Up until last season, the Detroit Pistons had never had the 5th pick in the NBA Draft, but after falling in the Draft Lottery two nights ago, it’s going to happen again this year.
The 5th slot in the NBA Draft has been a fairly strong one since the lottery first started in 1985 and has yielded surprisingly few busts over that span.
Yes, there are guys like Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Jonathan Bender, Alex Len and Mario Hezonja, but far more often the 5th pick has yielded solid but not spectacular players like Jonas Valanciunas, Ricky Rubio, Mike Miller and Juwan Howard.
But there have also been superstars, including some of the best players to ever play the game, which is what the Detroit Pistons hope they will eventually have with last year’s #5 pick Jaden Ivey.
Starting from 1985, here is a ranking of the top-10 players to be chosen with the #5 pick, a list that had to exclude some quality players like Darius Garland, who just missed the cut.
Detroit Pistons: Ranking the top-10 #5 picks of the lottery era
#10: Steve Smith
Steve Smith only made one All-Star team in his 14-year career, but in that time he was one of the best scoring shooting guards in the NBA. There are some current #5 picks who could surpass him eventually, but he had a long and productive NBA career.
#9: De’Aaron Fox
Fox made the All-Star team for the first time this season, and if things go right for Jaden Ivey, he could eventually follow in his path as a playmaking guard who can score in bunches from all over the court.
#8: Kevin Love
Love is a 5-time All-Star who is still contributing to the Miami Heat. He has led the league in rebounding and was really one of the pioneers of the stretch big, shooting 37 percent from long range over his career on high volume.