We should have drafted Trey Burke

[HotelVitale]

The Pistons seem to know what I have been saying forever and that is Brandon Knight is a PG. He had no business playing the SG position and has really only been a PG for 1 year and everyone thinks Burke is better. If Burke were drafted here then he wouldv'e been on the bench... For the first time in his short career it looks like Knight will play in a real system that plays to his strengths and have the personnel to play along with him.

I know you're from Dade and not Michigan, but you still need to know something about this team before commenting on it. Last year, Knight started every game but about 20 of them as our point guard. The year before that he started 60-some games as our point guard. He brought the ball up and initiated the offense on pretty much all the possessions aside from a few fast breaks. We have watched almost two full seasons of Brand Knight as point guard. Also the Pistons did have a system. It was predicated on the pick and roll, Monroe in the high post, and having Stuck/Bynum penetrate (in the second unit). Brandon Knight wasn't very good as the point guard within that system. He may get better, and we all hope he does, but there has been ample opportunity for him as a point guard.

[ElectricMayhem]

Such a weak-ass thought...

The point was that it would have been an appeasement pick. I do agree with you (and the stats) that Burke offers more in potential than Cleaves, but it would have been eschewing our needs for a popular pick. So yes, it could be mistakenly assumed from my comment that Cleaves and Burke are identical in every facet. My intent was simply to express the similarity in the main reasoning behind their potential drafting. Thank you for so every politely bringing this clarification to my attention.

[need4detroit]

This Burke kid had more hype than Austin Rivers going into this draft. I would love for Burke to turn out to be a great player but it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t. To all of those who wanted Burke to be a Piston you should be satisfied with Siva. I would have been ecstatic with one of McElmore, Bennett, or Oladipo but we all knew none of them was going to be there at 8. KCP was the way to go.

Show me one post before the draft advocating for Pope at eight. The only ones saying this now are homers and/or delusional.

I said that a while ago. Search my posts.

[vic]

Burke is going to be a great pg in the NBA.

Unless the Pistons really plan on trying to build a team with no true pg... they are going to severely regret passing up on Trey Burke.

Both Trey and KCP are going to be great players.

But the point I make is that the point guard is a more valuable position than the shooting guard. I’d rather take a chance on a more valuable position, that has more control of the game, that effects the teammates more.
Usually those pass-first, intelligent, on-court leadership guys (that you really need when you have a suspect head coach) are found at the 1 and the 3.

A pass-first player that can control the game is rare. Utah’s bigs are going to be well fed for a long time with Trey Burke. We have KCP who could be a great player but we still don’t know if we have anybody that can maximize his shooting or get him the ball at a 3/1 assist/to ratio.

Most people that like Trey Burke still underrate Trey Burke because they don’t realize just how rare his team basketball skills are.

Case in point: I just did a cursory look through Draft express stats for last 7 years…

Only pgs to have an assist/to ratio over 3/1
with a TS% over 55
and scoring more than 15 points a game.

Ty Lawson
Trey Burke
Jordan Taylor did it his Junior year for Wisconsin - but he regressed big time his senior year, in TO and in shooting. And Trey Burke is a sophomore.

A pg with an assist/to ratio over 3/1 (at any level) is like a power forward that gets 15 rebounds/40 min, or a scorer that scores 25 points a game.

The only thing less common than a dominant center is a point guard (or pass first player such as Lebron) that can pass with an assist/to ratio better than 3/1, and space the floor, get to the hole, and control the pace of the game. Trey Burke would have been a better pick from the opportunity cost perspective. Unless you just think good point guards are completely uncessary.

Hopefully the Pistons can get Calderon to re-sign… and then angle for someone like Ben Simmons (SF) or Tyus Jones (PG) in 2015 with a natural pass-first control of the game to solidify the long-term core.

[ComboGuardCity]

POP, N4D, TimmayTime, ThirdMan all were very high on KCP.

KCP was #7 on our consensus big board even though some people, myself included, didn't have him in their top 10. He was on nobody's "do not want list" as well.

[Notanoob]

Although I wasn't awfully vocal, I was pretty high on KCP myself. I still would have preferred Burke, but it's not like we're passing on CP3 for a backup. KCP is a good pick in a vacuum, and a good pick for us anyways.

[Collymore]

We needed a 3 & D role player more than a backup PG.

[Fan from Dade]

The Pistons seem to know what I have been saying forever and that is Brandon Knight is a PG. He had no business playing the SG position and has really only been a PG for 1 year and everyone thinks Burke is better. If Burke were drafted here then he wouldv'e been on the bench... For the first time in his short career it looks like Knight will play in a real system that plays to his strengths and have the personnel to play along with him.

I know you're from Dade and not Michigan, but you still need to know something about this team before commenting on it. Last year, Knight started every game but about 20 of them as our point guard. The year before that he started 60-some games as our point guard. He brought the ball up and initiated the offense on pretty much all the possessions aside from a few fast breaks. We have watched almost two full seasons of Brand Knight as point guard. Also the Pistons did have a system. It was predicated on the pick and roll, Monroe in the high post, and having Stuck/Bynum penetrate (in the second unit). Brandon Knight wasn't very good as the point guard within that system. He may get better, and we all hope he does, but there has been ample opportunity for him as a point guard.

You should've done some more research before responding to me. Don't let my origins confuse you; I'm well versed in the current situation in Detroit. Obviously, moreso then you. I saw Every Pistons game the last two years since drafting Knight. He didn't start 62 games last year at the point position. Furthermore, his starting is irrelevant if you look at the offense. Franks offense didn't give him a chance to really run the team. It was designed for him to bring the ball up and immediately give it to Tayshaun, cut through and most often when he saw the ball again it was off a kick out. That's a not an offense that allowed him to be successful. In addition, he hasn't had shooters around him at all. He rarely ever ran the pick and roll. As far as 2 years, first year with no offseason and shortened season doesn't count a whole lot so call it half a season and last year he was moved to the two at the all star break. So you get another half a season there.

Calderon came in and was allowed to dribble for an hour and then pass it off to whoever was open allowing him to get assist. Even with that his assist dropped. In short, Brandon's issue is consistency; part of that is on him and part of it was on the system.

[bballnmike]

Look I wanted to draft Burke as much as the next guy (unless the next guy didn't want Burke.. then I wanted him more), but I'm happy with KCP. At this point there's no reason to even debate it anymore, or can we at least wait until we get a chance to see these guys play and have some time to develop? Maybe then we can look back it.

[He Filled it Up]

This is going to get even uglier in a few years.

Burke is a stud, people that talk about him being undersized are just ignorant, his measurements are pretty close to CP3, but more important, his game while different, it's also close.

Burke will be worse on defense, CP3 is the best defensive PG, but he'll be solid, but on offense, he'll be similar, he needs to work on finishing around the basket, but he'll get it.

At least he'll have a career similar to Tim Hardaway, Caldwell-Pope whereas, will be only another shooting wing.

I have a hard time buying that Burke's floor is Hardaway, but regardless how many of those types have you seen in the Finals lately?

[TheToothFairy]

Passing on Burke is a real head scratcher. no Disrespect to KCP

But u drafted Drummond last year at Center and had a chance to grab the home town player of the year PG to run the show.

[Laimbeer]

Two years running we had players slide to us we had no right to expect. We did the right thing and grabbed them. It happened again this year, a guy some boards had as high as #2. For some reason we didn't pull the trigger. Burke has the higher ceiling. But instead we doubled down on Knight, a quicker, smaller version of Stuckey - a combo guard that just doesn't get it.

[bennett13]

And Burke is a smaller slower version of Kemba Walker. I'd much rather give Knight one more year to figure it out instead of starting all over with a slow undersized PG. Burke is not the answer wolverine fans, the guy had a GREAT team around him. We needed a SG we have a year to see if we need a PG. Why don't we just try and be happy with KCP and all you Burke back mountain fans can follow him in Utah.

[Drwho17]

Passing on Burke is a real head scratcher. no Disrespect to KCP

But u drafted Drummond last year at Center and had a chance to grab the home town player of the year PG to run the show.

Maybe we have seen more of Burke then you, when he plays against NBA talent he is hindered tremendously, which is to be expected he's not an NBA level athlete. I think Burke at best could be an average guard.

[chrbal]

There would have been too much pressure on Burke to play here. The only way drafting him would've made sense would be trade him. But that would've only made sense if a PG was still at 14. Looking at how the draft panned out, we made the pick we should've made.

[MrBigShot]

Passing on Burke is a real head scratcher. no Disrespect to KCP

But u drafted Drummond last year at Center and had a chance to grab the home town player of the year PG to run the show.

Maybe we have seen more of Burke then you, when he plays against NBA talent he is hindered tremendously, which is to be expected he's not an NBA level athlete. I think Burke at best could be an average guard.

Sorry but, Burke is an NBA athlete. He's good good speed, decent but not great quickness and his max vertical is higher than KCP btw according to the combine, and KCP is a guy that we all acknowledge as not only an NBA athlete, but a good athlete.

No comparison between him and Kemba...two different players. Burke is the better shooter, better in P&R, better court vision, better game management. Kemba is quicker, every bit the leader and a better finisher.

[MrBigShot]

Passing on Burke is a real head scratcher. no Disrespect to KCP

But u drafted Drummond last year at Center and had a chance to grab the home town player of the year PG to run the show.

Maybe we have seen more of Burke then you, when he plays against NBA talent he is hindered tremendously, which is to be expected he's not an NBA level athlete. I think Burke at best could be an average guard.

Sorry but, Burke is an NBA athlete. He's good good speed, decent but not great quickness and his max vertical is higher than KCP btw according to the combine, and KCP is a guy that we all acknowledge as not only an NBA athlete, but a good athlete.

No comparison between him and Kemba...two different players. Burke is the better shooter, better in P&R, better court vision, better game management. Kemba is quicker, every bit the leader and a better finisher.