Denver Stiffs Community Mock Draft 8th Pick: TheMozgovCocktail, Detroit Pistons

With the 8th pick in the 2015 NBA draft, the Detroit Pistons select: Stanley Johnson, Small Forward, Arizona.

TheMozgovCocktail:

The Pistons are in need of a starting small forward. Tayshaun Prince is a free agent and old. Caron Butler is old. They have something called a Cartier Martin. And they have former Nuggets forward Quincy Miller They could potentially need a power forward, too, depending on what Greg Monroe decides to do this off-season. However, Johnson was the best player available with this pick and also fills one of those needs for Detroit.

Fit:

Defense: One of Johnson's greatest strengths is his defense. Especially his on ball defense. Johnson said this past week that he can guard positions 1-4. That is huge for a team to have a player that can guard mostly any position on the court. For a Pistons team that was below average on defense with a defensive rating of 106.4 (19th), Johnson should help quite a bit there.

Offense: Johnson is still a work in progress on offense. He's best in transition where his long strides allow him to have success. He has nice touch on his floater, but relies on it too much when going to the basket. He does have the ability to make mid-range and three point shots, but he is a streaky shooter. Sometimes he struggles with his shot selection. His passing is iffy, needs to work on his accuracy.

The Pistons have plenty of guys that can fill it up, including Brandon Jennings, Reggie Jackson (Restricted Free Agent), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Jodie Meeks. However those guy aren’t on the same defensive level as Stanley. Johnson makes sense for them because they are desperately in need of a defensive minded wing that can develop a more polished offensive game in time (he’s only going to be 19 years-old when the season starts).

I can see the Pistons possibly trading down a couple spots to get a big man that can stretch the floor, but if Johnson's there when they pick, they'd be hard pressed to pass on him given their need at small forward.

*Rasheed Wallace was so impressed with Johnson’s workouts, that he gave Johnson the headband he just had on his head while working up a sweat… opening a jar of pickles*

Here is a breakdown of the mock draft so far:

It’s the LAW SON and the Charlotte Hornets are on the clock.

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