Pistons Mailbag - Monday, May 9, 2011 - Page 2

We reserve the right to edit your question for the sake of brevity or clarity.

Page 1 | Page 2

Langlois: Good call, Bruno. Thornton’s career has been a disappointment, but he’s been in some pretty chaotic situations, too. If this were a normal year, meaning free agency opened on July 1 – in doubt this year because of the expiration of the CBA – Thornton would be one of those players you would expect to be signed much later in the process. He would be a player who would go into free agency hoping to get something more than the veteran’s minimum, but he’d be right on that bubble. The Pistons will do the other major work of putting their roster together and see where they stand. If Tayshaun Prince and Tracy McGrady, for instance, have moved on in free agency, then Joe Dumars will be looking for options at small forward – probably. It also depends on how the draft goes. It’s unlikely the Pistons will take a small forward – partly because of the depth of this draft being in power forwards, partly because of roster need. The Pistons did like Thornton coming out of college. But now they have four years of NBA play to get a better handle on him. If they still believe he has something more to give than he’s shown, he will be one to watch when free agency rolls around.

Langlois: I know multiple members of the front office have scouted him, Aubrey, just as they try to do for the nearly 100 players that start the season on the big board in personnel director George David’s office. If the Pistons were to spend one of their two second-rounders on Jenkins, as you suggest, I’m pretty sure it would have to be at 33 – he isn’t very likely to be around at 52. I haven’t seen much of Jenkins – you have to search pretty hard to find Hofstra games on TV – but everything I’ve read or heard about him, he sounds sort of like Rodney Stuckey Lite. Not quite as big, not quite as strong, not quite as dynamic, probably a better deep shooter at a similar stage. He put that Hofstra team on his shoulders and made them competitive, going 14-4 in the Colonial. He’s been the star of that team all four years. Nobody doubts he’ll find a spot in the NBA, and in a draft with few sure things, Jenkins very well could go higher than the consensus currently holds for him.

Langlois: Haven’t heard much buzz about Tyler lately, Doug. He spent the past season in Japan and appeared to have a better experience than he did the previous year in Israel. Fans might recall that Tyler made headlines by deciding to skip his senior year of high school in San Diego to sign professionally. He wasn’t nearly ready to play at that level. Tyler, interestingly, is automatically eligible for this year’s draft – he didn’t have to apply as an early-entry candidate – because he’s an American who had previously signed a professional contract that is no longer in effect. But scouts really have very little to go on because, as you can well imagine, the Japan league is not one that is typically scouted. So workouts are going to dictate where he gets drafted, or if he gets drafted. The Pistons could have some very intriguing options at 33, the pick they get from Toronto as final payment for Carlos Delfino. I don’t know if Tyler can do enough in workouts to make himself one of those options at 33. There’s a chance he could still be there at 52. There’s a decent chance, in fact, that he’ll go undrafted.

Langlois: First things first: Mock drafts are to be taken with a pound of salt, Jason. They imply no knowledge of what the Pistons themselves are thinking. That said, the strength of this draft is in power forward/centers. The Pistons need more size. They’re comfortable with Monroe at power forward or center, so they won’t discriminate in seeking a frontcourt partner for him that might be better suited to one spot over the other. Your opinion on Walker being a great fit as a point guard isn’t universally – or even widely – shared. Walker might wind up being a tremendous asset, but there is plenty of skepticism whether he’ll truly be an NBA point guard. Many see him ideally as an off-the-bench spark plug in the Jason Terry mold.