5 players Pistons fans should watch in the NCAA Tournament
![Reed Sheppard, Kentucky Wildcats Reed Sheppard, Kentucky Wildcats](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3642,h_2048,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/229/01hs9dt7rysjbecvjssf.jpg)
3. Tennessee's Dalton Knecht fits perfectly with the Pistons' roster
Dalton Knecht should not be a top-5 pick. Let's clear that up. If Detroit reaches for Knecht that early, it will go down as another all-time front office blunder from Troy Weaver and company. Maybe that's why it could happen. But, more realistically, the Pistons would need to trade back into the middle of the first round to acquire Knecht. That is an admittedly far-fetched proposition, but hey, when a player fits, he fits. If the Pistons can get two back-end lottery picks for No. 1 (hello, OKC), that would be worth considering.
The value of 23-year-old prospects is often dubious at best, especially in the first round, but Dalton Knecht is the basketball equivalent of a tornado at Tennessee. The dude has been shredding defenses all season, completely oblierating concerns about how his skill set would translate from the Big Sky to the SEC. The fifth-year transfer, who spent the two prior seasons at Northern Colorado, has been one of the best players in college basketball.
Knecht does so much that NBA teams will value, especially a team in need of clear-cut winners like Detroit. He has been the No. 1 option at Tennessee, but Knecht's skill set is tailored for a scalability Detroit should benefit from. He's a dynamic 3-point shooter on high volume, for starters. But Knecht can also slingshot around screens, drive the lane with physicality, and score proficiently at all three levels.
He doesn't create much for teammates, but Knecht is a battle-tested gunner who can finish off of a variety of actions. He would thrive spacing the floor for Cunningham and Ivey, boosting the Pistons' 3-point volume while offering the dynamism to attack closeouts and punish out-of-sync defenses.