Pistons coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy and GM Jeff Bower are in Spain to evaluate potential lottery picks Mario Hezonja and Kristaps Porzingis, Terry Foster of the Detroit News reports. Detroit currently holds the No. 8 pick in the draft pending the results of the lottery and is seeking forwards who can stretch the floor, Foster continues. Hezonja could help the Pistons at small forward, a spot that was shared by aging veterans Tayshaun Prince and Caron Butler during the second half of the season. Porzingis has a good catch-and-shoot game, according to Foster, and could replace power forward Greg Monroe, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
In other news around the league:
- The NBA will hold its draft at the Nets’ Barclays Center for the third consecutive year next month, league sources informed Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. The June 25th event has been hosted by the Nets for five consecutive years, including two years at the team’s previous home arena, the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The focus of the draft will be on Brooklyn’s crosstown rival, the Knicks, since they have the second-best chance to get the top pick through the lottery, Bontemps points out.
- The Knicks will have anywhere from $19.1MM to $26.7MM in salary-cap space this summer, according to the latest projections by Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. The disparity is mainly due to the cap hold on Alexey Shved, who could receive a qualifying offer of just over $4.1MM.
- Tony Parker and Spurs teammate Boris Diaw are among 24 players named to France’s preliminary roster for EuroBasket 2015, Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News writes. Parker and Diaw have indicated they plan to participate in the event, which will be held in September, McCarney adds.