<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Teams that get to the conference finals five straight years, as the Pistons have, don’t normally expect to get much immediate help from the draft. But two factors argue that this year might be the exception. Which explains why since the season ended too soon for their liking, the Pistons’ practice facility has been a blur of activity. [IMGL]http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/6951/draftbn9.jpg[/IMGL] The first half of the equation is that the Pistons have two No. 1 picks this year, the first falling at No. 15. That’s just outside the lottery, a pick Orlando owed them from the Darko Milicic trade of 2006. The other pick is No. 27, which brings us to the second half of the equation: It’s entirely possible that the player picked 27th in this draft would have been picked 15th last year and that last year’s 15th pick – North Carolina State’s Cedric Simmons, for the record – would go 27th this time around. That’s how good – how star-studded at the top and how deep through the middle of the first round and beyond – this year’s draft is. Because of the star power of the college freshman class and the stipulation in the most recent collective bargaining agreement that steered that class to college, the 2007 draft is one NBA personnel executives and scouts have been anticipating for two years. It’s been widely acknowledged for months that the first two picks in the draft will be Ohio State center Greg Oden and Texas forward Kevin Durant – most likely in that order, although concerns over the wrist injury that kept Oden sidelined for a chunk of his college season leave the door ajar for Portland to consider Durant. Both players will wind up in the NBA’s Northwest Division as a result of draft lottery upsets that saw Portland and Seattle – along with Atlanta, which landed the No. 3 pick – leap over the three teams with the best odds at securing the top pick. They were Memphis, Boston and Milwaukee, which will pick 4-5-6. It’s possible that in addition to Oden and Durant, two more college freshmen will be gone in the top six picks – Oden’s Ohio State teammate, point guard Mike Conley, and North Carolina power forward Brandan Wright. Three juniors who won back-to-back NCAA championships at Florida – Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah – are expected to go in the top 10 picks. Two Georgia Tech freshmen, point guard Javarris Crittenton and small forward Thaddeus Young, should be off the board within the first 20 picks and possibly within the first 15.</div> <div align="center">Source: Pistons.com</div>
