With the No. 42 overall pick in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons selected former Michigan basketball forward Isaiah Livers, the second Wolverine off the board tonight, who joins Franz Wagner (No. 8 overall to the Orlando Magic).
The Kalamazoo, Mich., native is the 13th Michigan player to be picked since 2011.
Livers is currently battling back from a right foot injury. He underwent successful surgery in May and is on track to make a full return in October.
"That's what he really does, is he's a sharpshooting combo forward," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said on the draft broadcast. "He's a veteran presence and really, I think, elite on the shooting level in his ability to step away and knock down perimeter shots. He moves pretty well without the ball.
"Not a great defender. That's something he needs to improve upon. And a decent rebounder for his size at about six rebounds per game."
"I think he's a guy that could come in and play right away," analyst and former NBA big Kendrick Perkins added. "[Michigan head coach] Juwan Howard has these guys pro ready. I watch these guys — he gets up over ball screens defensively, he knows how to run NBA sets, so I think he can come off the bench for the Detroit Pistons and do pretty well."
A former four-star recruit, Livers started in 22 of his 40 contests — including the national title game against Villanova — as a freshman in 2017-18, when he averaged 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per tilt.
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Livers primarily came off the bench during his sophomore season, starting just three of his 35 games, but his production went up. While playing 22.6 minutes per game, he registered 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest, and shot 48.7 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from long range.
His role grew even larger during his junior campaign in 2019-20, with Livers tying for the team lead in points per game (12.9). He also contributed four rebounds and 1.1 assists per clash, while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from three-point range.
Unfortunately for Livers, he missed 11 games at the tail end of the Wolverines' season due to groin and ankle injuries.
The 6-7, 230-pounder decided to return for one more season in the Maize and Blue in 2020-21, and helped lead his squad to an outright Big Ten title. However, he missed the team's final five games, including its four NCAA Tournament contests.
Livers was second on the team in scoring this past season — behind only freshman center Hunter Dickinson — averaging 13.1 points per game, while also adding six rebounds and two assists per contest. He shot 45.7 percent overall, a team-high 43.1 percent from three-point range (out of players who attempted more than two shots from deep) and at an 87-percent clip from the free throw line.
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