The Pistons picked Gonzaga’s Austin Daye with the 15th overall pick Thursday night and followed up in the second round with Georgetown’s DaJuan Summers and Jonas Jerebko of Sweden. They drafted Arizona’s Chase Budinger for the Houston Rockets, who gave them cash and a second-round pick in 2012 or later. Detroit desperately needed to add tall and talented players because it likely will be without Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess next season. “With Rasheed Wallace being a free agent and McDyess the same way, we had to focus on the frontcourt,” Dumars said. But Dumars was also determined to players who are good guys and he is confident his new forwards fit the description.
“Over the last nine years, this was probably the toughest year dealing with issues,” said Dumars, who is the Pistons’ president of basketball operations. “I said, ‘Never again will I deal with the issues or drama.’” The Pistons had a six-year run of advancing to the conference finals before getting swept in the first round by Cleveland in April Detroit used three of the first 39 picks on forwards and is about $20 million under the salary cap, giving the franchise assets that could give it a chance to rebuild quickly.
Daye will be a key cog-or misfiring part-as the Pistons reshape their roster in the hopes of regaining their status as an elite NBA team. He averaged 12.7 points and 6.8 rebounds last season as a sophomore at Gonzaga.
Scouts were enamored by his combination of height, wing span and skills, but he will need to add weight to contribute. The 6-foot-11, 192-pound Daye insisted he shouldn’t be underestimated physically. “I may be frail, but I’m a tough kid,” he said.
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