(Editor’s note: The Pistons hold the No. 18 and No. 49 picks in the June 23 NBA draft. We’ll preview one candidate for each pick each Monday through Friday leading up to the draft. Players who are consensus lottery picks unavailable to the Pistons will not be profiled.)
First-Round Candidate: Diamond Stone
ID CARD: 6-foot-101/4 center, Maryland freshman, 19 years old
DRAFT RANGE: Ranked 30th by DraftExpress.com; 32nd by ESPN.com; No. 4 among centers by NBA.com
SCOUTS LOVE: Stone’s talent has had him on NBA radars for several years already. He arrived at Maryland as the No. 6 prospect in the high school class of 2015 nationally according to Rivals.com. He has a wide body, long arms, nimble footwork and scoring instincts that have drawn comparisons to another one-and-done Big Ten big man from several years back, Zach Randolph.
SCOUTS WONDER: Stone isn’t a great athlete and he’ll require some work on his body to get in better condition. While he played with a talented cast at Maryland that included NBA prospects at all four spots around him, including power forward Robert Carter and small forward Jake Layman, Stone didn’t get to stray far enough from the rim to show the versatility of his offense that NBA teams would like to see.
NUMBER TO NOTE: 5.5 – Stone’s rebounding average at Maryland last season. He played fairly limited minutes (23 a game) for a variety of reasons, including Maryland’s talented roster, but that’s a low number for a college center considered a likely lottery pick before his freshman season.
MONEY QUOTE: “I felt like every team, really every GM or every coach, knows how I play, but I’m here for these workouts to show I can play defense and show I can spread the floor with my ability to shoot the basketball. I didn’t really get to show it at Maryland, but at these workouts, I’m showing it. We had a lot of talent on the team, so coach (Mark) Turgeon, he just pretty much told me, ‘I want you underneath the basket. I want you in the post. I don’t want you popping or shooting any jump shots, because we have Rob Carter for that.’ Once everyone accepted their role, we got stronger as a team.” – Stone after working out for the Pistons this week
PISTONS FIT: With Andre Drummond entrenched as the future anchor of the franchise in the middle and Aron Baynes holding a player option on his contract for the 2017-18 season, it would make some sense for the Pistons to draft a center with the 18th pick and give Stone one year to adapt to the NBA as a little-used No. 3 center for 2016-17 season, then emerge as Drummond’s backup should Baynes exercise his option and become a free agent next season.
BOTTOM LINE: Stone wasn’t a dominant college player, but he flashed dominance often enough as a very young player – he didn’t turn 19 until February – to validate the high end of expectations for him. He scored 39 points off the bench in a win over Penn State. He shot nearly 60 percent and showed good shot-blocking instincts. With some added strength and physical maturity, he could even offer some depth at power forward given his relatively encouraging lateral agility. It will take a little patience, but Stone seems to have suffered some prospect fatigue – on the radar so long his weaknesses begin to overshadow his strengths.
Second-Round Candidate: Georgios Papagiannis
ID CARD: 7-foot-1 center, Greek national playing professionally in Greece, 18 years old
DRAFT RANGE: Ranked 50th on DraftExpress.com; 74th on ESPN.com; 10th among centers by NBA.com
SCOUTS LOVE: Size and potential have always been an intriguing combination to basketball scouts and Papagiannis – who doesn’t turn 19 until next month – brings both in volume. He spent the season coming off the bench for Greek power Panathinaikos, which went 25-1 in the regular season to tie Olympiacos and then lost when the two teams met in the league finals. Papagiannis is a strong rebounder with good hands and scoring potential.
SCOUTS WONDER: He’s been knocked for lack of toughness and motor, though it has to be put into context when a teenager is playing in a top pro league. He’s not especially explosive or athletic and he’ll need to gain functional strength. As to be expected with a 7-footer at 18, Papagiannis takes more projection than most NBA draft prospects.
NUMBER TO NOTE: 68.0 – Papagiannis’ field-goal percentage over the 23 games he played, averaging 11 minutes, for Panathinaikos. Playing against players much older and stronger, if not bigger, that’s encouraging efficiency. He has a go-to jump hook and is comfortable with face-up jump shots.
MONEY QUOTE: “At such a young age, Papagiannis has the ability to play at such a high level around the basket. He has all of the needed skills that a center in the NBA should have, whether it may be his post jump hook that he seems to have perfected, his shot-blocking ability or his shooting range. He has such a soft touch around the hoop … and blocks shots with ease.” – Rocco DiSangro for CosmosPhilly.com when Papagiannis played one year of high school basketball in Pennsylvania
PISTONS FIT: As with A.J. Hammons, who worked out for the Pistons in a group along with Papagiannis on Monday, the young Greek presumably auditioned to test his readiness to be the No. 3 center behind Andre Drummond and Aron Baynes. But Hammons will be 24 before his NBA rookie season, five years older than Papagiannis. It’s likely Papagiannis would spend a good deal of time with the Grand Rapids Drive of the D-League if he were to be drafted by the Pistons and come to the NBA next season.
BOTTOM LINE: Had Papagiannis decided to play college basketball instead of playing in the Greek pro league – a decision he didn’t come to until last July – he would have chosen among Kentucky, Oregon, North Carolina State and St. John’s as a high-level recruit in the same class with the top prep centers like Diamond Stone and Stephen Zimmerman. If he’s still available with the 49th pick, he figures to be on the short list for the Pistons and would be a candidate to spend another season overseas to save a roster spot and cap space for the Pistons.
