little about many of the players who are likely to go in the lottery. The one player projected to go in the lottery that I've seen play the most would be Trey Burke, whom I barely watched more than Victor Oladipo. However, I'm going to try and determine how the Lottery will end up going. Due to lack of knowledge of college players, I won't dare go any further than that. Pick Team 2013-14 Roster Avail. Cap Other Picks #1 Cavaliers 10 (PG - 1, SG - 3, SF - 2, PF - 2, C - 2) $25,405,880 #19, #31, #33 #2 Magic 12 (PG - 1, SG - 3, SF - 3, PF - 4, C - 1) $4,203,343 #51 #3 Wizards 10 (PG - 1, SG - 2, SF - 3, PF - 2, C - 2) $604,296 #37, #54 #4 Bobcats 10 (PG - 2, SG - 3, SF - 1, PF - 2, C - 2) $17,579,673 N/A #5 Suns 13 (PG - 4, SG - 2, SF - 1, PF - 4, C - 2) $4,630,860 #30, #57 #6 Pelicans 10 (PG - 2, SG - 2, SF - 2, PF - 3, C - 1) $23,042,668 N/A #7 Kings 12 (PG - 4, SG - 1, SF - 2, PF - 4, C - 1) $17,292,356 #36 #8 Pistons 10 (PG - 2, SG - 1, SF - 2, PF - 3, C - 2) $22,827,280 #38, #56 #9 Wolves 10 (PG - 4, SG - 1, SF - 1, PF - 3, C - 1) $10,863,418 #26, #52, #59 #10 Blazers 10 (PG - 2, SG - 3, SF - 2, PF - 2, C - 1) $10,854,862 #39, #40, #45 #11 76ers 8 (PG - 1, SG - 1, SF - 2, PF - 1, C - 3) $11,806,643 #35, #42 #12 Thunder 10 (PG - 2, SG - 3, SF - 1, PF - 2, C - 2) -$8,119,439 #29, #32 #13 Mavericks 8 (PG - 2, SG - 3, SF - 2, PF - 1, C - 0) $16,583,651 #44 #14 Jazz 7 (PG - 1, SG - 2, SF - 1, PF - 2, C - 1) $32,303,191 #21, #46 #1 Cleveland Cavaliers - Nerlens Noel I don't feel the need to do in depth analysis on this pick for a few reasons. Though the Cavs only have one PG returning, they could easily get a backup with their other three picks or cap space. They're not likely to take an SG due to having Waiters and 2 other SG. I don't believe there are any SF or PF that warrant the top pick that would drastically help the Cavs. Also, the Cavs have Anderson Varejao which provides them a lot of leeway.Varejao will give Noel the time he needs to fully heal and time as a backup when he comes back. And then the following year, Varejao becomes a huge trade chip or even simply released depending on Noel's progress. The Cavs have a team option on Varejao in 2014-15 and he's slated to make $9.8M. The free agent market that following year will be much more enticing than this years and they could likely go after a better SF/PF by releasing Varejao. But if they wanted to, they could use his expiring contract for a trade. Noel is the perfect pick for Cleveland. #2 Orlando Magic - Trey Burke Again, I don't think there is need for in depth analysis on this one as I honestly can't see them picking anyone else due to their roster structure and cap limitations. It really hurt them that they didn't get the #1 overall pick as they have only one true center on the team. Jameer Nelson is 31 and has probably hit his peak. Afflalo is 27, Lamb 21 and Moore 24, so I don't think McLemore or Oladipo is an option for them. When you also consider how Vucevic is only 22, I don't think they're going to spring for Alex Len or Cody Zeller with the second pick. Trade Possibility I wonder if they'd be willing to trade the #2 pick and Afflalo to the Pistons for Knight and the #8 pick. This way they could take Len or Zeller with a lower pick, receive a "point guard", and free a little bit of cap space (nearly $5M). Yes, I understand that this trade seems like highway robbery, but they may be willing to "tank" another season and go after Andrew Wiggins. Trey Burke won't get this team to the playoffs alone. #3 Washington Wizards - Otto Porter Wow, the Wizards are in quite a bind. They don't have any cap room really, they need a backup PG unless Beal is able to handle thos

Whether an 11th-hour candidate could emerge to challenge the perceived preferred candidates in Pistons' coaching search, and the target with No. 8 overall pick, are focus of this week's Q-and-A with MLive Media Group Pistons beat writer David Mayo.

Reports indicate that the Pistons might be close to hiring their next head coach but those in charge of the process disagree on who that hire should be. First, it should be noted that Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News is reporting that the team has concluded interviews for their head coaching vacancy. That would mean that anyone that is currently employed or in the playoffs would not be a finalist. For instance, Larry Drew who seems to be on the outs in Atlanta but has another year on his deal, Lionel Hollins in Memphis whose deal is up after this season and Brian Shaw who is a lead assistant with the Pacers. But the big news is that president of basketball operations Joe Dumars and Phil Jackson, who owner Tom Gores brought in as a special adviser for the coach search, disagree on who the next head coach should be. According to ESPN's Chris Broussard, Dumars prefers Nate McMillan and Maurice Cheeks, who have both been confirmed as having interviewed for the position. Jackson, meanwhile and unsurprisingly, wants the team to hire Brian Shaw, his longtime assistant in Los Angeles. It is not one of the sexier jobs available, but many executives around the league are eager to see what happens with the Detroit Pistons' head-coaching vacancy. That's because the Pistons' hire will be a tell-tale sign of how much power truly remains in the hands of franchise icon, and current president of basketball operations, Joe Dumars. Three weeks ago, the Pistons announced that owner Tom Gores had enlisted the help of Phil Jackson in Detroit's coaching search. While Jackson is not joining the Pistons' organization on a long-term basis, his involvement can't be viewed as anything but a slight of Dumars. Some executives still insist that Dumars is running the Pistons' coaching search and that he would walk away before staying on as a president in name only. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach, and they view Detroit's upcoming hire as the best evidence. First, it would be odd that a serious finalist for the job (Shaw) would be a person who hasn't even interviewed yet. Second, there were persistent reports in the last coaching search that Dumars favored Mike Woodson and was eventually overruled by Gores, who instead favored Lawrence Frank. Is the same process about to play itself out? If so it would lay bare the fact that Dumars doesn't have much power in this new organizational structure and I don't see how he could continue in his position going forward. But just because Jackson would hypothetically get his man that doesn't mean that he would want to work Detroit long term. If Dumars walks or is fired it would be difficult to get a GM and a team in place quickly enough to have things settled in time for draft evaluations and free agency. That is why it seems to hard to believe that Dumars would be fired and if he walked the team would be in an impossible bind. Would he put on a brave face again and pretend like he was totally behind the Shaw hiring like he did with Frank? Would Gores actually let him pick his man this time? If it came down to the three of those coaches, I'm not sure who I would personally prefer. McMillian and Cheeks both have NBA resumes, yes, but the results are decidedly mediocre. Shaw could just as easily be the next John Kuester as he is to be the next Tom Thibodeau. H/T to mcflies who had this story first in a FanShot.

Me at the Detroit Free Press: At this point, Noel, Burke, Porter, McLemore and Oladipo are pipe dreams for the Pistons. That makes Bennett, ranked by some in a group with the aforementioned five players, Detroit’s dream pick. Bennett, a freshman forward from UNLV, is an explosive athlete whose ball skills and mobility make him a matchup issue for opposing power forwards. There’s a chance he can transition to small forward, but I wouldn’t count on it. Obviously, that’s not ideal with Monroe and Drummond — and neither is Bennett’s defensive indifference at UNLV nor the rotator-cuff surgery he had that will keep him out until the fall — but Bennett is so far ahead of the next prospect that if he’s there, he should be the pick. [C.J. McCollum] scored very well at Lehigh, but he didn’t show the passing skills his height (6-feet-3) will require in the NBA. Lehigh needed McCollum to score, and it’s possible he has playmaking skills the system never allowed him to showcase, but it’s a risk to draft a player who didn’t prove himself, regardless of the reason. Another question is whether he and Brandon Knight are big enough to defend in tandem, but at this point, I wouldn’t let Knight’s presence influence any draft decisions. UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad is probably the best fit in this tier, considering the Pistons need another wing player. Muhammad has taken more criticism than anyone in this draft — both deserved (lies about his age) and undeserved (NCAA scrutiny, backpack). But he works hard and always plays hard, and those traits should get more consideration than they have. Maryland’s Alex Len is skilled and tall, but maybe soft. Indiana’s Cody Zeller produced very well in the nation’s best conference, but his wingspan and tendency to get pushed around leaves questions. But both big men can add only so much value to a team that already has Monroe and Drummond. Syracuse’s Michel Carter-Williams makes excellent passes, but he also turns the ball over too much and is a terrible shooter. He and Knight would complement each other well in the backcourt (besides combining for too many turnovers), but there’s no guarantee either will become good enough to start in the NBA. Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has seen his draft stock rise quickly. He’s a good shooter and defender, an important combination, though question marks about his ballhandling limit his perceived upside. He fits as well as Muhammad, so that leads to the question that has a very good chance of determining Detroit’s pick: Is Shabazz Muhammad or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a better prospect? Click through to the Free Press to see my early top-seven mock draft. I’ll share my current prediction for the Pistons’ No. 8 pick in a post here later today.

Keith Langlois of Pistons.com: Joe D on drafting a big: "Our preference is to look at the perimeter, but by no means are we locked in to that." This is where the tier system I’ve advocated comes in handy. If the Pistons adhere to that system or a similar one, they would take any big man who is clear step above a perimeter player. But when dealing with similarly valued players, they’d pick the perimeter player. Maybe it’s nothing, but I noticed Joe Dumars said “perimeter” rather than “wing” – the difference being the former includes point guards. Again, maybe it’s nothing, but maybe that says something about the Pistons’ faith in Brandon Knight developing and/or Jose Calderon re-signing.

David Mayo of MLive: Dumars said he and Phil Jackson, who was retained by Pistons owner Tom Gores as a consultant in the coaching search, “spent a lot of time together during those two days” when the former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach visited here two weeks ago. The two have had “one or two conversations since then,” Dumars said. Score one more point for the theory Phil Jackson’s role with the Pistons is only for show. That’s a worthless exercise, but it’s better than the alternative: Jackson and Dumars engaging in a harmful power struggle.

It can’t hurt C.J. McCollum’s draft stock that guards who went to similarly small schools, Steph Curry and Damian Lillard, have had such stunning NBA success. Keith Langlois looks at McCollum as the True Blue Pistons draft preview series continues.