The 2013 NBA Draft Lottery is in the books and a number of teams have high hopes of using their top fourteen picks including the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit has received the eigthth pick in this year’s NBA Draft which will take place on Thursday, June 27th. The Pistons struggled last season by posting a disappointing 29-53 record, just slightly ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the last spot in the Eastern Conference. Detroit’s future and potential is still looking up despite such a dismal effort last season. Rookie Andre Drummond posted big numbers for the Pistons and was named to the NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team alongside teammate Kyle Singler. It’s pretty safe to say Detroit has the right big man pieces in place with high hopes for Drummond and Singler but questions still remain at the guard positions with Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum just contributing enough to get some wins for the Pistons.
This year’s draft features an outstanding class that displays arguably the best two guards in the country with Victor Oladipo out of Indiana and Trey Burke from Michigan. Either of these players could suit the Pistons need for an athletic guard who can score by getting to the basket or shooting from long range. Forwards will also be featured in this year’s draft with names like Otto Porter Jr. out of Georgetown, Anthony Bennett of UNLV and Oladipo’s former teammate, Cody Zeller.
The Washington Wizards received the third pick and the Orlando Magic were awarded the 2nd overall pick.
The winner of this year’s NBA Draft Lottery was the team that finished behind the Pistons – the Cleveland Cavalier.
The Cavaliers received their second No. 1 overall pick in the last three years when they took Kyrie Irving in 2011. This is also the Cav’s fifth overall pick in franchise history. Cleveland will likely select Nerlens Noel out of Kentucky despite tearing his ACL mid-season of last year. Ben McLemore out of Kansas will likely be a top three pick. Some mock drafts have McLemore going before Noel.
Whether the Cavaliers draft McLemore or Noel on Draft Day is all speculation until David Stern utters the answer to “With the first pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select…”
