AUBURN HILLS – The Pistons are 97.4 percent certain to pick 12th or 13th in the June 22 draft and the names of the players likely in play for that pick are already well known by the most avid percentage of hoop heads.

But there’s always a mystery man. Well, not always. But most drafts produce one “where’d THAT guy come from?” moment. In 2011, the mystery man was Bismack Biyombo. Giannis Antetokuonmpo was that guy in 2013. Perhaps the all-time example – at least in the internet age – was Bruno Caboclo, drafted by Toronto in 2014. That one left mouths agape even in plenty of NBA front offices.

ESPN draft analyst Fran Fraschilla, whose specialty is knowledge of the international field, had at least heard of him, which spared the four-letter network the embarrassment of absolute dead air.

“He’s two years away,” Fraschilla declared, “from being two years away.” Which means Caboclo should now be just one year away.

Last year, the name that caught everybody off guard was Georgios Papagiannis. Even the most credible NBA draft sites had the Greek teen lasting well into the second round.

He didn’t do much to bring in the jury as a rookie, appearing in just 22 games, and it’s easy to be skeptical of the pick given the identity of the team that drafted him: Sacramento.

But I ran into one respected NBA executive in Orlando during Summer League the week after the draft and he confirmed his team had high interest in Papagiannis, still just 19: “He was the second-best international behind (Phoenix pick Dragan) Bender and it wasn’t even close,” he told me. The Pistons had Papagiannis in for a draft workout and it was widely assumed they were looking at him with their second-round pick, 49th. But Stan Van Gundy admitted afterward that, no, the Pistons would have considered Papagiannis with their pick at 18.

Whoever this year’s mystery man might be, would he be a candidate to go to the Pistons? Because that’s right in the sweet spot for mystery men.

Biyombo went seventh as his draft hype soared in the last weeks and days six years ago. Antetokounmpo went 15th, Caboclo 20th, Papagiannis 13th.

So who might that guy be this year? Well, start with this: If we could identify him this early – 52 days before the draft – he wouldn’t really be a mystery man, would he? But here’s a few names, broken over three categories, that are at least ones not being heavily discussed at the moment as likely lottery picks should they remain in the draft.

College sleepers – Two freshmen big men who played very little on powerful teams top the list, North Carolina’s Tony Bradley and UCLA’s Ike Anigbogu. Bradley, 19, measured 6-foot-10 two years ago and was productive in his 15 minutes a game for the national champion Tar Heels playing behind two seniors. Anigbogu, 18, could be an impact defender eventually but played even less, about 13 minutes a game. Both were reportedly extended invitations over the weekend to next week’s NBA draft combine in Chicago.

International projects – Isaiah Hartenstein measured 7-foot-1 at the recent Nike Hoop Summit and won’t be 19 until later this week. He won’t be ready to help next season – might, in fact, continue to play professionally in Euroleague competition for Zalgiris in Lithuania – but he could give the Pistons another young big man with perimeter skills to go with Henry Ellenson in a league tilting in that direction. Rodions Kurucs is a 6-foot-9 small forward with scoring potential who, at 19, played in the second tier in Spain’s professional ranks for league power Barcelona. He’d be another candidate to stick overseas.

Hiding in plain sight – Duke’s Luke Kennard isn’t exactly an unknown commodity, starting for two years at Duke and leading the Blue Devils in scoring this season at 19.5 a game. He hasn’t been considered a lottery pick, though, but the longer you look at him the more the breadth of his offensive skill set – shooting, ballhandling, court vision, decision making, pick-and-roll proficiency – plays up in today’s NBA. Another productive college player: Creighton 7-footer Justin Patton. He wasn’t a big-time recruit and actually redshirted as a freshman, then impressed in his first year, making an absurd 68.4 percent of his attempts inside the 3-point arc in averaging 12.9 points and 6.3 rebounds a game as a 19-year-old.