The Pistons‘ final draft strategy depends on how the lottery shakes out this coming Tuesday, but the team knows it needs to target a starting forward and some depth at center, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes. “We can make assumptions and part of the actual draft process is trying to figure out plans for other teams and what their needs may be versus available players in the draft,” GM Jeff Bower said. “As you try to slot it out, you do make educated guesses on what a team need or interest may be based on the workouts and the information flow of interest around the prospects. We’ll try to have a handle on it because it’s good to know what other people will like. Normally more than one team likes the same player and you try to have yourself positioned to get that player or a group of players that you’re very comfortable with.”
Here’s more news from around the Central Division:
- Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein sat down at the draft combine with the Pistons, and he said that the team talked to him about playing alongside center Andre Drummond, Keith Langlois of NBA.com tweets.
- Cauley-Stein said he has a workout scheduled with the Pacers, as do Arkansas forward Bobby Portis, Quinn Cook of Duke, Kentucky’s Aaron Harrison, and Maryland’s Dez Wells, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star relays (Twitter links).
- Kentucky forward Trey Lyles interviewed with the Pacers while in Chicago for the combine, Buckner tweets. Of his meeting, Lyles said, “I met with them yesterday. It was pretty cool. It would be fun to play there but you know wherever I go, I’ll be fine with.“