Lovable Losers: Least favorite Pistons small forwards
Welcome to the Lovable Losers series.
This isn’t a place where we confess our hope and expectations for the Pistons’ future. It’s not a place where we speculate what’s next for a franchise that has strung together seven losing seasons in a row. It’s a series where he look back on all that misery.
Over the next five days, we’ll look back on our favorite players and coaches from one of the sorriest eras in Pistons history. We’ll alternate between favorite coaches point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers… and our least favorite from 2008-2015.
Join the discussion in the comments — we’re in this together.
Dan Feldman: Austin Daye
One word: Soft.
Brady Fredericksen: Josh Smith
Smith’s Formula: Smith + three or more significantly better players + honest-to-God belief by Smith that said players are better and more important + overall team success and meaningful games = Josh Smith, the great role player.
Tim Thielke: Corey Maggette
Corey Maggette was the return Joe Dumars got in the debacle of the Ben Gordon trade. The Pistons could have Noah Vonleh right now without Maggette. But then he also got minutes in a lost season at the expense of young guys waiting in the wings who needed it so much more.
Graham Simmington: Tayshaun Prince
You may not remember this, but Tayshaun was the only player on either team to not leave the bench during November 2004’s brawl with the Indiana Pacers. It’s true. After embarrassing Reggie Miller earlier that year with his series-changing block in the Eastern Conference Finals, he had a chance to finish him off once and for all. Prince did a lot of great things for the Pistons throughout his career here, but in my mind none of them have made up for this failing. When SB Nation’s Jon Bois solicited poems about “an NBA player who has disappointed you” for his brilliant NBA Y2K: Ten Years to Midnight, there was only one choice:
MALICE AT THE PALACE
coulda decked Reggie
Miller, Tayshaun, but instead
you stayed on the bench
Prince could have easily been my favorite Piston of all-time, but his inaction that night put him firmly in the opposite camp.
Braden Shackelford: Josh Smith
As stated above, Smith is probably the most toxic Piston in the losing era. He was so bad for Detroit that Stan Van Gundy decided it would be better to outright wave him than coach him for another second. Although Smith is no longer with the Pistons physically, his presence will still be felt in Tom Gores pockets for years to come.