Pistons Beware: The Last 10 Draft Picks In The 18th Spot And How They Fared
By: Evan Jankens
@kingofthekc
The Detroit Pistons hold the 18th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft Thursday evening.
In the past few years the Pistons have been in the lottery so I figured I would take a look at what players have been drafted with the 18th pick since 2006. What I have learned is none of these players have exactly taken the NBA by storm.
2015: Sam Dekker - Houston Rockets
Dekker only appeared in 3 games for the Rockets during his rookie year.
2014: Tyler Ennis - Phoenix Suns
Ennis hasn't done much since being drafted out of Syracuse. In his rookie year, which he played for the Suns and the Bucks, he played a total of 33 games while starting one. His sophomore season wasn't much better; He played in 46 games while averaging 14.2 mpg , 4.5 pg and 2.1 apg.
2013: Shane Larkin - Atlanta Hawks
Larkin has had a steady increase in playing time since his rookie year with the Dallas Mavericks. Larkin has now played for three separate teams (Mavs, Knicks and Nets) in his three seasons in the NBA. His most productive season was this past year in which he played in 78 games and averaged 7.3 ppg and 4.4 apg.
2012: Terrence Jones - Houston Rockets
Jones has spent his entire career with the team that drafted him. He has yet to play an entire season. The most games he has played in a season happened in 2013-14 season when he appeared in 76 games. In his rookie season he only appeared in 19 games for the Rockets.
2011: Chris Singleton - Washington Wizards
Singleton is one of the rare exceptions who had his best season his rookie year. Singleton played in 66 games while starting 51 games for the Wizards. He only played three seasons in the NBA. Last year he played in China and Russia.
2010: Eric Bledsoe - Oklahoma City Thunder
Bledsoe is the best pick in my opinion at 18 over the past 10 years. He played three seasons with the Clippers after being traded by the Thunder before the start of his rookie year. Last year Bledsoe averaged 20 ppg and 6.1 apg.
2009: Ty Lawson - Denver Nuggets
Lawson was the player I thought the Detroit Pistons should have drafted in the '09 draft but instead they drafted Austin Daye. Daye now plays in the Bahraini Premier League. Lawson wound up being a nice role player, now in his eighth NBA season. He has played in 482 career NBA games.
2008: JaVale McGee - Washington Wizards
McGee was once upon a time a premier shot blocker in the NBA. He has hit a steady decline though. Over the past four seasons he has played in only 62 games.
2007: Marco Belinelli - Golden State Warriors
Belinelli has made a nice career for himself over the past nine seasons in the NBA. He has played for six different teams and won a NBA title with the San Antonio Spurs.
2006: Oleksiy Pecherov - Washington Wizards
The 7 foot tall center didn't have much of an NBA career. He played for the Wizards and the Timberwolves in his three seasons. Pecherov played in 111 career games.
If the Pistons can hit on a player like Eric Bledsoe such as Tyler Ulis from Kentucky, who can sit and learn behind Reggie Jackson for a season, they could have a very successful pick at 18.
