Detroit Pistons NBA Draft: What happened the last time Detroit picked 1-6

Detroit Pistons Draft History: With the third pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons select Grant Hill

The 1993-94 NBA season was the official end to the “Bad Boys” era of Pistons basketball. The team finished the year with a record of 20-62. That would be the first time since the 1982-83 season that Detroit would end up with fewer than 40 wins in a season.

The 1993-94 season was also Detroit’s second consecutive season missing the playoffs. At the end of the regular season, both Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer would retire.

Entering the 1994 NBA Draft Lottery, the Pistons had the second-best odds to land the first overall pick. Instead, Detroit would slide down a spot to the third overall pick.

With the third pick, Detroit would select Grant Hill, a 6-8 forward from Duke.

Hill spent six seasons with Detroit, and the former Blue Devil would be selected to the All-Star team in five of those six seasons, including his rookie year. He was also named the 1994-95 Rookie of the Year.

In Detroit, Hill averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game. Detroit would be where Hill had the best seasons of his career. The Pistons made the playoffs four times during Hill’s tenure, and the forward would be named to the All-NBA First Team in 1997 along with four appearances on the All-NBA Second Team in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

After the 1999-2000 season, Hill planned on leaving Detroit in free agency. Desperate to not lose the All-Star for nothing, the Pistons worked out a sign-and-trade with the Orlando Magic which netted the Pistons a return of Chucky Atkins and a future four-time Defensive Player of the Year in Ben Wallace.

The rest of Hill’s career was plagued by injuries. While still an effective player when healthy, the Hall of Famer would only play in over 60 games in two of his six seasons in Orlando. His health would improve during his five-year stint with the Suns as he played in over seventy games in each of his first four seasons with the team.

Ultimately, Hill’s career came to a close after the 2012-13 season. The seven-time All-Star played in 29 games for the Los Angeles Clippers at the age of 40.

The Pistons were able to get the best years of Hill’s career during his six years with Detroit. After leaving in the 2000 offseason, Hill averaged 13.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists for the rest of his NBA career.