Pistons Expected To Draft Point Guard -- But Which One?
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT – With the NBA draft looming, mock drafts are everywhere. Most of them expect the Detroit Pistons to select a point guard with their first-round pick, and several are projecting that Michael Carter-Williams of Syracuse will be the one.
Among those guessing that Carter-Williams will go to Detroit are Gary Parrish of CBS Sports, Dick Vitale of ESPN and Adi Joseph of USA Today.
Carter-Williams, who said Wednesday he models his game after that of Jason Kidd, averaged 11.9 points and 7.3 assists in his sophomore season with Syracuse.
Other point guards who might end up in Detroit include C.J. McCollum of Lehigh, as Matt Moore of CBS Sports suggested, or Trey Burke of Michigan, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com.
Burke, the consensus National Player of the Year for the 2012-2013 season after leading the Wolverines to the NCAA championship game, is considered somewhat unlikely to fall as far as eighth in the draft. He averaged 18.6 points and 6.7 assists in his sophomore season.
McCollum burst into the national conscience when he scored 30 points to lead his 15th-seeded school to an NCAA tournament upset of No. 2 seed Duke in 2012. Through the first 13 games of his senior season, which was cut short when he broke his foot in a game on Jan. 5., McCollum averaged 23.9 points and 2.9 assists.
Detroit President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars was noncommittal about the draft during the team's most recent press conference, during which it introduced new head coach Maurice Cheeks.
Dumars said the team does not have its heart set on one individual but rather a group of them, increasing the chances for what the Pistons can term a successful draft.
"Your plan is never about pursuing one person," Dumars said. "You have contingencies for – your plan is always multi-prong, meaning you have a handful of guys in the draft, that you say, 'I want to come out of the draft with one of these guys.' You have the same thing in trades, and you have the same thing in free agency."
