Top 10 Detroit Pistons draft picks of all-time

November 9, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) shoots the basketball against Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) during the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Pistons 109-95. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

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8. George Yardley (1953, first round, seventh overall)

Career stats: 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, .6 steals, .5 blocks (6 seasons with Pistons)

Yardley was drafted back in 1953 when the Detroit Pistons were the Fort Wayne Pistons.

He’s a member of our Detroit Pistons all-time second team list which we unveiled last Summer, and finished his career with the Pistons with his best season as a pro averaging 287.8 points (which lead the league that year), 11 rebounds, and finished third in MVP voting. His last season with the Pistons was also the first season the team played in Detroit.

The “Yardbird” as his teammates called him, was described as a “scoring machine”. Eventually, his teammates shortened his nickname to “bird” which makes him the original sweet-shooting, clutch-performing Bird of the NBA.

Yardley never won a championship, but he did reach the finals twice in his career. He was also the first player ever to reach 2,000 points in a season, when he scored 2,001 in 1958.

While most of us are too young to remember Yardley, his place among the record books undoubtedly lands him among the Pistons’ best draft picks of all-time.

Next: Tayshaun Prince

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