AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Rip Hamilton has led the Pistons in scoring for six consecutive seasons, tying him with Grant Hill and putting him behind only Bob Lanier - who led them in scoring nine straight seasons - in franchise history. There's a pretty good chance Hamilton is going to make it 7-for-7 since the trade that sent Jerry Stackhouse to Washington paired him with Chauncey Billups in Detroit's backcourt.

But how he gets his points might change a little bit this year, which fits Hamilton's meandering evolution as an NBA scorer.

The constant, of course, has been Hamilton's much-admired mid-range game, fueled by his relentless movement without the ball and uncanny ability to create openings for himself through the use of screens of all variety.

But Hamilton has added range to his jump shot, shooting well over 40 percent from the 3-point arc in two of the past three seasons after shooting 30 percent or worse in four of his first six years, and, at times, he's shown the ability to get to the basket and draw fouls. That was Hamilton's goal coming into the 2006-07 season, when he wound up shooting 403 foul shots - 100 more than the previous season. But in 2007-08, his free-throw attempts were down to 221.

"Rip prides himself on being efficient and that's what you want from a guy who's going to be your leading scorer," Pistons vice president Scott Perry said. "He's known throughout all basketball circles as being great moving without the basketball, setting himself up to catch and receive passes that are going to lead directly to a shot. He uses screens well and that's a strong suit of his game, which has allowed him over the last few years to kind of quietly extend his range. He's got great confidence in his ability to shoot the three, but he does it when it presents itself, which is great. That's what you want. He still plays to his strengths every night and he's added to his game now and that makes what he does well that much more difficult to defend."

The added range on Hamilton's jump shot, coupled with his occasional willingness to put the ball on the floor and attack inside, has allowed him to maintain his level of effectiveness as a scorer via his signature shots - curling around screens at the elbows or running the baseline through a series of back screens.

"He's grown each year as a scorer," Perry said. "His success dictates that. Once you become known for something he does like that very well, the other 29 teams are going to figure out how to go about taking that away. The good players like Rip, once he sees that, he goes, OK, now I've got to add a little here so they're not allowed to take away my strengths so easily."

Hamilton's game might adapt for other reasons this year. With the emergence of second-year guards Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo and the off-season departure of Jarvis Hayes in free agency, it's likely that Hamilton will see a significant portion of his minutes coming at small forward this season. Hamilton proved last season that he could hold his own defensively against even elite scoring small forwards like LeBron James - playing on a bad hip, Hamilton held James to 13 points in a March win over Cleveland - and Paul Pierce.

Though Stuckey figures to play in tandem with Chauncey Billups frequently, Afflalo also is in line for an expanded role from the 13 quality minutes a night he gave the Pistons as a rookie. Already a rock-solid perimeter defender, Afflalo showed increased confidence and versatility as a scorer over the summer.

"When you talk about Arron and Rodney, for that matter, you have guys with a full season under their belt and a long playoff run," Perry said. "They're going to come back more comfortable, more confident. They know more what to expect.

"Arron is one of those guys who works extremely hard in the off-season to improve and get better. His bread and butter is his ability to defend people. He brings a toughness on the floor and he makes winning basketball plays. That's what he did at UCLA and that's what he did last year. He exhibited that in the opportunities he got last year and Michael (Curry) expects that going forward. He's a guy who'll do the things the team needs him to do - defend, play tough and make the right basketball play, whether that's hitting the open shot, the pass, the screen, whatever it is. That's what everybody expects out of Arron."