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Hello Detroit Pistons fans,

I'd just like to congratulate your fan base on the fact that your team has such a wonderful talent, in Andre Drummond. Being a Pelicans fan, I was very, very excited to be gifted Anthony Davis in last years draft, but I still had a hunch that Drummond would be a really good big man too. I'd even like to go on record and say, I think Drummond willl be a more "dominant" big man than Anthony Davis will be. I think Drummond has all the tools to dominate the post, in a "Shaq-esque" manner, albeit maybe not AS dominant, but then again, with the lack of true big men in today's league, his presuming dominance of the league could probably be on-par with Shaq, imo.

Conversely, I see Davis being a dominant low-post defender and a better overall player, due to his guard skills and phenotype.

I guess for Pistons/Pelicans fans, you could ask yourself, what would you rather have in a big man? Personally, I don't think either fan base would be disappointed with either one, but I wouldn't be upset at all today if Drummond was a Pelican instead of Davis.

Peace guys.

Thanks!

Who are you guys leaning toward drafting this season?

Drummond was a boon. I believe Davis is going to have a much more well rounded game than Drummond, and has a higher basketball IQ.

Drummond is more geared to dominate in fewer areas. Low post scoring, rebounding and defense will be his game. He isn't likely to develop a quality 20 foot jumper like Davis.

To be honest, I'm perfectly happy with Drummond instead of Davis. The guy is a riot.

I too would like to hear about your draft plans.

Piston Pete wrote:Thanks!

Who are you guys leaning toward drafting this season?

Good question! I can tell you which guys our fan base is really wanting..Burke, Porter, Len, McLemore and Zeller seem to be the most desired of the potential top 6 picks. But as far as who we're leaning towards, I'm sure the Pelicans brass have a game plan set for how they will approach the draft, but as you can imagine, it all depends on how the picks before us shake-out.

ImHeisenberg wrote:Drummond was a boon. I believe Davis is going to have a much more well rounded game than Drummond, and has a higher basketball IQ.

Drummond is more geared to dominate in fewer areas. Low post scoring, rebounding and defense will be his game. He isn't likely to develop a quality 20 foot jumper like Davis.

I totally agree with your assessment of Drummond, as I likened your opinion in my post above. I also agree that Davis will be the more versatile player.

Both teams each have a quality player. They are different, not necessarily better than each other.

They would make one hell of a big man tandem though....and it was one pick away from happening.

ComboGuardCity wrote:They would make one hell of a big man tandem though....and it was one pick away from happening.

Right? That would have made for one bright-*ss future in New Orleans.

Is it going to get me stoned if I say I'd much much rather have Davis than Drummond? Drummond is an insane specimen but Davis is about 25 times more skilled at the moment. Drummond's skill set right now is being bigger than everyone and jumping higher than them, but he's not too good at everything else. Davis is pretty good at everything in basketball. I'm also worried Drummond's per-minute production will drop off when he plays more minutes, while I think Davis' could actually increase (because his game depends on feel and flow so much).

Also, when he was 18, Shaq averaged 28/15 on 63% form the field and 5 blocks per game. Might want to find a different point of comparison.

HotelVitale wrote: I'm also worried Drummond's per-minute production will drop off when he plays more minutes.

This makes no sense. Drummond actually increased his minutes during the season and his "per-minute production" didn't drop at all. So why, after an offseason improving his game, would that be a concern?

People need to remember Drummond was selected at #9. Yes Anthony Davis game is more polished however Drummond game evolved quickly. Did you guys forget that during the Summer League Drummond had no clue how to box out and would not get rebounds at all? Or how bad/inconsistent Drummond was on defense at the beginning of the season and how good he was by the end of the season? Drummond was supposed to be a long shot project, it was said it would take 3-4 years for him to show anything at all and he played at an all star level, ROY level on his FIRST YEAR.

I think Anthony Davis could be a much better Dwight Howard while Drummond could be a Shaq-Esque player. Would be happy to have any, Am ecstatic to have Drummond especially because we got him with the freaking #9 pick.

We are not the Cleveland who get gifted 3 #1 picks in a decade. We have possibly the most dominant front court of the next decade and we got them with the #7 and #9 picks while Cleveland selected TT and Waiters with back to back #4 picks

Drummond should have been the 2nd pick in the draft no question.

Cleveland could have been sitting with Irving-Drummond-Leonard/Klay Thompson-Noel. Instead they have two guards who look to be bad fits in Irving-Waiters and potentially two bigs (Thompson-Noel) who bring no offense and are undersized. And they think Lebron is going back to that?

vege wrote: This makes no sense. Drummond actually increased his minutes during the season and his "per-minute production" didn't drop at all. So why, after an offseason improving his game, would that be a concern?

I love having Andre Drummond on this team, but two things. Drummond has never played more than 26-ish minutes per game and he averaged 20 minutes last year. It seems like a lot to expect a big-framed athletic guy to keep up his per-minute production when you increase his minutes by 40-70% to say 33 minutes per night. Second, if you're measuring offensive rebounds and blocks--what should be his two biggest contributions--his per-minute production significantly shrank throughout the year. Playing 22 minutes per in December, he averaged twice as many blocks per minute and grabbed about 35% more orebs than in Mar/Apr. (He also scored a smidgen more and rebounded less per minute.) I think you can chalk a lot of that up to the injury, and I'm not saying he sucks or we should trade him ASAP, but it's still worth noting.

vege wrote: I think Anthony Davis could be a much better Dwight Howard while Drummond could be a Shaq-Esque player.

Don't want to start an argument, but Davis has a nice jumper, is a good ball handler, shoots free throws well for a big, and is rail thin. Add 'not' to all of those phrases and you'd get an accurate description of Howard or Drummond (at least the bad parts of their games). And I know you said 'Shaq-esque' and not 'as good as Shaq' but Shaq was amazingly nimble and skilled for his size, and he was quite a bit bigger than Drummond. Was always a dominant scorer too.

Piston Prince wrote:Drummond should have been the 2nd pick in the draft no question. Cleveland could have been sitting with Irving-Drummond-Leonard/Klay Thompson-Noel.

That's true, but we should have Carmelo, Marc Gasol, Jrue Holiday, and a bench full of all-stars if we took them over the likes of Darko, Maxiell, Daye & co!

HotelVitale wrote:

vege wrote: I think Anthony Davis could be a much better Dwight Howard while Drummond could be a Shaq-Esque player.

Don't want to start an argument, but Davis has a nice jumper, is a good ball handler, shoots free throws well for a big, and is rail thin. Add 'not' to all of those phrases and you'd get an accurate description of Howard or Drummond (at least the bad parts of their games). And I know you said 'Shaq-esque' and not 'as good as Shaq' but Shaq was amazingly nimble and skilled for his size, and he was quite a bit bigger than Drummond. Was always a dominant scorer too.

Shaq Definately has a lot of things that Drummond does not have and will not have but the other way around is true as well. Drummond is a lot more "mobile" than Shaq. Drummond is HUGE not as big as Shaq but what makes Drummond special is how well he moves for his size. Drummond also has an amazing touch, if you watched him play you KNOW he will be a GREAT finisher, he did some jaw dropping plays and that's why everyone is so impressed with him. Yes sometimes he does some awful plays but he is getting better and better. He will not be a copy of Shaq, but he could have a Shaq-esque impact, especially in today's NBA that is dominated by PGs with little to no Bigs. A league where Howard and Bynum were clearly the top 2 centers and they're nothing special.

And for the record, if I could chose between Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond I would pick Drummond. When someone posted this at the start of the season I was the first one to laugh and I'll admit I was wrong.

I agree with Vitale. Drummond was getting gassed by the end of games when he played more than 25mpg. Hopefully he's working on his conditioning in between those vine videos.

IF you had to build a franchise around one of them which would you choose?

IMO it's Drummond

Drummond has potential to be a top 5 player overall.

Davis has potential to be the next Marcus Camby w/ a slightly better jumper.

I love Davis but I woulda taken Drummond #1 last Summer & I said it then. 6'11, 280 w/ 2 guard type of athleticism is beyond rare. Bball skill can be taught.

Clarity wrote:Drummond has potential to be a top 5 player overall.

Davis has potential to be the next Marcus Camby w/ a slightly better jumper.

I love Davis but I woulda taken Drummond #1 last Summer & I said it then. 6'11, 280 w/ 2 guard type of athleticism is beyond rare. Bball skill can be taught.

Davis' upside is way higher than Marcus Camby with a slightly better j. Davis is immensely skilled and way more mobile than Camby. IMO Davis has the potential to be a more skilled KG with less intensity.

need4detroit wrote:Davis' upside is way higher than Marcus Camby with a slightly better j. Davis is immensely skilled and way more mobile than Camby. IMO Davis has the potential to be a more skilled KG with less intensity.

I've seen this comparison before, Its very unlikely he ever has even half of KG's offensive game.

vege wrote: Shaq Definately has a lot of things that Drummond does not have and will not have but the other way around is true as well. Drummond is a lot more "mobile" than Shaq. Drummond is HUGE not as big as Shaq but what makes Drummond special is how well he moves for his size.

Shaq wasn't 'mobile'? He didn't 'move well for for his size'?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLK6Zqef9ow

Damn NBA fans have short memories.