John Hammond remembers a trip overseas nine years ago to scout former Piston Rafael Addison.

"I was there to watch Rafael in a European tournament, but clearly the best player there was a guy from Yugoslavia named Dejan Bodiroga," said Hammond, the Pistons' vice president of basketball operations.

"Even nine years ago we weren't really trained to watch the shooting and footwork of the international player," Hammond said. "We thought Dejan was too slow to play in the NBA. If this were nine years ago, Dejan probably would be a lottery pick. He's too old to be draft-eligible now, but believe me he was one of the reasons the Yugoslavian national team won the World Championships last summer."

In recent years, teens and foreign players have become highly sought in the NBA draft. With the second pick in Thursday's draft, the Pistons are expected to take 18-year-old Darko Milicic, a 7-foot-1 center from Serbia-Montenegro.