Detroit Pistons: Top 10 draft busts in past 30 years
The 7th, 8th and 9th worst draft picks of the Detroit Pistons in last 30 years
9. Jason Maxiell , Cincinnati (2005, 26th)
A year before winning the NBA championship, the Detroit Pistons had the 26th pick in the first round.
Detroit was looking for some help in the post. Ian Mahini and David Lee, who would go on to have long, productive NBA careers, were selected right after the Pistons took Jason Maxiell.
Nicknamed ‘The Baby Eater’, the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Maxiell averaged 12 points and seven rebounds in college at Cincinnati. Nice numbers, but not eye-popping.
Maxiell did spend 10 years in the NBA. In 2011-12, 2012-13 he was the Pistons starting power forward. But, for most of his career, he was a nice backup who was not afraid to mix it up inside.
He finished with an average of 5.6 points and 4.2 rebounds. He kept playing after his NBA career was over, playing in the Big 3 Championship game in 2018.
Not a bad player at all, but not a big contributor as a first-rounder, and better players at his position were available.
8. Stanley Johnson, Arizona (2015, 8th)
It is not that Stanley Johnson can’t play in the NBA., it is just that he has never lived up to the hype of his collegiate career at Arizona , as well as being the 8th overall selection in the draft.
He has a career average of 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and shoots under 30% on three-pointers. In 2017-18, the Pistons made him a starter and he averaged 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds, hardly overwhelming numbers.
Three spots after the Pistons took Johnson, the Indiana Pacers selected Myles Turner, who currently leads the league in blocked shots. At No. 13, the Phoenix Suns took Devin Booker.
Imagine if the Pistons had taken Booker? Well, imagining is all you can do, because Detroit picked Stanley Johnson instead.
former Detroit Pistons’ Rodney White #7 of the Denver Nuggets drives to the hoop. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
7th. Rodney White, UNC-Charlotte (2001, 9th)
After one year with the 89ers in college, in which he scored 18.7 points and shot a decent 34.7% on threes, the Detroit Pistons made Rodney White the 9th overall pick in the 2001 draft.
With White now off the board, the Boston Celtics, at No. 10, had to settle for Joe Johnson. He only became a seven-time all-star and, until an injury sidelined him, was beating out Christian Wood for a spot on the Pistons roster, just last year.
Detroit was looking to build a championship team and the 6-9, 238-pound White was going to be one of the building blocks. They did win the NBA title in 2004, but White was long gone.
After averaging 3.5 points as a rookie, White was traded to Denver. In return, the Pistons got a draft pick that turned into Josh Smith, so White did help them in a way.
White never averaged more than 9.0 points a game and, as soon as his rookie contract was up, he never played in the NBA again.