Since the advent of the lottery for the 1985 NBA draft, the Pistons haven’t had very much luck.
Actually, almost none at all.
In the 10 times that the Pistons have been due a pick in the lottery, their draft position has fallen four times, remained the same five times and improved just once.
And that one didn’t turn out so well, either.
That one instance was the 2003 draft, when the Pistons had the Memphis Grizzlies’ pick, which jumped from sixth to second. With that pick, the Pistons chose Darko Milicic — and the rest is … well, draft history.