NBA draft notes: Devin Booker would love Pistons homecoming

CHICAGO – Kentucky freshman shooting guard Devin Booker would welcome being drafted by the Pistons.

Booker, who grew up in Grand Rapids, lit up Friday when asked about the possibility.

"I grew up watching the Ben Wallaces, the Tayshaun Prince, the Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups — those are my childhood heroes," Booker said. "To play for an organization like that, 2 hours away from my hometown would be great."

His mom, sister and brother live in Grand Rapids. Are they pulling for a return to Michigan?

"It's kind of like the college situation for me," said Booker, 18, the youngest player in the draft. "They just want the best for me."

Booker, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard, is projected to go late in the lottery. The Pistons have a 72.4% chance of going eighth in the draft June 25, but they could potentially fall to 11th with catastrophic lottery luck.

■ Dawson improves: Michigan State's Branden Dawson was much better in his second game Friday.

After scoring six points on 3-for-11 shooting and grabbing four rebounds in Thursday's scrimmage, he scored 17 points for Team 3 in his squad's 93-89 victory over Team 2 at the Quest Multisport Complex.

He was 7-for-12 from the field and was able to get a 15-footer to fall. He also grabbed five rebounds.

"I definitely felt more comfortable," Dawson said. "Yesterday it was a huge test getting used to playing with different guys, but I came out here today with a different mind-set. Just do something on the defensive end to get myself going."

■ Note: Former Detroit Consortium standout Vince Hunter (UTEP) helped his stock this week.

He followed Thursday's 18-point performance with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting for Team 4 in Friday's 80-74 loss. He added nine rebounds.

Contact Vince Ellis: vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.