SVG: We won't trade out of draft; 'Door not closed' on Monroe

There has been a lot of predraft chatter regarding the Detroit Pistons.

There have been several reports suggesting the Pistons are open to trading their first-round pick (eighth overall) in Thursday night's NBA draft for a starter with the idea of speeding up the rebuilding process for a team that has missed the playoffs for six straight seasons.

Pistons president and coach Stan Van Gundy said such talk is nonsense, and the Pistons are going to have a first-round pick Thursday night.

"The one thing we are firm on — minus a superstar being available — we won't trade out of the draft," Van Gundy said at a predraft news conference Monday. "For your salary structure and everything else, it's too important."

The philosophy of Van Gundy — and ownership — is that first-rounders are valuable because rookie scale contracts' fixed costs provide inexpensive production.

The Pistons will give significant raises to Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson this off-season. They will add a high-priced small forward through free agency. They recently acquired Ersan Ilyasova and the $16 million he will likely take up over the next two seasons.

With the high-priced talent around, it's imperative the Pistons have less expensive talent around, which rookie first-rounders provide. That is, if the team intends on having any depth.

Van Gundy was asked to reveal the pick Thursday night. He pulled out his smartphone to read the league memo that says teams are to refrain from revealing draft picks — an attempt to prevent the picks from leaking on Twitter before the actual announcement.

But with a hole at small forward, the Pistons will likely be choosing among Mario Hezonja, Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson, Sam Dekker and Kelly Oubre.

The Pistons could decide to take shooting guard Devin Booker, the youngest player in the draft.

Van Gundy said there was the possibility of moving down.

"I think it's probably unlikely that we trade back, but it's not impossible," Van Gundy said. "You'd have to have two things there. You'd have to have some level of confidence in who you'll be able to pick as you trade back."

How about trading up?

"Prices are high," Pistons general manager Jeff Bower said. "You have to always measure what you're gonna have to give up in order to get a spot.

"All these discussions now, this week, especially with other GMs, really start to get more crystallized and all of the rumors will cease and everybody will probably stay right where they're at."

■ Notes: Former Kentucky power forward Trey Lyles, projected to go just outside the top 10 of the draft, did not work out for the Pistons.

Many similar ranked bigs such as Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky and Arkansas' Bobby Portis did work out for the Pistons.

Bower said don't read too much into that.

"I would have to check frankly what the cause was that we didn't have him in," Bower said. "Normally it's because of travel difficulties and date availability that he could fit into a time slot that we had available or we had something available that meshed with what his agent had already structured."

■ Overheard: "The door is not closed," Van Gundy said about free agent big man Greg Monroe. "We're not entirely optimistic on that situation, but the door's not closed because Greg would obviously fill one of the spots and even another roster spot as a backup (power forward) and then we'd just spend what's left after Greg to go try to get a (small forward)."

If the Pistons need the cap space to make a signing, they can renounce Monroe by June 30 to get the deal. If Monroe signs somewhere like the New York Knicks before that happens?

"That would be him renouncing us," Van Gundy said to laughter.

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

NBA draft order

First round

1. Minnesota

2. L.A. Lakers

3. Philadelphia

4. New York

5. New Orleans

6. Sacramento

7. Denver

8. Detroit

9. Charlotte

10. Miami

11. Indiana

12. Utah

13. Phoenix

14. Oklahoma City

15. Atlanta

16. Boston

17. Milwaukee

18. Houston

19. Washington

20. Toronto

21. Dallas

22. Chicago

23. Portland

24. Cleveland

25. Memphis

26. San Antonio

27. L.A. Lakers

28. Boston

29. Brooklyn

30. Golden State