Detroit Pistons: Top 10 NBA Draft picks in franchise history

3. Dennis Rodman (PF) — No. 27 pick in 1994 NBA Draft

Career stats (with the Pistons):  549 GP, 8.8 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 1.5 TOV, 53.7 FG%, 25.3 3P%, 59.2 FT% 

Dennis Rodman built a Hall of Fame career on defense. The 1986 NBA Draft gave the Pistons the cornerstones of the group that would eventually be known as the Bad Boys.

Rodman plummeted in the draft after several awful performances in pre-draft workouts. Mike Abdenour, the Pistons trainer discovered Rodman had forgotten his medicine and as a result, had suffered from a severe allergy and asthma attack. Rodman’s lack of scoring coupled with his poor pre-draft workouts was a blessing for Detroit.

The Pistons passed on him in the first round and took John Salley, but took him 27th overall in the second round.

Rodman won Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1989 and 1990 during the Pistons’ back-to-back championship run. He appeared on eight All-NBA Defensive teams and two All-NBA teams during his career.

Rodman played on five championship teams — two in Detroit and three with Michael Jordan and company in Chicago. He led the NBA in rebounding for seven straight seasons. Rodman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

As crazy as it may sound, the scrappy second round kid nicknamed “The Worm” from an obscure school in Oklahoma is one of the greatest draft picks made by the Detroit Pistons. The Bad Boys would not have won championships in 1989 or 1990 without Rodman and his defensive skills. Truthfully, without Rodman, they might not have made it out of the Eastern Conference.

The Worm wormed his way into the hearts of the Pistons’ fans and into the Hall of Fame playing some of the best defense in the history of the NBA.