Over four years starting in 2010, the Pistons drafted from seventh to ninth and the result was, at minimum, four solid NBA starters with a ceiling somewhere well north of that. Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond are likely to play in an All-Star game sooner rather than later and nobody would be terribly surprised if Brandon Knight and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope make it someday, either.

So we can start with that when we look at what the Pistons can expect to get in the 2015 draft, assuming they stay at No. 8 or get bumped down one spot to No. 9 in the May 19 lottery.

But immediate impact is another matter. Look at last year's draft, billed as perhaps the best since the 2003 class produced LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Andrew Wiggins closed with a rush – he was named Rookie of the Year this week – and Jabari Parker was playing well when sidelined by a mid-season knee injury. Elfrid Payton, the No. 10 pick, won the starting point guard job in Orlando and looks like a keeper. Beyond that, there wasn't much that moved the needle a great deal from the rookie class.

The Pistons go into 2015-16 with Drummond at center, Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks at shooting guard and Reggie Jackson at point guard, assuming his restricted free agency plays out as anticipated.

The holes on the roster are at the forward spots. Though Stan Van Gundy has been as clear as possible that his priority is to bring back Monroe, the ball is in Monroe's court. If you're making out a depth chart for next season, you can't include him any more than you can the dozens of other free-agents-to-be. As an unrestricted free agent, the Pistons hold no sway over his fate other than to make known their intent.

Jeff Bower and Brian Wright, the general manager and assistant GM in charge of college scouting, like the group of players they expect to choose from should the lottery keep them at No. 8 for the May 19 draw. The Pistons have a 10 percent chance to pull a top-three pick (2.8 percent at No. 1, 3.3 at No. 2, 3.9 at No. 3) and an 89 percent chance to pick eighth or ninth (72.4 at No. 8, 16.8 at No. 9).

"I look at it from the standpoint of where we probably will be selecting," Bower said, "and from that standpoint the options for us are very favorable. We like a general group of players that we believe will be in that range."

Wright, who came to the Pistons from his post as director of college scouting with Orlando, said he never thinks in terms of a draft's overall strength or weakness.

"Typically, within a draft you might like 20 to 30 players, but they're not all positioned to go in the top 20 or 30," Wright said. "You may like a guy who's projected to go 45, so it's how do we get the guys we like? There's always some wiggle in terms of getting guys that may impact your team at 50 or 30 or 20. There's always strength in the draft, it's just coming up with a strategy on how to get the guys you like and best position yourself that night and then moving forward."

The fact that last year's draft class hasn't yet taken the NBA by storm means little to Bower – not for what it says about the impact the Pistons can expect this year or, for that matter, what it says about the future of the 2014 class.

"You have to look at the historical performance of the pick," Bower said. "Team need is such a big part of that, whether they get a lot of time or not. If you get drafted by a team that has a veteran at your position, a rookie has a hard time making an impact, particularly early. If he goes to a team that has a void at his position, he can walk right into backup minutes or a possible starting role. You see that. But as the players have gotten younger and younger, the impact has probably gotten smaller and smaller, just because of readiness. You have to hope that the prospects are prepared for the role that is available to them when they find themselves with a team."

Last year's No. 8 pick, Nik Stauskas, didn't have a major impact for Sacramento though he was part of the rotation for most of the season. He averaged 15 minutes in the 73 games he played behind Ben McLemore, the No. 7 pick – one spot ahead of Caldwell—Pope – in the 2013 draft. Stauskas averaged 4.4 points on 32 percent 3-point shooting. But Stauskas, who had two years of college experience, finished strong, shooting 42 percent from the 3-point line over the final 22 games and averaging 6.6 points in nearly 20 minutes a game.

The No. 9 pick, Noah Vonleh, left Indiana after his freshman season and went to a playoff team, Charlotte, that had several players (Al Jefferson, Cody Zeller, Bismack Biyombo, Jason Maxiell) ahead of him in its frontcourt. Vonleh, who doesn't turn 20 until August, appeared in only 25 games, but Pistons fans got a glimpse of his athleticism and scoring potential in their home finale, a 39-point Pistons blowout win, when Vonleh registered season highs in points (16), rebounds (12) and minutes (29).

There's probably a 50-50 chance the Pistons wind up taking a player with only a year of college experience, given the number of freshmen ranked by consensus in the 5-12 range – a list that includes college forwards Stanley Johnson of Arizona, Kelly Oubre of Kansas and Justise Winslow of Duke.

Bower and Wright are confident the player they wind up taking will fit in nicely with the young core that includes Drummond (21), Caldwell-Pope (22) and Reggie Jackson (25). They can't be quite as certain that the impact will be felt with a wallop next season.