Jan 10, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Myles Turner (52) after hitting a 3-point basket against the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the first half at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:

Van Gundy addressed the crowd at a Palace lottery party and he was asked about taking the best player available. He described a process of putting players in tiers. If he has center and small forward ranked in the same tier, he would probably go with the small forward since the Pistons have Andre Drummond.

Stan Van Gundy previously said he’d draft the best player available, and I hoped it came with this caveat.

I like using the tier system for creating drat boards. Essentially divide players into tiers with tiers with natural cutoff points regardless of position or fit. If one prospect is clearly more valuable than another, he goes in a higher tier. If the difference in value is difficult to discern , rather than parsing it, they go in the same tier. Then rank players within a tier based on fit for the particular team. Always draft from the highest tier with a player available. Consider fit only within that tier.

Here’s how I see the tiers in this draft (at this moment, at least), with players in each tier sorted by fit with the Pistons:

Tier 1

Karl-Anthony Towns

Tier 2

D’Angelo Russell

Emmanuel Mudiay

Jahlil Okafor

Tier 3

Kristaps Porzingis

Tier 4

Justise Winslow

Myles Turner

Tier 5