Hot! Nba Draft 2012

The grades are in from the 2012 NBA Draft and the Detroit Pistons are near the top of the class.

In most cases anyway.

While the Pistons generally received top grades for selecting center Andre Drummond in the first round and forward Khris Middleton and guard Kim English in the second, not everybody was impressed.

CBSSports.com gave the Pistons a D+ for their selections.

But that was the exception rather than the norm as the Pistons received an A- or higher in at least three other sets of grades while getting a B+ in another. Of course, keep in mind that the grades were generally high across the board.

As ESPN.com's Chad Ford wrote, it takes about two years to truly judge the success or failure of a draft. So while many teams looked good on draft night, that can change in a big way once the rookies put on an NBA uniform.

The Pistons' top grade came courtesy of The Sporting News, which gave them an A along with Chicago, Golden State, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City and Sacramento.

"Drummond is very young and has a chance to develop into an elite center in the NBA," wrote Sean Deveney . "Of course, I was once young and had a chance to develop into Ernest Hemingway, but here I am. Of all the situations Drummond could have gone into, Detroit's is probably the best, because he will play alongside Greg Monroe and will be around Ben Wallace in some way, shape or form. There is risk in the pick, but if it works, look out."

ESPN.com gave the Pistons an A- along with six other teams. Only New Orleans, Oklahoma City and San Antonio received an A from ESPN.com.

ESPN.com's Ford pointed out that the 18-year-old Drummond was the second-youngest player taken in the draft and is still developing so the Pistons can't be faulted for taking a chance on him despite some of the question marks.

"I have no idea whether Andre Drummond is going to pan out or not," Ford wrote . "He has all the physical tools to be a monster center in the NBA. He could be Dwight Howard-good. However, he is a major project and there are questions about whether he has the drive to become the player he could be someday. He was a huge risk in the top five, but here the risk/reward factor favored Detroit especially because he is such a perfect fit on the front line next to Greg Monroe.

"Middleton was rated as a late first-rounder last year before injuries derailed his junior season. He's a smooth scorer with a great midrange game. English shot the lights out at Missouri this season and is seen as a cheap replacement for Ben Goron. Overall, I thought the Pistons made the right calls at the right places in the draft."

USA Today also gave the Pistons an A- for their first-round selection of Drummond. Of course, nine other teams also received an A- for their first-round picks. (Nine? Yikes!)

Considering USA Today also gave three teams an A, that's more than 43 percent of NBA teams grading A- or higher. College students should be so lucky.

That said, USA Today gave the Pistons' a C for taking Middleton and English in the second round.

"Drummond was the risk/reward pick of the draft, and he wasn't going to fall much lower than this," wrote Adi Joseph . "The Pistons already have Greg Monroe in the pivot, but he needed a better partner. Drummond will let Monroe move back to power forward and play up in the high post. Eventually. The issue with Drummond is that he is very raw. But the Pistons needed to take a risk, and this makes sense."

Sports Illustrated wasn't quite as generous as USA Today when handing out top grades. But it was close.

The Pistons got a B+ from SI.com, which handed out one A-, eight As and an A+ (to Portland).

"The Pistons were believed to have North Carolina power forward John Henson atop their list, but they simply couldn't pass up the chance to land a center, UConn's Andre Drummond, who could become a force," .

"He could be a bust too, of course, but the size, mobility and potential were worth gambling on here, a few spots lower than many projected for Drummond. If Drummond develops, the Pistons could move the 6-11, 250-pound Greg Monroe to power forward."

And now for the D+ the Pistons received from CBSSports.com.

Middleston was called a "solid pick" at No. 39 overall by CBSSports.com while English was dubbed a "quality selection" at No. 44.

But writer Matt Moore seemed to disagree with everyone who thought the Pistons couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab Drummond at No. 9 overall.

Moore wrote that Drummond is "so talented, so physically gifted, but Joe Dumars needed more of a sure thing. Drummond is a nice kid too nice. He doesn't play with much intensity, hasn't developed any low-post moves and has a mediocre basketball IQ. I hate to kill this pick because, again, Drummond is a high-character kid. But this was a major risk, even at number nine. "

How would you grade the Pistons' 2012 draft?