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The worst draft picks in Detroit Pistons’ history

By Brenden Welper

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; A general view of a video board displaying all thirty draft picks in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; A general view of a video board displaying all thirty draft picks in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /
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We’ve already analyzed the best draft picks in Detroit Pistons’ history.  With the 2017 NBA Draft just hours away, let’s take a look at the worst selections in team history.

Now that we’ve reminisced about the best, it’s time to talk about the rest.  Or the worst in this case.  Draft woes have haunted the Detroit Pistons for a good portion of their existence.  Younger Pistons fans (such as myself) will moan about the infamous 2003 draft.  But Detroit’s inability to evaluate talent has spanned several decades.  Here are the five worst draft picks in Pistons’ history.

5. Antoine Carr  – 1983 – Forward – Round 1, Pick 8 (8th overall)

Carr played 16 seasons in the NBA.  None of them were with the Pistons.  A top ten pick not playing a single minute for the team that drafted him is almost unheard of.  This wasn’t a situation where a player was drafted and then immediately traded away.  No, this was different.

Carr chose to play his rookie season in Italy.  According to a 1984 New York Times report by Sam Goldaper, he was unable to agree on a contract with Detroit.  Milan’s professional basketball team, Olimpia Milano, signed him to a $200,000 deal.  Yet he would only play one season overseas.

"“The Pistons retained the rights to Carr after winning in arbitration. The National Basketball Players Association contended that the Italian League was an amateur league. But Telford Taylor, the arbitrator, ruled that since Carr was being paid, he was a professional.”"

Goldaper’s article says that Detroit traded Carr’s rights, forward Cliff Levingston, and two future second round picks to the Atlanta Hawks.  In exchange, the Pistons received power forward (and Detroit native) Dan Roundfield.  The three-time All-Star struggled in his hometown.  His scoring average plummeted from 18.9 points per game to just 10.9 in his first and only season as a Piston.

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The ones that got away

But that’s only half of the story.  The next two players selected immediately after Carr were a pair of All-Star shooting guards.  Dale Ellis went to the Dallas Mavericks at No. 9.  Jeff Malone would be taken by the Washington Bullets tenth overall.

Neither of these players are in the Hall of Fame.  Ellis and Malone would combine for three All-Star appearances.  They had respectable NBA careers and could’ve sped up the Pistons’ slow ascent to the top.  But the one that truly got away?  Clyde Drexler.

He fell to the Portland Trail Blazers at No. 14 and would eventually become one of the best shooting guards of all time.  Can you imagine having Isiah Thomas and Clyde Drexler as your starting back court?  It could’ve been a reality for the Pistons, and it certainly would’ve accelerated their progress.

Detroit would go on to win two championships that era – one of them coming against Drexler and the Blazers.  But you have to wonder how many more banners would hang in Auburn Hills if “The Glide” was drafted by the Pistons.