The Pistons have released 21-year old shooting guard Terrico White. White was a 2nd round pick of the Pistons in the 2010 NBA Draft out of Mississippi. He didn’t get into any games last year due to a broken foot. Some team will likely give White another shot, but the Pistons need guys who can stay healthy and play. They won’t miss White going forward.

The Pistons need a lot of help when the lockout is lifted. They have to decide whether to re-sign starting point guard Rodney Stuckey, who is a restricted free agent. I think the Pistons used their first round pick on point guard Brandon Knight with the idea of letting Stuckey go. The Pistons are also going to need to bring in a small forward if they aren’t content in going with Austin Daye or Kyle Singler there. The Pistons are still in the infant stages of their rebuilding, so it’s going to take some time to get them back on top.

The Pistons took 24-year old, 6′10″, 240 pound forward Vernon Macklin with the #52 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Macklin played in 37 games for Florida last year and he averaged 24.5 minutes, 11.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Macklin played in 136 games in four years with Georgetown and Florida and he averaged 18.4 minutes, 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. This was a good gamble for the Pistons as other teams were taking stiffs from Europe at this point in the draft. Macklin gives the Pistons another big body to try to develop.

The Pistons picked 23-year old small forward Kyle Singler out of Duke with the 33rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Singler played in 37 games for Duke last year and he averaged 34.8 minutes, 16.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Singler played in 148 games in his four years in college and he averaged 33.0 minutes, 16.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Singler is a pretty polished player who was projected to be picked near the end of the first round. So this was a good value pick for the Pistons as Singler should be able to help them off the bench starting in 2011-12.

UPDATE: (11/29/2011) - Kyle Singler has decided to play out the rest of this season with Real Madrid. The Pistons will retain his rights.

The Detroit Pistons took 18-year old point guard Brandon Knight with the 8th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. The Pistons had to be ecstatic to see Knight sitting there for them with the 8th pick. He is 6′3″, 185 pounds so he is big enough to handle the job physically. I would be shocked if Knight isn’t the starting point guard on Opening Night of the 2011-12 NBA season for the Pistons. Knight played in 38 games in his only year with Kentucky and he averaged 35.9 minutes, 17.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Knight will make the rest of the team better when he’s running the floor. This was an outstanding pick for the Pistons.