AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Six years, six teams. Think Chauncey Billups dares to do anything but rent?

His cell phone still has a Colorado area code ("for my friends back home, so they don't have to pay long distance") and he can be forgiven if he might at times wonder if Detroit is, indeed, going to be his new, permanent, home away from home.

	Chauncey Billups has finally become a big shot in the NBA taking big shots for Detroit.

Based on what we've seen so far, Billups can scour the real estate in Bloomfield and put in the application to Oakland Hills. He's going nowhere. After stops in Boston, Toronto, Denver, Orlando and Minnesota, he has, at last, found a home. Or, perhaps, a home has found him. It's a mutual admiration society in Detroit for the Pistons' point guard.

"I think you'd have to say that he is probably the No. 1 free agent signing from last summer," offered Pistons coach Rick Carlisle. "I knew he was good. But he's even a little bit better than I thought. He was our No. 1 priority and we're fortunate to have him."

The Pistons had Billups in their crosshairs once their magical season ended last May with a disappointing loss to the Celtics in five games in the conference semifinals. Their glaring need: point guard. You can only go so far with Chucky Atkins and Damon Jones, and the Pistons went further than most thought they would or could with that dynamic duo manning the point. Then, against the Celtics, Kenny Anderson tore them apart like Joe Montana on a game-deciding drive.

Billups was entering free agency and looking for one thing: security. OK, he was looking for two things: money and security, which are sometimes the same thing. But after his nomadic plight for five years, he wanted to go where he was wanted and needed. More than a dozen teams called him. He visited Detroit, then called the others back and said, `Thanks, but no thanks.'

It's not hard to think that Pistons basketball boss Joe Dumars looked at Billups and thought, "Hmm, he reminds me of someone." Not a pure point guard. Not a pure shooting guard. Strong. Big. Not afraid to guard guys. Indeed, when Billups entered the league, he was not seen as a classic point guard, which is why the endlessly impatient Rick Pitino tired of him in a hurry. He is, and always has been, a guard-guard. He can play a little point. He can play a little shooting guard. He can defend. He makes plays. Just like you know who, right Joe?

	“	We basically said, 'We believe in your ability to play point guard.' And I think our collective belief in his ability has brought out good things. He's a good point guard. ”
		— Rick Carlisle on Chauncey Billups

"Well, he did remind me a little bit of this one guy, who's a little old right now," Dumars said, smiling. "The Celtics series magnified our need to address the position. We made no bones about that. It was No. 1 on our list. We conveyed that to Chauncey, and that helped. Along with 30-some million. I think that helped, too."

The Pistons gave Billups a six-year deal out of the mid-level exception. That represented the security. The "30-some million" worked in the bank. He knew he'd be starting and he knew the Pistons would depend on him to score (a rarity among the Pistons) and to defend (a strength of the Pistons.) They gave him the keys to the car and the results have been nothing but rewarding and impressive.

To the amazement of just about everyone, the Pistons are the top team, record-wise, in the conference. Billups is averaging 15.6 points a game, second on the team to Rip Hamilton, another newcomer. While the Pistons won't be confused anytime soon with the Mavericks, Kings or Warriors, they do actually have an offense (sort of) which Billups oversees. He has fit seamlessly into their defense-uber-alles mindset as well.

"He's a big, strong guard and he can defend," Dumars said. "He had all the qualities and attributes I was looking for."

Lately, Billups has become something else for the Pistons: their Kobe. They look to him when the game is on the line. They look for him to score (which is critical, because there are times when scoring is a painful exercise for the Pistons.) He is in the middle of a stretch which, if it continues, could merit serious consideration for Player of the Month.

Since March 1, Billups has averaged 26.2 points a game, as the Pistons have gone 5-3 to keep ahead of the pack in the East, which basically means winning every other game. He's shooting 52.3 percent from the field. He won the March 9 game against the Warriors with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. He became the first Piston in more than a year to have successive games of 30 or more points. (We told you they're occasionally point-challenged.) He had 26 in a big overtime win on Tuesday in Washington.

	Chauncey Billups Point Guard Detroit Pistons Profile
	2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 59 15.6 3.4 3.6 .425 .871

"He has no fear factor," Carlisle said.

"I really haven't been in this situation before," Billups said. "I've always considered myself a clutch player."

He was in college, where he earned All-American honors at Colorado. He has a tattoo with the word "Smooth." He was the No. 3 pick in the 1997 draft, which, after Tim Duncan (No. 1) and Tracy McGrady (No. 9), is pretty uninspiring (seven first-rounders are no longer in the league.) But ever since Pitino decided he needed Anderson, it's been one backup situation after another for the 26-year-old Billups. He went back home to Denver, but that didn't work out. He went to Orlando, where he was one of the 359 players to pass through on the final year of their contracts in 1999-2000, as the Magic prepared their unsuccessful assault on Duncan. He thought he had found a home in Minnesota, where he played for two years, but the Wolves wouldn't give him the guarantees the Pistons could because Minny was still waiting for Terrell Brandon to come back. The Wolves are still waiting and, like Dylan at Woodstock, Brandon ain't coming.

Billups has more than solidified the point guard position in Detroit. Atkins now comes off the bench, which, frankly, is where he should have been all along. Billups isn't going to lead the league in assists, but he's not out of place playing the distribution role. Not by a long shot.

"Here's the thing," Carlisle said. "Joe committed six years to Chauncey. We basically said, 'We believe in your ability to play point guard.' And I think our collective belief in his ability has brought out good things. He's a good point guard."

And he's a good point guard on a good team with a good salary and, at last, a good place he can call home. To Billups, that may be the most important thing of all.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.