National Basketball Association

Top 5 shooting guards in Detroit Pistons history

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:17 a.m. ET

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Apr 12, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) takes a shot against Miami Heat guard Josh Richardson (0) during the fourth quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Heat win 99-93. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons have an extensive franchise history spanning all the way back to 1941 when they were the Fort Wayne Pistons playing in the National Basketball League.

As the offseason keeps chugging along we’ll be counting down the five best players of all time at each position for the Detroit Pistons.

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Today we’ll be looking at the five best shooting guards to have played for the Pistons.

With over 70 years of history and three NBA championships there is a plethora of different players to consider.

However, shooting guard hasn’t been a stand-out position for the Pistons over the years, so narrowing the list down to just five was quite easy.

Ranking them is a whole other ballgame, as those who did make the list all enjoyed strong careers in Detroit.

John Long

John Long is not someone you’ll hear brought up often when discussing the greatest Detroit Pistons.

He had three different stints with the Pistons and spent most of his 10 seasons in Detroit coming off the bench.

Long averaged 15.9 points, 2.0 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals.

His first four seasons were his most impressive and illustrates just how good he could be, even despite primarily coming off the bench.

From 1978 to 1982 he averaged 18.7 points, 2.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals while starting in just 66 of his 279 games.

Long’s scoring ability was incredibly valuable to the team and saw him averaging starter’s minutes despite being a bench player, similar to how James Harden was used in Oklahoma City.

In just his second season in the NBA he arguably had his best season, averaging 19.4 points, 3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and in 1981-82 after being given his first chance to start he averaged 21.9 points for the season.

Long was also Isiah Thomas’s first backcourt partner in the NBA, something which he undoubtedly would have benefited from.

Vinnie Johnson

Vinnie Johnson‘s numbers don’t exactly scream “top five shooting guard in a franchise’s history”.

In his 10 seasons with the Detroit Pistons he averaged 13.2 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 26 minutes per game.

These are serviceable numbers for a backup shooting guard, however they don’t sell you on how great or important he was to the Pistons from 1982 to 1991.

What made Johnson so incredible was his ability to make clutch shots and heat up in an instant.

There’s a good reason he was nicknamed “The Microwave”.

Seriously, just type in Vinnie Johnson’s name into YouTube and the first page is filled with highlight videos showing him going crazy in the fourth quarter or hitting a game winning shot.

More impressive is that so many of these huge moments came in the playoffs.

The Pistons could always rely on Johnson’s scoring ability off the bench to get the team going, something that made him an integral part of the 1989 and 1990 championships.

In game three of the 1989 Finals he hit the first six shots of the quarter, while in game 5 of the 1990 Finals he not only scored 16 points, but he made the game-winning and championship clinching jump shot with just 0.7 seconds left.

Johnson’s numbers might not look the best, but those who know the Pistons know how great he was.

Jerry Stackhouse

The late 90s weren’t exactly a great time for the Pistons.

Despite having a great young player like Grant Hill to build around, the team wasn’t nearly as successful as it hoped to be, outside of a 54-win season in 1996-97.

One of the bright spots of this era was Jerry Stackhouse.

Stackhouse was sent to the Pistons with Eric Montross in exchange for Theo Ratliff, Aaron McKie and future picks, and resulted in Stackhouse spending his best years in Detroit.

In his four full seasons with the Pistons he averaged 23.4 points, 4.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals.

His ability to score was almost unmatched during this period, with his 2000-01 season proving he was an all-time great scorer.

He averaged 29.8 points that season, the second highest in the league behind Allen Iverson‘s 31.1 and the highest points per game average in a single season from a Piston.

His 22.1 average across all seasons with the Pistons is the third highest in team history, and when considering he was traded to the team mid-season, which no doubt brought his average down, he’s very unlucky not to be the greatest scorer in the Pistons’ history.

Not to mention Stackhouse’s 57 point game in 2001, the record for most points in a game by a Piston, a mark that is quite possibly never going to be beaten.

It’s unfortunate Stackhouse’s time in Detroit with Grant Hill didn’t bring much success, as both players were unquestionably great and entertaining to watch.

Stackhouse only playing four seasons for the Pistons also prevents me from ranking him higher than he is on this list.

Richard Hamilton

Richard Hamilton could very well have been number one on this list, and it was almost painful for me to place him second.

Hamilton was a crucial piece in establishing the Pistons as a dominant force for over half a decade, and he combined forces with Chauncey Billups to create one of the best backcourts of the 2000s.

In September of 2002 he was dealt in a six-player deal, which essentially saw Jerry Stackhouse being traded to the Washington Wizards for Hamilton.

He spent nine seasons in Detroit, and it wasn’t a coincidence that the Pistons just so happened to put together their longest period of sustained dominance in this time.

From 2002 to 2011, Hamilton averaged 18.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists and finished sixth all-time for points scored by a Detroit Piston.

Hamilton was a threat from all over the court, whether he was pulling up, coming off screens and knocking down jump shots, or whether he was driving to the hoop and finishing through contact.

Arguably his most well-rounded season came in 2006-07, where he averaged19.8 points, 3.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds.

Hamilton’s crowning moment for the Pistons came in the 2004 playoffs where they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, which he was an integral part of, particularly in going at Kobe Bryant and forcing him to be accountable on defence.

Joe Dumars

It was a tough decision, but ultimately it was too hard to overlook Joe Dumars as the number one shooting guard in Detroit Pistons history.

Thanks to his hit and miss run as the Pistons’ president of basketball operations, many people have forgotten just how great Dumars was on the court.

He spent his entire 14-season career with the Pistons and formed one half of an extremely dangerous backcourt with Isiah Thomas.

Over his career he averaged 16.1 points, 4.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the field and 38 percent from three.

In his prime years from 1988 to 1995, he went at a rate of 19.7 points, 4.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1 steal per game.

Dumars was a crucial part of the Pistons’ back-to-back championships, and he was named the Finals MVP for his efforts in 1989.

In the 1989 Finals he averaged an incredible 27.3 points and 6 assists while shooting the ball at 58 percent.

Dumars also holds a number of records for the Pistons.

He’s played the most games (1018), made the most three-point field goals (990), and is second all time for points with 16,401.

Dumars was a superstar for the Pistons in the late 80s and early 90s, which unfortunately goes unrecognised sometimes because he drafted Darko Miličić second overall in 2003.

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