AUBURN HILLS – It happened with Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight.
It happened again with Andre Drummond.
For the third year in a row, the Pistons landed a player in the first round of the NBA Draft whom they didn't expect to get. This time, it's Drummond, the 7-foot center from Connecticut who has wowed people with his potential.
"I know I've said this three years in a row, but he really wasn't supposed to be there with the ninth pick," said Joe Dumars, the Pistons president of basketball operation. "We didn't think there was a chance until Tuesday, which is when the chatter from the GMs started giving us a hint that he might be there."
Dumars didn't mess around after getting that hint. He jumped on a plane to New York City and worked Drummond out in a late-night session.
"We found a little gym on 61st Street and spent from about 10:30 to midnight with him," Dumars said. "We worked him out for about 45 minutes and then spent some time interviewing him.
"We would have been happy to pick him even before that night, but that made him a solid choice in our eyes."
Drummond was just as happy after the late New York night.
"I definitely walked out of there thinking I was going to be a Piston," he said. "I know I'm going to a great organization with great fans, and I can't wait to get there."
At just 18 years old, Drummond is a long way from a finished product, but his size, length and athletic ability have led to comparisons to Andrew Bynum and even Dwight Howard. Although Drummond isn't expected to help immediately on the offensive end, his shot-blocking and rebounding ability will serve as a nice complement to Monroe inside.
"He has an NBA body, but you have to understand that he's a raw, young kid on the offensive end," Dumars said. "That said, he fits the profile, size and skill set that we've been looking for in the last three drafts.
"We want someone that is going to always be a focus for the opposing offense. They will need to know where this kid is on the floor."
In his one season at Connecticut, Drummond averaged 10 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. With the Huskies banned from the 2013 NCAA Tournament, he decided to go pro, despite his lack of polish.
"This is a kid that could have even gone back for another year of high school, so he's young," Dumars said. "I don't want to oversell this kid to our fans.
"We're talking about someone who should be in high school. He's going to take some time to develop."
Dumars was, of course, asked about the last time he took an 18-year-old big man.
"Trust me, we learned a lot from taking Darko (Milicic)," he said with a wry smile. "We do more background checks on players now than any team in the league, and it is because of that.
"We probably knew 20 percent as much about Darko as we do about this kid. We learned that lesson."
Drummond attended the same school as Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, but has a game more like a taller Ben Wallace. He even shares Wallace's biggest flaw, having hit just 29.5 percent of his free throws last year.
"The fans don't have to worry about my free-throw shooting," Drummond said. "I'm a hard worker, and I'm going to fix that."
Unlike Wallace, Drummond has had to answer questions about his work ethic, but said it won't be an issue for long.
"As soon as I get to Detroit and start working with the summer league team, the questions about my motor are going to vanish," he said. "My teammates and my coaches know how hard I play."
Dumars acknowledged that effort was an issue, but said it isn't a big concern.
"We asked him about that during the interview, but we have to remember that he's an 18-year-old kid," he said. "I'd hate to have had people examining my work ethic when I was 18."
Most mock drafts had the Pistons ending up with North Carolina's John Henson, but as draft day approached, it started to leak out that Golden State wasn't infatuated with Drummond at No. 7. When guards Dion Waiters and Damian Lillard jumped into the top-six picks, Dumars knew his hopes might come true.
"When Sacramento took Thomas Robinson at No. 5, we knew we had a good chance," Dumars said. "The only problem was if Toronto decided to take him No. 8 for a trade, but they were asking for the moon, so it didn't happen."
That meant, for the third year in a row, the Pistons got a gift six months before Christmas.
"Andre fell into our lap, and we're very fortunate," owner Tom Gores said. "It happened with Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight, and now it has happened again."
With the first of their two second-round picks, the Pistons took Khris Middleton from Texas A&M. At 6-foot-8 and just 217 pounds, Middleton will be the latest in a long line of skinny Pistons perimeter players. He struggled during his junior season with an ankle injury and needs work on the defensive end, but could provide some outside shooting off the bench.
Five picks later, the Pistons took another candidate for Arnie Kander's weight program, Missouri shooting guard Kim English. At 6-foot-6 and 192 pounds, English isn't going to be a physical presence, but he was one of the top 3-point shooters in college basketball. He hit 46 percent from behind the arc in his final season with the Tigers.
