With the Detroit Pistons selecting at the 15th spot in this years NBA Draft, let’s take a look at previous 15 overall picks in Pistons history.
With the 2019 NBA Draft quickly approaching, the Detroit Pistons will have the 15th pick in this year’s draft. Questions surrounding the organization as they try to find a good fit for the team who finished as the eighth seed this past season. Why don’t we take a look at who Detroit took in the past when it had the number 15 pick.
The Pistons have had this pick three times and these years pick will be number four.
We will start with the most recent pick and finish with the first number 15 draft pick that Detroit selected.
2009 (Austin Daye)
The Pistons took a chance on a forward out of Gonzaga in 2009. Standing 6’11, Austin Daye had a mid-range and three-point game that was well above average.
There was something in Daye that the Pistons saw and wanted him to be a part of the team. Daye would spend four seasons with the Pistons.
In his first year with Detroit, Daye played in 69 games and started four of those games. He averaged 5.1 points per game and shot 46% from the field and 30% from behind the arc.
Daye’s sophomore season is where he made an impact for the Pistons. He saw his minutes increase significantly as he went from averaging 13.3 minutes per game in his rookie season, to 20.1 minutes per game the next year.
Daye averaged a career high in minutes, points, rebounds, games played and games started. He averaged 7.5 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game.
The Pistons were starting to see the potential in Daye after a much more improved season in his second year.
After his second year with the Pistons, Daye would not have the success that he had in his second year.
In his last season with Detroit, Daye was traded to Memphis along with Piston great, Tayshaun Prince.
Daye was just getting settled in with the Pistons and he did not think that he would be traded away to Memphis. But you have to remember that this game is a business.
It is safe to say that Daye had the best season of his career with the Pistons.
2007 (Rodney Stuckey)
When Rodney Stuckey was drafted from Eastern Washington, not too many Detroit fans knew of him. But the Pistons sure did know about the 6’5 guard. At Eastern Washington, Stuckey dominated.
He averaged 24.6 points per game his sophomore season which was seventh in the nation. He scored 1,438 points in just two seasons at Eastern Washington.
The Pistons saw a scorer in Stuckey and the potential back up to starting point guard Chauncey Billups.
Stuckey wasted no time in the NBA Summer League. The guard averaged 32.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game during the preseason.
Detroit fans were getting excited about the coming of Rodney Stuckey. In his rookie season with the Pistons, he was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
In his second season, Stuckey found himself scoring a career-high 40 points against the Bulls and also dropped 38 against Sacramento.
Stuckey was a member of the 2009 Rookie Challenge playing with the sophomore team. Stuckey was settling in well with Detroit, so it seemed.
After his second season, Stuckey continued to average double-digit points, but the Pistons were looking for more production out of the guard.
Stuckey would spend seven seasons with the Pistons and quite frankly, the organization had enough of him.
He wasn’t as productive as they thought he would be. Stuckey had an average mid-range shot and at times he was not smart with the ball in his hands.
Though Stuckey had a promising rookie and sophomore season with Detroit, he could not that go to point guard that the Pistons wanted him to be. His last season in Detroit was the 2013-14 season where he averaged 14 points and two assists coming off the bench.
But that was not enough for Detroit.
1974 (Al Eberhard)
Eberhard was the first player that the Pistons took at the 15th pick of the draft. He attended the University of Missouri and played for Detroit for four seasons.
The 1975-76 season was Eberhard’s best season with the Pistons as he played in 81 games averaging 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds.
He played in a total of 220 games in the NBA, all with the Pistons.
In his four seasons in the NBA, he had a career average of 6.8 points.
A fun fact about Eberhard is that he is the uncle of current Charlotte Hornet player, Cody Zeller.
That is a look of the three picks that Detroit picked at number 15. Will this year’s pick be a successor will Detroit give him away after a few years?
I guess we will just have to wait and see.