Detroit Pistons: Ranking the Best Players by Position in Team History

The Detroit Pistons have a long history that goes back more than 70 years to the days when the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons were one of the dominant teams in the old National Basketball League.

The franchise was launched in 1941 by Fort Wayne, Ind., businessman Fred Zollner, who like many owners in the old industrial league, named the team after his company, Zollner Piston. The Zollner Pistons reached the NBL Championship in their first four years, losing to the Oshkosh All-Stars in 1942 and the Sheboygan Redskins in 1943 before breaking through with back-to-back titles in 1944 and 1945. In 1944, the Zollner Pistons swept the Redskins for the title and then won a decisive fifth game over Sheboygan to capture the crown again in 1945.

After three more playoff seasons in the NBL, Zollner moved the team into the fledgling Basketball Association of America for that league’s third season in 1948-49. Dropping the “Zollner” from the name, the Fort Wayne Pistons were joined by the rest of the NBL the following season, when the leagues merged to form the National Basketball Association in 1949.

The Pistons played in Fort Wayne until 1956-57, reaching the NBA Finals in both 1955 and 1956, before moving to Detroit. Fort Wayne was having an increasingly difficult time competing with teams in larger markets such as Minneapolis, Boston and New York. Zollner picked Detroit, which had had four teams in the pre-merger days, the last being the Detroit Falcons, which played in the BAA’s inaugural season in 1946-47 before folding.

But the Pistons caught on in Detroit, even though there were many lean years. After the Pistons made the playoffs in each of their first six seasons in Motown, the next 10 years were marked by just a lone playoff appearance in 1967-68.

After four consecutive playoff appearances from 1974-77, the Pistons entered the worst period in franchise history, a string of six consecutive losing seasons that ended without a postseason appearance. The low-water mark was in 1979-80, when the Pistons were a dreadful 16-66 under former University of Detroit coach Dick Vitale before he was replaced by assistant Richie Adubato early in the season.

Chuck Daly came to Detroit to coach in 1983 and the turnaround began in earnest. In nine seasons under Daly, the Pistons made the playoffs every season. They made the conference finals five straight seasons (1987-91), made three straight trips to the NBA Finals from 1988-90 and won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990.

The Pistons won a third NBA title in 2004 under coach Larry Brown and lost in the Finals the following year. That was in the middle of a record streak of six straight appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals that ended in 2008.

Detroit hasn’t made the playoffs since 2009, missing the past four seasons. In all, the franchise has 40 playoff berths in its 66 seasons.

So who are the best players by position in the history of the Detroit Pistons franchise?

NOTE: Players must have appeared in 250 regular-season games with the franchise to be considered for this list.

Grant Hill was a five-time NBA All-Star with the Pistons. (Flickr.com photo by Bradley Park/iccsports)

Small Forward: Grant Hill (1994-2000)

Grant Hill was already a star when the Pistons took him with the third overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, having played for a Duke team that had won back-to-back national titles and played in three championship games in his four years there. But in seven years in Detroit, Hill became an even bigger star.

Hill was a five-time All-Star with the Pistons and shared the NBA Rookie of the Year award with Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks in 1994-95. He also have five All-NBA teams, including a first-team nod in 1996-97.

In six seasons in Detroit, Hill averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game—numbers almost unheard of for a small forward in that era. He also shot 47.6 percent from the floor and helped lead the Pistons back to the playoffs after a short absence, although Detroit never won a playoff series while Hill was there.

Hill is ninth in Pistons’ history with 9,393 points and is also fifth with 2,720 assists and seventh with 694 steals. His 39.1 minutes per game is second-highest in team history and his 21.6 points per game is fourth-best. He is also fifth with 1.6 steals per game and sixth with 6.3 assists per game. His 22.4 player efficiency rating is No. 2 in franchise history.

Hill holds the Pistons’ single-season record for PER, posting a 25.5 in 1996-97.

He was a stat-sheet stuffer extraordinaire, as he showed by posting a triple-double against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1997:

Hill left Detroit in August 2000 as part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Orlando Magic that brought Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins to the Pistons. Hill struggled through ankle injuries in Orlando, missing one full season and significant chunks of four others, but recovered to go on to play with the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers before retiring in May at the age of 40.

Apologies to: George Yardley, Bailey Howell, Kelly Tripucka, Dave DeBusschere.

Power Forward: Ray Scott (1961-67)

Ray Scott was the fourth overall pick in the 1961 NBA Draft out of the University of Portland and the West Philadelphia native didn’t disappoint, even if the Pistons did for much of his time there.

In parts of six seasons with Detroit, Scott averaged 16 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

He is ninth on the franchise’s all-time rebounding list with 4,508 and is also ninth with 10.7 rebounds per game.

Scott was part of a three-team trade involving the Pistons, Baltimore Bullets and Los Angeles Lakers in January 1967. Scott was dealt to Baltimore, which traded Mel Counts to the Lakers, who traded Rudy LaRusso and a 1967 first-round pick to Detroit. The Pistons later got another 1967 first-rounder when LaRusso refused to report to the Pistons and was sold to the San Francisco Warriors.

Scott went on to play three-plus seasons for the Bullets and was taken by the Buffalo Braves in the 1970 expansion draft. However, rather than go to Buffalo, Scott played his last two seasons with the ABA’s Virginia Cavaliers before retiring in 1972. It didn’t take him long to get back to Detroit, though. Scott replaced Earl Lloyd as coach of the Pistons after seven games in 1972-73 and he was the NBA Coach of the Year after leading Detroit to a 52-30 record in 1973-74. Scott was fired after 42 games in 1975-76 and had a career mark of 147-134 and was 4-6 in the playoffs.

Apologies to: Dennis Rodman, Terry Mills, Mel Hutchins, Curtis Rowe.

Center: Bob Lanier (1970-80)

Bob Lanier, shown on this 1978 Topps card, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1970 NBA Draft out of St. Bonaventure and spent nearly a decade in Detroit.

The Pistons took Bob Lanier No. 1 overall in the 1970 NBA Draft out of St. Bonaventure, where he had led the Bonnies to the Final Four that spring. Lanier didn’t disappoint.

He was a seven-time All-Star as a Piston and made the All-Rookie team in 1970-71. He was also MVP of the 1974 All-Star Game in Seattle with 24 points and 10 rebounds and led the NBA with a defensive rating of 88.0 (points allowed per 100 possessions) in 1973-74.

In parts of 10 seasons with Detroit, Lanier averaged 22.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor.

He is the franchise’s third-leading scorer with 15,488 points and is second with 8,063 rebounds. He is also third with 859 blocked shots (a statistic that wasn’t kept until his fourth year in the NBA), seventh with 681 games, eighth with 2,256 assists and 10th with a 50.8 field-goal percentage. His 22.7 points per game average is a franchise career record and he is second with 11.8 rebounds per game and two blocked shots per game. With a PER of 22.8, he is also the franchise career leader.

Here are some highlights from Lanier’s career:

In February 1980, Lanier was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Kent Benson and a 1980 first-round pick. He retired from the Bucks in September 1984 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. He also served as interim coach of the Golden State Warriors for 37 games in 1994-95, going 12-25.

Apologies to: Larry Foust, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Bill Laimbeer.

Shooting Guard: Jerry Stackhouse (1997-2002)

Jerry Stackhouse, shown on this 1997 Flair Showcase card, had the most prolific scoring season in Pistons’ history in 2000-01.

Jerry Stackhouse came to the Pistons in December 1997 along with Eric Montross and a 2005 second-round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Aaron McKie, Theo Ratliff and a 2003 first-round pick and developed into one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA as a Piston.

Stackhouse was a two-time All-Star in Detroit and led the NBA with 2,380 points in 2000-01, but was edged out for the scoring title by former Philadelphia teammate Allen Iverson, who played in only 71 games that season. Part of Stackhouse’s success came from being able to get to the line—he led the NBA in free throws made in both 1999-2000 (618) and 2000-01 (666).

In parts of five seasons with the Pistons, Stackhouse averaged 22.1 points and 4.4 assists per game.

Stackhouse is ninth in franchise history with 401 3-pointers. His 22.1 points per game average is the third-highest for the Pistons and his 19.0 per is ninth. No Piston has a higher career usage percentage than Stackhouse’s 30.9 percent. He is also the team’s single-season record holder with 2,380 points, 1,927 field-goal attempts, 473 3-point attempts, 666 free throws and 810 free-throw attempts in 2000-01. His 29.8 points per game that season is also a Pistons’ single-season mark, as is his 35.2 usage percentage.

Here is a mix of some of Stackhouse’s best moments:

In September 2002, Stackhouse was traded to the Washington Wizards along with Brian Cardinal and Ratko Varda in exchange for Richard Hamilton, Hubert Davis and Bobby Simmons. He went on to play for the Dallas Mavericks, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets and planned to retire after the 2012-13 season to take a job with the National Basketball Players Association.

Apologies to: Richard Hamilton, Vinnie Johnson, Joe Dumars, Jimmy Walker.

Chauncey Billups (1)–a.k.a. “Mr. Big Shot”–was MVP of the 2004 NBA Finals after leading the Detroit Pistons to a stunning upset of the Los Angeles Lakers. (Flickr.com/Andrew McFarlane)

Point Guard: Chauncey Billups (2002-08)

When the Pistons signed former Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Chauncey Billups as a free agent in July 2002, the former No. 3 overall pick from the 1997 NBA Draft was going to his fifth team in six seasons. He found a home in Detroit, however, and it was no coincidence that every one of the team’s record six consecutive Eastern Conference Finals berths came with Billups running the point.

He was a two-time All-Star as a Piston and a two-time All-NBA selection and All-Defensive pick, but he was never better than when he was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after leading Detroit to a stunning five-game upset of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. Against the Lakers in the Finals, Billups averaged 21 points and 5.2 assists per game while shooting a sizzling 47.1 percent (17-for-39) from 3-point range.

Nicknamed “Mr. Big Shot,” Billups averaged 17 points and 6.4 assists in parts of seven seasons with the Pistons.

He is second all-time for the franchise with 876 3-pointers and is also fourth with 2,942 assists and a 40 percent mark from 3-point range. He is also the franchise’s career leader with a 89.2 free-throw percentage. His 6.4 assists per game are fifth-best for the Pistons, his 21.0 PER and 59.1 true shooting percentage are fourth and no one has a higher win shares per 48 minutes mark for the Pistons than Billups’ .222.

Here is a tribute to Billups’ days as a Piston:

In November 2008, he was traded with Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. He has since played for the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers after beginning his career with stints with the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Nuggets and Timberwolves. On July 11, Billups signed a two-year free agent contract to return to Detroit.

Apologies to: Dave Bing, Isiah Thomas, Rodney Stuckey, Gene Shue.