3. Miye Oni, 6-6 wing, Yale
Not many Ivy League athletes make it to the highest level of their respective sports, especially not basketball players. Since the inception of the NBA, less than 50 Ivy Leaguers have suited up in an NBA uniform, and Toronto’s Jeremy Lin (Harvard) is the only player to play serious minutes in the last decade.
Yale’s Miye Oni, who posted averages of 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on respectable efficiency (44.1 FG%, 37.1 3P%, 79.3 FT%) as a junior, is trying to be the Ivy Leaguer to break that trend, and the Pistons could be the team to give him a chance with the 45th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft.
Strong and sturdy at 6-6 with a 6-11, 206-pound frame, the 21-year-old wing offers both prototypical size and shooting for a wing, two traits that the Pistons badly need on their roster right now. According to Synergy Sports, Oni ranked in the 90th percentile on spot-ups on an efficient 1.17 points per possession. His Friday appearance at the NBA Combine further proved his abilities as a shooter, as he scored 26 points on 9-of-22 shooting, including a 7-of-14 three-pointers that he took with confidence.
If Detroit figures to add wing depth with their second round pick, Oni would certainly suffice as a solid option.