The Detroit Pistons’ best all-time draft starting lineup
Detroit Pistons’ best all-time draft starting lineup
The guards were probably the easiest choices, as the other great guards who played for the Detroit Pistons came via free agency or trade.
Shooting guard: Joe Dumars (1985)
There really isn’t much to argue about here, as Joe Dumars is easily the best shooting guard the Pistons have ever drafted and arguably their most important player of all time when you consider his work in the front office.
Fans who are too young to have seen Dumars play live really did miss one of the great two-way guards of all time, as Joe was a player who could get you 25 points on offense and then guard the other team’s best player.
Along with his six All-Star appearances, Dumars made the All-NBA team three times (during the Golden Era of shooting guards in the NBA) and made the All-Defensive team five games, four as a member of the first team.
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He was one of the few players that ever had any type of success guarding Michael Jordan and I would argue that his defense is wholly underrated now.
Joe Dumars won two titles with the Pistons, a Finals MVP and eventually an executive of the year award, a feat that may never be repeated.
Point guard: Isiah Thomas (1981)
Another no-brainer, Isiah Thomas is not only the best point guard the Pistons ever drafted, but arguably the franchise’s best player of all time.
Cade Cunningham hopes to eventually take this spot, but he’ll have his work cut out for him, as Thomas made the All-Star team in 12 of his 13 seasons in the league, only missing out in his final year when he was hampered with injuries.
He was tough and skilled, the two traits that came to define the Bad Boys era and you could argue that the two-time champion and Finals MVP was the greatest point guard of all time.
I think if he career hadn’t been cut short by injuries, he’d be a frontrunner in that discussion.