If you believe in the power of consensus, then it appears that the player the Pistons will pick seventh in November’s NBA draft will be one of this quartet: Onyeka Okongwu, Isaac Okoro, Killian Hayes or Tyrese Haliburton.
A roundup of 12 mock drafts from various media outlets suggests that five players will be more than likely out of reach of the Pistons: Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, Obi Toppin and Deni Avdija. Edwards and Ball, in fact, were taken before the seventh pick in all 12 mock drafts; Toppin, Avdija and Wiseman were gone in 11 of the 12.
Interestingly, in the mock drafts that didn’t have Toppin or Avdija going ahead of the Pistons, they selected neither player. Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo had the Pistons passing on Avdija in favor of Auburn’s Okoro. Tankathon had the Pistons passing on Toppin – also in favor of Okoro. In the one mock draft that had Wiseman available at seven, Ricky O’Donnell’s at SB Nation, the Pistons select the Memphis 7-footer.
Okoro and Southern Cal’s Okongwu each turned up on four of the 12 mock drafts for the Pistons. In addition to Sports Illustrated and Tankathon, Okoro was mocked to the Pistons by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic and Garry Parrish of CBS Sports. Okongwu was mocked to the Pistons by Krysten Peek of Yahoo, NBADraft.net, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report and James Ham of NBC Sports.
Okongwu was gone in six of the 12 mock draft while in only one, NBC Sports, was Okoro unavailable at the seventh pick.
Iowa State sophomore point guard Haliburton was unavailable to the Pistons in five of the 12 mock drafts but was mocked to the Pistons in only one of the seven others, by ESPN.com’s Jonathan Givony.
Hayes, the French teen point guard, was unavailable to the Pistons in only three of the 12 mock drafts but mocked to them by only Kyle Boone of CBS Sports and NetScouts Basketball.
The NBA draft is scheduled for Nov. 18. Teams are allowed virtual meetings with players and have been conducting them for several weeks, but as of now there is no provision for individual workouts for NBA teams or in-person meetings.
Here’s a look at the 12 mock drafts sampled:
The Athletic, Sam Vecenie – 1. Minnesota: LaMelo Ball; 2. Golden State: Anthony Edwards; 3. Charlotte: James Wiseman; 4. Chicago: Deni Avdija; 5. Cleveland: Obi Toppin; 6. Atlanta: Tyrese Haliburton; 7. PISTONS: Isaac Okoro.
ESPN, Jonathan Givony – 1. Minnesota: LaMelo Ball; 2. Golden State: Anthony Edwards; 3. Charlotte: James Wiseman; 4. Chicago: Obi Toppin; 5. Cleveland: Deni Avdija; 6. Atlanta: Onyeka Okongwu; 7. PISTONS: Tyrese Haliburton.
Sports Illustrated, Jeremy Woo – 1. Minnesota: Anthony Edwards; 2. Golden State: James Wiseman; 3. Charlotte: Obi Toppin; 4. Chicago: LaMelo Ball; 5. Cleveland: Onyeka Okongwu; 6. Atlanta: Tyrese Haliburton; 7. PISTONS: Isaac Okoro.
Yahoo!, Krysten Peek – 1. Minnesota: Anthony Edwards; 2. Golden State: LaMelo Ball; 3. Charlotte: Obi Toppin; 4. Chicago: Tyrese Haliburton; 5. Cleveland: Deni Avdija; 6. Atlanta: James Wiseman; 7. PISTONS: Onyeka Okongwu.
NBA Draft.net – 1. Minnesota: Anthony Edwards; 2. Golden State: LaMelo Ball; 3. Charlotte: James Wiseman; 4. Chicago: Killian Hayes; 5. Cleveland: Deni Avdija; 6. Atlanta: Obi Toppin; 7. PISTONS: Onyeka Okongwu.
Bleacher Report, Jonathan Wasserman – 1. Minnesota: Anthony Edwards; 2. Golden State: James Wiseman; 3. Charlotte: LaMelo Ball; 4. Chicago: Deni Avdija; 5. Cleveland: Obi Toppin; 6. Atlanta: Tyrese Haliburton; 7. PISTONS: Onyeka Okongwu.
CBS Sports, Gary Parrish – 1. Minnesota: LaMelo Ball; 2. Golden State: James Wiseman; 3. Charlotte: Anthony Edwards; 4. Chicago: Obi Toppin; 5. Cleveland: Deni Avdija; 6. Atlanta: Onyeka Okongwu; 7. PISTONS: Isaac Okoro.
CBS Sports, Kyle Boone – 1. Minnesota: Anthony Edwards; 2. Golden State: LaMelo Ball; 3. Charlotte: James Wiseman; 4. Chicago: Deni Avdija; 5. Cleveland: Obi Toppin; 6. Atlanta: Tyrese Haliburton; 7. PISTONS: Killian Hayes.
NBC Sports, James Ham – 1. Minnesota: Anthony Edwards; 2. Golden State: Obi Toppin; 3. Charlotte: James Wiseman; 4. Chicago: LaMelo Ball; 5. Cleveland: Deni Avdija; 6. Atlanta: Isaac Okoro; 7. PISTONS: Onyeka Okongwu.
Tankathon – 1. Minnesota: Anthony Edwards; 2. Golden State: James Wiseman; 3. Charlotte: LaMelo Ball; 4. Chicago: Killian Hayes; 5. Cleveland: Deni Avdija; 6. Atlanta: Onyeka Okongwu; 7. PISTONS: Isaac Okoro.
SB Nation, Ricky O’Donnell – 1. Minnesota: Anthony Edwards; 2. Golden State: LaMelo Ball; 3. Charlotte: Onyeka Okongwu; 4. Chicago: Killian Hayes; 5. Cleveland: Obi Toppin; 6. Atlanta: Deni Avdija; 7. PISTONS: James Wiseman.
NetScouts Basketball – 1. Minnesota: LaMelo Ball; 2. Golden State: James Wiseman; 3. Charlotte: Anthony Edwards; 4. Chicago: Onyeka Okongwu; 5. Cleveland: Deni Avdija; 6. Atlanta: Obi Toppin; 7. PISTONS: Killian Hayes.