5 stars the Detroit Pistons missed by a single pick in the Draft

If you want to know why the Detroit Pistons have been bad for so long, then look no further than the NBA Draft, where they have had far more misses than hits since drafting Grant Hill back in 1994. 

Every team misses in the draft, as it is the nature of the event, but Detroit had times when they were achingly close to landing a star but missed by a single pick. So, this list doesn’t even include taking Killian Hayes (out of the NBA) over Tyrese Haliburton (leading his team in the playoffs) or when they took Stanley Johnson over hometown superstar Devin Booker. 

There were five times when the Pistons were close to getting it right but were off by one pick. 

5 stars the Detroit Pistons missed by a single pick in the NBA Draft 

1998 NBA Draft: Chose Korleone Young 40th, Cuttino Mobley went 41st 

It might be a stretch to call Cuttino Mobley a “star”, but he was a very good player who was one of the best 6th men in the league during his career. 

Mobley averaged 16 points per game for his career, was 2nd in the 6th Man voting twice and had several seasons when he was in the top-5 in the NBA in 3-point percentage. 

For those of you too young to remember, Mobley formed part of an exciting backcourt with Steve Francis in Houston, where they were one of the top scoring backcourts in the league. 

Korleone Young (whose parents must have been big fans of the Godfather) played three games in the NBA and was never heard from again. It’s not easy to find rotation players in the second round, but in this case, the Pistons missed a good one by just one pick.