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Pistons, Bucks quiet in draft with single 2nd-round picks

Tennessee's Chaz Lanier, front, chases a loose ball as Houston's Emanuel Sharp watches during the first half in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament on March 30 in Indianapolis. (AP file photo)

An uneventful NBA draft for the Central Division likely didn’t do much to change its balance of power for the immediate future.

The only Central Division team with a first-round pick was the Chicago Bulls, who bet on Noa Essengue’s long-term upside by using the No. 12 overall pick on the 18-year-old French forward.

A few of their Central rivals then added more experienced college players in Thursday’s second round.

Indiana added a pair of 23-year-old guards, as they acquired the No. 38 pick from San Antonio to take Marquette’s Kam Jones and then chose Liberty’s Taelon Peter at No. 54.

Detroit also added a 23-year-old guard by selecting Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier at No. 37. With the first of its two second-round picks, Cleveland took 21-year-old Duke guard Tyrese Proctor at No. 49.

Those older guards represented a contrast from the big swing Chicago took on a teenager.

Essengue is the second-youngest player in this draft class and only three days older than No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, the former Duke star who went first overall to Dallas. The 6-foot-9 Essengue has played professionally in Germany the last two years.

Detroit Pistons

Needs: The Pistons could use some size and outside shooting. They lacked frontcourt muscle when burly forward Isaiah Stewart missed much of the first-round playoff matchup with the New York Knicks. Detroit also needed to make more 3-pointers in the closely contested series. The three-time championship franchise finally has a star to build around in All-NBA third team guard Cade Cunningham. Now, it needs time to determine if former first-round picks Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland can help Cunningham on the perimeter.

Who they drafted: They used the No. 37 overall pick on Lanier, a 6-4 guard who averaged 18 points his lone year at Tennessee after spending four seasons at North Florida.

Milwaukee Bucks

Needs: Damian Lillard’s torn Achilles, Gary Trent Jr.’s unrestricted free agency and Kevin Porter’s potential free agency (he has a $2.5 million player option) creates plenty of backcourt questions. The Bucks also could use a young big man. Brook Lopez and Jericho Sims are unrestricted free agents, and Bobby Portis could join them if he doesn’t pick up his $13.4 million option

Who they drafted: In the second round, the Bucks used the 47th overall pick on Bogoljub Markovic, a 6-11 forward from Serbia. Markovic turns 20 on July 12.

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AP sports writers Larry Lage, Michael Marot, Joe Reedy and Andrew Seligman contributed to this report.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

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