Detroit Pistons: Top 5 centers the Pistons have taken in the NBA Draft
The best centers the Detroit Pistons have ever drafted: John Salley
John Salley was drafted in 1986 and was part of one of the best Pistons’ drafts of all time, as that was also the draft when the Pistons took Dennis Rodman.
Salley played six seasons in Detroit where he was a defensive stopper, averaging around 1.5 blocks per game, mostly off the Pistons’ bench.
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Salley won two rings in Detroit and was a big part of the Bad Boys defense. Fans tend to forget that just about all the good teams in that era were “Super” teams that had benches that could compete with a lot of starting lineups.
There weren’t as many teams back then so the talent was more concentrated, which led to guys like Salley being bench players. The Pistons’ bench could have beaten a lot of teams so Salley might have put up bigger numbers had he been on a team that didn’t go ten deep.
Salley went on to win two more titles, one with the Bulls and one with the Lakers, but he wasn’t a major contributor on either like he was in Detroit. Spider Salley was a versatile defender who helped make the Bad Boys what they were.