Coty Davis and Tarohn Finley on Pistons’ 27-9 record after blowout win over Knicks
Coty Davis and Tarohn Finley break down the Pistons’ win against the playoff-rival Knicks.
Granted, the Detroit Pistons have their sights set higher than the NBA Draft these days.
One season after a history-making turnaround landed them their first postseason appearance since the 2018-19 season, the Pistons enter Tuesday’s games at 28-10, sitting atop the Eastern Conference with the NBA’s second-best record.
Safe to say, no one in Detroit is looking ahead to next summer’s draft.
But, ESPN did Tuesday with its most recent mock draft, and slotted a familiar name to the Pistons, projecting Michigan big man Aday Mara to head to Detroit with the No. 29 pick — one of three Wolverines in the two-round projection.
Obviously, all of the usual caveats are in play here: More than half of the NBA season is left to be played to help determine the draft order, as well as a draft lottery that usually happens in May. For this exercise, ESPN determined its order using its BPI projections. Mara, too, is only a junior, and will still need to declare for the draft.
Still, in his first season at Michigan after transferring from UCLA, the 7-foot-3 Mara has been a force for the fourth-ranked Wolverines, averaging 10.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 15 games.
“Michigan has helped optimize Mara’s unique mix of enormous size (7-3, 255) and creative passing ability, making him a fit-specific but situationally intriguing player as NBA teams have shifted toward having size on the court,” Jeremy Woo writes. “His poor free throw shooting (41.9%) makes it seem unlikely he’ll become much of a jump shooter, but his ability to eat up space in drop coverage and help facilitate ball movement should give him a place in the league, with NBA teams again putting a premium on size up front.”
The Pistons boast talented 22-year-old center Jalen Duren, who is averaging 17.9 points and 10.6 rebounds in his fourth NBA season, as well as 24-year-old Isaiah Stewart, who is averaging 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds and recently turned in a career-high 31 points in a 108-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Other picks with state of Michigan ties in ESPN’s mock draft Tuesday include:
▶ Darius Acuff, a point guard at Arkansas who helped lead Detroit Cass Tech to a Division 1 state title in 2023, going to the Dallas Mavericks at No. 9;
▶ Yaxel Lendeborg, a forward who is another newcomer at Michigan, going to the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 11;
▶ Morez Johnson, Jr., also in his first year at Michigan, going in the second round (No. 43 overall) to the Los Angeles Clippers;
▶ Tarris Reed Jr., a former Michigan big man now at Connecticut, going to the Washington Wizards at No. 60.
