Van Gundy has chance to fill last hole in Pistons' lineup with No. 8 pick
Stan Van Gundy has gotten the Pistons much closer to the roster that he thinks can take them back to the postseason.
Thursday night, he'll get a chance to add another piece.
With the eighth pick in the draft, Van Gundy will have a chance to fill the last hole in the starting lineup -- a small forward to play alongside Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ersan Ilyasova and Andre Drummond.
The top prospect likely to be available at No. 8 had been Croatia's Mario Hezonja, who plays in Spain for Barcelona. However, after a strong performance in the league finals against Real Madrid -- a rivalry that extends beyond the soccer field -- Hezonja has moved up a lot of mock-draft boards.
As a 6'8" small forward with the 3-point range that Van Gundy craves, Hezonja would certainly fit with the Pistons, and his agent, Arn Tellem, will be joining Palace Sports and Entertainment this fall. However, those same qualities could make him irresistable to Orlando at No. 5 or Denver two picks later.
He certainly won't have any problem with confidence, having said that he'd be the No. 1 pick if he were coming out of college instead of Europe.
If the Magic or Nuggets do grab Hezonja, the Pistons will have other options at small forward. Duke's Justise Winslow impressed during the NCAA tournament and is probably closer than most other draftees to playing defense at the NBA level, but he's also likely to go to Orlando or Denver.
That could leave the Pistons looking at Wisconsin's Sam Dekker, who reportedly impressed Van Gundy and his staff in a recent workout, but the more likely possibility would be Arizona's Stanley Johnson. Johnson is undersized at just 6'5", but has a wingspan of just under seven feet and has the strength and speed to get to the rim and help on the glass.
He also projects as a strong defender, but the biggest question mark will be his ability to score. He shot 37 percent on 3-pointers in his one year of college ball, meaning that he will face a tough adjustment to the longer NBA triple. While he can get the ball to the rim, he struggled at times to finish plays.
A longer shot would be the Pistons taking a chance on a shooting guard like Devin Booker. At just 18, though, Booker might need more time to develop, and Van Gundy and Tom Gores know that they need to bring a winner to their fanbase sooner rather than later.
One way or another, Van Gundy will have one more rotation player, and a exact idea of what he needs to add in free agency next month.
