Every team in the NBA could benefit from a player who can make shots whenever they counted the most and the Detroit Pistons had that in the form of Chauncey Billups. Before Billups became an All-Star with the Pistons, he bounced around from team to team. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the third overall pick during the 1997 NBA Draft after having a successful three-year stint with the University of Colorado.
Even though he was the number three pick in the draft, Billups was traded midway in his rookie season to the Denver Nuggets. The following year, he was again traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves where he played alongside superstar forward, Kevin Garnett. Billups would go on to play two seasons with the Timberwolves and would average a career high in points per game with the team during the 2002 NBA Playoffs.
By June 2002, Billups decided to sign with the Detroit Pistons as a free agent. It was during his years with Detroit when Billups would gain much respect from both fans and his teammates for his tenacious defense and his ability to hit clutch shots during crunch time. He would also lead the team to the 2004 NBA Finals where they would go on to beat the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games. Billups was also named the MVP of the Finals after leading his team with 21 ppg and 5.6 apg.
During his six year stay with the Pistons, Billups would help lead the team to six straight conference championship series appearances, two NBA finals appearances, was even named an All-Star three times, and also became a member of the All-NBA Team (twice) and All Defensive Team (thrice). By 2008, Billups was traded to the Denver Nuggets where he finished the season with a respectable 17.7 ppg and 6.4 apg average.
With Carmelo Anthony, Billups set many milestones in the NBA and even led the franchise to one of its best seasons in history. He also scored a career high 39 points against the Lakers, with most of them coming off of nine three-point field goals. Despite pleading his case to end his career with the Denver Nuggets, Billups was eventually traded to the New York Knicks as part of the deal that sent Carmelo Anthony to the Big Apple.
However, Billups would see his season end during Game 1 of the 2011 NBA Playoffs when he suffered an injury that kept him sidelined for the remainder of the post season. By the following season, Billups was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers where his main purpose was to serve as a backup for superstar point guard Chris Paul. But an injury to his Achilles tendon would once again end his season even before the Playoffs could start.
Through it all, Chauncey Billups has established himself as one of the most solid contributors to have ever played in the NBA. He might not be a recognizable superstar like Lebron or Kobe, but he will definitely go down as one of the most clutch shooters to have ever played the game.