In 1957 the Pistons moved to Detroit, and Coach Charles Eckman was replaced by Red Rocha 25 games into the 1957-58 season. The team finished at 33-39. Through the 1950s and 1960s the Pistons continued to post losing records. Coaches came and went-including Rocha (.423 winning percentage); Dick McGuire (.432); Charles Wolf (.275); Dave DeBusschere (.356); Donnis Butcher (.458); Paul Seymour (.367); Butch van Breda Kolff (.471, although he did take the Pistons to a 45-37 mark in 1970-71, the team's first winning season in Detroit); Terry Dischinger (0-2 in two games); and Earl Lloyd (.286).

Although the teams weren't very good, Detroit did have some stalwart players. George Yardley led the league in scoring in 1957-58 with 27.8 points per game, a mark that survived into the 1990s as the best in Pistons history. He also set team records that season for free throws attempted (808) and converted (655). Yardley scored 51 points against the Boston Celtics on January 15, then topped his own record with 52 against Syracuse on February 4 (a franchise mark that lasted until 1971). The 6-5, 195-pound Yardley had been a first-round pick out of Stanford in the 1950 NBA Draft. After a few years in the military he had signed with Fort Wayne in 1953. An All-NBA First Team selection after his prolific 1957-58 season, Yardley was traded to Syracuse the following year.

Another solid performer was rugged Walter Dukes, acquired from Minneapolis in a trade for Larry Foust. Beginning in 1957-58 Dukes averaged more than 13 rebounds per game for four years. Gene Shue was another durable player and an accurate free throw shooter. And Dick McGuire was a clever ballhandler and floor general who later coached the Pistons. Yardley, Shue, and McGuire were All-Stars in 1957-58.

The top draft pick in 1959 was hustling Bailey Howell, a stocky 6-7, 220-pounder who averaged more than 20 points and made four All-Star appearances in his five seasons with Detroit.

The 1959-60 Pistons posted a 30-45 record under Rocha and McGuire. McGuire took over as player-coach on December 28 and finished the year in that dual role. He retired as a player and continued to coach the Pistons for the next three seasons. Shue's average of 22.8 points per game was sixth in the league. The team had been playing its home games at Olympia Stadium and the University of Detroit, but during the playoffs it had to host one contest at the Grosse Pointe High School gym, since no other facility was available. The Pistons lost the game by a single point to Minneapolis.

The 1960-61 season began in strange fashion. On November 15, almost exactly a year after they had put up 142 shot attempts in a game against Boston, the Pistons pulled down a record 107 rebounds against that same team. In a November 25 contest Bailey Howell had 21 rebounds in the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Howell, Shue (who ranked among the league leaders in assists), and Walter Dukes (14.1 rpg) represented Detroit in the 1961 NBA All-Star Game. For the year Detroit was a forgettable 34-45. Even with that record, the Pistons' third-place division finish earned them a berth in the playoffs, in which they were eliminated by the Lakers in five games. Howell paced the Pistons with 23.6 points and 14.4 rebounds per game.