A very interesting phenomenon is that in the annual draft meeting, in addition to the top three picks, the most concerned pick is the 13 picks, and many fans will ask me in the background who is the 13 picks this year and whether they are scoring guards.
As we all know, if you don't know who to pick with the 13th pick, it's not wrong to pick a point guard. Defender Duarte, who was selected by the Pacers with the 13th pick last year, played a stunning start to the season, scoring 27 points on his debut and finally being named to the rookie second team.
This year's 13th pick came to the Pistons after two transfers, and the Pistons' purpose was clear, selecting the first center of the year, Jaylen Durham, from the University of Memphis.
Durham's predicted pick has always been in the lottery area, reaching the top ten at the highest, and after seeing Durham drop out of the top ten, the Pistons decisively took it. Although the traditional center forward is no longer popular, Durham's physical condition makes him still worthy of a lottery pick.
Durham is 2 meters 10 meters tall, has an arm span of 2 meters 26, and weighs 113 kilograms, which is considered to have the physical condition of a contemporary center. His template is Howard, known as the Little Warcraft.
Last season in the NCAA, Durham played in 29 games, averaging 25.3 minutes per game, averaging 12 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.1 blocks, shooting 59.7% from the field and 62.5% from the free throw line.
Compared to other big men who are practicing three-pointers to show their all-around, Durham is very single-minded, only 1 three-point shot in college without hitting, basically no idea of shooting on the outside.
Durham has excellent physical condition, full of bounce and agility, dunks are very easy under the basket, and can easily set up no-fly zones in the penalty area, with an average of 2.1 blocks per game.
His footsteps are flexible enough, the defensive coverage is also large, and he will not be embarrassed when changing to a small man. His offensive rebounding ability is very good, his rebounding sense is sharp, and his secondary offensive ability is outstanding.
Durham's blocking ability is also excellent, the quality of cover is very high, the downside after blocking and dismantling is very smooth, and the ability to eat cake is excellent. And Durham also has a certain ability to fix the middle distance, I don't know if it can continue to the NBA.
Durham's disadvantage is that he does not yet have a strong ability to attack autonomously, and in most cases can only rely on eating cake to complete the attack. His back and footsteps are not yet mature and need to be honed.
His ball quotient isn't good either, but it certainly doesn't belong to the hopeless category either. He needs to strengthen his focus on the defensive end and know how to be flexible on the defensive end, which are all things he needs to learn after entering the NBA.
Durham's lower limit is there, the bottom can become a blue-collar center, and it is unlikely that Durham will grow into a core player like Adebayor. The Pistons selected him to improve the depth of the fifth position, and the first center of the tournament was certainly not a loss in the 13th pick.
As a result, the Pistons selected the first quarterback (Ivey) and the first center respectively in this year's draft, Durham only turned 19 in November this year, and the Pistons will set off a youth storm in the league next season.