National Basketball Association

Top 5 small forwards in Detroit Pistons history

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Apr 24, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris (13) takes a free throw during the second quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons have an extensive franchise history spanning all the way back to 1941 when they were the Fort Wayne Pistons playing in the National Basketball League.

As the offseason keeps chugging along we’ll be counting down the five best players of all time at each position for the Detroit Pistons.

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Today we’ll be looking at the five best small forwards to have played for the Pistons over the course of the franchise’s history.

With over 70 years of history and three NBA championships there is a plethora of different players to consider.

The small forward position has created some memorable moments for the Pistons over the years and has produced some of the all-time great players to suit up for the franchise.

So here are the top five small forwards to ever lace them up for the Pistons.

Mark Aguirre

Mark Aguirre was a crucial piece in helping the Bad Boy Pistons win back-to-back titles.

While most of the praise gets deservedly heaped onto higher profile names like Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman, Aguirre’s play was just as important.

Traded to the Pistons from the Dallas Mavericks midway through the 1988-89 season, he made an impact right away.

He started in 32 of the remaining 36 games of the season, slotting in seamlessly to average 15.5 points, 2.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds.

Aguirre was able to transition into the Pistons game plan with ease, giving them another offensive threat to go alongside Thomas and Dumars.

Acquiring Aguirre played a big part in securing the 1989 NBA Championship for the Pistons.

The following season he took more of a backseat, coming off the bench in 40 of his 78 games.

Despite being sent to the bench, he still averaged 14.1 points, 1.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds while playing less minutes per game.

By going to the bench, Aguirre gave the Pistons so much depth and signified what Detroit basketball is all about; a full team of guys combining together rather than leaving it up to one or two stars.

After winning back-to-back championships he continued to come off the bench for the Pistons in the next two seasons, providing solid numbers, but a far cry from his prime.

Adrian Dantley

Adrian Dantley only spent two and a half seasons with Pistons, missing out on their back-to-back championships as he was traded midway through the 1988-1989 season.

However, he find himself ahead of Mark Aguirre because quite simply, Dantley was a superior scorer.

Being on a team that features both Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars means you’re probably not going to be taking as many shots as you’d like, however Dantley was such an efficient scorer that it really didn’t matter all too much.

Across his seven seasons with the Utah Jazz he averaged 29.6 points on 19 field goal attempts per game.

In Detroit his field goal attempts dropped, but he was still able to average 20.8 points per game.

Dantley handled not being the focal point of the offence perfectly and made the Pistons incredibly hard to guard as they had three genuine scoring threats.

He was eventually traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre, who filled Dantley’s role well, but was never able to quite reach the lofty standards that he had set.

Tayshaun Prince

Tayshaun Prince is often the forgotten member of the Pistons’ 2004 championship starting five.

He didn’t have the attitude of Rasheed Wallace, the powerful blocks of Ben Wallace, the clutch shots of Chauncey Billups or the offensive game of Richard Hamilton.

However, Prince was the glue holding the whole team together.

His stat line of 12.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game don’t tell you how impactful he was.

The dominant Pistons of the early to mid 2000s wouldn’t have been nearly as good without Prince’s lockdown defence.

At his defensive peak in 2003-2004, Prince was providing 4.6 defensive win shares, while in 2004-2005 he produced 9.4 total win shares.

As his career went on he also developed a handy offensive game, averaging 14 points on 46.4 per cent shooting from 2004 to 2011.

Of course, you can’t talk about Prince without bringing up his block on Reggie Miller in the final 30 seconds of game 2 in the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

It still blows my mind to this very day that Prince was able to somehow block that shot.

Kelly Tripucka

Kelly Tripucka isn’t exactly a name you hear brought up all too often, but his scoring prowess isn’t something that should go unnoticed.

He was drafted by the Pistons with the 12th pick in the 1981 NBA Draft, immediately having a huge impact in the league.

In his rookie season he averaged 21.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists on 50 per cent shooting.

He was so impressive in his debut season he was named an All-Star.

His career average with the Pistons of 21.6 points is the fifth highest in the franchise’s history, and his 26.5 points per game in the 1982-1983 season is the fifth highest single season average.

Tripucka also shot 33 per cent on threes, which is quite an impressive rate for the era he played in.

While he may not get the recognition he deserves as he played so long ago and wasn’t apart of any championship teams in Detroit, Kelly Tripucka was unquestionably great.

Grant Hill

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Grant Hill is number one on the list of best small forwards to ever play in Detroit.

Hill is always brought up as a big “what if?” because of the injuries he suffered.

While injuries cut him down in his prime, he was a superstar before them.

From 1995 to 2000 he averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 points, 6.3 assists and 1.6 steals for the Pistons.

He was named an All-Star in all but one of his seasons and without ever reaching his full potential he was still one of the best small forwards in the league at the time.

Hill also finds himself plastered across the career and season leaders for the Pistons.

He is fifth all time in assists (2,720), seventh in steals (694), ninth in points (9,393), fifth in steals per game and fourth in points per game.

He’s also seventh in assists per game, putting him ahead of Chauncey Billups.

It was a real shame the Pistons were going through one of their worst periods in franchise history while Hill was on the team.

Timing is everything, and unfortunately Hill was too late for the Bad Boys era of success and too early for the success of the mid 2000s.

He was practically the complete package, apart from his three-point shot, which he developed into something that was somewhat reliable in his later years with the Phoenix Suns.

Grant Hill could have been the greatest Piston all time if he had remained in Detroit and stayed injury free, but the service the team got from him still puts him in the upper echelon of players.

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