Detroit Pistons: Ranking the top-10 no. 5 picks of the lottery era

Detroit Pistons: Ranking the top-10 #5 picks of the lottery era

#3: Kevin Garnett

One of the most intense competitors on this list, Garnett was one of the best two-way players in the league for most of his long career that spanned nearly 1,500 games. Garnett made the All-Star team a whopping 15 times, led the NBA in rebounding four years in a row and was the defensive anchor of a title team.

#2: Dwyane Wade

This one hurts, as the Detroit Pistons could have drafted Dwyane Wade instead of Darko back in the day, a mistake that cost them dearly and set off nearly two decades of ineptitude in the draft.

Wade is arguably the greatest shooting guard of all time and made 12 straight All-Star appearances, 13 total. He won multiple titles and played over 1,000 games.

#1: Scottie Pippen

I’m putting Pippen here because he is a six-time champion who was arguably the greatest defender to ever play the game. Pippen was the prototype of the modern wing, as he was arguably the best two-way player in the league not named Michael Jordan. MJ certainly took some of Pippen’s shine, but Scottie got the same Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals without Michael, so he was very good in his own right. A member of the Dream Team and one of the NBA’s top forwards of all time, Pippen is arguably the best 5th pick to play in the modern era.