ESPN's Chad Ford, known best for his mock drafts, has released his 2011 NBA Draft grades. The highest grade he gave out is an A, which a few teams received. Many teams received an A-, including the Detroit Pistons.
↵Ford's reasoning for giving the Pistons an A- is based on taking the best talent available in the first round. Detroit selected Kentucky guard Brandon Knight, who slipped to the No. 8 pick. Ford says that he applauds Joe Dumars for not hesitating to take the best available player. Dumars can worry about fitting him in at a later date, but the main thing is the Pistons added a very talented guard on Thursday night.
↵Ford might have given the Pistons an A if they selected someone other than Kyle Singler with the 33rd overall pick, but in general Ford wasn't too down on the selection.
↵↵↵I'm not in love with the Singler pick, but I also can't argue definitively that there was a better prospect for the Pistons to take at No. 33. You can't teach toughness and Singler has loads of it. If he ever becomes a consistent shooter, he could be a threat.
↵
If Singler does find a consistent shot, he could go from someone that is expected to be only a bench player to perhaps being a big contributor down the road.